Are toy poodles good with chickens?

[cutechick2010]

I don't have much experience with toy poodles, but one thing I do know is don't just go buy a puppy from the first person you find selling them!! They are one of those "popular" breeds that everyone and their brother decided to breed once upon a time, and most of these people were totally clueless about breeding, just picked the first "pretty" male and female they saw and threw them together. Here is a link with more info on temperment, care etc for toy poodles: http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/dogbreeds/toypoodles.html

 

[onthespot]

I have bred toy and mini poodles for years. I have two main lines I kept and one was the "fetch" line, very high prey drive. The other was the laid back line. Couldn't catch a mouse to save their lives, wouldn't even look at one. The general activity level of both lines was the same, so you can't tell just by how they act in general. Even the prey drive line can do okay around birds, but I have never gotten them trustworthy around chicks or half grown chickens. If you can choose from a low prey drive line, you will have a lot easier time training it. Fetching is a hereditary trait. Poodles were originally used for hunting, so they all came from dogs with some sort of prey drive. Good luck.

 

[Muggsmagee]

No matter what, it depends on the dog's personality and your training him/her. I have 3 little dogs...Bichon Frise-10 lbs, a Yorkie/Bichon-15 lbs, and a Yorkie/Jug (Pug x Jack Russel)-9lbs...the Bichon wants to mother the chickens (I swear), the Yorkie/Bichon stares at them with one paw lifted (bird dog style), and the Yorkie/Jug chases them but only when they are out of the pen. Most of the time my dogs just want to eat chicken poo!

The Yorkie/Jug stops when I tell her to, and has never laid a paw or mouth on any of the chickens, not even the 1 month old chicks that got out. She is a huge help in wrangling them back up to put back in the pen.

Because you want a small dog, you will need to train it so that it won't get hurt. (Any dog needs training.) My roos secure the perimeters when my dogs come out...only once have I seen hackles go up. The roos are doing their job if the dogs decided to "attack". My dogs would get their butts whooped (by the chickens) if they went after one. I have trained my dogs to "leave them" with a sharp voice, so they know the chickens are off limits. For some reason "leave it" doesn't work for the poo!

They eat it when I've got my back turned.

Good luck on your search for a dog.

 

[BlackBart]

Any dog can be good with chickens if you train it from the beginning.
Don't buy it squeaky toys to play with.

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
Even though it might not have meant to be funny

it was! My dogs have several squeaky toys (mini tennis balls, stuffed animals), they love them and have not made the connection that squeaky equals chicken!

Everyone can agree that training is of utmost importance.

 

[kawonu]

We have a toy poodle and she doesn't hurt the ducks or chickens. She will help round them up to put them up at night. She is also scared of the geese so we have to help her put them up at night. She will sleep with the ducklings too.

 

[damarisgw]

my male poodle could care less about the chickens he even lets them eat out of his bowl and his daughter too .But his sister looks like a saint until u turn around she will corner them and it them no matter how many times we have disciplined her she still does it till we gave her away to my sister , now she kills unsuspecting pigeons !! As for her son who we gave as a puppy to my brother he cant even see a chicken flap its wings because he goes on a psycho killing spree.And they are all poodles go figure

 

[Kyfila]

O.K. I'm a dog lover in fact we have 5 of them. BUT the one I would shoot is my husband's Toy Poodle! His poodle hates my

chickens and kills one every chance he gets! He only weighs 6 lbs and I do have bantams, but he even has attacked my

guineas! Now I will never own another one if this one should suddenly say....disappear.....?!

I would not have a toy poodle with my chickens. My other dogs bark and harrass the guineas on occasion but the poodle has a

a definite death wish for my chickens!

Thats my experiance I say.......Just say "NO" to all poodles

Be Blessed!
Kim in Ky

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

Wow! Lots of feedback on this one (and for some reason I didn't get an email telling me about it. Darn you yahoomail!)

I've found a breeder locally who shows her dogs in conformation and does all the necessary testing. Haven't asked her about the prey drive of her dogs, but that's certainly something I need to ask about! I used to do Rottie rescue, so I have no interest in supporting a byb. Who knows what I'd get from one of them! Luxating patellas, bad teeth, etc.

I've thought about getting another Rottie, but they are all pretty prey driven. And as mentioned before I really want a dog that's a little more portable.

My Rottie Lady was about a low prey drive as any dog could get. She would go outside with my folks' chickens when we were there and not bother them. When she went out to potty in the morning the bunnies in our yard didn't even run from her. And she didn't even run off the guy who was peddling electricity service. I opened the door to find her leaning against her leg and him scratching her head. I wouldn't expect to get that lucky again.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Of course, I dread having to house train a puppy. Been a long time since I've had to do that...

Rachel

 

[peeps7]

My toy poodle is a very well-behaved dog, I never let my dogs be crazy, lol. But he has killed ALOT of my chickens that I free-ranged. Just because they are small does not mean they won't kill them, needless to say, I do not free-range anyone except for extra roosters that I do not use for breeding projects. My roosters are generally smart and do not go inside his wireless fence, however there is the occasional one that comes to far and Courage (no, not the cowardly dog, lol) chases them until they have heart attacks, and then he pulls out feathers. He won't do it if I'm home because he knows hes not supposed to and if I come home to a dead chicken, he is no where to be found because he knows he has done wrong. (poodles are also VERY intelligent dogs) Anyways, just a little input from my experience