What dog breed would you recommend?

[NatJ]

My dog is doing a bit better with the chickens...Peach was holding her down with her paws and ruffling her feathers(?). Idk what she was doing. She probably thought she was playing with the Esper the pullet.

Yes, she probably thought she was playing, but you were right to make her stop.
It is easy for a dog to play too roughly, and hurt or kill the chicken.

I think most chicken-killing dogs are doing it for fun ("play"), but the intent doesn't matter to the chicken!

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Yes, she probably thought she was playing, but you were right to make her stop.
It is easy for a dog to play too roughly, and hurt or kill the chicken.

I think most chicken-killing dogs are doing it for fun ("play"), but the intent doesn't matter to the chicken!

I wouldn’t put it like that , a german dog trainer told his viewers about a lady, who had a dog and a pet rabbit. The dog accepted the rabbit as a family member, but outside, he would hunt down and kill any rabbit he could catch, and his owner always yelled after him: “But that is Mucki!” , Mucki was the name of their rabbit

 

[Luv Ducks]

Thank you for the information and suggestions. My dog is doing a bit better with the chickens. She doesn't try to dig under their fence anymore and only seems to be interested in them when someone enters the chicken enclosure. She's well behaved when I have a chicken out. I take my silkies outside of their enclosure when I need to take photos or when I just want to spend some time with an individual chicken.
When I'm around she's not too interested in them. I'm pretty happy with her progress. Only problem is she's unpredictable when no one's around. I woke up one morning to a pullet screaming her head off. Turns out she had somehow escaped the run and gotten into the yard. Peach was holding her down with her paws and ruffling her feathers(?). Idk what she was doing. She probably thought she was playing with the Esper the pullet. I called Peach over to the window and she came quickly, leaving Esper to run and hide. Esper was fine with no injuries other than being in shock and covered in dog saliva. I'm glad she didn't do any serious damage. But yeah, that's that.View attachment 3217810View attachment 3217811

This is Esper the same day that it happened.
View attachment 3217819

Such a pretty dog!!!

 

[Luv Ducks]

Thank you for the information and suggestions. My dog is doing a bit better with the chickens. She doesn't try to dig under their fence anymore and only seems to be interested in them when someone enters the chicken enclosure. She's well behaved when I have a chicken out. I take my silkies outside of their enclosure when I need to take photos or when I just want to spend some time with an individual chicken.
When I'm around she's not too interested in them. I'm pretty happy with her progress. Only problem is she's unpredictable when no one's around. I woke up one morning to a pullet screaming her head off. Turns out she had somehow escaped the run and gotten into the yard. Peach was holding her down with her paws and ruffling her feathers(?). Idk what she was doing. She probably thought she was playing with the Esper the pullet. I called Peach over to the window and she came quickly, leaving Esper to run and hide. Esper was fine with no injuries other than being in shock and covered in dog saliva. I'm glad she didn't do any serious damage. But yeah, that's that.View attachment 3217810View attachment 3217811

This is Esper the same day that it happened.
View attachment 3217819

You are most welcome and I am glad that you are seeing improvement in your dog. All animals can be unpredictable no matter how good they are trained. We just have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't slip up just like some of us humans do at time.

 

[FerretzLoverz]

My family currently has 2 dogs - a 10 year old Jack Russell terrier and a 1 year old labrador/samoyed mix. The Jack Russell used to be interested in small chicks only, but nowadays has very little interest in chickens at all. The lab/samoyed mix (her name is Peach) is much more driven to chase after other animals. For example she sometimes likes to chase our 2 cats across the yard. Last summer she killed 3 chicks. After that I've tried to close off my chicken run and I try to keep a close eye on her when I can. Recently she's started to take interest in my chickens again (the 3 week old chicks specifically). Every so often she'll try to dig a hole under the fence. She also likes to run around the fence and watch them.

What dog breed do you think would fit for me? Now, were not getting rid of our current dogs, nor are we getting a new dog, but I've sort of been trying to figure out my "perfect dog breed" for over a year now with no luck. I'd want a loyal, medium sized dog with low prey drive. I've heard a lot about the great Pyrenees, but I'm not a fan of it and I've also heard they tend to kill chickens. My chickens are very precious to me and I name and get very attached to every single one. That's why I'm so scared to lose another one to a dog. Border collies were on my list for a while, but they need like a LOT of exercise and requires you to work with them a lot. I also absolutely love whippets, but they have a high prey drive, so I'll probably never own a whippet or greyhound. I'm not a huge dog person, so I'd prefer a dog that doesn't need me to play with it 24/7. Like a chill dog that will lay down in the shade while chickens walk around it, but wouldn’t hesitate to protect me and my house.

Is this a bit too complicated? Can you at least nudge me in the right direction to solving this "perfect dog breed" question once and for all?

I would recommend an aussie

 

[Cloverr39]

I haven't updated in a while. My dog is doing much better around the chickens. She rarely ever shows interest in them when they're in their enclosure and when I let them out in the yard she just lays down and watches them. Even if I leave her for 2 minutes out with the chickens while I go inside she just sits at the door waiting for me to come back out. She even had a chicken fly at her and peck her while she was laying down and she didn't do anything. The only time she shows interest I'm chasing them is when I'm trying to get them back in the run. She thinks I'm "chasing" them and then thinks maybe she's allowed to as well.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

To address your very first question about finding "what breed is the breed for you," go to dog shows. Be around different breeds and it will happen. Just the visual will either get your heart rate up or down and then you can investigate those who you like at first impression, further. It's a way harder road to go down if you just get a dog breed hoping you'll love it and then you don't. I know without any shadow of a doubt what breeds I love and how much and what breeds just do not do it for me. And again, the way to meet the greatest variety and leave the show really intrigued by one or more particular breeds is just go to a local dog show. For the record I've had Newfoundlands, Leonbergers, Great Pyrenes, Golden Retrievers, Corgi's and Shelties around Chickens. All have been great with chickens EXCEPT Newfies.....

 

[Luv Ducks]

I have a Chihuahua and a Boston Terrier/ Weiner Dog mix. They will both show an interest in the babies I have had in the house but have been trained to look but not touch. I would never leave the babies where the could reach them however if I was not in the room. Dogs will be dogs. They live fine with my big ducks however and have been trained not to touch them. I don't honestly feel it is the breed as much as it is the training they get when they are around them. Mine would never touch my ducks and are in the backyard with them every day but they had to be trained to leave them alone.

 

[GingerRose]

I have what is probably a not so typical situation with our 7 year old dog.
She is an APBT from pure stock. I was always not trusting to allow her to be outside when my chickens were out foraging.
I would sometimes let her hang out with me if I was just doing some quick maintenance out in the coops.
One day (at 4 years old), like usual, she was watching out the back door and I was in back of our home. She started barking and got the door open, ran out before I could even get close to her. She caught a stray cat, I can only guess, that cat was after my chickens. It didnt end well for the cat. My dog now believes all of my chickens are her chickens and she is their protector.
She loves the chicks.

You never know how any breed is going to act...
Oh, she is great with my chickens. She has a different feeling for my peafowl... LoL
Just sayin

 

[Captain13]

I have two border collies and they want to herd but not kill. They do well around the chickens, love the neighbors goats and horses, are smart, easy to train and love to work and when there is no work, they love to sleep.

The first photo is my youngest helping out with embroidery design and the second photo is her wearing her new winter baseball cap.