Intermittent chicken chasing

Kash

We have a 4 month old Cane Corso pup who is a handful - we are working diligently with her but one problem is more worrying that all the rest. She occasionally gnaws on our chickens! :eek:

We had three chickens, but one day I found one dead, and though I am not sure, I strongly suspect the pup was the cause - she was only about 12 weeks old then. It could also have been local wildlife. However, a few weeks later I caught her chewing on a chicken and she left quite a nasty wound on her back. We consequently implemented much closer supervision, and have worked (and are still working) on a strong 'leave it!' command which is serving quite well. If chasing anything, on hearing Leave It, she will stop and do something else, at least 90% of the time.

However, on occasion, particularly if we are out of sight or distracted, she will run down one of the other two chickens. We've come round the corner to find her nuzzling and licking them, and when she sees us, she gambols away, and the chicken saunters off, not a care in the world. We always stop it as soon as we see it, but in our busy household, it is impossible to keep eyes on the pup 100% of the time.

Today, as I was putting my toddler in the car, she managed to grab a chicken at the other side of the car, not three feet away. The poor chook gave a loud squawk, Shadow let her go, but she had two gashes in her back and wing from the pup's teeth. The chickens are so fragile that even though she is not being particularly violent, she does significant damage very quickly.

I took her out on the lead multiple times today to try and reinforce leaving them alone, but she showed zero interest in them at all - I didn't have to distract or redirect at all, and it ended up being loose lead/heel training instead. Off the lead, playing with the other dog, she could run right by the chickens and not give a good god damn. Likewise if the chickens run from her/past her, she doesn't chase. I am at a loss on how to change an intermittent behaviour!

Any advice?

aonb

Yup, pen your chickens!
Let them out to free range only when the dog is indoors
Put them back into the pen (easily done by calling them, rattling a container with a few stones in to make noise, then giving them a treat - bit of cheese/pasta/sweetcorn)when you want the dog outside.
Else the hens will have to be non free-rangers...

sdp

As Aonb said, keep them safe in enclosed area, and only free range when your pup indoors. maybe start a bit of training with pup, so he knows their not his play toys, I got six girls last year (hens) and was worried about my terrier going for them, (as he can be a bit of a killer,ie rats) and will chase any other cat but our own, and crows, well you know what I mean :rolleyes:. wanted him to see the girls as part of the family,
so started with him on lead going into pen, and treats for him when girls came over, , and he stayed calm, then tied around my waist as girls were free ranging, and I would do some gardening, girls would come and go and they all got treats, picking up hens and talking to them, then all eating out of same bowl . girls became used to him, and Toby to them , slowly left him untied but with lead still on, and he got it! no chasing his family! now he's out every day when girls out, Molly even tried to take his bone once, and he just gave her a growl picked it up and walked away, bed time and I'll whistle, and he'll run with hens into pen and wait while they get their treat, and he'll wait for his, wish you best of luck, ps sorry for long post!

Kash

Thank you. I think we were so focused on training the dog that we forgot about the other option of securing the chickens.

We have a 5' fence around the chicken paddock that the dogs cannot get into at all, but the damn chickens are just flying over it, so as loathe as I am to do it, I think I will have to clip some wing feathers to keep them in and keep them safe.

aonb

Clipping their feathers is absolutely nothing to feel bad about. Its certainly really necessary when the alternative is to get mauled/killed by the dog! If you clip the feathers on just one wing, it makes them off-balance, they will very quickly will stop trying to fly over the fence. Keep them distracted/interested for the first few days that they are in the pen, by scattering some grain around the pen. Hang a few things like heads of brocolli, cabbage, sweetcorn etc