Best way to introduce dog with high chase drive to flock

[krthaymp]

This Saturday will make two weeks I've had my 4 adult chickens. They are used to dogs, but my dogs are not used to chickens.
Especially the standard poodle, who is extremely excited about them and rushes to the coop every time the chickens move too fast. I don't think he's being aggressive, but rather seeing them like large squeaky toys.
I started off with him leashed, progressivly closer to the coop until he could get a good look and smell, and he's now off leash and able to be called away from the coop without too much trouble, but I still don't trust him at ALL.
The chickens will be allowed to free range this weekend for the first time, now that they are settled.
What's the best way to train the dog to leave them alone?
He will NOT be outside unattended with them at any point ever, but I also don't want to leash him in the fenced back yard indefinatly.
I have an eCollar that I've largely never used, but not sure if that's going to be the route to take or not.

 

[krthaymp]

Thank you all for the responses! I've learend a lot the past few weeks, and after reading all your input and consulting a dog trainer, we have made adjustments and have a plan of action.
The dogs are not allowed out in the yard with the chickens out, except for the tiny dog who's smaller than the chickens and afraid of them. I've started really working with the poodle on a firm 'leave it', while letting him around the coop. He's not been allowed to get over excited near the coop and at the first hint of too much interest or undesierable behavior he's removed. I will inlist the eCollar later to inforce 'leave it' as needed, but we're no where near that yet and may never be.
I've started working him on leash in the back yard around the chickens to help him learn to focus on me and ignore them.
Once his interest slacks and his recall inproves and he shows solid reliability on 'leave it', I'll start tethering him while they're out and me close by, or work him on leash with them out.
We've also started going on longer walks and hikes - half the problem is his energy level.
He may never be reliable enough to be off lead around the chickens, and that's ok.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Poodles tend to have a high prey drive since they were originally used as hunting dogs, specifically retrievers for waterfowl. They are highly intelligent and can be trained. But yes, you better train your dog.

Mine were mixes from the pound. I started by introducing them to the chicks while they were in my outside brooder. They were on leash and I let them see and sniff the chicks safely in their brooder. Then I kept the chicks safely in a run for a while.

The dogs were trained to know what "sit" and "come" mean. You might try "stop". Just have some confidence you can control the dog with your voice. So I'd stay out with them when the chickens were out until I gained confidence they would leave them alone. One of the dogs was especially hardheaded and took some work. Eventually she seemed OK but I never did fully trust her.

I kept the dogs in an underground fence with shock collars. The chickens would occasionally wander into their area. I had a few exciting moments at first. I never used a shock collar to train them. That shock collar should make it fairly easy for you to train the poodle as intelligent as it is. I'd make sure it worked and go that way.

Dogs can be "conditional" learners. If you are around they know to leave the chickens alone but if you are gone then that is a different condition. That can make it challenging. But many of us have dogs that can mix with the chickens and even protect them. It can take work.

Good luck!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Here's another tack to try. I don't know what your setup is or if this could work for you, but it sure did for us. Our "grow-out" pen is adjacent to the big chicken run. It's where our chicks live during the "see-no-touch" pre-integration period. When we got our Sheltie, then 15 months old, he was an obsessive, spinning, ball-chasing, don't-touch-me ADHD lunatic. Every day I put him in that pen for a couple hours of "down time." At first he was fascinated by the chickens and would run the fence barking at them. He SO wanted to play with the moving fluffy balls! Over time he realized he could not get to them so he would lay down and nap beside them. After about ... ooh, trying to remember ... maybe 2 or 3 months? ... he just lost interest in them entirely. So I put him on a 15-foot long line and took him into the run with the chickens. They were all around him (they were accustomed to dogs) and he ignored them. For a few days when the chickens were free ranging, I took him out and let him drag the long line. I was ready to step on it if he went after them, but he never did. I now trust him completely with my birds.

ETA: Here they are, all waiting for their afternoon snack. Sammy likes mealworms so he is as eager as the hens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me I'm not comfortable until I see how they react when the chickens run away. Running away seems to trigger their prey drive. If they can pass that test they are probably OK.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Personally I would keep the dog inside when the hens are free ranging and make sure any other people in the house know not to let him out. If he needs to be outside while the hens are out he should be on a leash. I'm looking at the same kind of situation with my dogs and if the chickens are out of the fenced run the dogs will not be allowed in the yard. Ever. It's just not worth the risk.

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot depends on the age of your dog, and how trainable the dog was in other matters. Some dogs are smarter than others, and some are not real trainable.

If the dog is not real trainable, then do not put them out together, instincts will take over and the chance of a dead chicken is pretty high.

I am hoping you have a coop & a run set up that is sufficient space for the birds to be in 24/7. Free range is a nice option, but they should have space enough outside available all daylight hours.

Mrs K

 

[McChooky]

I had both my 'inside' hounds a couple years before I decided to raise chickens so I had to spend a couple years training them to protect my chickens. They'd still rather be inside than out but they've never hurt them. I never let my dogs around my chickens off leash until they were fully trained but everyone has their own way of training them

 

[McChooky]

Thank you all for the responses! I've learend a lot the past few weeks, and after reading all your input and consulting a dog trainer, we have made adjustments and have a plan of action.
The dogs are not allowed out in the yard with the chickens out, except for the tiny dog who's smaller than the chickens and afraid of them. I've started really working with the poodle on a firm 'leave it', while letting him around the coop. He's not been allowed to get over excited near the coop and at the first hint of too much interest or undesierable behavior he's removed. I will inlist the eCollar later to inforce 'leave it' as needed, but we're no where near that yet and may never be.
I've started working him on leash in the back yard around the chickens to help him learn to focus on me and ignore them.
Once his interest slacks and his recall inproves and he shows solid reliability on 'leave it', I'll start tethering him while they're out and me close by, or work him on leash with them out.
We've also started going on longer walks and hikes - half the problem is his energy level.
He may never be reliable enough to be off lead around the chickens, and that's ok.

I have a wire fencing with a couple strands around it but you can use electric poultry netting. It may take years to train all your dog(s) but having obedient dogs is rewarding.Good luck!

 

[McChooky]

I use clickers to train all my pets. Even the hens can be trained if rewarded with treats