Dogs eating chickens

[McChooky]

Just caught my dog (anatolian/great pyr/border collie mix) munching on a chicken. He's been a chaser from day one. I've tried to work with him, but he's a tenacious 1 yr old. Now that I caught him, I broken chicken neck, slathered her in hot sauce and extra chily flakes, and tossed her out there to let him taste his kill. He took a taste and backed off right away. Just then I took him and shoved my slathered glove into his mouth to seal the deal. As secondary precaution, I've also sprayed the kill with bear spray and left it for him to sniff. Ill try to come back here to give an update, but as of now, he's not happy with the extra dose I shoved into his mouth. MAYBE he's got the picture? Pls don't try to advise, this is one that I've spent time on and my chickens will remain free range. Im just sharing, to hopefully give others some hope. TIA

My dogs won't touch a piece of fried chicken with hot sauce on it but they'll tear it up when it doesn't.I seriously doubt your dog will learn not to kill chickens by you setting its mouth on fire.You only taught your dog to distrust you around hot sauce

 

[BDutch]

The people in this thread reacted with good intentions. Best start to follow a few advices from people who know.

In general : you can not thrust dogs with chickens unless they are the right breed and well trained.

If you don’t know for sure how to train your dog, you have 2 options imho.
1. Lock the chickens up in a safe run.
2. Lock the dog inside the house, when the chickens free range.
If you want a guard dog, go on a course or ask a dog loving friend to help asap and maybe it works out nicely eventually.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Why is it that people think everything is cruel. It wasnt like i Strapped him down and it wasnt really as much as perhaps you might perceive. It was enough that he got a good taste and is learning that we need to live together as a pack. Ever watched wolves teach the pack? Thats all it was, just did it the human way rather than straddle him and bite his ear. We are a pack, but I am the alpha.

Because it is cruel. I'd for sure straddle and bite my dog before inflicting the hot sauce pain associated to his incredibly sensitive nose and mouth. Biting is not the same thing as hot sauce, not all pain is created equally. Your logic is flawed and this is really not as complex as you're making it. Whomever said that dogs have small brains is wrong. The dog knows the different between a chicken with and a chicken without hot sauce. That said he's not going to draw a dotted line from the pain to his action, he's just not. You'd have to dress your chickens in hot sauce suits every day for him to make a pain to chicken connection.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

1. This thread needs a re-direction since the OP says "advice." Here is some dog/chicken training advice:
2. Start training pups around chickens ON LEASH
3. Treat the training sessions as you would Novice Obedience so that the pup understands what's expected of him with regard to chickens and not with regard to chickens. What's expected is that your commands come before any distractions like cars, chickens, other dogs.
4. Have loose chickens milling about while Novice training to: Heal, Sit, Stay.
5. When pup is distracted by chicken movements, use correction. Correction means first verbal (anything that works for you, leave it, leave chickens, I use french commands so that when I'm in the ring my dog hears me over other handlers.) If pup doesn't loosen and focus on you, additional correction especially with giant breeds like I train, can be a "hand bite," on the neck just to wake pup out of the distraction.
6. Reward when pup focuses on you and accomplishes tasks. Treat based reward and/or praise.
7. Reward after training session. "Okay" or something that means training is over, toss a ball or just play (chickens are gone at this point.)
8. Go to an actual Novice Obedience class in addition to this at home training around chickens. There is a reason that Obedience has several levels, it takes patience and time to get good at it, doesn't happen over night. Off leash with chickens is same as off leash with Obedience, it's top level.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

This baby puppy just graduated from Novice chicken training. It took 2 years. He was one of the worst but it's done, he is now trusted around them. Some are faster and I've had one Newfie that was a chicken killer and never got there. It is what it is.

 

[nuthatched]

That wont work dogs dont use the tiny useless brains they have, it will kill the rest guarentee.

Your average dog has the same logic and intelligence as a 4 year, I'd hardly call that useless.

 

[townchicks]

There are some glaring flaws in your method of training. 1. Your dog can smell the hot sauce. It will take him a nanosecond to differentiate between a chicken slathered in hot sauce and one that is not. It is easy for even a pup to learn that it should avoid hot sauce once he's had a taste..2, prey drive is instinct, and does not require the pup to think about it first, they just react. A squawking , flapping, running chicken is wholly different from a dead, hot sauce covered bird just laying there. Even if all your chickens were covered in hot sauce, that may not stop him. I once knew a dog that was chasing a rabbit and ran through a barbed wire fence. His chest was sliced open, requiring stitches. The dog did not stop chasing the rabbit. Prey drive overrode the pain. There are many cases of dogs running through invisible fences while chasing something. In the heat of the moment they don't feel, or care about the shock. Better to keep the pup on leash, and work on a solid recall ( making it more fun to come to you than to chase a chicken) and give him time to mature and become desensitized to the chickens, rather than try the "quick fix" that will just teach your pup that you may hurt him. Leashes and fences were invented for a reason.

 

[NatJ]

Ill try to come back here to give an update.... MAYBE he's got the picture?...Im just sharing, to hopefully give others some hope. TIA

I'll be watching this thread, because I would like to know whether it works or not.

 

[Sic]

Why is it that people think everything is cruel. It wasnt like i Strapped him down and it wasnt really as much as perhaps you might perceive. It was enough that he got a good taste and is learning that we need to live together as a pack. Ever watched wolves teach the pack? Thats all it was, just did it the human way rather than straddle him and bite his ear. We are a pack, but I am the alpha.

Lol, good luck. I wouldn't expect too much from this method and certainly would not recommend it to other people. There are far better methods to train dogs to leave poultry alone.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Lol, good luck. I wouldn't expect too much from this method and certainly would not recommend it to other people. There are far better methods to train dogs to leave poultry alone.

NICE! A well trained Newfie! You're awesome.