Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

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every dog is an individual. breeds that are bred for high prey drive or certain tasks can be harder to work with. depends a lot on the breeding. if the bloodline has been bred to be "birdy" then the prey drive to get birds will be there. bloodlines that have been bred without regards to original purpose may have had the prey drive bred right out of them. I have a lab, bloodlines bred for look and pet appeal ... he could care less about the chickens. I have miniature pinschers, bred for type, ratters, they will kill anything that looks like prey to them. no minpins loose with chickens..ever...
regardless of breed, purebred or not, every dog is going to be an individual and will need proper training in order to be around chickens. most can be trained to leave them alone, some will leave them in your presence but kill them when you are not there, some will always want to kill them regardless of training. then there are those that do not care about the chickens at all...I like those kind lol.
The puppy did not know any better, she just needs to be shown they are part of her pack and harming them is against the rules. it can be a difficult task but its possible. Hope the Hen is ok and the puppy learns to leave them alone.

One good thing; retrievers are bred to not bite the bird, and yours didn't. No one wants to eat a bird a dog has chewed up, so they are bred to have "soft mouths".

I was going to say that very exact thing.

 

[Chickielady]

Check this out: This is the WA DOT crews just starting to TRY and find the North Cascades Pass roadway, so to begin clearing the highway:

Amazing they can even find the roadway!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157626170712679/

Amazing...so freaking scarey/dangerous, and oh so beautiful....

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

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Congrats on 17 years of him putting up with you !!!

DW and I will be 19 years in May. Part of what has made that 19 years work is WE EACH HAVE OUR OWN REMOTE !!!!!!

I let my wife control the TV remote, I control the DVD remote.

LOL. That is a good one.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

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English Springer Spaniel x German Shorthair Pointer 'sprointer'

A bird dog....this may be hard for you to do. You would have to actually change what has been bred into her. But, the bird is alive, probably because she has a "soft mouth".

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

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LOL...too funny

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

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I had a Rough Collie that licked all the feathers off a hen turkey, poor girl only lasted about 15 hours after being plucked.

 

[Rainwolf]

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No need for the hatchery order

most of us have chicks of many breeds.. unless its rare and even then some of us have rare breeds.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

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I would like that job.
Very cool reminds me what they do to clear Trail Ridge road in Rocky Mountain Nation Park.

 

[PitterPatterPalace]

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I had a Rough Collie that licked all the feathers off a hen turkey, poor girl only lasted about 15 hours after being plucked.

Well, since she took off less than 1/4 of the total feathers, I'm hoping the poor girl makes it. She's one of our favs. I did see the dog happily lick our top hen before...

Hrmmm.... Gotta curb this. Hopefully the defeathered hen will still be looking ok tonight.

 

[Rainwolf]

Bird dogs can be a lot of trouble if not trained properly.
You might want to consult a bird dog trainer just for information to help you out in the growing/training.

but I do know a couple things you can do now that will help.

1) Never ever play tug or take something out of dogs mouth. Always have the dog drop/give/out the item in mouth before taking it away. If you tug or take items out of dogs mouth the soft mouth will vanish and they will bite to keep what they have. (out is a term I've heard a few hunting dog trainers use)

2) No catch me if you can chase games. If the pup likes to play fetch always wait out the dog to drop the item and give it up to you. You can hurry this by having a second fetch item to throw... once they drop the first one they get the second one tossed. Then they learn that they must drop/give/out the one they have to get the next fetch.

3) When they start bring items/toys to you always have a treat/fav toy to give them... This helps make you the one who has something "better then whats in my mouth" source. I'd suggest a little baggie of a favorite treat to start... (they all seem to love cat nibble treats.... maybe cuz its cat food?)

Hope this helps some
Boldog should have other tips too