I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you all might have on training a new dog to coexist peacefully with our established flock that has enjoyed free ranging privileges up to this point. We have 9 beloved hens and 1 rooster. They have a large coop enclosed inside a 20x15 foot secure deer fencing/pole support pen. They are safe in there and have plenty of roaming room, but it's just not as nice as letting them free range.
We lost our dear family dog, a boxer, to old age in August. She never showed the slightest interest in the hens roaming around her. Yesterday we brought a new dog into the family. She is an amazingly docile pointer/hound mix, about 2 years old, that we got from a rescue. Something about this dear dog spoke to us. I was VERY skeptical because of her breed(s) and their tendencies, but the people fostering her had chickens and said she didn't pay attention to them. Unfortunately, she's paying attention to ours. I'm up to the challenge of working with her, but am feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure of where/how to begin.
Any tips? Thank you!!!
We lost our dear family dog, a boxer, to old age in August. She never showed the slightest interest in the hens roaming around her. Yesterday we brought a new dog into the family. She is an amazingly docile pointer/hound mix, about 2 years old, that we got from a rescue. Something about this dear dog spoke to us. I was VERY skeptical because of her breed(s) and their tendencies, but the people fostering her had chickens and said she didn't pay attention to them. Unfortunately, she's paying attention to ours. I'm up to the challenge of working with her, but am feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure of where/how to begin.
Any tips? Thank you!!!