Chocolate Lab Predator Protector?

[21hens-incharge]

Okay...so my neighbor has chickens too and two Shepherds. The dogs roam their yard limited by invisible fencing but their pen is strategically placed next to the chicken coop. Set-up seems to work divinely to deter would-be predators.

So...here's my story...with pictures.

I have a 9 yr old ginormous 6 second-dozen-donut-eating (box and all) chocolate lab...and I mean ginormous...175 lb - 180 lb solid massiveness. I've had black labs before but this chocolate lab is just huge... NOTHING gets close to us without him alerting us...except for the squirrels...he could care less about the rats with the pretty tails.
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Not sure how he'll be with live chickens...protect, eat or cower... I say live because he had a squeaky chicken that he just loved. He didn't rip it apart (amazingly) or even destroy it by over-loving it. It was his baby chicken....and he knew the word "chicken" and would fetch his chicken specifically out of his other items of interest when I asked for "chicken"....

The protect...
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Well...one summer day...Dad (the boyfriend) caused a calamity of tremendous proportions...he ran over "chicken" with the riding lawnmower. Little bits of rubbery chicken scattered about...a very sad sight indeed. Puppy was sad... Mom searched high and low for a duplicate rubber chicken with no success. How rare could this rubber chicken be??? I settled on a different style chicken...in hopes to ease my fur baby's sorrow... At first, he loved his new chicken...
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Then...just moments after above picture was taken....he picked up his new chicken...circled around a bit...found the perfect spot....and the culling commenced...

The eat.
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Now...as ginormous as he is...he is afraid of my little Scottie...who is basically only the size of his head... He tried to sniff her butt...ONCE...and she abruptly did a 180 and gave him the business. He vertically jumped 3 feet in the air and has since kept a cautionary buffer between himself and that little hairball with teeth.

The cower.
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My 5 chickens are confined to a coop and run. At no time do they free range.

My question is...do you think my over-grown, couch potato, head-sitting (my head) garbage disposal of a Chocolate Lab strategically place up by the coop would be a good idea to deter would-be predators? Just by his proximity to the coop?



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@penny1960, I know you have a donut-loving lab as well...thoughts?

Nothing SUPER valuable to add. Just wanted to say my old guys lay like that too and take up about that much room.
Yup he is ginormous!

 

[Talithahorse]

I have my chicken set up where their coop is near but not in the dog yard. In his youth my dog was excellent about warning me anytime something was amiss. If the girls went into panic mode or he saw something in or near the yard he would bark. Worked great for many years. My next set up may have the dog yard surrounding the chicken yard but not directly interacting with the chickens. Unfortunately my old dog now wants to eat (and has eaten) my chickens. He also decided he was retired so no more protection. When we get a new dog, I will encourage the dog to warn me if the hens are bothered. You might consider a side by side.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

My dogs have no fence. We live on 1.5 acres surrounded by farmland. We wanted Gracie (the labradoodle) to be able to go out in the yard with us while we worked and such. She was a very feisty pup and smart. So, I felt our only option was to train her to obey commands. She does well with them. It was a lot of work and it continues in the form of games which is intellectually stimulating for her. My others - well the oldest would have benefited with the same type of training. I just didn’t know at the time. The youngest does well with the commands and learns them fast. I think she’s still got some maturing to do.
It sounds like, in your situation, training with the barrier of the run is best.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

I have my chicken set up where their coop is near but not in the dog yard. In his youth my dog was excellent about warning me anytime something was amiss. If the girls went into panic mode or he saw something in or near the yard he would bark. Worked great for many years. My next set up may have the dog yard surrounding the chicken yard but not directly interacting with the chickens. Unfortunately my old dog now wants to eat (and has eaten) my chickens. He also decided he was retired so no more protection. When we get a new dog, I will encourage the dog to warn me if the hens are bothered. You might consider a side by side.

That sounds like a possible plan....a dog run surrounding the chicken area... He's 9 years old (and accustomed to care-free living)...not too optimistic about intense training with him. Close, but separate....just might work.

How will the chickens react to my mammoth though? Don't want to stress them into cardiac arrest either...

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

The chickens didn’t seem to afraid of my dog. She’s a hundred pounder.