We have 6 mth old labrador, he is chasing our chickens, today he killed a young chick.?

Question

We have only had him for a couple of days and he is otherwise a quiet dog and very good with our children. How can we stop him ?

Answer 1

I had an exotic animal farm, full of exotic fowl and poultry.
I also bred a hunting dog breed, with very high prey drive.
I would take them out to do all farm chores with me, on a long leash. As we approached each critter (chicken, rabbit, or whatever) I would speak upbeat to the dog, and say something like, " And here's our chickens!" good boy!..if the dog moved toward the critter, I would tug him back, with a matter of fact attitude, " No, leave the chickens alone, Fido...and praise when he quit tugging..
Soon, I could do the chores with him off lead, and he learned to leave the animals alone..It takes patience, and an upbeat attitude to make them livestock safe..Soon my dogs were protecting the livestock against coyotes and stray dogs, etc..As they were protecting ' our chickens'..One dog actually adopted a rooster as his own pet..He and the rooster were never apart..The rooster slept on the hound's back..

when I first began raising other critters, as well as this high prey drive breed, I scolded the first dog that killed a chicken..I learned it was the wrong thing to do, as, if they are allowed to be part of the farm, they will like the other animals and help take care of them, rather than being afraid to show interest..
Also, by taking them to meet the poultry, you will get the poultry used to the dog, so that they don't run when they see him, which triggers the dog's 'chase' mode...Over the years on that farm, I trained about 80 dogs with this method.

Answer 2

Absolutely not. As a labrador breeder I know what 6 week old pups are capable of doing. Even being a mixed breed pup I can't see this occurring. Someone would have heard something and the parents and grandmother left the baby alone in the swing for an extended period of time. Someone is lying and DNA should tell the truth after a post mortem of the neglected baby and necropsy of the pup that was put down. Let them both RIP the poor things. Some people aren't meant to have children or pets.

Answer 3

Currently, he sees them as toys and doesn't realise what he's doing. When he was chasing them around, he should have been stopped and reprimanded quickly. He is now so he must learn the rules and that is your responsibility to teach him. He's already quite large and active so you need to control and train him. He needs to know he is NOT supposed to harrass them. Let him lie down and watch the chickens. If he does not budge, praise him and give him a treat. Once he understands what he's supposed to do, slowly start with the chickens getting closer to him until you can finally confident that he can have the chicks right up to him and he won't harm them. If he tries at any time to jump or grab them, pull his chain and tell him he's a bad dog. Train with the image of him being 'protective' of the chicks instead of killing them and work from there..

Answer 4

He is a bird dog, the instinct to retrieve birds is bred into him by humans. Is it fair to punish him for being what we, the humans, bred him to be?

Dump the Dog Whisperer. Sure, he can get a dog to miraculously leave the chickens alone, maybe while HE is there. But it doesn't work long term. It is a TV show. And in the meantime his methods cause dogs to shut down completely and make them neurotic and scared.

Mostly, he is a puppy. He probably didn't intend to kill the chick, but it was too fragile to handle "playing with" the young labbie.

Invest in good strong fences. And give your lab other outlets for his energy, Training, Agility, Ball, Dock jumping, etc.

Please read the articles I've linked to.

Answer 5

Labs are natural hunting dogs. I might also add they are exceptionally good at the hunting part, so if you are putting the chickens right in front of them well I think you can put two and two together.
You might want to get a copy of that "Dog Whisperer" show, he is actually very good. The lab is young and it should be easy to teach him.
We have always had Labs. They do make great family dogs but they also need plenty of time to play and run about. Just make sure you teach the dog that you are in charge. Reward for good behavior and do not give attention for negative behavior. I can't stress how much they need to play.
They are loyal, and also will learn quickly as long as you have patience and teach properly.
We give each of them a large doggie bed for sleeping or resting on and there is one time out crate. If they have misbehaved we will send them to the "naughty dog" crate and close the door. It is hardly used even with the puppy any more. Actually they sometimes like to go to the crate with the door open and play with a new toy.
Hope it helps.

EDIT: I just noticed the two post above about the chicken hanging off the dogs collar and it is true it will work. I don't know how I forgot that one as my husbands family has done it in the past. Farming family.

Answer 6

In time he could learn to be gentle with the chickens.
Keep him away from the chickens when no one is around to watch him. Baby chicks are fragile so don't even let him be near them until they are larger. Have a long leash on him when you train him to be around the chickens. When he acts inappropriately with the chickens or anything else in general, give him a correction by jerking on the leash and saying a stern no.

Answer 7

Labs are in deed Bird Dogs but, they are not "Kill Dogs" when he killed that chix I'm sure that was not his intention. If you could condition your dog to accept the birds as part of the pack they will co-exist nicely. When I introduced my Parrot to the pack I held the Parrot and my dogs sniffed him. If one of the dogs got mouthy or excited I would put him in check. When he calmed down again I would allow him to sniff the parrot again. After one day the parrot was riding on top of one of the dogs. Put your dog to work and take his mind off the birds. If he is not willing to be submisive to the packleader "you" then you might have some problems.

Answer 8

There was an episode of The Dog Whisperer that mirrored your problem. A younger lab killing its owners chickens. It's that lovely hunting instinct.

Cesar had them show the lab that the chickens were THEIRS, therefor off limits. He also suggested they bring in a good trainer to show them ways to get their dog's hunting instincts and needs fulfilled without killing their own livestock, lol. I think that would be a good option for you.

Answer 9

Unfortunately for you, labradors are bird hunting dogs. He is just doing what he does best.
In the long run, I think it would be advised to pen your chickens where the dog can't get at them.
Please don't punish the dog for following his instincts.
Good luck.

Answer 10

I would either fence off an area for the chickens so the dog cant get to them or I would get rid of the chickens, not the dog because you really need dogs for protection.