Training dogs and cats to leave chickens alone

[dangerouschicken]

My landlord is a pet vet and uses electric collars on all his dogs (and they are rescue dogs). He says it is the only way they will ever truly understand an absolute no no. I suppose it's like pigs and electric fencing.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
YES , once they get the taste of blood , LOOK OUT

 

[miss_thenorth]

http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/1/DogVideo

I used this technique with my dogs before I even knew who Cesar Milan was. the chickens now literally walk all over my dogs

Cats will learn to respect the chickens beak, when the chickens are big enough. if you have any questions about this type of submisssion training for the dogs, please feel free to pm me. Its all about their place in the pack. Dogs always need to be at the bottom of the pack hierarchy .Chickens are above dogs in the pack. Dogs will always try to move up in their "poll position" so therefore, yoush ould still never trust them completely.

As far as shock training, it will only work when you are there to press the button. Dogs figure out these things veryquickly. I wouldn;t rely on this method, personally.

 

[Solsken Farm]

We rescued a spaniel 12 years ago. She was precious at the SPCA and for the first week. Smartie pants. She turned into the most aggressive, non-compliant brat who fear bit. We decided if we took her back she would probably be euthanized. She chased and bit our cats, our sweet one year old spaniel and would bite us if we touched her the wrong way. It was evident she was terribly abused. She flinched if you raised your hand and was incredibly frightened of sticks. Someone did a number on her head (and body

)

We took her to a reputable dog trainer. He took her on the lead and within moments said, "This dog is trainable." He was right. We agreed to let him do what he needed to. He used the shock collar once on her. It was so sad to see. She was running away and would not come back. He zapped her and had us call her. She stopped, yelped and ran to us for "protection". That day changed her life and ours.

She has been a challenge at times, but today she is still with us. She is obedient and has yet to show any aggression towards our chickens. I would NEVER leave her unattended.

I realize that every animal and situation is unique. We have ultimately felt that single moment with the shock collar saved Lily's life. Even though she had "PTSD", it was worth it for us to be able to have some control over her.

As ravens said, of course it is an highly individual choice. For me, a few moments of deterent, how ever unpleasant for the pooch and used responsibly, far outweighs potential damage of going after your flock.

JMHO.

Good luck!

 

[Beekissed]

My sister has dogs who know not to do the undesirable behavior as long as the shock collar is on. So, they wait and wait to get an opportunity to "catch them in the act." She also has a few who know that they can get by with anything if noone is around to activate the shock collar. Smart, but sneaky, dogs. I once had a dog who would sit by our invisible fencing line and let his receiver beep a warning until the battery died and then he would nonchalantly stroll out of the boundary. Electric shock works well for some dogs, not so well for others.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
This has ben my experience also. My one dog is a yapper, which was not desirable when we lived in the city. Hence the bark collar. That was a waste of money!!!!

 

[corancher]

I allow my poultry to free range during summer and rotate them the rest of the time. We had to train the dogs not to mess with the poultry. It took a lot of time with them being with me and the poultry. They were not allowed with the poultry at first without supervision. They were on leashes at first and we sat with the poultry walking around us. If the dog lunged at the poultry, he/she was pulled back with a firm no. They now see all the poultry(ducks, chickens, guineas, turkeys, geese) as they are allowed and protect them. I lost one chick to one of the dog while training and have not lost any since to my dogs.

I also have cats and training them is another story. I keep my chick area cat proof since if the cats get a chance they will kill the chicks. Once the chicks are 4 months or so old the cats pay no attention to them. I have one cat that her favorite place is in the chicken coops where she hangs out to catch mice. I have had cats sitting in the egg nest with the hens. If I have a broody that hatches babies then the mothers just give the cats a couple of good pecks and the cats stay clear.

Maybe I have been real lucky but I do believe you can find a balance between the animals. Just got two Great Pyrenees puppies as livestock guardians so we are starting to train them. Just so you know it takes time and it doesn't happen overnight. I personally would not use a shock collar but others have good results with them. Good luck.

 

[JennsPeeps]

One thing for sure , Dogs and cats with or around chickens DO NOT MIX WELL .

Our cats don't bother the chickens at all. They leave them the heck alone. In fact...

On the other hand, my next door neighbor's wolf hybrid dog has been watching the chickens like a hawk. I'm thinking about getting her an electric collar to help protect my chickens.​

 

[ole-crone]

We are so lucky. We have two small dogs and 6 cats. The only chickens they can get to are the 'teens' (hatched in May) and the youngsters if they climb under the chicken yard gate (hatched in June). Our back door is left open all day and sometimes night so the animals can come and go at will. The chickens don't come in the house and the dogs and cats ignore the chickens. We've never done anything to train anyone. It just happened. Our chihuahua will occasionally give chase if someone scares him (he's old and deaf so a baby chick can sneak up on him). I'm really impressed that our youngest cat which is a spitfire hasn't bothered any of the baby chicks or ducks but loves to spend hours in the chicken yard hunting mice. None of the animals give them a second glance. That doesn't mean that I don't keep an eye on things off and on.

As I said - I realize that we are so lucky.

 

[Akane]

I wasn't gonna post on this thread cause I've posted elsewhere how I train my dog and I'm kinda tired of doing the long posts describing my training but she just did something interesting. My chicks are 36hrs old now and sitting in an aquarium just above the height of her head. She's been trying to look at them and wondering what those noises were. Tonight I lifted one out and let her see it for the first time. She has now decided these are pets and they are to be protected so when the cat (who thinks they look like a good meal) headed toward the chicks she barked and knocked the cat sideways away from them. Not injuring it but making it clear the cat was not to touch them. She does the same thing when the cat goes near the gerbils or in to the bedroom.

Is my dog a little companion breed that was bred to get along with pets? Nope. She's an akita. The largest of the japanese guard dogs, once used to hunt bear, with insane prey drives. These guys will zone in on anything and chase it down. She's killed rabbits and this week has brought me 3 of her kills. Mostly rabbits and the occasional chipmunk. But she won't touch something that has been declared a pet. Not that I'd leave her unsupervised with loose prey animals but she helps me move the guinea pigs to and from their outdoor pen, sniffs them, licks them, and guards them while they are outside.

For wildlife and to keep her from wandering I do use a remote collar but the downsides of these have been mentioned already. They should be more of a backup to other training so the dog isn't just forced not to chase the animal but doesn't want to harm it. She wouldn't chase cats even before I started using the collar. What we really rely on is just teaching her proper manners around other animals. That really comes down to the attitude of the owner. The dog will pick up cues from you on how to handle another animals. I introduce her to all new animals while handling them gently and telling her to be nice to them. "nice" has become a command to mean that's a pet that needs protected not harmed. She is never allowed to chase even in fun and I have spent 24hrs tied to her before to keep her from having a chance to chase the cats. I was worried we might have problems with chickens when they go outside but she is already setting herself up as their protector.