Squeaky toy=chicken? Muzzle training coming soon!!

[agnes_day]

what i did to break my animals from messing with the chickens was to put them in a cage..wrap chicken wire around it as a sort of shield..then i went back inside by a window and waited. as soon as they would approach the cage, i would run outside, banging on pots and pans and yelling no at them until they realized that i was going to do that every time they even thought about going near them. im sure my neighbors thought i was nuts but it worked great!

 

[BeardedChick]

Big

I know exactly how you feel and can understand what you are trying to do. I spent a lot of time working with my dogs around poultry. They are perfectly behaved when I am there.

I believe that if they are smart enough to learn to behave when I am not there since they clearly know the difference.

And I don't believe at all that dogs can't know when they did something bad in the past. For a few years, when our Ridgeback did something bad (usually stole food) I would make her lay in the bathroom by herself as punishment. After a while, I would come home and find her laying in the bathroom and then have to go figure out what she did that she thought was naughty. SHE KNEW darned well when she had done something she wasn't supposed to & she just resigned herself to laying in the bathroom.

So, I wish you luck whether this works out for you or not.

 

[bluedawg]

boy am I lucky, I have a shepherd mix and she is 100 percent trustworthy with the chickens, she has been from the start. I've even been amazed as she chews a rawhide bone and the chickens come over to investigate. She just looks at me like "really?" My sister has Jack Russels and managed to train them not to chase and kill her chickens. But she is home all the time with the dogs and able to keep a constant eye on everyone.

 

[thecochincoop]

Quote:
This is the best method. I have done a LOT of training with my dog. He will make every attempt to avoid the chickens. I would NEVER let them together unsupervised though. They know when you are watching. You also should never have your dog loose unless it is trained for being off lead and you are supervising. Even the best trained dog knows when they can't be corrected. A prong collar is a very effective method when used properly. That is what I use and it is amazing. Do your training with the prong collar and when there is an undesirable behavior give a correction.

 

[rebecca10782]

I just though of an episode of The Dog Wisperer where Ceaser is trying to train a dog not to go after the chickens. All of the sudden the dog lunges at the chicken on his lap and it goes flying and lays an egg right there

Poor girl

 

[redhen]

Quote:
aww!..dont let some people get you upset!...

...sometimes they cant understand accidents can happen...at least you are not saying to shoot the dog and other such nonsense..

....i feel so bad for you!...i do know that my Pe'pe used to tie the chickens around the culprit dogs neck..they swore it worked...

,,but, i honestly have no idea if it really does work or not..sorry......i honestly dont think you will ever be able to trust the dog with your birds..but, you may be able to de-sensitize him to the birds somewhat (Like another person said here), by exposing him in small incriments safely to the birds... how did Ceaser do it?..i cant remember...i saw the show though....best of luck! and you have cute doggies!..

..., Wendy

 

[rebecca10782]

You never know with the breed though. When we brought our 2 year old Golden Retriever home from the rescue home, the first thing he did was chase down our poor kitty and had her in his mouth. Luckily he has a soft mouth, so he didn't hurt her

 

[redhen]

i dont think my dogs would kill to eat the birds...but they would definatley chase them and trample them to death...i've been VERY lucky with mine....

..

 

[GaDawg]

Sorry to hear this happen, it happen to me also. I have an Australian Shepherd and she killed 2 of our chickens while they were outside their pen. Well, for three months every time we let the chickens out we put her on a chain first. Hated to do it but didn't know what else to do. Some days she spent several hours chained up but now we don't chain her up any more and we can even leave and she will not bother them. The chickens mostly range in the back yard and when she sees them coming she goes to the front porch and stays there. I really don't think she will bother them again.
Maybe this will help.

 

[LyonFuzz]

I'm sorry you're in this situation I'm lucky that my 2 dobermans are very good with the birds....but that was not always the case. It took one of the chickens to teach the problem dobe a lesson. It was a silky hen actually, that had a chick with her. When the dog showed too much interest in her, she turned and flew right up in the dog's face and gave her the scare of her life! Now she won't even look at them LOL! DObermans by nature want to protect what is theirs or their family, and as long as they view the chickens as something to be protected and not eaten, we all get along. I know that most agree that positive reinforcement is best for training, but maybe your dog just needs a little negative experience with the birds to learn a lesson.