Can a springer spaniel, labrador or beagle live with chickens if they are raised with them as pups?

[Sire12]

Thanks for the info I will probably fo for a beagle now, i forgot to ask in my original question if anyone had kept German pinschers together with chickens? I know the prey drive might be higher with them

 

[Pork Pie]

@sourland ?

 

[Ljc01]

My beagle just passed away at 13. She was just one of the flock. Even like to join them when I would throw meal worms on the lawn! She liked to eat worms.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Not to make too much out of it but to teach or train a dog the dog's owner or trainer needs to be smarter than the dog. Witness my Brother-In-law who never 'learned' his Beagles to come to him when they were on the trail of a rabbet. His solution was to chase them down or cut them off and then reprimand them. All he was teaching his dogs was that they were not fleeing from him fast enough.

Most dogs respond well to an electric shock training collar, but you need to let the dog wear the collar & batteries all the time so that pooch doesn't associate you with the training collar. The lesson that the dog should learn is that chickens are a terrible species that delivers a painful shock when dog violates chickens' space.

Ideally the dog should not see, hear, or smell you when a training session is underway. My current dog is a Shiba Inu and Shidas are perhaps the most stubborn dog on this planet. Ever Shy, my Shiba learned to play nice with my daughter's cat Without any extraordinary intervention like a training collar which is saying something. Dog and cat do rough house and wifey has never learned to chill when cat allows dog to take cat's entire body in into dog's mouth to make a simulated kill. After a play session my Shiba would sleep on the couch while cat napped on top of the dog as only a cat can nap. You may call it a mutual heating pad. BTW, Shibas were used in Japan to hunt wild boar, deer, bears, and to flush birds for falcons so they are a serious dog. Shibas are excellent varmint dogs but I don't recommend that you trust them with your chickens, their prey drive is strong but they can be tamed. Shibas are notorious for their hatred of cats and what triggers most dogs' prey drive is an animal fleeing from the dog and it is in a cat's DNA to run from K9's.

 

[Sire12]

I was actually looking at shiba's too in my search, i got put off when i read that they can be a bit territorial towards other male dogs and might not necessarily be the most playful dog, it's a shame because they have a good health record ,sort of like mini akitas pretty much, that sounds awesome that yours has such a friendly relationship with the cat

 

[chickens really]

I have two that are physically around my Birds and work with them..I also have a Maremma that just watches over the Birds.
The two working dogs are a Golden Retriever/ Aussie and a Yorkshire Terrier..Totally trained and love my Birds..Yorkie wrangles the Birds and The other protects and herds lost Birds..

 

[RiverOtter]

In my experience, birdhunting breeds are the EASIEST to train to be good with poultry.

Which makes perfect sense, if you think about it. Does a hunter want a dog who will go haring off, madly and uncontrolled at anything with feathers? No, they hunt very, very specific birds in very, very specific ways and ignore everything else.
My beagle lived happily with poultry his whole life, and only had to be scolded twice as a pup. My Golden had his own pet duck that would sleep with him.

I would definitely recommend spending some time around whatever breed you are thinking of. And, I have to agree with the folks who cautioned you about Labs. Their sweet comes in the package but their smart doesn't get delivered for about 2 years and they are chewy, chewy puppies! and you definitely want one from a breeder that health tests.

Spaniels have completely different personalities than hounds. Spend time with a few when deciding on a breed.

And know that I have lost exactly one bird to the vast majority of my dogs. Now, as a factor, I've almost always had adolescent poultry running about at the same time as a pup, and nothing is quite as determined to kill itself as a 10 week old chicken, when you combine that with an active pup. And it's not always malicious intent. Smiley the Oblivious stepped on one and Sunni loved a duckling so much (and I will love him and squeeze him and name him George, and he will be my George and we will be pals..) that she carried one around and washed it it to death, and then was very, very sad.
One mistake does not make a dog a bloodthirsty killer, untrainable for always, it's just that, one mistake and more yours than the dogs. The vast majority of dogs can be trained to be reliable around poultry.