New puppy and chickens

foolofbeans

We got a new puppy. We researched the breed, checked it all out and she seemed very timid which we thought may be a good thing with young children, cats and chickens.
The timid didn't stay for long! We have chickens and mostly they are shut away but they got out of he pen and the dog has chased them and grabbed them.
Is all hope lost? Is there any way to train her to leave the chickens even if they are clucking around the garden?

bmthmark

May be you can separate the chickens (small fence) and keep putting them in the garden together (with the temp fence in place). They may get use to each other after time.
Or you could put them together and keep a close watch and every time the pup chases them take the her away from the situation. Eventually she might stop and realise she can't do it.

I know exactly what you are going through I have a similar issue but with the cat. My puppy gets really excited and wants to play with the cat but the cat is grumpy and not having any of it. I'm going to create a separate post for this

What type of dog do you have?

Anjek

My dog never gets used to the chickens. God knows what we didn't try. After all, we decide to separate them to avoid traumas.

Helen2k8

She is very little yet, so you'll need patience and persistence. Just say NO and remove her every time she shows too much interest. And it must be EVERY single time.

Or borrow a bolshy hen who will give pup a peck on the nose.
More seriously, try taking her on-lead to a park, and sitting where pigeons, ducks etc gather. They will be used to people, so not afraid to wander close to you, and should be less prone to the panicked flying away (which may be what triggers the chase instinct). You want pup to find the birds dull and not worth bothering, in the long run.

Edit: It's important that you teach a good distant STOP THAT RIGHT NOW response, and as much as you can teach her to ignore other animals. Thinking of the future, you don't want her vanishing over a moorland and worrying sheep, or having a pop at the neighbour's cat.

GlasweJen

Some breeds will be harder to train than others around other animals. Our terrier is amazing around big farm animals like sheep and cows but put her near a rabbit or a bird and she wants to chase and won't stop until the other animal is out of sight.

orlao

You need to make sure that the pup never gets near the chickens unsupervised. A long line helps with this - everytime they chase the chickens is a a huge reward for them and to be fair, you aren't half as much fun as flappy, squawking feather dusters!

Start by finding a special treat that is only used for training and teach watch me and leave commands away from any temptations. Make a massive fuss of them and treat like mad when they look at you and/or come away from something (lots of videos on youtube, especially kikopup for help). Move the training into the garden, far enough away from the chickens that the pup isn't taking any notice of them and practice lots more, gradually moving closer but if they lose concentration going back a step. Remember to keep praising in an OTT manner every time they look at you, you have to be more fun than chasing. It's not a quick process, nothing really is with pups tbh but consistency will work even though there will be setbacks occasionally and this is where the long line will probably need to stay on longer than you think. This method has worked for me with two terriers and a rottie - mind you, one terrier had to have a run in with Sid the goose to remind her of the error of messing with poultry!

Training classes also are very useful for general obedience which can only be helpful and they will provide support for those times when you feel that you are taking one step forward and two steps back which is inevitable when you have a young dog. Just check their methods first, anywhere that advises dominance type training with an already timid dog could be disastrous IMHO.