# chickens are not food training



## KOHL HAWKE (May 8, 2010)

how do you train your guard dog to not eat/kill chickens/chicks?
we always do obidence, and have done the lungeline pullback "NO" done the vocal no's done the put em in as a pup learn the hard way geese bite, but always even tho sometimes in play, we end up with dead chickens!! then eatten chickens...any advice? all pups are raised indoor/outdoor in/out of pasture with socialization etc...


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Some dogs are just too hard to play with chickens. You don't say what breed of dog you have, but a dog with a high prey drive cannot always be reliable with something as interesting as a chicken.

I find that "no" is too general to use. I use "leave it". Leave it means to turn away from the object, followed by much praise. Making a fuss helps the dog become distracted from the object in question. I taught a reliable leave it before exposing my dog to livestock.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

The easiest way I've found is to use a shock collar.

That way, you can correct the dog without it realizing it's you.

Often it only takes one or two shocks to make the dogs think chickens are electrified


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## KOHL HAWKE (May 8, 2010)

We have tried various breeds and mixes there of (pound puppies) spay and neuter is cheap this way...I dont use NO but a warning sound "ahhEETT" so leave it is kinda the same..sorry should of clarified that. good idea, goes with the obidence training we do.The only dog so far has been our pit bull, but shes getting up in age and I want her to have help with the cyotes and show the pup the ropes...We raised shepards and german rotts., owned a bording kennel, and worked under behavior specialists all thu growing up. just cant figure this chicken thing out with these teenage pups!! tends to happen when im not around or a quick jaunt to stir up the flock and one pounce is all it takes to start em going with the behavior. maby im just not consistant enough in the diligence of my training...


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## KOHL HAWKE (May 8, 2010)

can i rent a shock collar? eletric chickens, hummm, didnt think of that


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## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

Our border collie made a few mistakes before we broke him of the chicken killing habit. He doesn't have a huge prey drive, so that helps. Some dogs can't be broken of chasing and killing things.

The shock collar method worked after only 1-2 shocks. The trick is that you can't let the dog know it was you who did it - he has to think the chickens are hurting him. Like he suddenly developed a severe chicken allergy. "Electric chickens" hahaha why didn't I think of that!

We can't let him watch us handling chickens. If he sees us picking them up, he thinks he can pick them up too. We lock him out of the brooder room.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> tends to happen when im not around


That's why shock collars work so well

The dog won't misbehave when you're too close, and you can't *correct* the bahavior until they do it.

With the collars, you watch them from a place where they can't see you, and they never associate the correction with you at all


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## Goatress (Feb 4, 2011)

My dogs don't have any prey drive with large stock but they cannot resist to play with chickens (inadvertantly killing one) so the hens are now cage free but in a contained area where dogs can't get to them. I tried for a long time to get them to guard hens but just finally gave up; my primary focus is that they guard large livestock, cows goats sheep etc. not fowl....I had to make a choice. God bless anyone who has the patience to get their LGDs to guard fowl. Its an art and not all dogs can do it that is for sure. In fact I would say the higher percentage won't. I've always wondered about dogs who guard fowl if they are effective guarding big stock as well or if they shy from them. 

Shock collars can be very effective tools that is for sure!


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> The shock collar method worked after only 1-2 shocks.


2 shocks is all it took to go from constantly chasing birds to this:


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

Another vote for shock collar. It's nice not being barrated online with you mention a shock collar. They are very effective training tools.

As Barefoot mentioned the collars allow you to truly correct the behavior, instead of scaring the dog enough to not to the behavior when you are around. Pretty much all other training methods require you to (1) observe the dog doing the behavior, (2)have to run the dog down and catch him, and (3)attempt to punish or correct the dog manually. The problem is, dogs do not associate step 3 with step 1. They associate punishment/correction with being "caught". It is why dogs act "guilty" or submissive, they do not feel "guilt" for their actions, they are scared for their own hides because here comes the owner trying to catch them for correction.

With the shock collar, you eliminate step 2. Training goes much like this (1) see the behavior from inside the house/car/etc, (3) correct the dog with the collar. With this method, the dog will not associate the correction with being "caught" but whatever behavior they were exhibiting at the time. Do not vocally correct the dog before using the collar, the entire purpose is to eliminate them linking correction with "being caught". 


Just a few examples we use our collar for on all of our dogs:
Stay inside the gate, when the gate is opened for vehicles.
Do not chase the livestock/poultry. 
Do not climb under, over, or through the perimeter fence at any time.
Stay out of the chicken coop.( I have dogs who think eggs are delish and like to occasionally dip their mugs into the cookie jar)


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## Wolf Flower (Dec 21, 2005)

If your dog has high prey drive, I've found a ball useful for diverting their attention away from the chickens. Get their attention focused on the ball and throw it near where the chickens are. Do this enough times and they begin to associate the presense of chickens with a good game of ball, and will start to ignore chickens in favor of their favorite toy. My older GSD will completely ignore chickens and will dive right through a flock of them to get the ball, as if they weren't there.

Shock collars work well, too.

I accidentally broke my puppy of going near the chicken coops. We have a broken-down van which we use for feed storage. The puppy was racing around chasing chickens when I opened the van door... and BAM! The pup smacked right into the door. She yelped and screamed for dear life, I felt so bad! But now she won't go near the van which is right where the chickens happen to be! In that area of the yard at least, she will hang back and wait for me to finish feeding. In other areas of the property she will still chase them, but will stop when I tell her "That'll do!" She has a lot of herding drive and what she really wants to do is herd them, but of course that could always end badly. I do want to train her to HERD, so I don't punish her too harshly for taking an interest (except with the van door).

The pup is never allowed run of the property unsupervised, so we can prevent accidents.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

If you are going to use a shock collar, practice on yourself. Your timing has to be real good. You want to shock before the dog is attacking, but when he is in stalk mode. If he has longish or thick fur you will have to shave his neck where the prongs sit.


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## KOHL HAWKE (May 8, 2010)

Thank you everyone!! looking into new pup soon so need to gear up and get ready...dont want to lose the dog due to dead chickens! and i must say my ol girl loves to carry around eggs too and hide them in her bed!! at least the geese guard their nest well!! the hens who lay outside the coop well we know cause she totes her prize all over..lol...but she does leave the girls alone and mostly she is there for coyte protection..geese work great for hawks


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

I know someone who had a dog they did that with LOL Dog slurped up a chick, button was pressed, dog spit out chick and stared at it in horror :hysterical: It worked!


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