Chicken Safe Dog?

[bantamsrus]

My neighbors dog attacked/killed my chickens the other day...long story short there is no more dog. My neighbors are actually taking it okay and are asking my advice on what breed of dog they can get that would be instinctively good with chickens? So I'm throwing it out to you BYCers for suggestions. They'd like to stick to medium-size dogs (their last dog was a corgie). They also have chickens.

 

[Barry]

In my opinion the training you give a dog is more important than the breed.
It is best to start with a puppy and get it used to being around chickens. You have to train it not to try to play with them and having a rooster around to run off the puppy will help a lot.

 

[nismo]

i tell you my experience. im new to chickens myself and i have a doberman cross and a bordercollie/australian shepherd that dont bother my chickens. i keep my chickens in my garden and the garden is enclosed by a three foot picket fence and one morning i hear a noise out my window, i go look and my doberman cross has jumped the fence and i think to my self oh great i hope she didnt kill any then i look closer and she is standing next to the chickens eating their feed with them. she would rather eat chicken feed than chickens. i think the breed doesnt neccessarily matter i think its more how you introduce your dog to your chickens. the way i introduced my dogs was that it wasnt even ok to look at the chickens. i put a pinch collar on them and if they get to frisky i gave them a jerk and say no and they learn really fast that trying to get the chickens is not accepted. i would have to say there is an exception to that though. i dont think a hunting breed is a good idea just because they are bred to go get the bird, any bird and bring it back. so i would say no labs or pointers or anything like that.

chase

 

[LovinMyHensInNC!]

I agree with Barry. We have two new Great Pyrs who love our chickens and they were raised with chickens since birth. However, before we got them, a neighbor's three Prys attacked our chickens... I don't think they had ever seen a chicken before in their life.... it is all about training and raising them with the chickens.

 

[The Chicken People]

I have a Maltese poodle/pom and a german shephard mix! My gs went after my neighbors chicken when we were unloading wood in the barn! I firmly got ahold of him and told him it was off limits {besides it was Thanksgiving day wrong bird...lol} Then I took him home! This was his first experience seeing a chicken! Four months later we got eight baby chicks and brooded them in the living room! My dogs learned that they are our pets and no one harms them! Now they all live in harmony in the back yard! Its all about what you teach them! My husband is the Alpha Male and my dogs know whos the boss!!

 

[currycomb]

i agree, it is the training and the way you introduce the puppy to the chickens. a nice broody hen with chicks can teach most young pups to stay away. a very stern NO everytime they look at a chicken works too. have a 3 legged blue heeler, he would stalk the chicks, and being a sneaky dog, he had one small hen he would pick up, carry around and the put down, never hurting her. if he caught any other chick, they weren't so lucky, neither was the dog, a mad woman chasing him around throwing sticks his general direction, guess it scared him enough he quit stalking. still have him for a watch dog, added a heeler rat terrier cross. she has all 4 of her legs, the worst she does is run right thru the middle of the flock just to watch them scatter. she thinks she wants to tackle the geese, i just dare her to try!!

 

[bumblebeehillschickenfarm]

I have 2 chesapeak bay Retrievers. I have no problem with them with my chickens, Turkeys and ducks. They both retrieve and one i hunt over. The first thing that is most important is the word no or leave it. If you cant teach a dog what no means then you will always have problems.

 

[JLMom]

I agree that training is key. My dog (she's 11) learned very quickly to not even look at the chicks. She already knew the command "leave it!", so she just had to associate that with the chickens. All 7 Chicks were out free ranging today for the first time, and my dog was awesome! She was almost herding them, in a very roundabout way. Then when the chicks took a dustbath and nap in the grass, she layed down and watched them! Mommy was proud!

As far as breeds go, I would suggest staying away from the sight hounds (borzoi, saluki, grayhound). They are so wired to chase small fast things.

 

[Ft Chix]

I agree training is key.

 

[coberdor]

Absolutely, training is the key. I have 6 corgis and a Westie. They all have been trained to not even look with interest at the hens or chicks and certainly never to bark at them or stalk them.

It's the same with the other livestock. I had to bring in two 3 day old kid goats into the house this past winter when the temp dropped way below zero. They all would come in and lay down while we bottle fed the goats, then they'd make sure they didn't leave the mudroom.

It's about respect. What's mine is mine, no touch!