This dog

[CochinBrahmaLover]

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[Joanmcm]

She is cute even with the circumstances. Bet with that drive she is amazing playing fetch or at agility or something a bit more constructive.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Not really, she just kills then eats them. She doesn't like playing much unless its with the other pup (who is a darling, he herds the ducks / geese but never killed them and doesn't have that much of a drive to grab at them)

 

[Daddas1Punkin]

It's not her fault! I have to say, you need to get a trainer in there, and keep a fence between her and anything you don't want her to get into. Again, she's just a puppy, and that is her natural instinct to hunt/kill.


Prey drive is the instinctive inclination of a carnivore to pursue and capture prey, chiefly used to describe habits in dog training.
In dog training, prey drive can be used as an advantage because dogs with strong prey drive are also willing to pursue moving objects such as toys, which can then be used to encourage certain kinds of behavior, such as that of greyhound racing or the speed required in dog agility.[2] The prey drive can be an important component of pet dog training, obedience training and schutzhund as well.[3] Games such as fetch and tug-of-war can be an effective motivator and reward for learning.
In all predators the prey drive follows an inevitable sequence: orient, eye, stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect.[4] In wolves, the prey drive is complete and balanced.[citation needed] In different breeds of dog certain of these five steps have been amplified or reduced by human-controlled selective breeding for various purposes. The search aspect of the prey drive, for example, is very valuable in detection dogs such as bloodhounds and beagles. The eye-stalk is a strong component of the behaviors used by herding dogs, who find herding its own reward. The chase is seen most clearly in racing dogs, while the grab-bite and kill-bite are valuable in the training of terriers. In many breeds of dog, prey drive is so strong that the chance to satisfy the drive is its own reward, and extrinsic reinforcers are not required to compel the dog to perform the behaviour.
Certain aspects of the prey drive can be a disadvantage in some dogs. In retrievers, for example, the dog is expected to chase prey and bring it back to the human hunter, but not bite or damage it. Herding dogs must exhibit the stalking and chasing aspects of prey drive, but should have strongly inhibited grab bite and kill bite stages to prevent them wounding stock. Bull Terriers such as the Staffordshire bull terrier have an amplified grab-bite as they were originally bred to bait bulls (restrain bulls by hanging onto their noses), but never needed to find or stalk the prey.
Levels of prey drive often vary substantially in different dogs. Narcotics detection dogs and search and rescue dogs must have enough prey drive to keep them searching for hours in the hope of finding their quarry (a find which is generally rewarded with a game of tug). Therefore, a dog with low drive does not make a successful detection or search dog, but a dog who is too high in prey drive may be unsuitable as a pet for a suburban home, as it may become bored and destructive when its high drive is not regularly satisfied.
Dogs are happiest and most balanced in overall behavior when their prey drive is properly stimulated and satisfied through play. Many professional dog trainers consider dog bite tug to be very effective training tool in prey drive and retrieve developing skills.

 

[Joanmcm]

Yep. Redirected she would be a great working dog and fun to train.

 

[fowl farm]

If she is killing and eating, it means that there's a purpose behind. She's not just "playing" with them and the killing by accident like most puppies might do. By doing what she's doing, she's saying "I control food, I own these chickens, I am boss." Yes, you need to redirect her energy, yes, dogs do have a prey drive, but so many people miss the point sometimes!
My dog did the same thing. I tried to to train a highly independent dog with love and treats. Oops. Clicker training is awesome, but for some it doesn't work. When my dog munched down on a live chicken, I switched up my training. Within three days Iona was content to lay by my side with the chickens around.

1) You need to make sure and enter through a door before your dog.
2) The pack leader controls food. Make sure she is calm and obedient before giving her food and don't let her touch it before you tell her too.
3) Exercise, exercise, exercise! Throwing a frisbee is great, but walk her on leash by the road. Don't let her walk in front of you, as that is the head position.

You'll have to work really hard, and do a lot more than this to make her a livestock guardian, but these three things, practiced every day, everywhere, will make further training much easier.

On a side note, I know many people object to "Pack Leader" or "Head Dog" and say that they are just a person their dog respects. Whatever you wish to call it, that is how you gain respect.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Many pups will go this route if they have access to small animals or birds. I don't ever, ever allow my ranch dog pups to have access to my birds, ever. They do accompany me daily on barn chores and get exposure to my birds and other animals every day but they are on a leash at all times until they have some maturity and training under their belt. It's a long term ongoing process.

This dog may be very hard to train at this point since she has gotten into this very nasty habit. I like my dogs to never experience chasing down, playing with and/or killing a bird or anything else. It just puts your training that much farther back.

I would either rehome this dog to some one with full disclosure of her background or get the services of a trainer to help you.

 

[Joanmcm]

A really good obedience trainer with up to date ideas would help. Instinct is instinct but the drives can serve alot of useful purposes (tracking, herding, etc) or directed to a 'hunt' sport for fun (agility, sch, etc.)

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Good advice on here. She's not a bad dog, but she's testing you and right now, she in charge. Cattle dogs are notorious for that. Ours still tests us every day and he's 12 years old. We started young training him around the chickens. He was not allowed to chase and we started on a leash. Now I trust him around the birds even when we are not at the barn with him. The worst he has done is run over a chick by accident because he wasn't watching where he was going.

I would go back to the beginning. Start with leash training. Get her to the point where she walks with you, by your side, and listens to every command. Then introduce distractions. Focus on the leave it command. Focus on getting her to sit and stay. Asking her to wait before you give her anything is a great training tool to show who is leader. Then, under great supervision, introduce birds through a fence, while you have her on lead. She should focus on YOU, not on the birds. From that point, it will just take a lot of time and patience and repetition. She's just a puppy, so you have time. You just have to be committed to training her to change!

 

[jesirose]

Honestly if you really don't like her anymore it might be time to rehome her.

One of my dogs accidentally killed one of my first chickens. We were really really mad and my husband wanted me to get rid of her, but I just love her too much even though she's our worst dog.
We worked on obedience and were able to keep her.

If I thought there was a chance she did it on purpose or she ever did it again, I would make sure there was no way she could get to the birds. If that meant the dog or the birds had to go...