Please help with my dog!!?

Question

I have a 1 year old english springer spaniel. we have chickens and when he was about 10 months old he killed 4 of our free range chickens. since then the chickens have been inside of their chicken coop on the other side of our invisible fence. for the most part he respects the invisible fence but know immediately when his shock collar is off (when he killed the chickens his collar was off because it was just after a bath....he knew it was off right away, he is not a dumb dog) so the chickens have been in a portable chicken coop ever since. the coop doesn't have a bottom but is protected on all sides. a few days ago we left the house for about 20 mins and when we came home the chickens were loose and 2 were dead. ever since the dog has been tied up because after he got into the coop we don't know what to do with him. what can i do with him to stop him from killing our chickens without keeping him tied up? (P.S. when he killed the chickens he ran through the invisible fence....guess the chickens were worth the shock he got)

Answer 1

Yeah, your dog is a hunting dog, but it SHOULD NOT have the instinct to kill birds.  These dogs have been selectively bred for hundreds of years so that they have the drive to chase and flush, but no desire to kill and have some of the softest and gentlest mouths of all dog breeds.  Any well trained hunting dog will know what it is allowed to chase and what is completely off limits and any good hunting dog would NEVER kill an animal.  My spaniel is a wonderful hunting dog, but can be completely trusted with small animals (hamsters, ducks, chickens, rabbits, etc), because he has been trained that if he ever went after them I'd be seriously p***ed off.  Spaniels are very intelligent and will want to please you.  You should start training him that the chickens are YOUR property and not his.  

When my dog was young and I was training him to leave pets and other farm animals alone, I would keep him leashed when introducing him to small animals.  Let him sniff at it, but the second he tries to follow it or his body tenses up jerk his leash, say a sharp "LEAVE IT", and direct his full attention back to you.  It also helps if you have something around that smells like the animal in the house.  If he starts taking too much interest in the thing in the house correct him in the same manner. He needs to learn that anything that smells like that is off-limits, like in the same way you train a dog to leave a baby and everything that belongs to the baby alone. Your dog already has a history of killing chickens so it will take much longer for you to correct the problem, because he probably already has it ingrained into his brain that chasing and unfortunately killing chickens is fun.  In the meantime, put the chickens in a more secure enclosure and keep your dog tied up when you aren't around, but make sure you spend a lot of time with him whenever he's around the chickens so he learns what is acceptable behavior.

Answer 2

I just bought a wireless pet containment system for my bull-headed dog.  We have used handheld shock collars before with limited success because he'd just shake off the shocks and keep running.  This containment system plugs in an outlet in your house and you can adjust the size of the containment up to a half acre circle.  We got this because we'll be moving to a farm and we use the system now in town because we dont want to put up a fence.  There are no wires to busy just plug it in.  What's great is that once the dog is outside the containment area it shocks and continues to shock until the dog is back in.  So your dog just can't run past a certain shockable area....any area outside the circle he is shocked continously.  Pretty good reason to stay in bounds, don't you think.  the brand it's called is PetSafe

Answer 3

Hate to tell you this that the English springer spaniel is a bird dog and chickens are birds. It's bred in them.  There is nothing for you to do unless you protect your chickens. Put them in a real chicken coop.

Answer 4

No one can remove a dog's natural instinct to hunt. You may just have to improvise and enclose your chicken's area.

Answer 5

Some dogs are extremely prey driven.   He feels like he is doing a good job by killing these things that he looks at just like food.   Honestly, it's really just a dog being a dog and he is not doing anything wrong, it's just instinct.   It's up to you to keep the chickens safe, maybe try a different coop, a taller one he can't get into?   Or put a REAL fence around the coop?

Answer 6

How about a real fence?  Either around the chicken coop or in a certain area of the yard for the dog?

Answer 7

Those fences arent always as effective as they should be. Your dog is still young, and he definately has the potential to learn.

Keep your chickens caged (you should also consider wiring it a bit into the ground so your dog cant dig under it) and enrol your dog in obedience- this will give him some activities that are fun, rewarding and stimulating, help to strengthen the bond between you and the dog, and help you get a bit more control over him. A well trained dog should not be killing your other pets.  

Answer 8

You are working AGAINST centuries of breeding with this dog. Springers flush bird game out of the brush. He is a bird dog. Going after birds is what he is supposed to do. Granted he isn't supposed to kill them. The only way of breaking this bad habit is to be more diligent - ie, get a better coup, fence the paddock in for the chickens, or get an outdoor kennel for him to be in when you aren't home - or to work with a professional trainer to desensitize him. You might consider actually training him with a hunter who utilizes their springers for hunting. They teach their dogs not to get mouthy with the game. They might have some sage advice for you!