Well, this thing was SUPPOSED to be protecting the chickens.. not the other way around :/

[chloezoebob101]

Not all dogs can be convinced to leave chickens alone. Some have a high pray drive; others are young and playful and don't understand that chickens are delicate playmates. Solution - don't let these dogs interact with chickens without close supervision.

When I was a kid, my babysitter had a young dog and a young rooster. The dog loved the rooster, didn't mean to harm it, but nonetheless killed it while trying to play.

I have 2 dogs. One can be trusted around my chickens, the other - NO WAY. He's a high prey drive hunting dog and there is no amount of training that will remove his instincts.

This dog is pretty calm for a puppy, but every once in a while he gets a kick where he just goes CRAZY. i am guessing thats when he tried to play with those chicks.

 

[bobbi-j]

Not all dogs can be convinced to leave chickens alone. Some have a high pray drive; others are young and playful and don't understand that chickens are delicate playmates. Solution - don't let these dogs interact with chickens without close supervision.

When I was a kid, my babysitter had a young dog and a young rooster. The dog loved the rooster, didn't mean to harm it, but nonetheless killed it while trying to play.

I have 2 dogs. One can be trusted around my chickens, the other - NO WAY. He's a high prey drive hunting dog and there is no amount of training that will remove his instincts.

I've been lucky with my dog, then. He's also a hunting dog. Loves to hunt pheasants. Will also kill anything that comes onto the farm that doesn't belong here. But he leaves the chickens alone.
OP, you need to find a training method that works for you, and stick with it. This will likely be a long process - your dog isn't necessarily going to figure it out in minutes, or even hours. I'm talking every single day for weeks, maybe months. Hopefully your dog will be like this when it grows up:




Yeah, he goes into the coop and checks them out every day. Walks right in and snuffles them and tries to lick them. These chicks are 3 days old.

 

[Aumlet]

A dog can be a good hunting dog and not have an insanely high prey drive. One of my dogs is like yours - she protects our yard, and is protective of chicks when we have them. Our other dog is a sighthound, and once he's triggered his ears shut. I have been dragged through more bushes than I want to think about because he saw a lizard or a rabbit while we were on a walk. He once ran full force into an iron fence chasing a cat, and bruised his face and broke a tooth. He will never, EVER, be trustworthy around small animals that flee.

 

[bobbi-j]

A dog can be a good hunting dog and not have an insanely high prey drive. One of my dogs is like yours - she protects our yard, and is protective of chicks when we have them. Our other dog is a sighthound, and once he's triggered his ears shut. I have been dragged through more bushes than I want to think about because he saw a lizard or a rabbit while we were on a walk. He once ran full force into an iron fence chasing a cat, and bruised his face and broke a tooth. He will never, EVER, be trustworthy around small animals that flee.

Agreed.

 

[nzpouter]

We go out with it, and we play with the chickens, putting it in our hands (much to the chicks despair), the dog sees we like it, every time she shows interest in a chicken, we yell at her.. We put the chicks right up to her nose, and stuff like that.

there's your first mistake.... how do you think a mother dog teach it's pups what to eat? pick it up and put it in front of them.

playing with them, catching them... you're taeching your pup to hunt

 

[bobbi-j]

There have been some very good posts here on BYC on putting your pup on a leash, and walking her near the chickens. If she shows interest, give her a quick tug and reprimand her. Redirect her attention. Do this EVERY time she shows an interest. Praise her when she doesn't. Also, she might need you to spend time with her, playing frisbee, going for a walk, something to keep her from getting bored.

 

[chloezoebob101]

Quote:
Oops, maybe we shouldn't be doing that..

 

[cafarmgirl]

The other big issue is TIME! No puppy has any business being left unattended with chickens or even just being loose with chickens accessible after simply being introduced to them a few times. It is too much to expect and you are setting the dog up to fail. Medium to large breed puppies are just exactly that, puppies, until they are around two years old. Yes, two YEARS. Really large breeds, even longer. During that time training and reinforcement has to be done every - single - day. That is the only path to having a chance to end up with a good dog who is safe around your birds. There are no shortcuts. It is a major advantage if you can raise a pup with consistent training so that it never has the opportunity to chase and kill chickens. That is a fun game for them and now you have to train it out of him.

Puppies are like small children, doesn't matter how calm and gentle they are, they have fits of energy and craziness and let them see a running, squawking chicken or chick and there's no way you can expect that puppy to not go after it. He is young and has no training, there's nothing in that head yet except GO CATCH IT!

So if you want your chickens alive and you want to end up with a good dog keep them separate while you train the dog. He should always be in a pen or on a leash, or the chickens penned. Otherwise your on the road to a chicken killing dog who you'll probably end up getting rid of after he kills enough of your chickens.

Good luck, work hard and you'll turn out a good dog! He just needs you to teach him how!

 

[chloezoebob101]

The other big issue is TIME! No puppy has any business being left unattended with chickens or even just being loose with chickens accessible after simply being introduced to them a few times. It is too much to expect and you are setting the dog up to fail. Medium to large breed puppies are just exactly that, puppies, until they are around two years old. Yes, two YEARS. Really large breeds, even longer. During that time training and reinforcement has to be done every - single - day. That is the only path to having a chance to end up with a good dog who is safe around your birds. There are no shortcuts. It is a major advantage if you can raise a pup with consistent training so that it never has the opportunity to chase and kill chickens. That is a fun game for them and now you have to train it out of him.

Puppies are like small children, doesn't matter how calm and gentle they are, they have fits of energy and craziness and let them see a running, squawking chicken or chick and there's no way you can expect that puppy to not go after it. He is young and has no training, there's nothing in that head yet except GO CATCH IT!

So if you want your chickens alive and you want to end up with a good dog keep them separate while you train the dog. He should always be in a pen or on a leash, or the chickens penned. Otherwise your on the road to a chicken killing dog who you'll probably end up getting rid of after he kills enough of your chickens.

Good luck, work hard and you'll turn out a good dog! He just needs you to teach him how!

We never let him run with the chickens, its just the little chicks that can squeeze through the wire go to her, she doesn't go to them.
Last night My dear Jersey giant, Neon, got in with her. We don't know how, but she did

My dad heard squeaking all the way from the garden and ran to save her. He was screaming at Belle the whole time, then all of a sudden, there was silence, he thought she was a goner. But when he got there, neon was in shock, standing there in the middle of his pen, and Belle looked SOOOO guilty. Usually, Neon is timid, but when my dad reached down to pick her up to get her away from there, she just stood there, frozen. If Belle had even laid a FINGER on her, I would have sent her back

 

[Chickenaddict]

I agree with bobbi j's posts. This takes ALOT of time and mistakes to be made by the dog for a part of the learning process. I am in the midst of training my rescued Beagle and let me tell ya it is a hair pulling experience. yanking doesn't phase him but I tell you what, the jet stream setting on the hose works wonders! Everyday I take him out on a leash and we go right by where the birds are and sit there and "watch the birds" If he gets antsy I break out the hose. I have had him since january and he is under 2 years old. I have been working with him since day 1 and still haven't gotten to trust him around our birds, probably never will. He has gotten ahold of 2 birds so far (neither were injured). Some can be broken of this habit and some can't. It takes LOTS of time and patience. Yelling does nothing but make the dog loose trust in you even tho you get sooo frusterated sometimes it's hard not to yell. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to give up on my beagle because of his temperment, housebreking issues, anxiety issues, chewing holes in walls, chewing woodwork in the house, knocking over glass patio tables causing them to shatter everywhere, shredding a case of coca cola all over the entire kitchen, chewing pillows, barkin hysterically if you step 5 ft away from him and he can't get to ya... ect ect ect. But I made him a promise to provide a good home for him to live out the rest of his life instead of some cold steel cage or be put to sleep. I may be a little grey after all is said and done and he grows out of this "nightmare" phase. It has taken a long time to get where I am at with him now but he is making progress none the less. Your efforts will pay off if you dedicate the time, love and patience to train him.