Can dog and chickens be friends?

[CluckTwice4Yes]

This 100lb fur ball is our family dog, raised from a puppy (he and our oldest child are 6-months apart in age). He has the patience of a saint when it comes to small children and cats.

Chickens are new to him. The kids accidentally let him out with them twice. Once he frightened them, sticking his big nose in where they were dust-bathing under a tree. The second time I caught it early and ushered (verbally and hand signals, no grabbing necessary) him back into the house without incident.

Any advice on training the dog to ignore the chickens? Anyone else have both sharing a lawn? Thanks!

 

[lisameow]

Maybe try putting him on a leash and taking him to them at a distance and then slowly get closer until he doesnt mind them?
I think his temperament will also help since he's friendly with cats and children.. My old jack russell once got into the neighbor's chickens and almost killed one but we couldn't really train him because we had no chickens of our own

 

[Kiki]

There are MANY people on here that have dogs that live peacefully WITH their chickens

AND there are many people who have dogs who like to eat chickens.


It all depends on your dog and how much you can work with him/her.
Good luck!

 

[CluckTwice4Yes]

Archer (dog) is half labradoodle and half German shepherd dog (rescue litter!) He is remarkably gentle with babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, and cats. The kids have literally reached in and taken stuff out of his mouth. He did pass basic obedience and has NO history of killing small animals (though he has treed a couple of squirrels ... I'm not sure what he thought he was going to do with them and he eventually lost interest).

I really feel that there's hope for him! But, he IS a dog, so I'm being cautious.

Has anyone been through the process of training a dog to be chicken-friendly? What were your first steps?

I've been letting him sniff around the coop in the morning and evening once the hens (pullets, still) are locked in. He can also see them from his dog run and the porch when they're free ranging.

 

[tinakevin]

I thought my dog a Doberman rottie mix was fine with mine until the other day for some reason she snapped at one of my barnvelder pullets. I have had chickens for a year an a half and she never went after any of them before. She goes out with me every time I do my chicken chores and when we r outside so not sure what was going on in her head but it just goes to prove that we always have to be on our guard

 

[Fatman608]

I can only tell you what I did to get my wife's dog(Winnie) to stop chasing the chickens. I kept the chickens in their coop for the first week and always took Winnie out on a leash. I would walk her past the coop getting closer every day. Any time she looked at the chickens, I jerked her collar and shouted at her in my maddest voice NO. The first day I just about jerked her head off because all she wanted to do is look at the chickens. The second week, I let the chickens free range and took Winnie out still on a leash. Same routine as the first week. She looks at a chickens and I jerk the leash and shout at her in my maddest voice NO. The chickens would not let us get closer than three feet. The third week, I let the chickens free range and let Winnie off leash while I watched her every move. Every time she looked at a chicken, I would shout NO. Sometimes, I would have to chase her down and grab her collar and shout very meanly at her to stop and yell NO. Each day she got better and the chickens became less scared of her. I watched her like a hawk for two months and a little less each day. I have had my chickens for only 6 months and now she goes outside by herself. The chickens now still stay away from about 3 feet. However, if I am out with her the chickens will come as close as 1 foot because I am feeding them treats.

I am not saying it as been smooth sailing all the time. Just 2 weeks a go she tried the scary them by jumping at them. I have one dump chicken that stood her ground. Of course, I yelled at Winnie and she look at me saying "Sorry Boss, the devil made me do it".

However, just yesterday the chickens gave an alarm. I open the backdoor and Winnie ran to the chickens and scared off a Hawk.

Now I trust her enough to let her stay out with them all day all.