Beagles and chickens living happily with each other?

[ryan820]

Its like anything else, if you consistently establish and enforce boundaries, even a dog prone to attacking other animals will quickly learn what he can and cannot do.

With that said, I grew up with a Beagle on a farm with loads of chickens-- he was never interested in them... instead she bounced about the wheat and alfalfa fields looking for rabbits.

 

[nakstk]

He is so cute! I love Beagles I have an almost 7 year old Beagle boy named Tank. He is so interested in my chickens. He barks at them every time I let them out of the coop in the morning. I have never let him play with the chickens off leash just because they are still sort of a new thing. He is an indoor lazy dog, unless its a rabbit chasing day which are few and far between now do to a mysterious spinal issue Tank has. I think with proper introduction and gentle reminders that it can be done. But not knowing just how your new boy was treated or how he was trained it might be a bit of a challenge at first. But they are such loving dogs and fun to watch when then their noses hit the ground. lol

This is my Tank

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

He is so cute! I love Beagles I have an almost 7 year old Beagle boy named Tank. He is so interested in my chickens. He barks at them every time I let them out of the coop in the morning. I have never let him play with the chickens off leash just because they are still sort of a new thing. He is an indoor lazy dog, unless its a rabbit chasing day which are few and far between now do to a mysterious spinal issue Tank has. I think with proper introduction and gentle reminders that it can be done. But not knowing just how your new boy was treated or how he was trained it might be a bit of a challenge at first. But they are such loving dogs and fun to watch when then their noses hit the ground. lol

This is my Tank

From one beagle lover to another....


I

Tank!!!


For the OP, spinal issues in beagles are pretty common. I've already had to finance surgery for 2 different dogs that had herniated discs. Talk about cutting into the vacation fund for years! We are now super careful with them to help prevent those issues since beagles seem to be pre-disposed to spine injuries.​

 

[DaveK88]

We have a puggle which is a hybrid pug and beagle. His nose is always to the ground and his hunting instinct is always on. If it moves he will chase it. When it comes to the chickens he couldn't care less. From the day I brought the chicks home he has ignored them. At most he would sniff them and then walk away. I bring him into the run every morning when I let the girls out and they pay more attention to him than he does to them . When they are free ranging he hangs out with them and follows them around. Now our Great Dane on the other hand will chase them and loves to go after them any chance she gets. She can not be off leash when they are free ranging. Very good looking Beagle by the way. They are awesome dogs.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Thank you all for your valuable input on this thread! I received him sunday evening and sat in the backseat with him cuddled up to me on the way home. He is such a sweety! The first night went well, he slept in bed with me (under all the layers of blankets of course. We woke up the next morning and he had breakfast while I ran out to the coop to let the birds out. If he is not by my side he whines ALOT I can't even go to the bathroom without him crying outside the door, so Now i leave the door open. He even wants to be with me when I am taking a shower

He had one accident in the diningroom monday because I was trying to give a little extra attention to my 2 cats. He likes to dive into the chicken poop in the yard so he already had to have a bath. Yesterday I had to go to work for 5 hours so it was his first day in the kennel. The rescue told me he was crate trained.... Yeah right! He went APE Peed all over his bed, blankets ect. Completely destroyed his food and water dishes (the hard plastic ones that fasten to the wire. He bent the heck out of the kennel trying to get out. I placed all his toys, a bone, and a pigs ear in there before I left thinking that would be enough to keep him occupied for a little while. nope, never touched any of it. SO now I need concrete blocks around and in front of the kennel when we leave or this lil monkeys gonna get out. He pulls on the leash til he chokes himself so we have been on alot of walks trying to teach him to heel. you guys weren't kidding on the stubborn part! And boy does he have a pretty severe case of seperation anxiety. The rescue suggested giving him a benadryl before I left for the day but i'm not sure I want to medicate him with anything if he doesn't need it. All in all it hasn't been tooo bad and I totally expected most of this but the fit of rage in the kennel blew my mind to be honest. It's gonna be a long road for both of us but we will make it work. He has had exposure to the 12 seramas that are housed in the basement for winter and is really calm with them, However when he see's the birds outside in the yard he wants at them. I have him on either a leash or a zipline so the birds are 100% safe. He will get daily exposure to the birds in the basement in hopes that by spring he will think of them as a part of his pack just like the cats do.

 

[Chickenaddict]

 

[nakstk]

He is so cute. They are definitely a breed that loves to be with you at all times. My Tank is the same way if I go to the bath room he is right there. You will have your work cut out for you. Just keep in mind that although you might need him to be in his kennel for awhile while you are at work, in his old home they might have used it for discipline or left him in there for many many hours. So always make it a happy feeling for him and be calm when putting him in there. Work with him on the reassurance part of it let him know that you are coming back. Like put him in there if he goes in good give him a treat. Walk away for a minute or two if he is good and quiet come back and be excited to see him and give him praise for being quiet. He will catch on they are very smart dogs he is just getting used to your routine and your body language. He is on guard once he sees that this is a safe, fun and loving home he adjust. Good Luck!

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

He is super cute.


A few of my dogs have severe separation anxiety. One - who is 9 - is on meds. We have had him evaluated by several vets and trainers and no one can fix him. It's sad but he does well on the happy pills. For all of our dogs I always give them a treat when I leave and nothing when I come back. That way me leaving seems like a 'happy' time and coming home is no big deal.

For walking him you may want to try a harness. Because of the pulling until they choke and potential spinal issues that beagles are prone to have all of the vets we have seen have told us to not walk our beagles on a collar and leash. They walk on a harness and leash so if they pull they don't choke or put pressure on their neck or back. And if I use a coupler I can walk four of them at the same time (you'd have to see that to believe it).

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

No Beagles here, just a Chihuahua x Poodle that is at the bottom of the peck order!

I think the trick is to have the dog recognize the birds as members of the pack. I would suggest lots of supervised exposure between dog and poultry - maybe holding a chicken on your lap while watching TV? Old towels come in handy, of course.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Thanks guys! It is DEFINATELY a HUGE challenge having him here. I have to be honest on more then a few occasions I asked myself WTH was I thinking! Gonna have to stock up on patience tooo cause I am almost out of that right now. Yesterday I was home all day with him, working on the seperation anxiety. I am a smoker but I do not smoke in my house, I smoke out in the garage during winter and outside when it's nice out. I don't allow him to go out in the garage with me so he cries at the door. He has gotten better about the crying when I go to the garage. He had a total of 4 accidents in the house, 2 were yesterday alone despite me letting him out every few hours. Those were definately spiteful accidents because I wasn't paying all my attention to him. For example: I was in the kitchen washing dishes and he wandered into the entryway and pooped on the rug. The lady at the rescue told me I can give him a benadryl before I leave to help calm him but I am not ok with medicating a dog like that. If he truely needs something like that he will get a perscription from the vet, not over the counter benadryl.

We went for a car ride to the pet store to see how he is in a public environment. Boy shopping with a dog who doesn't walk well on a leash in a pet store was quite the challenge. The girls working there were super nice and friendly to him and he was the same to them. I was really hoping to see other dogs there but he was the one and only. He got to pick out a few treats and one of them was this huge trachea he fell in love with. Another was a big heavy duty rubber chicken that squeaked. He tore the foot off that chicken in seconds.... That was a $10 toy! Holy moley! The trachea was $4 I also got him an edible dental bone, a tooth brush, and some tooth paste seeing as he had discovered the litter boxes and found cat turds to be quite tasty.

Last night we went to bed at 10:30 pm and he woke me up at 2 am to go potty. We went back to bed and he woke me again at 5:30 so this is alot like having a baby around lol. I am exausted to say the least but he is really starting to grow on me Today he has a hot date with my best friends 1 yr old rottweiler named cleo. I am also debating on whether to adopt another beagle named weston who rode in with roscoe and they became really close. Weston is half the size of roscoe and older then him. He suffered from severe neglect which is why he is soo much smaller. He also is going to have some health problems because of that in the long run I am guessing so that right there is a turn off but I can't help thinking that Roscoe would do much better if he had another doggy with him. My other half however is completely against getting another. Weston is going to his foster home friday and they may adopt him in the end, however if they don't he might just be coming here if I can work on my bf a little more on the subject.

A harness is exactly what I need for walking him, I am afraid of him choking or hurting himself when we go on our daily walks, not to mention what it does to my back trying to control him seeing as I have 2 dislocated vertibre with nerves pinched in between (L4 and L5) in my lower back. We are maiing a little progress everyday and I think in the end it will all be worth it. He sure is a sweet little guy who is just head over heels for me

I forgot to add the video I took of him after his bath the first day with me. I laughed sooo hard!