Dog Community

doing the right thing? (long)

Posted : 10/1/2006 3:04:56 PM

just looking for some hints or suggestions about training Xena to not kill chickens
she loves chasing our animals so we have been using the "leave it" command
we just had a hen hatch out chicks and Xena has killed 2
with the first chick Xena brought it to my mom and my mom smacked her with it and tied her up with the chick a couple feet from her and everytime she went to touch it my mom would tell her to leave it
the second chick, well, Xena ate that one cause she knew she would get in trouble for it so all we did was just tie her up because we didnt catch her with it
the third chick was after we untied her (we keep her tied up unless we are outside or when we let the chickens out) she ran straight for the chicks and grabbed one in her mouth on the run
my mom and sister yelled for her to drop it and she did, she then came back to be tied up
ive been asking for suggestions from vets and neighbors
i was told to put a long leash on her and when she goes off to chase chickens to grab it and correct her, i didnt do that because theres too many things for her to get wrapped up on
we left the chickens penned up but the baby chicks can get out of the pen
another lady recommended a shock collar so i went and got one, it does work when she stalks the chickens and we can say to her leave it,wait a bit, then if she ignores us we give her a correction
now ive tried it on myself and the setting i have her on doesnt hurt and on her it just startles her
i am feeling bad about using sumthing like a shock collar on my dog and normally would never
but i work alot and only my mom is home and shes older and cant be chasing after a fast pup and we just cant have an animal that kills chickens
are there any other suggestions or is this an okay way to go?
i am feeling guilty about using it but dont see anyother way

paulaedwina

Posted : 10/1/2006 4:05:54 PM

ORIGINAL: newt

just looking for some hints or suggestions about training Xena to not kill chickens
she loves chasing our animals so we have been using the "leave it" command
we just had a hen hatch out chicks and Xena has killed 2
with the first chick Xena brought it to my mom and my mom smacked her with it and tied her up with the chick a couple feet from her and everytime she went to touch it my mom would tell her to leave it
the second chick, well, Xena ate that one cause she knew she would get in trouble for it so all we did was just tie her up because we didnt catch her with it
the third chick was after we untied her (we keep her tied up unless we are outside or when we let the chickens out) she ran straight for the chicks and grabbed one in her mouth on the run
my mom and sister yelled for her to drop it and she did, she then came back to be tied up
ive been asking for suggestions from vets and neighbors
i was told to put a long leash on her and when she goes off to chase chickens to grab it and correct her, i didnt do that because theres too many things for her to get wrapped up on
we left the chickens penned up but the baby chicks can get out of the pen
another lady recommended a shock collar so i went and got one, it does work when she stalks the chickens and we can say to her leave it,wait a bit, then if she ignores us we give her a correction
now ive tried it on myself and the setting i have her on doesnt hurt and on her it just startles her
i am feeling bad about using sumthing like a shock collar on my dog and normally would never
but i work alot and only my mom is home and shes older and cant be chasing after a fast pup and we just cant have an animal that kills chickens
are there any other suggestions or is this an okay way to go?
i am feeling guilty about using it but dont see anyother way

Your dog sounds like she has a high prey drive that no amount of yelling, hitting, tying, smacking etc is going to fix. When you're not there to yell, smack, hit, tie, etc she's going to kill your chickens. The only thing you can do is separate her from the chickens.

Paula

Paula

Ruth

Posted : 10/1/2006 4:33:55 PM

I agree. You did not say what type of dog you have, but some breeds, and some individual dogs, have a high prey drive that makes them hardwired to go after smaller prey animals. If you have a dog like that your smartest approach is going to be management -- keep the dogs and the chickens separated so that the dog does not have a chance to practice prey behaviors and to harm the chickens. I don't agree with hitting or shocking a dog for just being a dog.

Another thing I am wondering is how much/what type of exercise and stimulation this dog is getting. Are you saying you leave the dog tied up outside most of the time, near the chickens? If so that is a huge part of your

roblem -- your poor dog is bored and frustrated and doesn't have a lot of outlets other than chasing your chickens. Bring the dog inside, make her part of the family, make sure she gets lots and lots of exercise, and give her other ways to practice her prey drive behaviors like chasing balls and playing tug, and other types of mental stimulation like positive training and puzzle toys. That may help. Plus, if she is inside your house she is not in a position to attack any chickens.

Mandy Thompson

Posted : 10/1/2006 6:04:52 PM

Xena is a blue heeler/catahoula dog
she is an outside farm dog, i know magority of people here keep their dogs in but for us we need a dog outside to guard from coyotes etc
we play ball with her for an hour plus a day, she plays with the cats n horses, she comes for walks with my mom and i
she is tied up away from the chickens only when the chickens are out and we are not home
i can take her with me to do the chores as i do everyday and she will be perfect with the chickens, i will catch one for her and tell her to be nice and she will be
its like outta the blue where she will just run and catch one, so using the shock collar for these outta the blue moments is the only thing that has been suggested to me
being it catches her right in the act
as i said before the shock doesnt hurt, ive tried it on myself, it basically just gets her attention
i never wanted to use a shock collar but i have not many choices
the chickens are out to eat bugs and locking them up the time isnt an option nor is keeping Xena tied up all the time
just trying to find out what other people have used in any similiar situations

CMarshall

Posted : 10/1/2006 7:37:12 PM

Keeping them seperated will work.

Julie Stevenson

Posted : 10/2/2006 3:33:27 AM

Another vote for just keeping them apart

brookcove

Posted : 10/2/2006 9:01:04 AM

You'll either have to lock up her or the chickens. I do vote for giving her a kennel run rather than tying, if possible. Besides tying not being an ideal way to keep her, it's awfully easy for her to chew either the tie or the collar, or break a chain, and then you will lose ALL your chickens.

All my dogs have immense prey drive. It takes a lot to motivate a dog to run half a mile to gather a flock of sheep they can't even see. Or to swim an ice-cold lake for fifteen minutes to convince geese to leave. For some reason, although I can train my dogs to leave sheep and geese, the little feathered critters are fair game in their minds. And this was true long before I started feeding whole birds. although I can keep them from bothering birds when I'm around, they seem to take the first opportunity to dispatch them when I'm not. When we moved here, there was enough space for the ducks to stay clear of the dogs and that worked well.

mudpuppy

Posted : 10/2/2006 9:43:19 AM

[linkhttp://www.loucastle.com/critter.htm]http://www.loucastle.com/critter.htm[/link]

note it's a lot of work and the author doesn't recommend it for a dog who has already successfully made a kill.

Mandy Thompson

Posted : 10/2/2006 10:05:51 PM

thanks mudpuppy

so far Xena has been doing really good so i hope its not just a fluke
havent had to put the e collar on at all either
we have been really working on the leave it command
and i have been letting her herd the horses for me at nite so hopefully she will learn to work with me
and then we can eventually work on herding and being with the chickens
ive started taking her right in the coop with me on a leash to feed them and see them