If you live on a farm or have a chicken coop, you are surely worried about chickens, right? Not surprisingly, they are very useful for humans. But ... the dog is the animal of the family, a furry that makes itself loved from day one.
You have to know that the coexistence between different species is sometimes very complicated; in fact, dogs have a strong hunting instinct when they see birds, especially if they run away. Even so, after reading this article you will know how to prevent my dog from attacking chickens.
Take him out for a walk
The first thing you have to do is teach the dog that chickens are not prey, but before that it is better to take him for a long walk in order to burn off a good part of the energy. In this way, once you are home, the furry will be tired and will not want so much to go hunting the birds.
Put the chickens in the chicken coop
For safety, before starting to work with the dog it is very important that the hens are safe inside the henhouse. Make sure the dog is indoors when the birds are on their way home. This will prevent them from getting nervous and running away, which would awaken the dog's instinct.
Bring the dog closer to the chickens
Now that the birds are safe, put the dog on the harness and leash, grab some treats and slowly bring him closer to the henhouse. If you see him getting nervous, take a few steps back and ask him to sit down. Wait for ten seconds, give him a reward for good behavior, and keep moving forward.
When you are face to face with the birds, ask him again for a »Sit» or »Sit» (you must always use the same word), and see how he reacts. If he doesn't lick his lips or you see on his face that he means to attack, give him a treat; otherwise, that is, if it barks and / or wants to enter the henhouse, it goes back a few meters and waits for it to calm down before moving forward again.
Repeat several times a day until the dog accepts the presence of the chickens.
It may take time to train your dog to let go of the chickens, but with patience and sweets you will achieve it.
All these posts give advice that only works when the owners are present. But if you read the comments you will realize that the problem is that the dogs do that ONLY WHEN THE OWNERS ARE NOT. So these tips are very unhelpful.
Hello Flor, so what is better to leave the dog tied to a chain? What must be ensured that the poor animal learns well and then it will not do that in the presence or absence of its owner, if you educate it well, with love and take care of it, it will end up learning what your dog does wrong. What is clear that leaving a dog tied is not the solution, as I have seen in some towns in Galicia.