Questions about if changing dogs food will help with prey drive.

[schellie69]

First I am not shooting or getting rid of the dog. I am not getting rid of my chickens I do need some advice dealing with my DS full breed husky we got from the animal shelter she was 8 months old. She has killed 2 of my chickens so we have been very careful to keep the chickens and dog apart. Some how she did get into my new coop where I had my 5 new chicks growing out she killed all 5 . I was wondering if I changed her food to something like Touch of the wild or something similar if it would maybe satisfy some of her prey drive. I know training is a big part which we are working on. Does any one think this will work. Thank you for any help you can offer.

 

[miss_thenorth]

You can teach you dog to not chase chickens (or whatever for that matter) I have a hunting dog and a rottweiler who let my chickens walk (literally) on them. There are many threads on this forum about it. It is called submission training. I don't have time right now to post the technique, but if you can't find it, pm me and I can ehlp you later on.

 

[RiverOtter]

To answer your question, no, there is no dog food that will decrease prey drive.
Dogs do not chase and kill because of a nutritional deficiency any more then alcoholics drink because they're thirsty.

The only thing that will help is training, exercise and separation (fencing) And honestly, with a husky, separation is going to be your most important one.

 

[mamaKate]

Taste of the Wild is good dog food but it won't affect prey drive. Training is your answer. One of my dogs went into a vibrating frenzy when he was first introduced to my birds. He was a rescue and I got the clear impression that he had seen chickens before. I can now tether him while the birds free range and he lets my little D'Uccle wander around him in the house. Do I trust him? No. If he were allowed too much freedom and unsupervised activity, his old habits would come back. However we did teach (not train ) a rescued wolf that my chickens were off limits. I did trust her. You sound pretty dedicated so I'm sure you'ill work it out.

 

[MetalSmitten]

it's a great food, and the extra protein will help her feel full and nutritionally satisfied. i'd recommend doing it anyway just for the health of the dog. but as far as stopping the prey drive? probably not. unless you're feeding her horrible food right now and she's immediately eating the chickens she kills? otherwise though, it's just instinct, and will need to be either trained out or unfortunately the dog will just need to be kept totally separate from the chickens.

 

[xchairity_casex]

there has been studies to suggest that dog foods with high protien can cause more aggressive tendencies an excitablitiy so talk to you vet about the protien content in your dogs food BUT donot expect it to be a cure you really do need to start a trining regimine

 

[Akane]

No. Even feeding raw chicken has no impact on whether they go after chickens. The only way to control prey drive is to keep the dog confined except while supervised and under control (leashed if necessary) when supervised. Every time a dog gets to chase and especially injure/kill something it reinforces the prey drive and means you have to reprimand an extra dozen to hundred times from what you would have if you prevented the incident. Our dogs do not leave their yard off leash except occasionally with my akita who then wears an electronic collar just in case. We still lost chickens every now and then when they wander within range of the dogs' ropes while tied out in the main part of the yard or fly over the dog yard fence but when I got high prey drive, hunting breeds who are known for poor listening skills and recalls I knew those would be the risks. The dogs are worth more than a few chickens even if one of those happened to be my very small serama roo.

Now that we have rabbits the rabbits are in horse stalls and then some are in cages while others are on the floor colony style. There are no cages out where the dogs can reach them. In the house the rabbits, birds, and sugar gliders have their own room that we put a screen door on so it can be closed 24/7 with the regular door closed at night and the dogs are still crated when we are gone. That's just the life of having high prey drive dogs and small animals.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Not at all. If anything, a better quality food will give her more energy which could increase her prey drive. Huskies and other northern breeds are high drive dogs. Period. No amount of training is going to change her instinct to chase and kill small animals. Many huskies can't even live with cats or small dogs because their drive to hunt is so strong that they will kill them. It doesn't mean that they're aggressive, or bad dogs, it's just the nature of the beast. Roosters gotta crow, fish gotta swim, huskies gotta chase and kill small animals. They are bar none the last breed I would ever recommend to someone who has livestock or poultry unless that person is willing to keep the dog leashed or fenced away from their stock at all times.

 

[miss_thenorth]

There IS a way to train your dog to not chase and kill chickens. You do not have to keep it leashed or separated. It is all about the place in the pack. Please do NOT think that just because your dog is a certain breed, that it can not be trained. It can .Changing its food wil not have an affect, but submissive training will. For anybody and their dog.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

I would highly suggest training because the change in diet probably won't help. However that said. I have notived Huskies do better healthwise on a high protien diet. Unlike a lot of dogs until recently the breed was fed a raw diet by the people who used them. My dog is half husky and he NEEDS the high protien diet or he loses weight like crazy.

Good luck on finding the right training method.