[linnell]

My 9month old Great Pyrenees was found this evening munching on a laying hen. :facepalm: Is it time for a dangle stick? Just in the past 2 weeks he has seemed to be in a different mood. I remember this with my older Pyr, he went though a snotty teenager phase, but that did not include EATING a chicken. Our birds are free range during the day and this cannot be tolerated. We can't watch him 24/7 either. Anyone had good results from a dangle stick? Otherwise, he's been a great LGD so far. He knows leave it,sit,stay,come,and to stay in the fence.

 

[Lady89]

My dad would tell you to beat him with the dead chicken it is apparently how his grandmother would break a dog from eating chickens. Fair warning i have no idea if this works or not

 

[linnell]

My dad would tell you to beat him with the dead chicken it is apparently how his grandmother would break a dog from eating chickens. Fair warning i have no idea if this works or not

I have heard of this also. I've also heard of tying the dead chicken to the dogs collar and letting it rot. I don't think I could deal with the smell, these dogs are borderline pets and we handle them a lot. Husband said he thought about doing that at first but then decided it would make too much of a mess.

 

[Lady89]

i would not go with the rotting thing i can think of more then a few dogs that would like that and eat the chicken as parts of it fall off

 

[linnell]

i would not go with the rotting thing i can think of more then a few dogs that would like that and eat the chicken as parts of it fall off

Yeah, I thought of that too. I think I may just try the dangle stick. I've just never used one before.

 

[mekasmom]

LGDs eat chickens. That is just something you have to train them not to do. They are still dogs. They protect mammals that they live with thaugh. Generally speaking, you don't keep them with the chickens or make the chickens their flock. That is why they will eat them. They protect their own flock. If you make them a house dog that plays with your kids, then they protect the kids. If you make them a sheep dog that lives and lays with the lambs then they protect the lambs. LGDs protect their won flock whatever that happens to be. It depends on whether they live with the goats, sheep, kids, or whatever. They protect their flock.

 

[Janis R]

What is a dangle stick?
We had an 8 month old GP that ate some turkeys, chickens and Guinea hens , had to get rid of her.

 

[arabian knight]

What is a dangle stick?
We had an 8 month old GP that ate some turkeys, chickens and Guinea hens , had to get rid of her.

 

[farmmaid]

I had a pup about the same age do this. I tied the chicken around her neck, tight so she could not slip it off. It finally rotted off in 11 days, she NEVER bothered again, nine years old now a FANTASTIC farm dog!

 

[linnell]

LGDs eat chickens. That is just something you have to train them not to do. They are still dogs. They protect mammals that they live with thaugh. Generally speaking, you don't keep them with the chickens or make the chickens their flock. That is why they will eat them. They protect their own flock. If you make them a house dog that plays with your kids, then they protect the kids. If you make them a sheep dog that lives and lays with the lambs then they protect the lambs. LGDs protect their won flock whatever that happens to be. It depends on whether they live with the goats, sheep, kids, or whatever. They protect their flock.

Ours live with our chickens and pigs. They don't come into our yard or house. The chickens are their flock. I know they need to be trained, which I am still working on. Just wanted to know if anyone had good results from a dangle stick.

 

[bluefish]

I didn't have good luck with a dangle stick and chickens. If the chickens are used to the dog, they'll just walk right up to the dog and then the dog can grab them and eat them. I ended up spending a couple of intense days with mine watching. I let him grab a bird and then ran up and took if from him while scolding him intensely. This is MY bird, don't you dare!! sort reaction. It took a couple of times, but he got the idea finally.

A bit after that, I woke up one night during a thunderstorm to a weird squawking. I looked out the window and there was the dog and my loner bird. The dog would poke the bird, make it squawk and then look up at the window. It was sooo funny! I went down and took care of the bird and made the dog happy. He's also been know to let the turkeys corner him.

 

[BlackFeather]

I think the dead chicken around the neck is the same idea as a dangle stick except, the dog gets to associate the chicken itself as the cause of the thing around it's neck. I also don't think it has to rot, it is the inconvienence of having something dragging from the neck. I did the same thing with a bag of garbage since the dog always kept getting into the garbage, I hung it about his neck. Seemed to work. Showing your angry and expressing the fact by holding the chicken and scolding, worked for our last dog.

 

[crazyfarm]

My dad would tell you to beat him with the dead chicken it is apparently how his grandmother would break a dog from eating chickens. Fair warning i have no idea if this works or not

It didn't work with mine and I beat him with every chicken he killed, which was upwards of 10 one night (he used to jump the fence, we've electrified it since then). I actually hurt my wrist and had to wear a brace I'd beat him with so many chickens. He still kills chicken.

 

[bluefish]

I have no idea if it makes a difference or if I just got lucky, but I smacked my dog while I was holding the bird. Like I was protecting the bird from the dog. I never beat him with the bird. Then I would sit down and cuddle the bird (not a happy bird by this time) and when he'd come over to check it out, I'd growl at him and give him the eye. Kinda like a mom dog keeping the other dogs away from her pups. When he'd back off, I'd praise him. I praised him whenever he did what I wanted him to do. If he ignored a bird walking in front of him, praise, etc.

After we got that established, I started going out and screeching at hawks and such that were in the area. He eventually got to understand that the poultry were OURS and the birds of prey were the ENEMY. Although in his mind, every single bird out there that is not ours are the enemy. It's hysterical to watch him protecting the place from the blue birds.

I do think with chicken killing that it has to be caught and dealt with early. Once it's a habit, it's there for good in most cases.

Just my 2 cents worth. Probably worth what you paid for it.

 

[crazyfarm]

I have no idea if it makes a difference or if I just got lucky, but I smacked my dog while I was holding the bird. Like I was protecting the bird from the dog. I never beat him with the bird. Then I would sit down and cuddle the bird (not a happy bird by this time) and when he'd come over to check it out, I'd growl at him and give him the eye. Kinda like a mom dog keeping the other dogs away from her pups. When he'd back off, I'd praise him. I praised him whenever he did what I wanted him to do. If he ignored a bird walking in front of him, praise, etc.

After we got that established, I started going out and screeching at hawks and such that were in the area. He eventually got to understand that the poultry were OURS and the birds of prey were the ENEMY. Although in his mind, every single bird out there that is not ours are the enemy. It's hysterical to watch him protecting the place from the blue birds.

I do think with chicken killing that it has to be caught and dealt with early. Once it's a habit, it's there for good in most cases.

Just my 2 cents worth. Probably worth what you paid for it.

Well bugger it all. I hope I didn't do it wrong. Course it was probably habit by then. We'd actually thought our pyr was jumping the fence and protecting the chickens from coyote. Then we figured out it was him doing the killing.................

 

[secuono]

They aren't supposed to protect chickens or rabbits, they'd eat them if they came across any while out with the sheep/cows/goats where they originated from.
It's you're job to teach them not to bother these dinner animals. Not all will learn. Not all old timer tricks work.
Most obvious, he's a puppy and will stay a puppy that is unreliable until 2-3 years old. If you can't handle the dog eating a few birds as he learns, buy a trained adult instead.

 

[bluefish]

Well bugger it all. I hope I didn't do it wrong. Course it was probably habit by then. We'd actually thought our pyr was jumping the fence and protecting the chickens from coyote. Then we figured out it was him doing the killing.................

It's worth trying I suppose. One never knows what technique will reach each individual dog. :shrug:

 

[||Downhome||]

Sounds like its time to reign in the teenager.
Also sounds like you have basic obedience... But its being challenged to a degree.
You need to reaffirm who is in charge and sets the rules.

The way I do this is to put the dog on the ground then hold it there.
This is canine behavior, if you ever observed two dominate dogs, out side their territory one will try to pin the other, its the peaceful way of establishing dominance.
Of coarse sometimes the other does not like it and that is when the fight happens.
Though I have not been bitten, I have been snapped at, that is when tone and assertion come in. perhaps even a smack on the nose.

Once the dog no longer struggle to get up they have submitted.
Repeat if needed. Some dogs need more reminders then others.

A stare is a powerful tool as well, and a little show of teeth, again all goes back to canine behavior.Easier to exploit that then teach them English.

Next put him on a long lead, leave it slack ( I know you don't normally train a LGD on a lead but follow along) when he goes one way you go the other, key is the slack. eventually they realize eyes and attention on you. this is the important part.
you want them to pay attention to you, so you can move to step three.

Now you need to develop some activity to drum no home. Food works well.
something like food on the ground, and NO, and I usually also use a second command to leave it.
Once your satisfied with the behavior in your presence then you work on them following command once you are not in sight, a spotter works well for this.
you walk out of sight and the spotter lets you know when the dog is going to break command. which point scolding takes place and a punishment, something like cage time. repeat till you have the proper behavior.

Next step is to project this onto the chickens, in the same fashion.
It may sound long and drawn out but really depends on the Dog.

I have taken problem dogs and in a few short days had the proper behavior using these methods.

My Female shep I had when married actually got the gist in a few short hours, her male companions took a day or two.

Now a little off topic but that old girl would not let me near the Wife, fine any other time. I noticed she was OK with me disciplining her or the children but forbid I should get close to the Wife.
After that Observation, I tried a experiment.
As I approached the Wife, I started saying "Bad Momma" , she did not care for it but rather then being on the defense and aggressive she just wined.
After that no more issues.

I should add that the methods above are not mine but developed by a Disney Trainer, I don't support all his methods and even forget his name but I can attest these work. YMV

 

[SueMc]

One of mine has killed a couple of turkeys that didn't have their wings trimmed. They flew into the orchard and she got them. I tied one to her collar and she just thought it was a mobile feed bag.
I coated the last dead one in cayenne. The results are mixed. The last turkey she got a hold of was just some what plucked on its back but alive and in shock.
A bigger problem with her is that she's extremely food protective. We're working on that but I'm not holding out a lot of hope for her.

I don't think her brother would kill anything.

 

[Tweezy]

E-collar and reward based training works exceptionally well... Just kinda pricy for an e-collar.