Best internment for LGD puppy?

[frustratedearthmother]

I wouldn't leave her with free access to the chickens at all at this age. If the chickens are in an area in the barn where the dog can't have access to them then that would be ok. Just don't give her the opportunity to make a mistake. It's much easier to build on a positive than a negative. You have to set her up for success by not putting her in a position where she can make a mistake right now.

 

[Beekissed]

We had her sleeping in the barn with the chickens, but is that not a good idea? At night should she stay in the separate pen that she stays in when we are gone?

Not until you can trust her and if you mean with the chickens in the same coop and nesting area, I wouldn't ever do that, but in the barn where the flock hang out~ that will eventually have to happen. I'm a fan of letting the dog make mistakes while I'm there, so I can give an immediate correction, but one will never see those mistakes if they don't let these two groups be together eventually. I have a different situation than most wherein my flocks free range, so there's truly no separation between dog and chicken unless the chickens go into the coop where the dog can't go.

Eventually, when she is making all the right moves, responding appropriately to corrections each time, you'll have to just trust her at that point. That's the hardest part of the training....going in the house and watching from the window to see if she will continue to behave in the correct manner around the chickens. The slightest infraction out there(looking at the chickens for too long, doing the slow chase...walking slowly and moving them intentionally, or just outright running into the middle of the flock to make them run and scream...always a fun game for a pup) you'll have to yell your correction word from the window....this gives them the idea you are always watching. They always get a look on their face like, "How does she DO that????" and slink away. I rarely have to do that twice.

 

[babsbag]

Hopefully this doesn't go against any rules but there is a FB group that I suggest you join. It is a different way of raising them, NOT hands off at all. Their advice is priceless IMO and my next pup will be raised using their methods. People that have raised them this way have nothing but praise and admiration for the methods and the dogs it produces. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1828786214072789/?ref=group_browse

 

[Beekissed]

Other than the rough language and a few other things I don't agree with, they have some really good advice there, for the most part.

 

[babsbag]

Other than the rough language and a few other things I don't agree with, they have some really good advice there, for the most part.

Yes, the language is rough for sure, not what I like to see or read. But the admins have good hearts and will go above and beyond helping people so I wear my blinders and look the other way. The files on the page are full of good info and a lot of time went into writing them and why? Because they want to see these dogs succeed and live up to their abilities and they aren't making a dime. We keep telling them to write a book.

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, the language is rough for sure, not what I like to see or read. But the admins have good hearts and will go above and beyond helping people so I wear my blinders and look the other way. The files on the page are full of good info and a lot of time went into writing them and why? Because they want to see these dogs succeed and live up to their abilities and they aren't making a dime. We keep telling them to write a book.

They do have some good advice in their files...unlike any you'll find with typical LGD sites. I also like it when they call someone out for not reading and/or implementing what they have in the files before asking for further help....I too can't stand it when someone asks for advice, you give it, they refuse to implement it and then comes back asking for more advice on the same issues. Frustrating.

Some folks just don't want to put in the wrench time with a LGD, especially when so many sites will tell them that these dogs have been bred for a thousand years for that job and know more than we do what they are supposed to be doing.

 

[babsbag]

My current dogs were not raised following their advice but I did love on them and make friends with them from the moment I got them. They did a little house time too, but not 90 days of it. My boy liked chickens for way too long...18 months....but my other ones were livestock safe by 8 months. Now do they come when I call, nope. Do they understand leave it...sometimes. Will they load in the car....sometimes. The females do ok with my border collies and cats and being in the house. The male is an unknown even after 7 years. They are ok at the vet and ok with people that they know. If I do it again I will do it all differently as the older I get the more I wish that they were better trained in basic obedience.

 

[TXFarmGirl]

Thank you everybody for the opinions. I feel like there is half the LGD owners who suggest keeping the pup with the chickens from the beginning, and the other half say, to keep them separate, and not give them the opportunity to hurt the chickens.

Anyways, we will update everyone in a couple of days.

 

[Baymule]

Thank you everybody for the opinions. I feel like there is half the LGD owners who suggest keeping the pup with the chickens from the beginning, and the other half say, to keep them separate, and not give them the opportunity to hurt the chickens.

Anyways, we will update everyone in a couple of days.

Two good statements. Which one makes the most common sense to you?

 

[babsbag]

Personally I don't like giving them the opportunity to fail. That is why the idea of tethering them with the chickens is a compromise.