tips for introducing your dog to chickens?

[abby1371]

alright so I've heard from a few of my friends that with dogs they will either eat/ kill the chickens or be fine with them when you have a dog with the chickens. So far my family hasn't introduced the baby chicks to the dog yet (not unless you count my sister holding a chick and my dog hearing a chirping noise and him running across the room because of it), any tips you can give me for him not to kill the chicks.

 

[VAsweetchicks]

We've got a 'boxador'...she was a very active 2yr old when we got our new chicks. We would put her in a lay-down command and have her stay...then allow the chicks to sit ON her, next to her and let them investigate her while we were with her, reassuring her what a good girl she was. She accepted them as her little 'friends'...biggest problem we had was her following around and licking their chickenbutts! Lol she has never hurt a single one, even after being pecked in the head and face as they got older! She'll occasionally do a 'run-by' just to scatter them when they're out...but has never attempted to be anything but gentle with them.

 

[centrarchid]

I genreally only introduce dogs to chicks after process completed with adult chickens first. As birds mature they provide different stimuli to dog that are oftn harder to manage relative to adult chickens.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Depending on how well trained your dog is its not all the difficult....

One of the best things you can do is teach your dog the "mine" command. I don't think people use it nearly enough.

Teach the dog that anything that's yours is off limits by calling it mine, if they have it or go near it they get in trouble. Once the dog learns the command you can call the baby's "mine" if you do it right the dog won't bother them.

When I introduced my dog to chickens she knew that command and it helped immensely. I also used a training collar when she was outside and I was inside watching, if she got too close for my liking I hit the button. She understood very fast they were off-limits and were mine, after that she actually started looking out for them.

You can train any decent dog that command in a day or two


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[VAsweetchicks]

Depending on how well trained your dog is its not all the difficult....

One of the best things you can do is teach your dog the "mine" command. I don't think people use it nearly enough.

Teach the dog that anything that's yours is off limits by calling it mine, if they have it or go near it they get in trouble. Once the dog learns the command you can call the baby's "mine" if you do it right the dog won't bother them.

When I introduced my dog to chickens she knew that command and it helped immensely. I also used a training collar when she was outside and I was inside watching, if she got too close for my liking I hit the button. She understood very fast they were off-limits and were mine, after that she actually started looking out for them.

You can train any decent dog that command in a day or two


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[VAsweetchicks]

I like your ideas, also! Never thought to use her collar, but it makes perfect sense. I guess, instead of 'mine', we've just used 'leave it'...same idea & very effective. ...but the back-up with her collar, interesting idea! So far, she just lays outside with them and 'protects' them from squirrels and groundhogs! Lol

 

[nzpouter]

Let the dog comes to the chicks and sniff them, keep them on lead at all time.. a loud NO!! if he shows any wrong attention.... Never EVER pick up the chick and put it in front of your dog.

 

[Sirius452]

With my dog I didn't allow him to look directly at the chickens at first. I used "Leave it" and "Look at me" to do that, with food to make sure he would do it promptly since he will do anything for food. A leash is helpful to ensure the chickens are safe too. I would go about my work in the yard doing this, eventually just calling him away when he got too close or too focused on them. Now, I don't even think about it anymore. Young chicks are a real temptation for even the least prey driven dog though, they move so fast and squeak loudly.

 

[BlessedCountry6]

I have a deaf Aussie and a very driven German shepherd with a big prey drive (he is also still under 2). I use a training collar with both my dogs and have had great success. I do not let mt GS near the babies. Their noises make him want to eat them. My Aussie is scared of all our other animals besides the bunny and the GS. I agree with waiting till they are older unless you have a dog who isn't kicked into gear with the prey drive. MY SIL has a lab and he just wants to sniff the babies but ignores the adult chickens. It all depends. I hope it goes smooth.

 

[goodb]

Just had an experience with my 2 dogs today. I let a bunch (20)of 6 week-olds out and run around for a bit. My Malinois just ran around trying to heard them and my fluff-butt shepherd mix just watched them run around. Neither had the desire to attack. I am blessed.