2 Geese, 3 Cats... considering 1 Dog

[joya250]

I have a 5 yr old male (imprinted on me) and a 3 yr old female (tamed by me) who currently live in the fenced in yard. The three cats and them co-exist peacefully. Recently I have begun to consider adopting a dog. I understand there is a risk, but I am hopeful that if I establish myself as the Pack Leader -- and the dog is the right fit, and trained -- and that I do not leave the geese and dog unattended, ever... or at least never intentionally... I am hopeful that we can co-exist in peace, as we currently do.

Does anyone have experience with dogs and geese? Any thoughts? Input?

I already have a dog in mind that I am have been establishing a relationship with, by taking him on walks (from the shelter)... He appears to be naturally a "beta"... but I have not yet observed him around small animals, such as cats, etc... and I do not know if he has a strong 'prey instinct'... I obviously will need to take their potential first meeting with great care. If you have introduced geese and dogs, I'd love to know how... and the results of such!

Thank you in advance for your response.

I love my geese very much. And I do not want to make a foolish decision. ... I know that my commitment to my geese if for life (30-50?) and the same would go for my dog (15-20?)... So it is important I don't mess this up!

 

[CluckerFamily]

Is there a chance that you could talk to the shelter to see if they would bring him to your house to see his reaction to the geese from a safe distance? This would at least give you an idea of how much work you will need to do to train him.
I think geese, cats, and dogs can co-exist with training.
I don't have geese, just chickens and two dogs.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

My dog (after a lot of yelling no) has learned to leave the poultry alone. So as for the geese aspect of it I would say just keep up repetition, However I would not want to be the rabbit that crosses paths with him

 

[joya250]

Is there a chance that you could talk to the shelter to see if they would bring him to your house to see his reaction to the geese from a safe distance? This would at least give you an idea of how much work you will need to do to train him.
I think geese, cats, and dogs can co-exist with training.
I don't have geese, just chickens and two dogs.

Yes, I am absolutely going to do that. The shelter is a few km from my house -- and I have been going there for the past three days. At the end of the week, I will bring him to my home, and walk him around the property -- and gage his reaction.

The shelter is wonderful, and will take the dog back if it doesn't work... but if all goes to plan, it won't come to that.

 

[joya250]

My dog (after a lot of yelling no) has learned to leave the poultry alone. So as for the geese aspect of it I would say just keep up repetition, However i would not want to be the rabbit he crosses paths with

Thanks for your response. It is encouraging to know that this is possible. I know it is situational... but it good to hear, regardless. Gracias!

 

[CluckerFamily]

Yes, I am absolutely going to do that. The shelter is a few km from my house -- and I have been going there for the past three days. At the end of the week, I will bring him to my home, and walk him around the property -- and gage his reaction.

The shelter is wonderful, and will take the dog back if it doesn't work... but if all goes to plan, it won't come to that.

It is nice the shelter will take him back if it doesn't work out. But be patient and expect a lot of training/work. That way you can always be pleasantly surprise.

Good luck and keep us all posted!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

My geese where hatched here and I have a gander and goose my dogs cannot be around my poultry with out me being with them. My dogs are very use to the poultry even the geese but my geese are bullies not as much as they were 5 yrs ago because I put a stop to it. But my gander would nip my dogs if he got the chance and turned my mid size dog into an enemy. to the point she grabbed him by the neck thankfully she didn't bite down it just happened so quick I didn't respond fast enough to stop it. So I began training my geese to behave around the dogs I use a broom or long pole and when the geese would put their head down and start after the dogs I would step in with the broom and stop them and say no. Even though they have all pretty much grown up together my gander is same age as my 2 oldest dogs 13 yrs. I still don't trust them all together with out supervision, and breeding season can really be a challenge. My gander is Embden not known for their sweet disposition during breeding season. lol

 

[Goosebaby]

Any dog will be “fascinated” by birds or small animals at first so don’t be surprised if he instantly wants to run after them, what you should look for is if he responds to your commands and stays with you, doesn’t drag you at the end of the leash as he goes after them.
Whining and barking at them at first also isn’t that alarming, for dogs it’s better that they're communicating that they’re excited by the new strange bird beasts rather than intense silent staring with the head lowered, which is pure predatory behavior, the first is easier to correct than the latter.

It will take him a bit to get used to them, the best way to teach him to coexist is to teach him to ignore them and that they're not that interesting. If he’s too focused on them snap him out of it with a sharp NO and a tap, he’ll get the point eventually.
I liked to take my dogs on rounds checking on the birds at night and feeding the birds during the day for awhile at first, it gets them used to the idea that the birds are other members of the family and that they are to be taken care of.

Geese don’t always like being that friendly with dogs but as long as the dogs don’t invade their personal space mine generally coexist peacefully. My dogs pretty much view the geese as boring which is a good thing.

Some dog breeds are better than others with farm animals but that isn’t an absolute, some German shepherds are great with animals, my neighbor’s have a high prey drive and he’s suffered major losses to his own dogs.
Of my dogs I haven’t had many issues, I had a golden retriever who thought the geese were his children, I have an Aussie, a Golden Aussie, and a Boerboel now who are perfectly fine around the geese. I’ve only had one dog that couldn’t be taught to get along with geese, my parent’s labrador. He didn’t have that much of a prey drive but he had a jealousy complex the size of Alaska so he had issues with every animal, including our other dogs and then eventually with us, he was an uncommon possibility but he’s a good example that ultimately it comes down to the dog’s personality.