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Author Topic: new dog attacked chicken  (Read 9342 times)

Clarebelle

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • Orkney
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #15 on: October 25, 2014, 08:48:42 am »
Thanks everyone, he is a really nice dog and in the house he is quite good and will sit and lay down etc and responds brilliantly to my eldest daughter. But outdoors he is head down sniffing like crazy and there is just no way to get his attention. Any tips for getting through the fog of war so to speak!? Our other two dogs are a collie and retriever so we have experienced this kind of instinctual behaviour, dingo is just in a league of his own  ::)

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #16 on: October 25, 2014, 11:41:20 am »
Springers are a nose with a dog attached - same as my Brittanys  :excited:

I use very high value treats due to teh high prey drive of mine - looks like at 4 years old you may have to do the same.  Do you know why the keeper rejected him as a working dog?  Perhaps he is hardmouthed in which case you really DO have to keep him away from your hens.  I doubt he'll touch bigger livestock to be honest.  They are basically game dogs - fur and feather, not much interest in anything else and at 4 his puppy curiosity won't be prevalent.

I use cooked chicken/pheasant/cheese for recall - have him on a long line to start with so he HAS to come back to you.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Clarebelle

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • Orkney
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2014, 12:38:32 pm »
The story goes that the guy wanted to use him as a stud but didn't get into it, I'm not sure he ever fathered anything. I think he just kind of got forgotten about until they eventually decided to sell him. They wanted £600 for him but got no takers and in the end they just wanted shot of him so we said we would take him for free. We have now had him neutered.

I don't know if he would have killed the chicken or not, he didn't get a chance but he does carry balls of wool around  ::) so maybe he would be ok.

I'll let you know how we get on, I guess the first step is the recall

Steph Hen

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Angus Scotland.
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2014, 12:49:48 pm »
This can be very frustrating. Just keep working at it; When he's in 'heel' he's not allowed to have his nose on the ground or pull. Keep him on a short lead with his head up, listening to you. Use treats and a short lead. You can try the 'changing direction' tactic, keep him guessing. This is going to be very waring for you because you said you have to keep him on a lead all the time... I'd get a flexible long lead, keep him on his short lead in heel, not allowed to sniff, put head down or pull, till you get to the park or wherever and then put him on the extendible lead and let him do what ever comes naturally to him.

How does he do with your other dogs? Will he come if they come too?
Multiple dogs learn quickly that only the first/best one gets the reward treat and this can be used to great effect! (rather than the "I'll just have one last sniff here - she'll keep calling anyway...").

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #19 on: October 25, 2014, 01:15:39 pm »
my terrier is very good with our hens, after one or two mishaps, so it can be done. though ours are in a paddock. if they were free range I don't doubt he would have a go if no one was looking. we use the Cesar Millan techniques with very good effect with him. it doesnt have quite the benefit with the other dogs who are set in their ways now. our lhaso apso is so set in his ways hes like concrete  ::) he has been the worst bird killer of them all.
as a kid we were very close friends/dog sitters of an adorable sprocker, and she was just bonkers so I can imagine how hard he could be to train. "channel that enthusiasm"  -easier said than done.

im curious to see how you got a welsh rescue in orkney?  ;D ;D

Clarebelle

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • Orkney
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #20 on: October 25, 2014, 01:46:07 pm »
The farmer we got him from owns the farmhouse which my in laws rent in wales. When my husband moved up to orkney to join us he bought dingo up from his mum and dads house.

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #21 on: October 25, 2014, 02:32:22 pm »

I don't know if he would have killed the chicken or not, he didn't get a chance but he does carry balls of wool around  ::) so maybe he would be ok.

I'll let you know how we get on, I guess the first step is the recall
Hopefully he wouldn't have killed the chicken but at this stage you just can't be sure. Mine used to love the chase but once he had grabbed hold of a chicken he wasn't sure what to do with it.  ???
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #22 on: October 25, 2014, 05:46:32 pm »
In a way it doesn't matter if he is hard or soft mouthed or not (assuming here that you don't intend to work him) he just has to learn that chickens are a 'no-no'. Even if soft mouthed he will distress them, cause them to become egg bound and may encourage your other dogs to chase or pull at the bird that he is carrying.

Once he is obedient in the house and will do all the basic commands, start outside on the lawn with no hens about. He needs to know that you mean business and have his eyes on you during lessons. All really basic to start with. Heelwork on lead, go fast, go really slow so that you are only just moving, change direction, go in a circle turning into your dog. Give encouraging, calm praise. He will have to concentrate on you. If his nose goes down jerk it up with the lead. I personally don't use a short lead. T he lead doesn't need to be short because he isn't pulling and if he sniffs you can lift his head with the lead give a 'no' command if need be and then keep moving. Use treats if he is food orientated. Only do the exercise for very short periods of time .... say a minute.

You can gradually increase depending if he enjoys it or not. My lab finds heelwork boring but my Flattie thinks it's a game.

Train sit command and stay command as if he were a pup. Expect that he knows nothing. Then train him to heel off lead. If your on lead training is good they usually pick this up faster than you think. At first just give the heel command with dog still on lead but the lead dropped. If he decides to toddle off you can catch the lead and continue on lead. Tap your leg when you give the heel command. It helps to keep the dog close.

Being able to heel off lead gives you the beginning of more control over your dog. He knows that being off lead doesn't necessarily mean 'nose down and off I go'!

HTH.  Think it is just the beginning but somewhere to start from. Personally though I wouldn't be training much yet until he knows you.

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
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Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #23 on: October 25, 2014, 09:26:18 pm »
Excellent advice and help with basic training there - reminds me I must do a bit more with Missy.  :innocent:

Also agree that he needs to get to know you and trust you before you'll get much response but at least you'll have a longer attention span to work with than if he were an 8 week pup, and even then it does no harm to do a couple of one minute sessions a day now.

As to retrieving, my ducks used to be retrieved by Allez on a regular basis and it didn't seem to bother them, they were brought right to my open hand and I swear they had a rolling eyes resigned look about them  :innocent:  - but hens have a more fragile nervous system.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #24 on: October 25, 2014, 10:56:15 pm »
Great advice on basic training, and on not focussing on what not to do until you have a good armory of things to ask him to do instead ;)

On recall, my golden, absolutely 100% unbreakable rule is,

Quote
A dog that comes is a good dog

Always a good dog if it comes.  Whether you asked it to or not.  Whether or not it was chasing - or worse - a chicken or even a sheep the instant before it came.  If it comes to you, it's always a good dog.  (And yes, even if it's on the Long Stay in a competition. ::))

What you want is that, if in doubt, ever, the best choice is to come to you.  That it never even thinks if you call it, it just turns and runs to you.  If you ever tell it off when it comes to you, then coming to you isn't always a safe option.  As soon as you break that confidence that by your side / in front of you is always a safe and pleasant place to be, then you destroy the automatic response of coming to you when you call, or when it's worried about anything.

Your choice, but all my dogs (since the very first one, who taught me a lot ;)) have had a 100%, rock solid recall.  Just saying  :eyelashes:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
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Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #25 on: October 26, 2014, 07:06:32 pm »
Your choice, but all my dogs (since the very first one, who taught me a lot ;)) have had a 100%, rock solid recall.  Just saying  :eyelashes:
There's a package on it's way to you with a Brittany inside it  :roflanim:
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #26 on: October 26, 2014, 07:15:18 pm »
maybe teaching retrieve with the hedgehog will teach him to leave little critters well alone  :roflanim: :roflanim:

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #27 on: October 26, 2014, 07:28:21 pm »
But retrievers will happily deliver a hedgehog to you, Shygirl.  ;D   

An old Flattie I used to have loved that party trick.

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
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Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #28 on: October 26, 2014, 10:01:18 pm »
But retrievers will happily deliver a hedgehog to you, Shygirl.  ;D   

An old Flattie I used to have loved that party trick.
One of my Brittanys brought them back by a leg, we had to stop her but it was difficult to get her to understand.  The Leave It command was used a lot as we went past the railway carriage they were nesting under.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Clarebelle

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • Orkney
Re: new dog attacked chicken
« Reply #29 on: October 27, 2014, 09:18:18 am »
Dingo bit our cat last night. He has chased him before but not taken it further than sniffing him. My husband's going to start some intensive training with him today. Fingers crossed he starts to improve

 

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