The rough collie saga continues, any advice would be appreciated

[Sivory]

Hello,

I’ve posted here before about our rough collie pup attacking our chooks, to start with he would just choose the weakest one, and only pull her feathers out. Then I rehomed her, for her own safety because he would just single her out because all of the others fight him if he comes anywhere near them.
I literally spend 15 minutes dropping her off to my sister-in-law and by the time I got home he’d picked off another of my girls. Again, just pulling out her feathers but enough to scare her and me.
Then today, he caught another and he did some very serious damage. I think she will survive but she had deep teeth drag marks in her back and is very sore. I’ve treated it with warm salty water and antiseptic and she seems perky enough, but she’s inside in a box.

I am at my wits end. He knows he’s doing wrong, he knows not to touch them and he won’t while we are around, they eat from his food dish while we are around, he won’t even look at them, but as soon as we step inside the house it is a different story.

The girls all now have a separate pen and have for a few weeks, todays incident was because she broke out, but still, he knows to leave them. As soon as we open the door he runs away when he’s got a chook - because he knows he isn’t allowed to touch them.

I am to the point that I’m just lost. I’m considering a shock collar (which I am usually totally against) or rehoming the dog.

Can anyone give insight? Could it just be a lost cause. We got the Rough Collie because we were assured by multiple vets/breeders/forums etc that if there is going to be a breed that lives harmoniously with chickens, it will be the rough collie, but that has not been our experience

 

[The WinterWolf]

shock collars do not always work. i had a dog who would despite the shock collar, kill our chickens. rehoming is probably best, or training.

 

[Callender Girl]

Does your collie just run loose with the chickens? That would be a lot of temptation for him to resist, I think. He might leave them alone when they steal from his food dish, but I can't imagine he enjoys watching them take what is his.

And, just because a certain breed is "supposed" to get along with chickens, it doesn't mean every individual within that breed will. Possibly, if it's a young dog, he will outgrow his puppy tendencies. One of my rescue dogs was a year old when I got her, and she couldn't be trusted around the birds. Now, about a year and a half later, she has no interest in them at all.

I am adamantly opposed to shock collars. Positive training is better for the dog than punitive training.

If you can't find a way to physically keep him away from the chickens (either by protecting them or somehow restricting his ability to get to them), it might be better to find him a good home away from chickens.

I had a Great Pyrenees that had "lived with" chickens and goats, according to the previous owners. When I pressed them, they admitted that she had never been trained to guard critters. Although Pearl was a dear, sweet dog, when she came to live with me, I quickly discovered she would run and run and run the livestock and poultry. It was a big game for her.

My solution was to make my intended livestock guardian into a ginormous house dog. Having a giant, shedding, drooling dog in the house wasn't a perfect answer, but it kept everyone safe.

I hope you find a good solution for everybody.

 

[Silkie Princess]

I had a rough collie and he was amazing with the chickens. He only chased a chicken once (and caused her a permanent limp) but I just shouted at him and he didn't try again. Now I'm getting a female rough collie (because he passed away... ). I really hope she won't chase my chickens. Sorry no help

 

[SheaLoner]

Quick and easy solution would be to tie the dog up when you are gone. Dont give him the chance to catch anymore, and find a different training method.

 

[saysfaa]

He doesn't know he isn't allowed to touch them. He knows it is a lot of fun to "play" with them when people aren't around and that people will stop him from starting to play with them if they are around.

Dogs aren't very good at generalizing. If you teach him "sit" at training sessions in your living room, they don't know to "sit" when in the backyard. (Yes, we did that enough to see it before learning about this.) This is why puppy classes, books on obedience or socialization say to work in many settings and situations as a new concept is learned. Side note, if you teach a lot of tricks, you don't necessarily have to teach each new one in a lot of different places - if the dog has already leaned that sit, down, stay, shake, wait, spin, crawl, and roll are the same everywhere, it isn't much different to accept that bow is the same everywhere also.

I'm sorry not to be specific help. I don't know your best option. I think I would not allow any opportunity for the dog to chase the chickens for several weeks, then start allowing mild temptation in easily controlled situations (mild meaning distance, probably, or while the dog was doing something more interesting), then slowly work at increasing exposure/opportunity/temptation by building on success and backing off a few steps when not entirely successful.

Edit to add: I didn't realize he is 14 weeks old. I guess it doesn't change much other than expect it to take longer than even the long time indicated. And expect him to "get" things, then forget them as he moves on the learning other things. You will see this with "sit" too, probably most things. It is part of development; he will relearn faster than he learned it the first time.

 

[NatJ]

they eat from his food dish while we are around, he won’t even look at them, but as soon as we step inside the house it is a different story.

If he behaves properly (leaves chickens alone) when you are around, but not when you are in the house, I would not leave him with the chickens. If you go in the house, the dog goes in too. Or the chickens go in a safe pen. Or the dog goes in a pen. Or the dog is tied up. One way or another, I would make sure he can NOT get the chickens when you are not watching.

If you want to try to teach him to leave chickens alone when you are not present, you will have to spend a lot of time working with situations when the dog THINKS you are not present. For example, you might go in the house but watch through the window. But it may not ever work, and it is certainly difficult-- the dog will get better and better at recognizing what kind of setups let you see him so you can come correct him anyway.

A shock collar might help (you can watch out the window and shock the dog when he goes for a chicken), but then again it might not work. From what I've read, shock collars only work in some cases, with most of the difference being in how the person uses it, and a little bit of the difference being in the dog. I strongly considered using one at a point in the past, but after a lot of research I decided I would probably not be consistent enough to do it right. So I've never actually used a shock collar.

Edit to add: how old is this pup? My suggestions were assuming 6+ months old.
If he is much younger than that, just focus on training him when you are present, and keeping him safely away from the chickens when you are not present. In a pen adjacent to the chickens might be good practice for him, but direct unsupervised access is a long way in the future if you want to avoid problems!

 

[cmom]

He is a pup and ongoing positive training is needed. He will eventually catch on but it will take quite awhile. Rewards and praise for good behavior and none for bad behavior. Most are trainable and want to please. I had a Walker Hound and she was very good around the birds. I never had to worry about her. In the beginning she was a constant barker and she stopped that too. I wouldn't leave the puppy's food out where the birds can get it. He needs his personal space too. Good luck...

 

[Geena]

Do not use an e-collar on a 14 week old puppy. You are expecting way too much, too soon, out of this pup. Although he may know that going after the chickens displeases you, he's still a baby and doesn't yet have the capacity to control himself when presented with that opportunity. It's up to you to make sure that he doesn't have unfettered access to them, not even for a minute.

No dog of any breed is born knowing what to do or not to do and all puppies need to be guided and trained to understand what it is you expect of them. Honestly, seeing how you've only had him for a few weeks and are already at your wit's end and believe him to be a lost cause, it would probably be best for both of you if you rehomed him. Training a dog can take a lot of time and patience and understandably not everyone is up to that task. You'd have at least another year, or two, of training before he could be fully trusted around your chickens, and maybe never. I'm sorry, I know that's not what you were hoping for when you got the pup, but that's reality.

 

[SheaLoner]

The pup is only 14 wks? Absolutely DO NOT leave him alone with out being tied or contained. Hes a pup. Almost no dog under 2 years can be trusted by themselves in Any situation.

Keep up the positive training, and do not leave the pup alone in a situation guarenteed to fail or you will ruin him.