Dog plus chicken owners chime in please

[MGG]

I just wanted to add, when picking a puppy, you should use the Volhard puppy aptitude test. It works. It may seem like a hassle, but when you're going to have the dog for 10 years or more it's worth it. I would strongly encourage you to look into it. And get your puppy on the 49th day. I know some won't agree but it has been proven time and time again that that is the most critical period in a dog's mental development. If left even one day past that they start to become either aggressive or a wallflower. It really changes them. I also have to really recommend Richard Wolters' book Family Dog. It may seem old and outdated but it produces awesome dogs. They are disciplined, and mannered dogs that have a strong urge to please. We use this book and his book Water Dog to train our dogs and they are great. Anyway, the puppy test is very important IMHO. It would keep many dogs out of shelters because people would be picking the dog that suits them instead of one that will end up bullheaded. Good luck with picking out a puppy!

 

[Folly's place]

The OP already has the puppy! All great advice above, but the choice has been made, and now it's training time.
Pictures of your coop and run will be helpful here too, because it seems to be a work in progress.
Your puppy will be fine, if you put the time and effort into training her, and restrict her access to the birds, and other bad things too.
Mary

 

[MGG]

They do? It said when the time comes to pick their next dog.

 

[Folly's place]

You are so right! I was responding to @HHomestead , who isn't the OP at all. It's been a long morning here already...
Mary

 

[Henry&Friends]

I don’t have a dog, but I check out the behaviors of my neighborhood‘s dogs. The corgi dog across the street, Wilson, doesn’t care for my chickens, but will occasionally come over and eat scraps. I let him, he’s really chill and barks at other dogs getting close to my yard. The little black poodle/mutt from up the street doesn’t step foot on my yard, but it’s bigger brown comrade has been caught in my yard chasing and killing chickens multiple times. The owner walks along The street while this goes down, and doesn’t do anything (it’s okay tho, she said she loves animals when I chewed her out. ) Last year a black German Shepard from down the street continuously came back and killed chickens, but has seemingly disappeared. 3 mixed dogs from down the street also disappeared. 2 wiener dogs down the street have never been seen outside of their yard, but i keep an eye out anyways.

The only dog I don't chase out of my yard is Wilson, since he doesn't care about my chickens and my chickens don't mind him. That would change if he started harassing or touching my chickens.

 

[MGG]

Haha! I had to go back and check. I believe you! Happy Valentine's Day

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

You've been given some great advice. I have 2 dogs a 7 year old Golden Retriever and a almost 11 month old Lab/husky mix mostly lab. Gracie my golden is good with our chickens and i trust her more then CeeCee. That being said both are sporting dogs and both are very birdy. Before she was 2 Gracie actually killed a chicken. It was not entirely her fault as she was running with the 4-wheeler down at the barn and there was a loose rooster that no one at the time knew was down there. He flew up out of the creek as they were going by and instincts kicked in on her and she caught him mid air. She dropped him instantly but the damage was done and he died instantly. When we got back into chickens we kept this in mind and reinforced her leave it command and she's never chased one, but when the chickens get into their little scuffles and wings start flapping she'll point at them and whine. Under the right circumstances i know she could kill another one. CeeCee the lab mix has been around them since she came home at 9 weeks. She is good with them to a point but the urge to chase is strong so she is never let loose around them unsupervised. She is also going through her teenage phase where she forgets everything she knows at times. Maybe when she's older i'll fully trust her but i doubt it, with her a extra long leash is my chickens best friend right now.

 

[fisherlady]

Other suggestions I would add...
When beginning the introduction process for a new dog... make sure it is well exercised and fed before any interactions, this will have the dog much calmer and more likely to be willing to listen. Use a calm and mellow pitched voice, not the high pitched baby voice I hear so many use when talking to dogs. It seems the higher the pitch the more stress or excitement it causes in the animals.
Avoid treats which could get a birds attention during this time, you don't need added stress of food aggression or competition. If a bird sees a dog eating it will try to investigate and or steal it... that is not a good first impression for the dog, and it may always consider the birds 'treat thieves', which you really don't want.

 

[JaeG]

Our dog is a chocolate lab x English pointer, possibly with some Staffy in there too. She's a very excitable dog and I did put a lot of time and effort into training her when she was a pup. Anytime I took her anywhere like the park or beach I would lead her until she caught sight of the seagulls or ducks, then I would firmly tell her "No, that's no" (I say it low and slow) and if she looked too interested in them again I would again remind her that chasing them was off limits by telling her "No" again, then distracting her with what she could do like chasing the ball or doing tricks for treats. We had her before we ever had chickens but she ignores the birds because she knows what "No" means and she knows she is not allowed to chase any bird. She's even safe around our hand reared cockatiels and finches. She does love the chickens but only because they lay yummy eggs (she gets any gross ones).

 

[Clearwater Chicken]

Dont get a dog bred for hunting (although are lab really just chased after their feed). we have had numerous losses of chickens to our german wirehair pointer. the answer was invisible fence