Training a dog after it's killed several more than once? Possible?

[huckleberryfarm]

Just an update on poor Toby.... for part of the day, we've been putting his chain around the tree next to the chicken run. He has a very short lead on it so he can't chase anything. He's been sitting and watching the little chicks in the run, but not in any kind of threatening way. Just watching and looking and then he ignores them. My eight bigger birds have been free ranging near him and have even come right up to him a few times. So far, so good. We've been praising him repeatedly throughout. Hopefully he'll either lose interest and/or realize that these are animals that he cannot mess with. This is basically what worked with our cats and him. We've also been walking around with him on his leash where the chickens are free ranging and correcting him if he shows aggression. He's been pretty good so far. My lab just wanders around the chickens, ignoring them and goes over to hang out with Toby. We'll keep it up for a while longer and see how he does.

 

[cparian]

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[Mtn Cur]

No chicken expert or dog expert. But I do hunt and train my coondogs. And when I have a dog that is chasing, killing, or treeing something unwanted I shock them with a e collar (shock collar). I want the correction without the association of me being tied to it. Trust me it doesn't take long for them to figure out. And once they have learned their lesson, I put a dummy collar weighing about the same on them for a while.

If your dogs go near the run or coop and show any interest they get a nip. If they continue to show interest I would hold down the button for five sec. If they still persist to act interested I would screw them in the ground with a long full output shock. You can order or pick one up at a outdoors type store/ site. The top two imo would be sport dog and tritronics look them up and see if something might be in your price range. You can teach any dog what you don't like.

 

[valreegrl]

Positive reinforcement

It has been proven to work and have a lasting effect over punishment.

First start off a good distance away from the chickens with the dog leashed. Each time he looks at the chickens calmly, treat him. It is probably good
to use a clicker with this so you can mark the exact behavior with reward. Look up "charging the clicker" to get started.

Work up to moving closer to the chickens and reward calm behavior. If he goes to move towards them or any unwanted behavior, take him away immediately.

What you want is for his mind to associate chickens with reward. Eventually you should be able to have him laying next to the chickens and looking up at you for
a treat. You can even incorporate a ball or special game he likes. Each time he is calm around the chickens, play the game or throw the ball for him to chase. This is redirect and it works well for your working type dogs. They quickly associate the chickens with fun!

It will take a lot of time and effort...but in the end it will be worth it.

Unfortunately, punishment based training really only teaches the dog not to warn you of the bad behavior, hence avoiding the bad feeling. For instance, if you physically punish a dog for chasing a cat say, the dog will usually not display that behavior when you are within eye sight because they associate the punishment with you. But, once they cannot see you, game on. There isn't any motivation there for them not to do the behavior....and this is a must especially when trying to redirect instinct behavior.

Take yourself for instance.....say you were on a diet and your body was craving chocolate. If every time you went to eat a piece someone smacked you, you would figure out that if you didn't eat it you wouldn't get smacked. But, your body still craves that chocolate and eventually you would sneak it when no one was looking. Now, same instance, you were on a diet and craved chocolate but this time when you picked it up someone said, "You are beautiful in every way! Here, take this special diet chocolate, no calories and tastes exactly the same!" Much better, huh! No need to sneak around but you learned an alternative method.

 

[BloominOrchid]

Keep it up!!
Praise him for every little thing he does right!

Erin

 

[they'reHISchickens]

I suspect part of the problem is that your dog hasn't learned yet what a farm dog does. A farm dog recognizes that he protects your farm animals ( his job) and destroys the non-farm animals ( racoons, groundhogs, rats) With your move, he hasn't yet figured out what belongs where. Let him see you interacting, holding the chickens. Claim them as YOURS- so he knows to protect.
The last time I picked up a new rooster, I took Cleo along. Barney rode in the back seat in a cat carrier next to Cleo. Cleo knew MOM owns this new bird and brought it home, so it's hers now too. It belongs here.