A Dog For Me And My Flock

[cafarmgirl]

OK Now I see where the problem lies with raising these dogs with chickens.

Oh my goodness, I love that pic! She's more interested in the food then the chickens! I love her color too, very pretty.

My dog Nikki is a two year Heeler/Border Collie/McNabb mix. I raised her around the chickens just like you are doing, they very quickly became old news to her. She has never touched a chicken. She knew from day one that they are my chickens and that she is not to bother them. It's just constant reinforcement of good behavior and never leaving pup alone with chickens. These Border Collie mixes are great dogs in my opinion, they are EXTREMELY smart dogs. They want to know what you want from them and they want to do it. It's true that they are a go all day dog and then go some more after dinner! Mine is a ranch dog and I have yet to see her tired!

Good luck with your new girl, I think you are on the right track with her.

 

[ButchGood]

This Pup just turned 6 weeks old this weeked and has already been taught to sit. She caught on in only a few tries. I have never had a dog this young interested in learning anything. Bright.

 

[mama24]

That is the prettiest puppy I have seen in a long time! Gorgeous! I have an Australian Shepherd/husky mix who is 3 mos old now. She also learned to sit within a week of us bringing her home. She's very smart and wants to please. Unfortunately, she needs to be supervised at all time when she is outside. My kids keep leaving the door open and she gets out. She killed a duck last week, and she killed and ate most of a BCM pullet, about the same age as her, yesterday. Then spent the whole night puking in her kennel, probably b/c she ate the entire inside of the bird, intestines and all, plus both breasts. And the feathers. Anyway, my point is, don't trust your pup till she's an adult. Puppies just can't help themselves sometimes. My pup knows it's wrong and tried really hard to stop chasing/herding when we tell her to, but she quivers until she can't stand it anymore and then chases. I know the herding instinct isn't going to go away, but I'm hoping she can control the killing urge when she's older. She's still a baby. And it's totally our fault when she gets out unattended. If my kids would only learn to close the darn door behind them!

 

[centrarchid]

That is the prettiest puppy I have seen in a long time! Gorgeous! I have an Australian Shepherd/husky mix who is 3 mos old now. She also learned to sit within a week of us bringing her home. She's very smart and wants to please. Unfortunately, she needs to be supervised at all time when she is outside. My kids keep leaving the door open and she gets out. She killed a duck last week, and she killed and ate most of a BCM pullet, about the same age as her, yesterday. Then spent the whole night puking in her kennel, probably b/c she ate the entire inside of the bird, intestines and all, plus both breasts. And the feathers. Anyway, my point is, don't trust your pup till she's an adult. Puppies just can't help themselves sometimes. My pup knows it's wrong and tried really hard to stop chasing/herding when we tell her to, but she quivers until she can't stand it anymore and then chases. I know the herding instinct isn't going to go away, but I'm hoping she can control the killing urge when she's older. She's still a baby. And it's totally our fault when she gets out unattended. If my kids would only learn to close the darn door behind them!

I recommend not isolating dog from flock. Actually increase it but under supervision. You may not realize immediate safety for flock but will make its realization more likely later.

 

[ButchGood]

I recommend not isolating dog from flock. Actually increase it but under supervision. You may not realize immediate safety for flock but will make its realization more likely later.

Ive be taking sky into the chicken run everyday for about 20 min. so far she hasn't had the urge to chase any of them. I would'nt put her around the chicks unattended. But so far shes ding well.

 

[ButchGood]

Here is a picture from a fellow BYC member. This Blue Heeler is quite content to let chickens ride on his back. According to this BYC member its all about training and prevention.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Here is a picture from a fellow BYC member. This Blue Heeler is quite content to let chickens ride on his back. According to this BYC member its all about training and prevention.

That's a great pic! I totally agree that if you never let a pup have the opportunity to chase and kill a chicken you are so much farther ahead with that pup's mindset. I hope you will keep us updated with pic's of your girl as she grows. This is a grood thread for folks to read about raising a pup with chickens and teaching it to be a good farm dog. There are to many posts about someone's new pup/dog who was left unsupervised and killed all the ckickens. There is a way to do it right and be successful.

 

[dinahmoe]

i like "sky".

sounds like she is fitting in nicely.
the only thing i thought about that i would not do is ,you said maybe training her to help round up the chickens to roost/pen.
heelers/collies will nip and that may increase her already chase drive.i would always train her to NEVER chase them,not even for you.just my 2 cents.

 

[ButchGood]

i like "sky".
sounds like she is fitting in nicely.
the only thing i thought about that i would not do is ,you said maybe training her to help round up the chickens to roost/pen.
heelers/collies will nip and that may increase her already chase drive.i would always train her to NEVER chase them,not even for you.just my 2 cents.

Ive been struggling with that myself. Right now she is learning the command, "Don't Chase!". I would hate to confuse her.

 

[centrarchid]

You can train them but man it is hard! I had a female black and tan coonhound that most of time was expected to leave chickens alone which she did. At other times I needed to catch during day stags or pullets that could not be located while on roost. With dog present I could start walking briskly after a bird I wanted to catch and the dog would go after that bird and run it slowly until it could not fly and then it would try to hide bushes or under something. Dog would either hold it down or stand near hiding bird until I picked it up. She did this without causing feather loss or other damage.

She was a very smart multipurpose dog. My present German Short-haired Pointer I think could be trained to do same but that would require more time than I have now. We had a border collie that could drive sheep and cattle very well and attempted to do chickens but they could not be moved as a group. Dog had to coral each bird individually taking to much time and was stressfull on birds. It is easier to train birds to do what you want them to. Training chickens is extremely easy!