How can I teach my dog to be friendly to other animals?

Question

My dog likes to chase my chickens around the yard. She doesn't try to kill them, she just chases them She is a small dog (pug/beagle mix). I know it is natural instincts, but is there anything I can do to minimize this poblem?

Answer 1

My dog did the same thing, but she was able to hurt one of my chickens.
My dog is a Jack Russel Pit Bull mix
I was told to put my dog on a lead and sit were my chickens are at (of course the chickens are in their pen while doing this) I would pull back on the lead if she showed any signs of wanting to go near the chicken yard, when I tugged on the lead and called her name and if my dog didn't hesitate I would praise her that she came to me, the lead that I used was a lunge line (about 20 ft of line).
We also made sure that when the chickens were let out to roam our yard that our dog was on the lunge line and again if she showed any signs of wanting them again, we again would tug on the lead and call her name, we did this all summer and by the end of August she got the idea that the chickens are no longer her "food" source and that we were.
Our dog was found on the road hungry, the local shelter took her in and called us ( a friend of mine works for this shelter) to see if we could take her in, which of course we did because the shelter had no room and she was set for euthanasia the next week. Since our dog had some trust issues and didn't understand that she was going to be fed on a daily biases she assumed our chickens were fair game.
Today our dog is happy and sassy, she doesn't even want to go near the chicken yard, we can also have her go into the barn were the chickens are at during our winter months and both species are able to be in the same room....

Answer 2

try putting her with the chickens-lets say once a day, when she starts chasing them lock her away for a little bit. then let her back out and keep ding that, evebtually she will get the message not to chase them
if you dont want to lock her up just think of another puunishment you're more comfortable with good luck

Answer 3

its just there natrul thing to do, she probley is just haveing fun try to inroduce the chickens to the dog and why do you have pet chickens any ways?