Dogs? Good or bad?

[Peaches Lee]

any size dog can be a chicken killer. And Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are HUNTING dogs.

Huh, I thought they were companion dogs for royals during the reign of King Charles of England. And of course, any dog can be a chicken killer, duh. Take a breed that is mild and not noted for having a high prey drive (which CKCS are very nice)--I certainly would not suggest a rat terrier, but I'm sure there are people that have them with chickens.

 

[dainerra]

Huh, I thought they were companion dogs for royals during the reign of King Charles of England. And of course, any dog can be a chicken killer, duh. Take a breed that is mild and not noted for having a high prey drive (which CKCS are very nice)--I certainly would not suggest a rat terrier, but I'm sure there are people that have them with chickens.

I have 2 Cavs in my training group. They ARE lap dogs but they can be very high drive. They will practically tear through the windows to go after foxes, squirrels, and especially deer.

 

[Ozarkguy]

I am a bird and cat kind of person but my boyfriend is a dog man. The last dog we tried I had to make him give away because it was aggressive to my birds and I was scared he would hurt them. We are getting a new place and my boyfriend wants another dog. I am against anything that is going to hurt my babies so I don't really want one. If it kills my birds it is a dead dog and then he'll never for give me. How do I go about solving this so we are both happy?

I have a Anatolian shepherd she tried to play with the birds at first but I worked it out of her now she leaves them alone.

 

[Moochie]

Yea. nobody in their right mind should ever recommend a teacup ANYTHING as a pet. They are runty, sicky dogs bred purely for profit and not the wellbeing of the dog. No responsible person breeds teacup animals. It is a fad and a horrible one at that. The vet bills alone from a teacup animals, because of all the health problems they often have, will send a new owner into debt.

I partially don't agree with this. "Teacup" is a word used to bring in more buyers but small chihuahuas are very real, registered responsible breeders won't call them teacup though. A well bred apple head should be no heavier than 4 lbs. I like chihuahuas, especially calm, mellow ones. I babysat a senior apple head and he was a little angel. He never even bat an eye at my birds. He thought he was a big dog and would yap at my cattle dogs lol. My heelers were surely confused and very curious about him. He was 4 lbs. I don't think he could fit in a teacup but maybe an ale mug.

Anyways OP, you could just rehome the boyfirend My ex and I didn't work out due to differences, one of them was him saying "yes" to dogs but "no" to chickens! Yes to everything BUT chickens, he said yes to rats, ferrets, reptilians, rabbits, cows, pigs, etc.(he even said yes to a coyote!) I always thought he was racist towards chickens. That doesn't fly by me. If I can't have chickens then you can't have anything either! Ha! A well trained dog makes excellent target practice for brave and bold broodies!
My 40 lb cattle dog was chased away by my angry broody Old English bantam Sophie! Lol!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I just wanted to say, I couldn't imagine life without my dogs. They bring alot of joy. Perhaps instead of banning a dog from your home, you and your boyfriend should sit down and outline all of the responsibility of dog ownership (for both of you, if he has a dog, so do you). Figure out who will walk, feed and play with the dog and when. Never let the dog out unsupervised, always set your dog up to succeed. Having a well trained dog is very rewarding, but it requires constant work. You can't just leave a dog to its own devices (so to speak) like you can a cat or chicken. They need interaction and they need you to teach them how you expect them to behave.

Good luck, I hope you 2 can come to an agreement.


And by the way, growing up our family dog was a teacup Poodle named Punkin. He was a very tiny guy, but in no way sickly. He also didn't put our family into debt. He was a great rat hunter and often went on outdoor trips with us. A normal dog in a teeny tiny body.

 

[tawnsta]

It is possible to have chooks & dogs live together. But I wouldn't dare leave them un attended while I go to work.

I have been able to train all 3 of my dogs not to eat the chooks.