training a dog to leave chickens alone

[cosmo1104]

Quote:

Originally Posted by heatherincanyon


We have 2 chihuahuas and we have never had any problems with them mingling. Our back yard is cross fenced to separate but the chicks fly over the fence and hang with the dogs all day. The dogs will chase them off the porch as the chicks eat ALL the dog food they can!! Good luck!



lol, my chihuahua will literally chase a Great Dane from the yard, but the chickens rule him! He controls the house including a 90# lab mix and a 95# boxer, but a chicken scares him straight! lol Here's my boxer in a stare down with a young chick! Guess who won? lol I'll give ya a hint, it weighed much under 90#s

 

[caa]

Maybe this will work for you. I worked one whole day on this with a 4 mo old dog. He was half pit and half rottweiler. I also used this on a part chow. part pit.
Put the dog on a leash and roll up a newspaper. now take the dog out and introduce the dog to the chickens. I just told my dog these were mine and I didn't want him to hurt them. Then walked him through the chickens and if he lunged at them I whipped him with the paper. Then we walked through the chickens again. If he showed any attention to them I whipped him again. Pretty soon he didn't even see those chickens. Then I turned him loose and watched him very close the rest of the day. No more trouble.
that was the chow, he was younger. When I first seen him chasing the chickens. I chained him up to a tree in the yard and left him for an hour or two. That made him very sad, then I did just did what I told you already.
The four mo. old dog. I never had to chain him or put him on a leash. I just told him they were mine and I expected him to keep them safe. I got the chicks very young and showed them to him several times before I let them out in the yard. The day I let them in the yard I spent the day. Every time he went near them I spanked him with a paper. By the end of the day if he was walking in the yard and he seen them coming toward him. He turned and went the other way. The only time he killed a chicken was when he was eating some meat and the chicken tried to get it. I think he was very sorry about it. He was protecting his food.

 

[teacake]

hello - well, it's not just any dog, it's an aussie. i have two myself and 9 chickens. anytime a mistake happens and they are together, all hell breaks loose and there are dogs with feathers in their mouths. they've never killed or hurt any yet, which is just luck. i'm not sure there is any true way to achieve what you want. you could try tethering her somewhere, or leashing her, let the chickens out. put a vibrating collar on her. when she goes for the chickens give her a zap - it's not an electric shock, just a vibration. it may jolt her out of her original intention. i would repeat this over and over (the connection must be made clear to her - chicken=zap) before you ever try to have them together loose. i am resigned to the fact that my chickens and dogs are always separated.

tina
2 aussies
9 chickens
2 guinea pigs

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Hello:
This is a special topic for myself. I am afraid to say that many a dog has lost their life on my farm. I do not tolerate an intruding dog on my property.
I give a dog ONE chance at leaving and not coming back. If I see it again and it chases my stock I do my best to solve the problem.
We have Woven wire around most of the property, so an intruding dog is really trying.
One thing I have learned is that certain breeds of dogs are good with chickens and Guinea Fowl.
I had a Corgi that was wonderful with my chickens. She even brought me a day old chick that had lost
its way back to its Hen.
She came up to the house with this tiny thing in her mouth and laid it down in the mud room.
Wet but doing well, we took the chick back up to the barn and put it under a willing hen.

We recently bought a Burnese Mountain Dog. He is a pup and is more interested in being a pup.
When he chases the Guinea I tell him NO, Leave It and/or I go and grab him by the collar and put him
in his pen for the rest of the day.
He never knows when he gets put in the pen so a No and Leave It are starting to get his attention.
Puppies are well, Puppies. Inflicting pain will get you nowhere except maybe a confused and
possibly dangerous animal.
The chickens are behind an 7 foot pen of 2x4 heavy steel panels.
I do let a few chickens out to free range. But, they are wilder than a March Hare
and just plain mean. They do not play well with the layer hens or their Roosters.
My biggest concern are the Guineas. Although they do alert and tend to fly into
nearby trees, they can be caught by a focused dog.
My layers seen to be very happy with their large and protected run.
The two roosters in with them are gentle giants and I have gotten
some nice chicks out of the bunch during broody season.
My experience has led me to protecting my layer hens and doing basic
perhaps aggressive training on a breed of dog that does not have a
propensity to kill poultry.
Aussies (IMO) are aggressive and unpredictable. Great herding dogs, but my
experience with them has been negative when mixing in poultry.

When we lost our Corgi (old age) the varmits and wondering dogs started
to frequent the farm. I would much rather have a dog around than practice
my shooting skills.
We have a few cats, so I end up feeding a few coons along with them.
As long as peace is in place, I leave well enough alone.
I do believe a good trained dog is essential to this.

 

[HollieD]

So you guys seem to know...I have a Pyr that has been a fairly decent guardian for the chicks..she's pretty crippled now, and doing the best she can.

.I recently got a new pup...8 months old...part New Foundland/Giant Malamute....Last week, he got out with the Pyr...and killed one chicken, and I am now Mommy-ing another he got to today that we found in his mouth...pretty sure she'll live...I have the magic......

the puppy is young and is dying to play all the time, and I wonder if he bats at them, and then shakes them like his other toys inside...AND IF YOU THINK HIS HOUSE TOYS ARE AN ISSUE...THEY'RE GONE...think they are????

I'm a bit dim here folks...sorry...yes make fun, I'm sorta new at this....Ted-dog replaced my wonderful Zoe-dog (she didn't wake up one morning-15y/o)...she never hurt a chick (I have a house chick)...and so far Ted (rogue puppy)hasn't messed with Hannah (house chick)....Hannah house-chick doesn't move around quickly like the outside chicks. ???maybe???

Look chicken mavens...I have a few things here...youz guyz are the experts...tell me what I can do to fix it all...I have (quite literally) become the chicken savior...I have healed chickens taken down to the bone a few times...don't want to do it anymore...and learned to never name chickens...

...would be sad to send Teddy away..but perhaps the dog-wolf and chicken relationship won't happen....perhaps I need to find out what his job is...I don't want my chickies to endure what I thankfully did not see today...

Please help! Please! Lost 2 great guardian dogs this year...and don't know what do do with this new one...It's all making me a bit blue...

 

[bdfive]

I have 2 Miniature Australian Shepherd herding dogs that weigh about 35 lbs each. I kept them on a leash when around my peafowl and when they even looked at them I jerked the leash and said "NO". They learned the peafowl were to be ignored at all times. It didn't take long to train them. For a while when one would abruptly fly or rambunctiously move, the dogs might get excited but with my command they halted any pursuit. Bear and Chase are 3 years old now and I completely trust them with my peacocks and peahens. Little tiny chicks I'm not so sure about. I've not tested it. I'm afraid Bear may believe them to be an appetizer. I trapped and neutered/spayed 2 feral cats that have over time become tame and outdoor pets. They stalk the peafowl but never attack. It's fun and a treat to see my dogs, cats and birds interacting together. Unfortunately I can't let the peahens raise their peachicks in the wild anymore due the the cats.

 

[lilithbunny]

So, I'm not a chicken expert, but I do train a lot of dogs, including my own dog proper behavior around chickens. My advice is to do a little research into the methods used by hunters to break their dogs off chasing prey and "trash" (other wild animals). It's quite possible to train a dog to work with livestock peacefully without teaching them to avoid the stock altogether. (Quick note: High kill-drive dogs may not ever be safe around chickens, so know your dog's primary drives. It's still worth it to train such dogs, though, since a gate is only as strong as the last person to forget to close it.)

Aversion Training
In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth everything. A strong aversive delivered at the first opportunity and consistently thereafter will effectively hard-wire the dog against bad behavior. The strength of the aversive is directly correlated to durability of learning, so this is not the time and place to get squeamish about aversive training. You're going to need something stronger than a stern look. After all, it only takes one run-in with poison-ivy for anyone to learn to watch out for it.

You're trying to teach the same principle here: chickens are fine, but if the dog engages in an inappropriate behavior, it'll "sting" -any humane method that produces a strong startle response from the dog can work. It's important to note that a good startle is a stronger deterrent than pain, so you're looking to deliver a strange, sudden and unpleasant sensation.

-My personal preference is an e-collar, since I can tune the zap to be exactly strong enough and the training is far faster. However, e-collars are good tools only in the hands of folks with solid understanding of training principles. If used incorrectly, an e-collar is at best self-defeating, and at worst opens up a lazy avenue for cruelty. I use a Dogtra collar with widely adjustable settings and a vibration mode -which is infinitely useful out in the wilderness as a recall cue when my dog is out of earshot.

-Noisemakers like a throw chain or air horn can be used, but are only effective with dogs that remain noise-sensitive while in prey drive.

-A longe-line attached to something strong is also a popular method, but MPO is they can be dangerous to people and other animals who can get tripped and there's the possibility the dog could hurt itself when it's running at top speed and the line goes taut. However, the longe-line method can be effective for "hard-necked" dogs like many pitties, who have been bred specifically to be insensitive to neck pain while in drive. (The goal is not the pull on the neck, but to yank the dog off its feet, which is startling.)

-There are collars that deliver a high-pitched tone or a spritz of citronella that are supposed to be more humane than shock collars, but I wouldn't use them. The sound-based collars aren't aversive enough to many dogs while in drive. The scent-based aversion is too slow and dogs either don't care about the citronella, or hate it so much the poor dog is pained and miserable until you can wash it off.

-I've heard from friends that hot-wiring a dead chicken to an electric fence can work well with dogs that are out to eat chickens, not just play with them.

-You could also use a hose, but that has the disadvantage of being associated with you not the chickens. Clever and stubborn dogs will think their way around it.

The really important thing is that the aversive is timed to first go off when the dog performs the behavior you've decided you don't want, be it chasing a chicken or even just fixating on the chickens. Decide beforehand what you aren't going to allow and be absolutely consistent with delivering the aversive...every...single...time the behavior occurs (be vigilant!). It's key that the aversive is strong enough to stop the dog immediately and that the dog associates the aversive with the chicken, and not you. The most common mistake people make is to start with too-weak an aversive. While you're figuring out how to ramp up the aversive high enough to stop the dog, your dog is developing a self-rewarding habit of chicken worrying.


Pair Aversion with Positive Reward Training for Good Behavior
While a few, well-timed strong aversives can be enough to train your dog not to worry the livestock, it won't teach your dog what it is supposed to do. Use positive training to teach the dog to remain calm and controlled around the chickens. Practicing down-stays around the chickens helps develop impulse control. Don't ask more of your dog than you think it's 90% capable of doing and use lots of treats and praise.

--As for dogs associating good behavior only when there are treats around, that's a super easy fix. Once a dog has learned a behavior, switch from treating all the time to treating on a random schedule with a small "jackpot" of a number of treats or a high value treat like a piece of cheese. Gradually increase the number of repetitions (or duration for behaviors like "stay") before giving a jackpot. The motivation to "gamble" is much stronger than a consistent reward and it an excellent way to get dogs to commit to good behavior long-term.

 

[kyexotics]

Day 1 of training collar...Now that I have one, I'm not calling it a shock collar as that is only 1 of 4 options and so far, I've only had to use it twice...

First thing you need to do when using any collar like this is to practice using it and making mistakes before putting it on dog to avoid possibly zapping him during a good behavior and causing confusion...So, practice until you feel proficient enough to use it without looking at it, but of course, you will look at it, but practice to the point you don't need to...Only took about 10-15mins and that was with breaks...Second, unless you have a heart issue, you need to experience all 4 options at their highest settings before subjecting your dog to it...No way would I feel right not knowing what I was subjecting him to...So, first I put the collar around my thigh figuring it was most meat but I couldn't do it LOLOL Again, if I couldn't do it, how could I ask my buddy to take it? So, I laid it on my arm so I could just flinch and it would fall off and lose contact...I put it on 100, highest setting, and when I hit the button it felt like 2 knitting needles being driven thru my forearm...I was amazed at how hard that hit and knew I'd never subject him to that under any circumstance...After a few more shots I decided 70 was the highest I would ever use and that would be the extreme...

Our biggest problem is jumping over the fence, unless we go 8', it won't stop him, we have 4' and 6' and he can climb and jump both...And if he can't go over, he'll go under it by pushing it out, he's like a mini lineman at 70-80lbs and loaded with cocky puppy strength and courage...

First, I let him loose and we just walked around the yard for a bit letting him get his pent up energy out, then I left him alone...The only animals he had direct access to were the ducks as they roam inside the main fence, all chickens are in runs, but some would be nothing for him to enter...He ran at them once but only thru them hoping they'd play with him, they want nothing to do with him LOL Then he went to the fence and stood up leaning on it, I then hit the "beep" feature, which makes an audible sound from the collar...This was enough to distract him and kinda scared him(weird, ti's only sound)...he then came to the main gate and just sat there overlooking the flock...Like Ralph, the guarding sheepdog in the old cartoons!..This worked 2 more times, then he actually never touched the fence the rest of the day, no vibration or shock needed so far...

After a while, he couldn't help himself and charged the muscovies, before he could get to them i hit him with a shock and it stopped him in his tracks...One thing he was learning is this new collar has some "extras"...He didn't like the shock at all and the rest of the day, never charged the ducks, actually walked around them and they walked around him without so much as a flinch...But he's a puppy, I'm sure his memory is as long as mine was when I was a rambunctious youngin' so he went back on chain for the night after no more than a couple of more beeps to distract him...I don't think any of these things stop him more than they distract him for just long enough and over time will realize the behavior causing the discomfort and avoid it, he already knows what he's not suppose to do and why he's on the chain...He's smart, I don't see it taking too long...As you can see, I'm optimistic after day one...We'll see...

 

[nzpouter]

I really can't understand the difficulty in training a dog to leave chickens alone... This is how our dogs and all we foster live in our place, never had any dog that took longer than a week to train to leave the poultry alone...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204122004425351

 

[kyexotics]

Ours leaves the chickens alone, he leaves the yard, that's the problem...