Can't believe that after posting those photos of my lovely spaniel that I am posting this now Tonight my 'oh so lovely' spaniel decided to chase one of our free range bantam chickens. She didn't harm it BUT she didn't want to leave it alone either. In the end I grabbed her scruff and pulled her away. She clearly thought it was a brilliant game I gave her a big telling off at the time and since it happened she has been in the sin bin, aka her bed. She knows she has been wrong as the look says it all. I need to know where to go from here. Our chickens are in our field which is gated from our garden so I can keep them apart but after living with them for the whole 2.5 years of her life I was not prepared for this . Usually the dogs chose to avoid the chickens and run around them. Can I turn this event around and make her realise she can't behave like this again ? We can put the chickens back in their electric fence area so if she goes for them she will get a shock, she has already had one of these when she was a puppy but maybe a gentle reminder could be good? I do have a long line, but need help on how to use this in this situation. Hope someone can help? Chloe
Re: Pippa - can I have your advice please ! Lovely spaniel chased chicken tonight!! [quote author=rubyrubyruby link=topic=5818.msg74665#msg74665 date=1399491473]... I gave her a big telling off at the time and since it happened she has been in the sin bin, aka her bed. She knows she has been wrong as the look says it all...[/quote] Hi Chloe, I'll leave others to comment on the training aspect. I have, however, recently read a book about dog body language and behaviour and thought you might be interested in this. What we commonly perceive as looking guilty is actually the dog picking up on our change of tone and body language and this makes them confused and leaves them feeling threatened - they then try to act in a way that will calm us down and avoid any conflict. So, that 'guilty' look is actually more akin to fear. Puts a different spin on things doesn't it?
Re: Pippa - can I have your advice please ! Lovely spaniel chased chicken tonight!! Hi Chloe, I agree with UB, also she is not going to know why you have told her off or why you have left her in her bed. Dogs live in the moment so leaving her there won't accomplish anything, as far as I know. I remember Kate advising me that putting a dog in it's bed just for a minute or two is sufficient. If I were you I would keep your chickens away from your dogs to prevent this happening again. I am sure someone will advise you with experience. Hope the chicken is OK
Re: Pippa - can I have your advice please ! Lovely spaniel chased chicken tonight!! Physical separation using fencing is your safest bet. But a parallel training approach is also really worthwhile. We've got chickens and ducks and they roam around in our yard with our dog, so we've taught two dogs (Labradors) to behave around them. I would go right back to basics and act as if your dog is a puppy who has never seen birds before. Have him on lead near the birds (not too close - choose a point at which he's not distracted by them but can see them). Click and treat for calm behaviour. Then move a little bit closer. Progress till he can be right by them (on lead) and sitting quietly. The dog's behaviour will determine how long this will take. You can scatter some grain on the ground to get the birds closer. Now do it on a long line, starting at a distance again. Repeat all the above steps. If you feel confident you can also do it all off-lead. All that might take a while. It took us a year for one dog (high prey drive) and about 6 months for our current dog. A dog that is totally relaxed around birds walks around like the chickens are not actually there. He will walk through them and doesn't care how close they are. In contrast, actively avoiding them and taking a detour around them is still an indication that the dog is disturbed by them. It is possible that all this time your dog has actually been fairly interested in them but has been keeping a lid on it, until now. But - don't despair!!! It's manageable
Re: Pippa - can I have your advice please ! Lovely spaniel chased chicken tonight!! We have a lot of ducks and chickens roaming around, most are behind electric fencing but the ducks do fly out, and I also have the odd chicken wandering loose in the garden! We used the extending lead, let one of the flocks out, and allowed Benson to wander through them on a short lead, gradually lengthening the lead and did these over several days. I think it took about 2 weeks until we were comfortable that there wasn't going to be issue. We have only had one small problem when he sneaked into what we call a "grower shed" He was more interested in the chicken feed but the birds were frightened and flapping around so he grabbed one, didn't kill, but he got an angry look and a sharp slap on his nose! He has never touched them since. I don't think Benson has a high prey drive, so it was much, much easier for us. The birds and ducks are all used to him so don't act as "prey" if that makes sense? The incident in the shed I think was caused by the birds flapping and exciting Benson by their frightened behaviour. Saying that I would never ever trust any dog 100% with birds even Benson, so if he is out with them I keep an eye on him.
Re: Pippa - can I have your advice please ! Lovely spaniel chased chicken tonight!! Morning. Thanks for all your comments. Was in a bit of a panic last night, in case you hadn't gathered! The chicken looks none the worse for its experience. She didn't get it in her mouth so I knew no physical harm done but wondered if the shock might kill it. Bella wouldn't know how to kill anything, she found a baby bird in the garden last spring and played with it like a cat. She pushes it with her paws and barks at it. Whereas Ruby knows exactly how to kill a rabbit!! I think this heightened prey drive/chase was caused by the other bantam hen (very tiny, size of a moorhen) being in a cage because she is broody. At the weekend Bella was sniffing around the cage and the hen became very flighty and noisy. The flapping definitely increased her adrenaline and I think she realised that these chickens (both small and black) were quite interesting. Last night this chicken was also separate from the rest of the flock (we have 11) when it happened so I think that was another reason it was more of a target. We don't leave the dogs unattended amongst the chickens. Usually I take the dogs in the field for an agility session or do a bit of retrieving and the chickens just wander amongst us. We also have a veggie patch in the field and if me or hubby are in there the dogs come with us too. Thanks again Chloe
Re: Pippa - can I have your advice please ! Lovely spaniel chased chicken tonight!! Hi Chloe, you've had some good answers, and I don't think I can really add anything very helpful. It must have given you quite a fright. Glad the chicken came to no harm.
Re: Pippa - can I have your advice please ! Lovely spaniel chased chicken tonight!! Partly as a result of last nights chicken incident and also as I am aware that neither of my dogs recall is 100% around wildlife, particularly of the small furry kind, I have looked up a local gundog trainer and talked to him this afternoon. Although I have dabbled in gundog training I have been scared off by some of the methods/attitudes used. Also I find that many are just not interested in you unless you do actually want to work your dog. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again for your replies. Chloe
Re: My spaniel chased one of our chickens tonight!! Were are you based in the UK i can recommend a very good Gun Dog Trainer in North Yorkshire , His dogs and dogs he has trained get to go in the pen with pheasants he has raised , He is a very sociable guy and a great help would highly recommend his website really does not do him justice though . www.patanavac-gundogs.co.uk , We were recommended to him from another good trainer based in Doncaster who site is www.kirkbournespaniels.co.uk which my wife found through facebook we are based in County Durham so still had a 2 hour round trip to get to John in Yorkshire . Mike
