For a very good guide to all sorts of dog training processes and dog behavior challenges, I use and recommend Clickertraining ...that link goes to the description of this terrific ebook you download immediately, wherever you are! -- Rosana

Want to get better at dog clicker training? Here’s a way that you probably would not have thought up: learn to clicker train chickens! Long-time dog trainer Terry Ryan is one of several trainers who have taught workshops on clicker training chickens as a way to master clicker training dogs! You get away from a lot of the stereotypes about training by working with chickens!

So now Terry has made a five-hour DVD based on a workshop she did.  I quote a bit:

Why Train a Chicken?

  • Trainer’s are not “bonded” to their chickens.
  • Chickens do not have big brown eyes.
  • Trainers do not have bad (or good!) chicken training habits because they’ve never trained a chicken before, thus avoiding the baggage often taken to dog training workshops.
  • You will not be showing your chickens at the next performance event, nor will you be taking them home, so there is no pressure on what will happen in the future.

If you click on the image, it takes you to Dogwise… Amazon didn’t have this. Even if you have no plans to train a chicken,  it’s fun to see the little snippet of video from the program. I found the first part of it a little confusing, but after a while I caught on that the chicken was going in figure 8s in one situation and  in an oval in another. A couple of times I caught it glancing at the trainer in the very same way our dogs glance at me to assess whether I am about to click and treat!

chickentraining-terryryan

It just happens that Kelly and I have had chickens a couple of times, in different places, and not long ago we were chatting about maybe getting them again. Hmm… if we do, I think I will have to get this DVD myself and play around with it!

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!