Training/Teaching a dog about chickens

[CAjerseychick]

Of course it depends on the dog (its genetic drive, your relationship to it-- ie does it matter to the dog what you want?, etc)... but I can say that you can most certainly reform a chicken killing dog...
Not sure how much I want to go into it, its on some other threads.....
But our chicken killing giant schnauzer is now reliable with our free range flock (dogs and chickens are out on 2 acres) and the dogs have been a great deterrant against predators-- other than the dog, which killed 7 or 8 in the first 6 months..... nothing has gotten them (and we have predators- raccoons, fox, coyote, cougar, there is even a bear that has been out all week at the neighbors, but we have big, barking dogs)....
And, she LOVES killing. still catches the odd rodent or two.
Our current issue is goats. Not that she has killed any, but we are familiarizing her with them.... so will see how that goes.
All I can say is, it does take time, and perservarance on your part, and after about 6 months (it feels like FOREVER, and so tedious) it was like a switch turned OFF in my dog, she just is not excited by them in that way anymore (and she still likes to run along the fence and bark at bicycles and joggers going by, its what worries me about the goats we just got)...
While in the training period, I put a mini tire on her with a short chain, this slows her down, and also she has come to associate it with the consequence of chasing a forbidden animal....
(Leave it wasnt very practical, and she had shock collar on for a YEAR to imprint the recall.... I might have been tempted to try it for chickens, but daughter lost the charger and I never got around to replacing that part)...

PS its been well over a year since the last chicken assault so I feel she is safe around the chickens....in fact they are so bold if they catch sight of a dog eating from its bowl they will swarm the dog and try to drive it off to eat the chow!

 

[KrazyChromatics]

be very careful with shock collar training its all too easy to (as above mentioned) train the dog the significance of wearing the collar... once the connection is made, i doubt it can be undone completely...

You want the dog to wear the new collar for atleast 2 weeks before using it, by then the act of getting the new collar is faded in their minds.

Once you start using the collar, try to keep the remote in your pocket.

There are many ways to use the collar because different circumstances require different consequences.

When chasing/killing/stalking instincts are involved too many people yell "no" and other profanities getting very excited, sometimes running WITH the dog, you are now backup in the hunt! instead you want the dog to learn a respect of the victim, not have the person inflict the consequence... or so they think

set up a senerio (first basic obedience is a MUST you need 100% attentiveness without distractions before you can introduce the distraction) set up a little run with chicken wire, dont shock the dog until they have hit that fence, and do NOT start low, get a good collar with a powerful shock, i believe its better to make a single memorable moment in their lives where it really blows their minds. do NOT feel bad, control for face and body language and voice, simply walk away and call out a recall, when the dog comes back, praise as usual, and ignore what just happened, go about your business.

When it comes time and you will know when you start feeling comfortable with your dogs behavior. Introduce a free chicken, DO have a long leash incase you need to intervene but leave it very long and loose you dont want tension, tie a 15/20 ft line around your waste and just go about your routine, again if the dog takes off on the chase (try to create a good situation where you dont have to use the leash, so work close to the birds, you want to time it as close to catch as possible)

because you have herding stock, i suggest you find a herding dog trainer to help you change the kill to the herd. they eyeballing is part of your breed, you dont want to kill that, just the excited reaction of chase and kill... if you can re-route the chase to herd you and your dogs will be so much happier. teach them to WORK the birds and as they age they will get more refined and you shouldnt have to worry about them...

I have a pit that i broke from being a murderous chicken killer i can trust him completely now, but i also feed him raw and i breed chickens for him, so yes in my case its my fault that he has made the connection between dead/down bird to dinner, if we are holding birds he does get wide eyed and he needs sharp correction (i bark orders at him and he only gets one chance to obey and then ill chase him down and send him away) but he has not killed in over a year, now he does still follow the chickens and sniff, and you know what? those birds will turn on him and peck him in the face, i do not correct this because he hasnt actually done anything wrong, he does NOT chase birds, but will help us if we need to by being a decent wing man, theres not grabbing or over excited behavior, he stays at side or behind without being told. Once i was working in the garden and it was later, i heard a chicken give a worried "WUOK" i look over and theres 2 roos standing tall, Rilee perked up and went to investigate, i gave the find it command, ill be ******, he found a dead roo by the fence line, looked like a hawk/owl, got it early in day day or the day before. he MUST have known it was there the whole time, and although he sniffed and sniffed around he kept looking to me for approval. it surprised me that he didnt just dig in, he knows if its dead it fair game, but i do not usually feed him feathered birds, as he kinda sniffs the birds like hes checking their expiration date lol ... but if you do decide to feed raw chicken to your dog from your own flock dont do what i did and let them sit in on even one butcher... i did that before even deciding to feed him them, and i think thats where i went wrong. but so far hes only ever killed bantams, large birds are cats to him and are friends, bantams have attacked him *his first time killing was after a bantam roo went after him and he didnt kill it just knocked him around and he later died i think from a broken back after i had picked him up and scolded the bejesus outta him... mad was not the word.... it took him a long time to get back on my good side after that, there was 2 maybe 3 others in his murder career, one secession with the shock collar for eyeballing and hes been good, but because of how i did it i cant garentee he will never kill again

but he lets birds crawl around him and peck him and shows indifference, it helps my other dog is a small animal lover and is a great example for him. But Bud used to be a cat chaser/harmer, he stalked and chased birds and squirrels, took a very long time though, and sometimes has senior moments *hes 14* and he did chase a fawn through the property, but hes never chased a chicken and its been a good 9 years since hes chased a cat lol.... whats helped too is giving him something to chase, like we taught him to check out traps and alert us, he knows when the chickens alarm call there might be a fox to chase down. just gotta break him from going after deer and turkeys

but its hard cause he finds them when we arent around and cant stop what we cant see

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: He never knew I could see him when I shocked him, because I went back inside and watched out the window.

As far as he knew the CHICKEN did it.

Like I said, just TWO shocks cured him for life
For problem dogs, you can get dummy collars

The quickest way to train them is to leave them alone with the birds, so they have no clue you're watching.

They don't behave the same if you're there.

 

[chrissyr]

When we got our dogs I never fully trusted them until they were 21/2- 3 years old. They mature and learn it's not ok to get moms chickens. We have Aussies. One we had years ago killed a chicken and we were never able to stop her again. Our older dog came and "told" on her while she was doing it. He ran in and out to us until we followed him. Only to find the other dog chasing chickens.My youngest Aussie is now is 3, and she knows they're off limits. Once they kill them it's really hard to change their mind. I would give the shock collar a try. We had a lab once and we're NEVER able to convince him not to chase. I'm curious if other lab owners have had success

 

[peartreehens]

if it makes you feel any better (in a bizarre, karmic way), my 80 lb dog is terrified of my chickens. He sniffed them when they were tiny balls of fluff, and one pecked his nose, and now he won't go outside if they're in the yard. If I drag him over to the run (yes, drag), he stands there shaking and looking down--he won't even make eye contact. He must have been a chicken in a previous life . . .

 

[kg5ie]

+1 on shock collar.

 

[Annasg]

I would like to know this as well. Mine are lab mixed with rottweiler. They want to get ahold of those chickens as bad or worse as the love a good bone. I have always been told that once they get the taste of a live chicken, they can NOT be changed but I am hoping this this not true. I have always been told that to tie a dead chicken around the neck of a dog will break them but thats sure not gonna happen here. I would have to knock the dogs out to do such a stunt and then they would only figure a way to get away from their necks. Good advice is in need in a desperate way here

 

[SwedishDude99]

We have two dogs. A Great Dane who doesn't try to harm the chickens. He walks with them and occasionally sniffs them, but other than that just doesn't really give a second thought to them. The other dog however, is part wolf, and therefor I don't think I can EVER train him to leave them alone.

Every time he sees one of them, he gets that look in his eyes. It's like you can see the wolf come out in him. He has bad hips, but when the chickens and ducks are concerned, he is a puppy again. He sprints after them and attacks them. He killed my favorite hen, and then a day later killed a duckling I got the day of. So yeah, I think you can train them, to an extent. There will be a situation where it is too hard for them to resist. However, some breeds are more likely to attack than others. For example, a husky is more likely to go after a chicken than say a chihuahua or other small dog.

 

[mommissan]

I have a German Short-haired Pointer, a bird hunting dog. I struggled with how to train her to accept chickens, until one day, out of pure frustration, I brought out a bag of bread. I made her lay down, and showed her her reward. Then, alternating between free ranging chickens (who seem to have no fear of her or my lawn mower) and my dog, I gave them each bread bits as a snack. When I gave a chicken one, my dog had to wait, and vice versa. I can't explain it, but over a few weeks of this, they accepted each other as pack members. I didn't read it any where. It was just something that happened. And, despite all the people that tell me I ruined a good bird dog, she still happily hunts wild fowl (and escaped roosters) with me.

 

[MelissaTXRn]

My uncle had chickens when I was a kid. He tried every way in the world to stop his dog from eating the chickens. Nothing ever worked. He tried shocking, tying a dead chicken around its neck to rot, positive feedback, a dog trainer and every other method known. Nothing worked on that dog. (Lab)
I have chickens now, but I leave them locked up because our dogs ate the neighbors chickens and I know they would eat ours in a heartbeat. Good luck!!!