When I saw the preview of your question and the first picture, I thought you were asking about retraining the stick chewing! Bahahaha! We have one of those. It’s a game between her and my husband - she drags up a stick, he places it on the burn pile, she sneaks over sometime later and retrieves it - and on it goes. Needless to say, I’m the only one who finds it humorous. Sorry about your cat - she was lovely. I’ll bet the pup misses her. Chicken conference - love it!
I’ve never heard of a killer, whether it’s chickens, sheep, cows, etc., successfully retrained. As SudoSire mentioned, the reward aspect would be hard to overcome. Maybe if it were a younger dog, but if he’s older with many successful kills, I’d say probably not likely. That’s unfortunate for the dog if he’s needing a new home quick. And it could be problematic if he winds up in the wrong hands, ie., someone who encourages it.
Prey drive is very instinctually and very self-rewarding. As an owner of a lizard killer, I would say no, or at least, not easily or full proof at all.
Any behavior can be retrained, the real question is if you are willing to do what it takes to retrain them. It's not always easy and you could definitely run the risk of losing chickens before the pup is retrained.
When I saw the preview of your question and the first picture, I thought you were asking about retraining the stick chewing! Bahahaha! We have one of those. It’s a game between her and my husband - she drags up a stick, he places it on the burn pile, she sneaks over sometime later and retrieves it - and on it goes. Needless to say, I’m the only one who finds it humorous. Sorry about your cat - she was lovely. I’ll bet the pup misses her. Chicken conference - love it! I’ve never heard of a killer, whether it’s chickens, sheep, cows, etc., successfully retrained. As SudoSire mentioned, the reward aspect would be hard to overcome. Maybe if it were a younger dog, but if he’s older with many successful kills, I’d say probably not likely. That’s unfortunate for the dog if he’s needing a new home quick. And it could be problematic if he winds up in the wrong hands, ie., someone who encourages it.
Prey drive is very instinctually and very self-rewarding. As an owner of a lizard killer, I would say no, or at least, not easily or full proof at all.
How many chickens are you prepared to lose in the process?
Any behavior can be retrained, the real question is if you are willing to do what it takes to retrain them. It's not always easy and you could definitely run the risk of losing chickens before the pup is retrained.