Anyone have English pointers in their home?

[Three Cedars Silkies]

We are looking for a dog for Granny Donna. Her dog, Riley, finally succumbed to IMHA last week. I was thinking she would want to wait awhile before looking for another companion, but she said she really misses having her canine friend and wants to move forward with rescuing another.

The chickens free-range in the yard during the day, but the dog would be indoors most of the time. She successfully trained Riley...who was probably a border collie cross...to leave the chickens alone and he was totally trustworthy to let him out to use the bathroom without supervision. She adopted him when he was about 2 about 4 years ago.

I have found a lovely English pointer (possible mix?) at a rescue close by and was wondering if any of you have them and how they are with poultry.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Anyone?

 

[lamoka]

I have a 8mo old English Pointer. He chases everything that moves and is very high strung. He is a smart dog so I have been able to teach him to leave the tame rabbits alone when someone is there with him but honestly I would not trust him unsupervised. It realy depends on the particular dog but I will say that I have my doubts about my dog being trustworthy with chickens. If possible I would ask if you could take the dog on a trial basis and see how it reacts with chickens and other pets. If it is a mix breed you may have better luck then I have with my full blood . In my opinion English pointers are great hunting dogs with a ton of naturall hunting instinct that need alot of exercise but honestly I dont think your odds are very high to get one that will behave with free ranging chickens, just my opinion from my experiance with the EP's I have been around. Good luck and I would definately try to get the dog home on a trial basis.

 

[turney31]

I can highly recomend an English Pointer. They are very intellegent, easily trained. Ours never once chased or bothered our chickens. We even had a family of bob cats den near our property and started losing chickens. We put Candy in the run at night and lost no more as long as she was there. Those chickens pecked all around her and she ignored them. She was by far the best dog we have ever had! Very personable , a good watchdog and very loving. They do need a lot of exercise. We lived on a large ranch so that was not an issue. We lost her a year ago and she is greatly missed!

Micah

 

[sfw2]

Only when my parents visit. And my mother's part Welsh, so . . .