Topic of the Week - Dogs and Chickens

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ChickyWhicky said:
I have a german shorthair pointer who has never touched a chicken. These are the safest chickens on the country block! Thanks to him, we have full time pest control on site 24/7. He actively pheasant and rabbit hunts with my husband but has always been respectful of our birds. We introduced him when we first got chicks. We allowed him to see them in the brooder. The first few times, he got excited but we reinforced the "leave it" command and he backed down. We did this for many days (although after the first 3 days, he showed no more interest in them). Eventually they moved out of the brooder and into the coop, at this point he was still no longer interested. We did supervised interactions for many days (with virtually no interaction from him, as he showed no interest) until we felt confident. It was so easy with him and I think we got lucky as he is very smart and loyal. He now lives side by side with the flock and I trust him completely, best "bird dog" around! 😉

On the flip side, we had to rehome a bloodhound as we could not break him of killing chickens. Very sad situation and we tried many things but nothing seemed to deter him. It was to the point that either he had to be confined or the birds had to be confined and that just doesnt work for us. He has an awsome life now, living as a bachelor in a chicken free home so a good ending for him.

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oh my gosh, does your dog have a little horse blanket? :love
 
I never had to train my cocker spaniel to be good to the chickens. She loved them from the beginning, though she never saw one till she was two. Here she is with the latest additions.
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Now our eighteen-week-old lab puppy, she likes them too - as toys that can move and squawk. She stays on a lead when not being supervised, but she's learning. Honestly she shows more interest in the chickens' droppings than in the hens themselves!
 
My dog is a boxer, and he has unfortunately killed a couple chickens in his time. He was socialized with them when they were chicks, allowed to watch them and sniff them if he was calm. Admittedly, he probably should have been (and probably should be) trained better.
Up until recently the flock was always fenced off in their own little area, so a killing would only happen when one escaped and nobody was watching. The last time being a little over a year ago.

He turned 4 this last December, though. I'm not sure if his age has something to do with it, but his interest in them has drastically decreased. I can now have them in the yard together without problems, and while I still keep a close eye nothing has happened yet. He doesn't even look at them! Just trots right on past them to get where he's going.

My only other idea is maybe the newer, feistier members of the flock scared him off. One of them did attack him a few months ago. I wouldn't be surprised if that was what did it.

Has anyone else had a change like this happen?
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