Training/Teaching a dog about chickens

[mendocinobirds]

I trained my current German Shepherd Reynard and my late one Sturmz WHICH WAS PART WOLF!!! to not only be good to the chickens but to protect them.
Every day for about three weeks, I would sit the dog down and get eye contact. Then I would put the chicken in his face and say MY chicken. MINE, thats mine. Dogs get this but it takes repeated repeats. Sturmz lived 15 years, 5 with chickens and never touched one. Not only that he kept track of where every chicken was and when they would run off to neighbors and one would hide in bushes, he would go put his nose on it. When I would pull it out squacking he would drool wanting to eat it, never did eat one.
Reynard has been a year now, also no attacks. He killed a raptor that came to get the chickens one day while we were gone to work. found lots of feathers and big claws, nuff said about that! Wouldnt want him to have to go off to federal prison.
They both were raccoon fighters, Stumz killed three coons during his life. Not being part wolf, Reynard is not up to killing coons yet. He missed the fox out back by a couple inches. We are still figuring out the fox war. Fox carried off a 5 pound Pekin Duck.
We have a second dog, 100 lb German Sherpherd-Swiss Mountain, very gentle breed and easier to teach not to do this.
I often reinforce the "chicken or duck is mine".
Im sure there are breeds of dogs that cant be trained though. German Shepherds and definitely wolves are usually on that list though.

 

[tlcarnes2176]

My german shepherd puppy Gator (11 months old) will not stop chasing the chickens that are in their run. The coop and run are in the back yard along with my two shepherds. The shepherds are inside dogs but they love it outside during these cooler days we are having. The 3 year old doesn't seem to care that they are sharing the space. Today Gator pushed through the run fencing and had one of the month old chickens in his mouth. Chicken didn't get hurt, but we don't want that to happen again. Is there anything that I could put down around the run to deter this kind of behavior? We praise him often when he is behaving himself. Is it ok to put down some kind of pepper or something that would make the run "nasty tasting/smelling" to the dog? I don't want to hurt him or the chickens, that's why I'm asking you all. Any advice would help!

 

[Michael Apple]

Put thick gauge, woven wire fencing with 2x2" spacing instead of what you've got. Here's what it looks like: http://www.redbrand.com/Products/SpecialtyApplication/YardGardenKennel.aspx
Or put up electric fencing. Do what Mom would do. When the dog rushes the run, grab that dog by the scruff , bring that dog to the ground and yell at it like a drill instructor. Eventually, the dog will stop. Most Shepherds are pretty smart.

 

[Breella]

My dog is good with my chickens:

This was how we started. I would give him treats when he would sit quietly outside the run, slowly progressing to coming in on leash when chickens were out and off leash in the run when chickens were inside their coop.


I'm not saying he wasn't curious about them, but you have to find out if your dog is play driven or treat driven. My lab is very much treat driven. A leash goes a long way, train your dog that s/he should stay near you at all times, or stay in a place you designate.

Eventually, you could end up with a dog that while still excited to be around the chickens...

Gives them this face when they peck at his back.


I'm not saying every dog can learn to be ok with having chickens around. My Mother in Law has a chicken killer. He has gotten two of my baby chicks in the past. My mother in law has another dog that will sleep on the porch while the chickens free range and even keep the cats away from them. EVERY DOG IS DIFFERENT, you know your dog best.

 

[Tacampbell1973]

what i am picking up on the most after reading every article in this forum is this:

1. Every dog is different
2. every owner,bless their hearts, has a different go-to plan.
3. not every method works with every dog.
4. Thank God for all of our differences, yet we all strive for the same outcome, and we all love our animals.

 

[Tacampbell1973]

That is the most amazing story! She couldn't understand how the chick got stuck in there I bet!

That is the sweetest thing I have heard a dog do yet...What a special puppydog you have

 

[Ranikonhirio]

i want to know also because i have the same dog and she killed all my chickens yesterday and my mom said thats her last worning one more incident and she is gone so i want to teach her how to stay away from the birds

 

[vickifiveoh]

I have a Black Lab that has Never offered to bother my Chickens. She was out one day and they were out and I guess she got a little close to the hens and the Rooster came after her. She goes way out of her way now to stay away from them!

 

[boise cluckers]

Over the weekend, we started taking our dogs into the pen when feeding snacks as they have not shown any previous aggression. The lab/pit mix was more interested in munching on the scratch grains and the Chihuahua laid down to enjoy the sun. We also started letting the chickens and duck out into the yard with the dogs (Supervised) for short periods of time. They were introduced to dogs and the cat in April 2013 as babies. Initially, the cat would go into the indoor cage and lay down with them.

 

[slickchicks]

I have a 3 year old golden and a 3 year yellow lab. We have 5 R R and the girls love to chase the golden (Wyattt) he is a very calm guy and the girls must know this and tease him by pecking at his tale any chance they get. Willow (lab) she pays no attention to the girls only to go into their run if she thinks they were given a treat and left some behind. We have had the chickens since March and the dogs watched them grow up.
I am sometimes surprised at how well everyone gets along when they are free ranging in the yard.