Smacking Dog w/chicken?

danielle82

A Good Egg
10 Years
Apr 27, 2009
1,569
9
163
Tonasket Wa
Today, somehow, my EE got out of the run. My beloved dog killed her. I have read on here about a controversial training method, where you tie the dog next to, but not close enough to get the body. Everytime you go outside you "smack" the dog with the body. My dog is used to being indoors, so this would invovle me bringing her crate outside for a few days and "winterizing" it a bit. Does this even work? I've always known she could be a problem for them if she were to ever get in with them, thus their coop and run is very very very dog secure. The only thing I can think is that the EE flew to the top (12 foot tall) where the run isn't covered and got out that way. So that will have to be fixed. I would like to make it so she ( my dog) dosn't even want to look at them (the chickens) again. Is this training method ever effective? What are the cons? Thanks
 
My dog got one of my chickens when it flew over the fence into the backyard. I heard that you should tie the dead chicken to the dog around the neck and let them live with it until it stinks really bad...I took the chicken by the feet, tied it onto the dog with twine and... 20 minutes later I looked out and there was my dog looking in the back door....and all that was left was the feet and the twine... he ate the whole chicken!! Everything but the feet....I wanted to "smack' him with the feet! I really don't think that really works... they are predator types after all....Maybe if mine had been raised up with chickens. I always think... it's a dog....that's a chicken...s'what happens....Good luck!
 
As tempting as it is neither smack him with or tie the chicken on the dog.If you have ever watched the Dog Whisperer work with dogs that kill small critters and that includes the famous dog Marley you have to make it clear You as the alpha pack leader do not want dead chickens! Get his book or rent the videos MArley killed chickens too!
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The smacking and chicken necklace are the old method. I have to agree with the new information out there that they dog would not make the connection with the chicken around his neck or the one you smack him with to the actual event of him/her killing the bird. Same with house training. If you don't catch them in the act don't bother rubbing their nose in it when you find it. I watched that episode with the chicken killing dog and for the life of me I can't remember what he did but it worked they had a follow up interview. Maybe he has a website and episode catalog. I think he is on Animal Planet.
 
Quote:
Sorry you lost the EE, they are great hens.

Time to make the coop and run very, very, very chicken secure. In my experience, it's a pretty rare dog who can be trained to resist the lure of a flapping, squawking bundle of feathers, so I just don't allow them to mix anymore. I would think that "smacking" the dog with the chicken's body would make the dog head shy without really teaching a lesson.

Hope you can work things out!
 
Okay Guys, Thanks! Once again BYC has proven to be a valuable tool to tap into peoples experiences and opinions. So it sounds like my original plan of just making sure they never got into contact is the way to go. I'm going to have my dh fix that high open spot tomorrow. Hopefully they don't ever escape again. It just had to be one of the sweetest chickens too. I don't blame the dog, I know she has strong herding instinct and a strong play drive. I just wish that chicken hadn't gotten out!
Thanks for the input
 
I have trained all three of my dogs to leave the chickens alone and they had killed in the past. They can be completely trusted now, but you not only have to train the dogs you have to train the chickens. A panicking chicken can trigger even the most docile dog, all my chickens mingle with my dogs and they never run from the dogs.
 
My dog, my baby, a German Shorthaired Pointer female named Charlie, got ahold of & killed (by snapping her neck - no visible damage) one of my Gold-Laced Wyandotte's yesterday. She was only 4.5 months old. Ugh. I was, and still am, devastated. We even worked with her by rubbing a few of the chickens on her while forcing her into a submissive position when the chickens were younger. She was doing really well until a few days ago. We noticed she was running along the fence beside them, etc. Then the Gold flew into the fenced dog area. End of story. We are in a huge hurry to get the top covered of our layers yard now for sure!! Hope to have it completed yet this weekend.

In the meantime, we buried poor Copper. None of us had the hearts to consider her as food. Funny. Who would have thought chickens would ever be thought of as family members?
 
I am new to chickens too, but here is what I did as I already have 4 dogs rangeing in size and age. First I ran an electric wire around the base of the coop and run, so every time my dogs nosed around the chickens they got a shock! Next I kept the dogs in while the chickens free ranged so as they could see them out the window , but not get to them , also I wanted them to get used the smell of chickens all over our acreage. Next I bought a cheap shock collar on ebay for 30 bucks and I took my dogs out one and a time around the free ranging chickens and gave them a quick shock anytime they got near the chickens. I didn't say no or anything as I wanted the dogs to think the chickens were shocking them! After another week when they started to ignore or avoid the chickens I took them out two at a time, one with shock collar one without, just in case, . AS they did well with that, I finally let them out all together, of course I was out supervising them sitting in a chair, with scratch all over around my chair so that the chickens came close to the dogs. Finally I have let them out with me inside, just watching through the window. It seems to have worked well so far. They pretty much ignore the chickens and seem to accept that they are part of the scenery! Some might think that using the shock collar was cruel, but I really only had to shock each dog a few times and they got the idea!
 
I know this is a controversial topic with some, but the training collars work. They do require some time and training (of course) but they learn to stop when they hear the beep so they will not be corrected (shocked).
 

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