Do your geese get along with your dog?

[Jenbirdee]

My dog is a good girl a mountain Cur and early on when I had 3 geese they surrounded her and harrassed her so I have kept them separate ever since

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My geese chase my dogs if they are in their pasture and they try to pinch them through the fence. Thankfully my geese are fenced or there would be no end, and my poor dogs would be afraid to come outside.

 

[Goosebaby]

Geese generally treat dogs that they know well like they do other species of birds they know, dogs are tolerated unless they get too close and then they get poked.

If they are raised close to dogs they can get along well with the dog(s) they know, but just like with other geese it doesn’t mean that they’ll just automatically like every dog they meet, though it can also predispose them to assuming dogs they don’t know aren’t a threat, which can be problematic. Though for the most part geese tend to be suspicious of all individuals they don’t know, humans and dogs.

Some breeds are said to be better livestock guardians than others but truthfully no breed or individual dog should be automatically assumed as safe and trustable around birds, but in my opinion dogs that come from generations of family dogs who lived and were raised around other dogs and critters make the best guardians.
My geese and dogs have had varying relationships depending on personality.



This is Delphi and Apricot when they were wee ones, out grazing with their big boerboel brother Tuck.


They spent their first months living inside where they were around Tuck quite a lot so they grew up seeing him as part of their flock. Believe it or not Tuck was also a puppy then and only six months older than them when the pictures were taken.
He was a little too interested with them when they were tiny goslings but he adapted quickly, he definitly lived up to his farmer’s dog pedigree pretty quickly and just treated them like his weird little sisters that he was protective of.
The protective feeling went both ways also, if he started playing too roughly with Bubbles or someone else Delphi “the classic Roman” would charge over screaming and try to break up “the fight” by nipping at whoever was being mean to her boerboel brother.




The girls are more goose oriented now and Tuck hangs out more with my other dog “Bubbles” and the cat but overall they’re still on friendly terms.

Most of my older geese are aloof around Tuck and prefer that he stay away because of some bad memories regarding another dog with similar coloring who passed away before we got Tuck.
As a result of that my younger geese “Younger than Apricot and Delphi” picked up the older ones suspicion of Tuck and prefer not to get too close.


Bubbles has always kept her distance from the geese because when she was a pup she had the grave misfortune of being gently grazed by one of my gander’s wingtips when he was stretching his wings and the expierience traumatized and scared her for life. She never recovered from it.


Bubbles’s parents were Betsy and Bear.
Betsy “mini Aussie” was always great with the geese, she was kind to them, kept an eye on everyone, made sure everyone was safe, kept the rats away, and also was excellent at breaking up fights between the ganders without hurting them. She was such a huge help around the yard and I could always trust her judgment. For her it wasn’t a job though, it was all a big fun game.

Bear “Golden Retriever” was everyone’s dad. He raised my older geese as much as I did and my geese loved him. To him I think he thought the geese were his pups because he treated them like his own children. He would let them nibble on his feathers when they were goslings and even as adults. Even when my ganders got hormonal during breeding season and gave him a few bites he was always patient and never snapped back. He was also very protective of the yard and all his “kids” wether they be birds, cats, horse or bunnies. He once single handedly destroyed and ran off the neighbor’s pack of 4 Pitt bull shepherd mixes that came into our yard and tried to attack my flock and my horse. He went from my goofy ball of red fluff to an red inferno of rage! He will always be one of the greatest livestock guardians I’ve known.

I had another dog “Bailey” who grew up with Bear but sadly passed away around the age of 7 years. She was a mixed breed of disputable lineage. She looked like a small Caucasian Shepherd or what you would get if you mixed an Aussie and Chow. She was the smartest animal I’ve ever known. She wasn’t a dog that would do tricks or you would talk baby talk to, she thought either was insulting and would shun anyone who did so or tried to teach her to do demeaning tricks. Bailey was a dog you could talk to like a mature human. You could tell her something once and she would understand it. She and Bear were the dream team when she was alive. Like Bear she never needed to be taught to be kind to the birds when they were little, she understood immediately that they were part of the family and not toys or prey. In a way she was my #1 guardian, because she didn’t protect the animals or the property like a dog, she did it like a human, she knew what was and wasn’t a threat, knew when I needed to be alerted, and knew how to command and direct Bear. I always thought of her as a person in a dog’s body.


My other dog was Hunter, a Labrador retriever. The dog who taught me what generations of abuse and bad breeding practices can do. Hunter didn’t have a prey drive and didn’t really care much about the other animals, but he had a very deep jealousy issue. He developed a hatred for any animal he thought were getting attention besides him, he ended up attacking Bear, Betsy, & Bubbles, and two of my geese. My geese which had previously viewed all the the dogs as members of their flock haven’t seen them in that way since. Hunter had also gone after me twice when I was sick.
Hunter had come from a puppy mill and was subjected to generations of horrible treatment. At times he was like two different dogs, one was a sweet and kind puppy dog that just wanted to be loved, the other a jealous, aggressive dog who would suddenly attack without any known provocation. We tried to work with him but nothing seemed to help. He also developed a genetic disease affecting his spine, he had a short life as a result.
All my other dogs came from family homes where their parents and grandparents had been treated well. Life hadn’t treated Hunter so fairly and the toll it took on him was terrible despite everything we tried to do for him.
All dogs are good dogs but sometimes the scars run generations deep.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Geese generally treat dogs that they know well like they do other species of birds they know, dogs are tolerated unless they get too close and then they get poked.

If they are raised close to dogs they can get along well with the dog(s) they know, but just like with other geese it doesn’t mean that they’ll just automatically like every dog they meet, though it can also predispose them to assuming dogs they don’t know aren’t a threat, which can be problematic. Though for the most part geese tend to be suspicious of all individuals they don’t know, humans and dogs.

Some breeds are said to be better livestock guardians than others but truthfully no breed or individual dog should be automatically assumed as safe and trustable around birds, but in my opinion dogs that come from generations of family dogs who lived and were raised around other dogs and critters make the best guardians.
My geese and dogs have had varying relationships depending on personality.



This is Delphi and Apricot when they were wee ones, out grazing with their big boerboel brother Tuck.

View attachment 3446472
They spent their first months living inside where they were around Tuck quite a lot so they grew up seeing him as part of their flock. Believe it or not Tuck was also a puppy then and only six months older than them when the pictures were taken.
He was a little too interested with them when they were tiny goslings but he adapted quickly, he definitly lived up to his farmer’s dog pedigree pretty quickly and just treated them like his weird little sisters that he was protective of.
The protective feeling went both ways also, if he started playing too roughly with Bubbles or someone else Delphi “the classic Roman” would charge over screaming and try to break up “the fight” by nipping at whoever was being mean to her boerboel brother.

View attachment 3446473


The girls are more goose oriented now and Tuck hangs out more with my other dog “Bubbles” and the cat but overall they’re still on friendly terms.

Most of my older geese are aloof around Tuck and prefer that he stay away because of some bad memories regarding another dog with similar coloring who passed away before we got Tuck.
As a result of that my younger geese “Younger than Apricot and Delphi” picked up the older ones suspicion of Tuck and prefer not to get too close.


Bubbles has always kept her distance from the geese because when she was a pup she had the grave misfortune of being gently grazed by one of my gander’s wingtips when he was stretching his wings and the expierience traumatized and scared her for life. She never recovered from it.


Bubbles’s parents were Betsy and Bear.
Betsy “mini Aussie” was always great with the geese, she was kind to them, kept an eye on everyone, made sure everyone was safe, kept the rats away, and also was excellent at breaking up fights between the ganders without hurting them. She was such a huge help around the yard and I could always trust her judgment. For her it wasn’t a job though, it was all a big fun game.

Bear “Golden Retriever” was everyone’s dad. He raised my older geese as much as I did and my geese loved him. To him I think he thought the geese were his pups because he treated them like his own children. He would let them nibble on his feathers when they were goslings and even as adults. Even when my ganders got hormonal during breeding season and gave him a few bites he was always patient and never snapped back. He was also very protective of the yard and all his “kids” wether they be birds, cats, horse or bunnies. He once single handedly destroyed and ran off the neighbor’s pack of 4 Pitt bull shepherd mixes that came into our yard and tried to attack my flock and my horse. He went from my goofy ball of red fluff to an red inferno of rage! He will always be one of the greatest livestock guardians I’ve known.

I had another dog “Bailey” who grew up with Bear but sadly passed away around the age of 7 years. She was a mixed breed of disputable lineage. She looked like a small Caucasian Shepherd or what you would get if you mixed an Aussie and Chow. She was the smartest animal I’ve ever known. She wasn’t a dog that would do tricks or you would talk baby talk to, she thought either was insulting and would shun anyone who did so or tried to teach her to do demeaning tricks. Bailey was a dog you could talk to like a mature human. You could tell her something once and she would understand it. She and Bear were the dream team when she was alive. Like Bear she never needed to be taught to be kind to the birds when they were little, she understood immediately that they were part of the family and not toys or prey. In a way she was my #1 guardian, because she didn’t protect the animals or the property like a dog, she did it like a human, she knew what was and wasn’t a threat, knew when I needed to be alerted, and knew how to command and direct Bear. I always thought of her as a person in a dog’s body.


My other dog was Hunter, a Labrador retriever. The dog who taught me what generations of abuse and bad breeding practices can do. Hunter didn’t have a prey drive and didn’t really care much about the other animals, but he had a very deep jealousy issue. He developed a hatred for any animal he thought were getting attention besides him, he ended up attacking Bear, Betsy, & Bubbles, and two of my geese. My geese which had previously viewed all the the dogs as members of their flock haven’t seen them in that way since. Hunter had also gone after me twice when I was sick.
Hunter had come from a puppy mill and was subjected to generations of horrible treatment. At times he was like two different dogs, one was a sweet and kind puppy dog that just wanted to be loved, the other a jealous, aggressive dog who would suddenly attack without any known provocation. We tried to work with him but nothing seemed to help. He also developed a genetic disease affecting his spine, he had a short life as a result.
All my other dogs came from family homes where their parents and grandparents had been treated well. Life hadn’t treated Hunter so fairly and the toll it took on him was terrible despite everything we tried to do for him.
All dogs are good dogs but sometimes the scars run generations deep.

wow goosebaby great reply it's like an article about dogs getting along (or not) with geese... very helpful to many others I am sure. My dog was about 4 years old when I got goslings and I let her intract with them in the house (garage/brooder area) but when one of them ran right up to her and bit her in the nose she backed off and never has trusted them since. She just kind of tolerates them now, but on the other side of a fence.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My gander was awful with the dogs until he bit my med size mix on the butt. She turned around and grabbed him by the neck and it happened so fast but she didn’t bite down it was like she was letting him know I won’t put up with you any longer. So I started training the geese to leave the dogs alone when they were all together. Both geese would try to bully but I’d put a stop to it quick. My females hasn’t her mate any longer and never even acts like she knows we have a dog. When it was the 2 of them they just had to be bullies. Now we’re down to one dog and one goose and all is good. Plus ducks and chickens and everyone does great when around each other. My mini dachshund is 14 hasn’t good eyesight any longer but he knows when the birds are in his part of the property and leaves them alone.

 

[Goosebaby]

wow goosebaby great reply it's like an article about dogs getting along (or not) with geese... very helpful to many others I am sure. My dog was about 4 years old when I got goslings and I let her intract with them in the house (garage/brooder area) but when one of them ran right up to her and bit her in the nose she backed off and never has trusted them since. She just kind of tolerates them now, but on the other side of a fence.

Geese sure pack a punch in their pinchy little beaks!