chicks and puppy

[gemma24]

I'm getting 3 new chicks tomorrow, and I have had many chicks but I never had chicks with a puppy. and I have a safe spot for the chicks were my puppy can't get to them, but I think my pup might bark at them because of the noise. any ideas?

 

[DuckGirl77]

Let the puppy smell the box so it knows what's going on. That helped with my dog. I even let him smell my chickens while I hold them, but only try that if you trust your puppy not to hurt them.
If it still barks at them, distract it or scold it and tell it to go lie down until it's more calm. Most likely, it will just be very curious and will warm up to the idea with time.
Good luck! It's great that you considered this before the chicks came!

 

[Toyz]

Let my lab stick his head in the brooder. Figured "what'd the worst that can happen " He might get one before getting in lots of trouble. He was exited but behaved. I held one first and let him smell it. He is the bestest and smartest dog ever mind you...

 

[gemma24]

thanks so much, I will let her smell them for sure. we were also thinking maybe putting a chick down on the floor, (right with us) and let the pup smell them and scold her if she gets to close\tries to nip them. I don't think she will freak out to much, because we have trained her with the other chickens. thanks again!

 

[legallyblonde]

I don't have a puppy but I do have a dog I was worried about. So while they were chicks I had them in my bathroom, I would let her in to smell them, hear them and sit in the bathroom while I cleaned their area etc. I also made her sit still while they hopped around her. Then when I took them outside for the first time, I did it in a plastic tub and let her hang out with us but not get too close. As they got older I let her interact more but always with me by her side. She has done amazing and now thinks of it as her job to keep them safe. She stands with me, herds them (gently) with me and keeps a close eye on them to make sure they aren't causing trouble. She never barked at them. She whined a bit when they would squawk but that was more of her worried whine.

But I do have a funny story about barking at funny chicken noises.. I now have four roosters. I got six babies around the same age and four of them are definitely roosters. The two older one's are crowing. They make this hilarious crowing sound that is just hard to explain. Anyways, every morning now while I am putting on my make-up all I hear is.. *strange crowing* *bark bark bark* *strange crowing* *bark bark bark* My dog can't figure out for the life of her what that hideous noise is and barks every time the rooster crows. So funny, so annoying!

 

[bbecca]

We use a word with our dog so every time she goes near them we repeat that word and scold her if needed. We did it a few times the first day we got the chicks and since that day they've shared the mud room together (in a cage the dog can't get to them of course) never had one problem so far.