Training your Maremma to poultry
Or training your chooks to your Maremma ...
Chooks and poultry are tricky for dogs. Even LGDs such as Maremmas.
This article provides an overview of why it’s a problem in the first place, what to expect from training, how much time it’ll take, and some very basic steps to try.
Contents
An note
Don’t they automatically get on?
How long will training/bonding take, realistically?
What is rewards-based or positive reinforcement training?
Step-by-step
Preparation
First steps - desensitisation
Next steps - walking quietly among chooks
Why will it take so long?
Dog instincts, roughly
Dog learning stages, roughly
A note
Even some Maremmas find poultry to be a bit tricky. They are - on the whole - almost automatically good with larger livestock such as sheep and goats.
But poultry is tricky, because it flaps and squarks and - in the case of guineafowl - flies. A Maremma that is calm and happy around goats might find getting used to guineas takes a few more years of training.
This article does not cover aversive (fear-based) methods. It also does not accept or use the concept of an “alpha”.
If it turns out that your Maremma simply can’t be trusted with poultry, or if you need LGD protection as soon as your mature dog arrives (don’t expect adult protection from a puppy under 18 month of age), you may need to work out a setup where your Maremma patrols around the outside of a chook run, but can’t get to them. Your dog will still be an excellent guardian; you’ll just need to keep the birds and dog/s on separate sides of fencing.
If that’s the case, however, you need to accept that if a chook gets near a dog, it will probably be killed. You must set up your infrastructure accordingly.
No amount of wishful thinking and hoping and “she’ll be right mate” and yelling “NO!” will prevent an accident from happening.
Good, strong, predator-proof fencing will.
Don’t they automatically get on?
No. Because chooks are prey and dogs are predators. It’s pretty much as simple as that.
Chickens and other poultry are prey, and they know it. They are frightened of anything that can harm/kill them, and one set of fear responses is to flap, squark, and fly or run away. (Another is to freeze entirely still; generally a response to predators that use sight more than scent, such as raptor birds).
Dogs are predators. They still know how to hunt and kill for a meal. Their hunting instincts are often automatically triggered flapping, noisy, running/flying creatures.
So right from the start, you have two sets of training to do - train the chooks not to be frightened of dogs, and train your dog not to respond to a chook’s natural behaviour.
How long will training/bonding take, realistically?
While your dog is young (up to 2 years of age), or within the first 6 months of a mature Maremma arriving at your flock, you want to set aside at least 30-60 minutes a day of focussed training, plus being alert all the time in passive training, every day.
See Dog learning stages, roughly for some more thoughts on this.
Your Maremma will not be safe to leave with the flock while training is happening.
If your birds are already accustomed to a Maremma presence, however, then honestly the hardest work is done. You’re just bonding your dog to its new home, location, and livestock. As long as your dog doesn’t do anything to make the birds frightened of its presence.
If you need immediate protection, set up fencing accordingly. (Electric poultry netting with a solar-powered energiser is excellent for this).
What is rewards-based or positive reinforcement training?
Positive reinforcement training is where you set the dog up to succeed in a behaviour, reward them whenever they perform the behaviour - whether you request it or not (initially), and ignore unwanted behaviours.
It requires you to be fairly aware of the behaviours you want and to be alert to when the dog unwittingly performs those behaviours, so you can immediately reward it. The reward makes the dog aware of the behaviour, and makes it want to keep performing it to get more treats. When “bad” behaviours get no reward, the dog tends to stop doing it.
This article isn’t going to cover basic obedience, or go into particular detail about rewards-based training. There are entire books covered on these topics.
This is my go-to book for accessible, sensible, well-written and humour-filled rewards-based dog training:
Benal, Jolanta. The Dog Trainer's Complete Guide to a Happy, Well Behaved Pet: Learn the Seven Skills Every Dog Should Have.
Note: I don’t receive any benefits for providing this link.
However, these commands will serve you well.
Sit. A dog that’s sitting is not chasing or lunging at poultry.
Walking quietly on a loose leash. Absolutely necessary as you start introducing dog to birds.
Down (lying down). As with sit.
Stay/wait. So your dog doesn’t bowl you over when going into the chookpen.
Give/leave it. “Hand over that hideous old rotten egg NOW”.
Come/recall. Not entirely reliable in Maremmas, but achievable.
Combine this with positive reinforcement, rewarding good contextual behaviours, and you get:
Dog quietly watching the chooks? Reward.
Dog sits or lies down around poultry? Reward.
Dog walking quietly around poultry? Reward.
Dog NOT trying to dig under fence? Reward.
You go through a lot of rewards. That’s sort of the point. Rewards are more fun than the behaviours you’re trying to discourage, so becoming a walking rewards dispenser distracts the dog from creating its own endorphin rewards by chasing chooks.
Step-by-step
Preparation
When doing this sort of training, your dog must be under your immediate control at all times. This means being on-leash, at least initially.
Make sure the dog is physically and mentally tired; peckish but not starving.
Happily tired means nice and calm and inclined to listen to you, instead of hyping themselves up on flappy prey-like creatures.
A little peckish means willing to work for treats.
To get to a happy tired state:
Combine fetch with sit and recall.
Go for a big boundary walk.
Go for a swim.
Teach “leave it” with a tugging game.
First steps - desensitisation
These steps aim to teach both poultry and dogs to be calm around eachother. Basically, you’re gradually exposing dogs and chooks to eachother, and rewarding both for not getting hysterical.
Provide the chooks with a big pile of treats such as scratch mix or fresh greens - the outer edges of cabbages, for example. You want them to be moving quietly and normally in the same place for a while.
Find a spot where you and your leashed dog can sit comfortably in eyesight of the chooks, but not so close that either the chooks or the dog react to eachother.
If the chooks startle with flapping and fear every time you or the dog move, move backwards until they stop.
Now start rewarding your dog. Avoid “razzing” them up, however. Keep energy very low-key.
Just for sitting quietly in general.
For turning its head away from the chooks to look at anything else.
For looking at you for any reason.
If they look at you in response to their name.
If they focus on the chooks and you can pull their focus away by saying their name, whistling, making a strange sound - any non-physical means.
HUGE rewards if they lie down and look insanely bored.
Even bigger rewards if they lie on their back and play gently with you.
If your dog lunges, pulls, stalks, or eyes the poultry, say "uh-uh" and immediately get up and move further away, until the reactive behaviour stops.
If the dog continues to be calm, move a little closer, and continue to reward.
Ideally end the session while everyone is still calm and relaxed.
Keep doing this as often as possible. Gradually move closer and close to the chooks, while they remain calm.
Next steps - walking quietly among chooks
If your dog doesn’t seem excessively interested in the poultry, walks nicely on a leash, and you can walk among your birds without triggering excessive flapping, time for the next steps.
Provide the usual nice big pile of treats for the chooks, and ensure your dog is well-exercised and calm.
While the chooks are busily eating, put your calm dog on a lead and walk among the chooks. Reward the dog every few seconds for calm, interested behaviour. Sniffing a chook's bum is fine. Lunging, jumping, or intense stiffening attention is not.
If you drop a treat and the chook eats it, and your dog doesn't respond or at worse looks indignant, laugh a lot and reward even more. The chook is now learning that the dogs are relatively harmless, and are being calm and normal around them.
Note: it's fine for chooks to eat meat products. Yes, even chicken meat. They're naturally omnivores. Just not too much salty stuff. But a bite of dog food or cheese is no problem.
Rinse, repeat repeat repeat. Day in, day out.
When you think everyone's calm, and if you believe you have reliable verbal control of the dog, you can start allowing the dog to interact with the chooks under strict supervision. You MUST be on-hand to call back any instance of rushing at a flapping chook immediately.
A “long-line” is incredibly helpful for this. Just a long rope attached to the leash. Long enough that the dog can move around fairly freely and you don’t have to follow them, but short enough that you can pull the dog away if required. 5 metres is a good start.
Increase interaction times as you feel comfortable. Take it slowly, but do it as regularly as you can.
Why will it take so long?
Dog instincts, roughly
Dogs are predators, with a core hunting instinct. In the domesticated breeds, this instinct has been re-directed. In herding dogs (Kelpies, Collies, Heelers, Corgis), for eg, it’s directed into chasing but not closing for a kill; the dogs use a prey animal’s natural fear of them to push the herd in the correct direction. In retrieving dogs (Labradors, Retrievers, Poodles), it’s directed into chasing, catching, and returning dead animals. In scent or eye dogs, it’s used to find certain things, but not to take it further.
There are still many breeds where the hunting instinct has been retained as-is, and the dog bred around the kind of prey desired. Terriers (Jack Russell, Australian Terrier, Schnauzer, Dachshund), for eg, were developed to keep ever-present rodents under control.
In our Livestock Guardian Dogs, the instinct has been finessed and tied very closely to the guardian/protective instinct, so dogs will bond to specific animals and treat others as threats, and use their hunting instinct to protect their bonded animals.
Dog learning stages, roughly
3-8 months of age: puppies. They’re amenable and easy and cute, because they fear and respect larger and elder animals just because they are larger and elder.
They should never be left alone with their stock for extended periods of time.
They have very little attention span, very little control over their instincts, and very deep desires to investigate the entire world with their teeth.
Keep training sessions short, and always end on a high.
Do puppy pre-school and as much formal obedience training as you can.
Work really hard on obedience, because you’ll need it during the teenage years.
In particular, work hard at being seen as the leader of the group. This is not “being the alpha”; this is being the adult.
8-14 months of age: teenagers. Absolute pains in the bum. The age when most dogs are rehomed, because they’re not longer cute and all the cute things they got away with as puppies are now dangerous behaviours.
They might be trustworthy with stock for brief periods of time.
They’re learning their place in the world.
They don’t automatically respect or listen to anything.
They get to their full size and weight.
They push boundaries, chase and rip and tear.
They become quite fun to be around.
They are responsive to training; you just need to use a range of ways to get and hold their attention.
You need to push them harder, to insist on getting the behaviour you get. If you ask for a “sit”, you need to stand there and wait until you get that sit. Allowing a dog to decide not to sit means they can’t respect you.
14-24 months: teenage puppies become adults. Growth plates close, hormones start to settle, mature behaviour turns up. They should be good to leave with stock overnight.
After 24 months: you have a well-trained adult dog. You will still be providing rewards and treats and positive reinforcement to behaviours, all the time. However, you won’t need the intensive training sessions, unless you’re looking to add new behaviours to the repertoire. You should be able to leave your dog alone with stock for extended periods, depending on your primary Maremma purpose.
What are your experiences with training Maremmas to poultry? Let us know!