Dogs that are good with chickens?

[Isabel Allen]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to adopt a dog who can be left with chickens, as well as a pretty long list of other factors to consider. Does anyone know any breeds that fit these? Also have just been informed by dad that he can't stand drooling haha. I know a lot of these are dependent on the individual dog - I will either be getting a puppy and training it well or adopting an adult dog that seems to fit these characteristics. Still, knowing which breeds fit the general criteria helps narrow things down a LOT.

I live in a small town in the countryside. Low traffic, low crime rates etc. Lots of nice trails nearby and a good dog friendly park down the road.

LOW PREY DRIVE (ESSENTIAL)

I have chickens that have full access to the back garden. I will try to supervise as much as possible and keep seperate where possible, but f I'm going to have this dog for 10+ years, it's bound to get out when I'm not looking at some point. I need to know I can trust the dog around them as well as a cat. It can't just TOLERATE the cat, they have to actually get along decently because I don't want to risk stressing her out. Appropriate measures to ensure they have separate "safe spaces" will be taken. Dog also needs to be trustworthy around young kids.

EXERCISE REQUIREMENTS

Right now, I go running for 30 minutes every day and can squeeze in a decent walk too between family members. We would probably also do a long (2-4 hours) walk once a week. One hour walk a day (+ run) is the absolute maximum for daily requirements. Would probably prefer less but an hour is doable. Also do not want a couch potato dog that we'll have to drag everywhere.

TRAINING

Would LOVE a highly intelligent dog. Must be moderately easy to train - obedience is a must.

BEHAVIOUR (these are preferences, not essential)

- A dog that loves to swim would be amazing. During summer we take weekly beach trips and regularly go paddleboarding.

- Dog will pretty much never be left home alone since my mum works from home.

- Some barking is tolerable but I have a neighbour who loves to complain, so nothing excessive.

- While it is important for the dog to be good with kids and NOT overly aggressive, a moderately protective dog would be good. I am a 5'2 female who runs alone, sometimes at night, and a protective dog would make me feel a lot safer.

So far I've looked at livestock guardian dogs, but they all seem to have huge exercise requirements. Does anyone have personal experience with them?

Also, I hear golden retrievers are great with cats & chickens but also that retrievers have a strong impulse to catch and kill? Same with vizslas and other pointer dogs. My dad LOVES vizslas but I've heard mixed things about their impulses. People seem to either say they're great with chickens, or one of the worst breeds.

Anyway, thanks so much to anyone who has read through this. If any breeds come to mind, or any advice for training, I'm all ears.

Issy x

 

[HKG]

A labrador retriever seems to fit all of these except the protective one but if you get a puppy, you could puppy test it and get a more protective one. If you don't know what puppy testing is you should definetely look it up. My yellow lab is wonderful with chickens and little kids. She lets them pull on her tail and ears and didnt even do anything back when the broody hen attacked her These are all things I wish didn't happen but she handled them really well. It really depends on the trainer. If you do get a pup I can give you a link to a great book on training family dogs and you can check it out if you would like. I forgot to include the picture of my quail sitting on my dogs headGood luck!

 

[NatJ]

I agree with HKG that Labrador Retrievers could be a good fit. Some have more energy than others, so just watch for that in an adult, or check out the parents if you are getting a puppy.

Golden Retrievers and some German Shepherds would probably be just as good. I am pretty sure German Shepherds have a wide range of temperaments, so you would want to pick the right one (calm and trainable, and without a strong prey drive.)

have just been informed by dad that he can't stand drooling

You can predict drooling by looking at the dog's face and lips: looser lips and folds of skin usually go with more drooling. Tighter lips and less extra skin goes with less drooling. So a Poodle or a German Shepherd or a wolf would drool less than a Labrador Retriever, and a St. Bernard or Mastiff would be worse yet.

TRAINING

Would LOVE a highly intelligent dog. Must be moderately easy to train - obedience is a must.

The most trainable ones combine intelligence with a desire to please people.

Intelligent dogs also get bored, and then get into mischief. Border Collies seem to be known for this--you probably do not want one, even though they are easy to train.

I have read that poodles are very trainable, so you could look into them, if you are willing to deal with the clipping/grooming needs. I've seen pictures of poodles with the fur clipped short all over, which would not need as much care as the more complicated styles they use for shows.

- While it is important for the dog to be good with kids and NOT overly aggressive, a moderately protective dog would be good. I am a 5'2 female who runs alone, sometimes at night, and a protective dog would make me feel a lot safer.

Even if your dog loves everyone, a big black lab running up out of the dark to lick someone might be enough to make them go away! Or if you get a German Shepherd, people may expect it to be protective, even if it just stays quietly beside you.

Many dogs are good at picking up how their people feel. I know of at least two Labrador Retrievers that would bark and sometimes growl at strangers when the owner was nervous. But when the "stranger" was a friend of the owner, or when the owner was walking with other people and did not feel nervous of strangers, the dog would not act defensive. There was no actual training for this, just the person going for regular walks with the dog.

Also, I hear golden retrievers are great with cats & chickens but also that retrievers have a strong impulse to catch and kill? Same with vizslas and other pointer dogs. My dad LOVES vizslas but I've heard mixed things about their impulses. People seem to either say they're great with chickens, or one of the worst breeds.

It depends on the individual dogs, and the training. The untrained ones cause more problems

Those breeds tend to be quite trainable, and their traditional purpose was to hunt birds. That meant having the dog controlled enough that it did not scare the birds away, did not run off to chase rabbits, and did fetch the bird back after it was dead--gently, without chewing up the dead bird.

The ones actually bred for hunting will probably need more exercise than you want to provide, so you would want to look for calmer ones--maybe bred for show, or just for companionship, or simply a mature adult.

If any breeds come to mind, or any advice for training, I'm all ears.

I have a few broad categories of breed not-recommendations:
Most terriers would be poor choices with chickens (high prey drive, low trainability).
Most herding dogs would be poor choices because they need more exercise and stimulation than you could easily provide.

For training, I am a big fan of teaching a dog to "stay."
Times I have had a dog stay:
--while I changed a child's diaper (keeps the dog's nose out of the diaper)
--while I did dishes (good practice for the dog)
--during family dinner time (prevents begging at the table)
--when chickens were loose in the yard, and I was doing yardwork (lets the dog be around the chickens, but without chasing them)
--when company came to visit (calms the dog down, instead of having to shut the dog in a room because it is running around crazy)
--when a visitor's child was afraid of dogs (dog lying in the far corner of the room was much less scary, so the child was able to play happily, and the child even went over to pet the dog after a while)
--in the vet's waiting room
And many other situations. I think stay was the single most useful command that dog knew.

 

[Weeg]

A labrador retriever seems to fit all of these except the protective one but if you get a puppy, you could puppy test it and get a more protective one. If you don't know what puppy testing is you should definetely look it up. My yellow lab is wonderful with chickens and little kids. She lets them pull on her tail and ears and didnt even do anything back when the broody hen attacked her These are all things I wish didn't happen but she handled them really well. It really depends on the trainer. If you do get a pup I can give you a link to a great book on training family dogs and you can check it out if you would like. I forgot to include the picture of my quail sitting on my dogs headGood luck!

I have to agree. I would suggest a Labrador for sure. That description sounds exactly like all the Labs we've ever had except for the protein part. They aren't nessasarily bred for, "protection" and I think our boy Comet would ask the intruder to throw his stick before he got mad at him. But, if Comet knew that something was threatening us, or he was afraid, he would do his best as a "protection dog".

 

[FeatherTay]

I recommend Saint Bernards. They are really big and fluffy. My pup has never touched a chicken and could not hurt a fly. Big dogs don't chase after chickens. However, small dogs will. I had a Yorkshire terrier that ate my chickens.

 

[cassie]

I recommend Saint Bernards. They are really big and fluffy. My pup has never touched a chicken and could not hurt a fly. Big dogs don't chase after chickens. However, small dogs will. I had a Yorkshire terrier that ate my chickens.

Yorkshires were originally bred as ratters.

 

[cassie]

Look into a Standard Poodle. They are not very popular (which is a plus) and they are very smart. You can keep it clipped or clip it yourself. It doesn't take any skill to do a simple body clip. They don't shed and they don't drool.

 

[darlingdarla]

Look into a Standard Poodle. They are not very popular (which is a plus) and they are very smart. You can keep it clipped or clip it yourself. It doesn't take any skill to do a simple body clip. They don't shed and they don't drool.

I second looking into the Standard Poodle. I've worked with many and they can be very calm with training. They sound like a froo froo breed, but they really are great dogs and love outdoor activities. I have a Giant Schnauzer/Poodle mix, he's not perfect with the birds, but he's only 4 months and that's mostly the Schnauzer side of him.
I feel like it should be stated that almost every breed of dog will need training to learn not to bother chickens, even dogs with a low prey drive can hurt them accidentally. It took me a week to train my dog not to chase them first thing, Poodles are a very intelligent, highly trainable breed, Poodle/Schnauzer mixes are called the dog with the human brain.
All I do with him is walk him around the birds on a leash, if he tries to chase I just walk to the opposite side of the yard and make him lay down. Over time he's stopped chasing, but it does take time, and I don't trust him to be unsupervised yet, I do feel like I won't need to worry as much once he's a year old, but it should be said no dog should be trusted completely around small animals just in case. My dog is 4 months and 43 lbs, he could trip over one of my 1 lb bantams and kill them accidentally.
Another thing I do is give the dog treats with the chickens. I'll hold some dog jerky and have him and the chickens take turns taking bites (using the leave it command so he waits his turn), just to get him used to having them close and not chasing them. He's gotten to the point where he respects the chickens space, sometimes he tries to get them to play with him, but doesn't make contact and gives up after they walk away.
They don't need a ton of exercise, I work mine with a flirt pole, the older they get the lazier they get, but they're usually a pretty happy go lucky family dog. Obviously personality is exclusive to the individual, some dogs will be wild and some will be calm regardless of breed, as they get older their temperament changes with training, but it's something to keep in mind. The adult Standard Poodles I know are still active as older dogs, although I don't know if they usually like water. A lot of getting them used to water is training them to like it.

Most of this is training. I wouldn't trust any dog with chickens without training, but it's my belief that almost any dog can be trained in whatever you want it to do.
Some breeds I would stay away from are Schnauzers (mini, standards, and giants), and this is from someone who has a half Schnauzer and loves the breed itself. They are very loyal and protective, which makes me feel better being a 5 foot 4 blonde girl. I take my Finley most everywhere with me, he gives me so much peace of mind as I go about my day. They're very intelligent but like to chase and are high energy. Really any kind of terrier wouldn't be the best choice, they usually have a high prey drive. Those are the only ones off the top of my head that I have experience with, but I'd stear clear of most hunting breeds to keep training simple.
Also, don't listen to anyone who encourages you to beat or hit your dog if they go after a chicken. Not only is it cruel, it does not work no matter how much some insist it does. Dogs learn within a two to three second time frame, if you don't correct the behavior humanly immediately they will not make the connection to their bad behavior, it will only confuse them and they will often continue with the bad behavior. Research positive reinforcement training, it's the most effective method you can use when training dogs to do anything. Reward what you want them to do, show them what you like and they will keep doing it. Sometimes just getting excited when they do something right is reward enough.
Anyway, good luck, sorry for the long reply. With enough knowledge choosing a breed and training it is so rewarding.

 

[Weeg]

I feel like it should be stated that almost every breed of dog will need training to learn not to bother chickens, even dogs with a low prey drive can hurt them accidentally.

This is not true. I think that 70% of dogs will need training not to bother the chickens, but both of our Pure English yellow Labs have never bothered the chickens. Comet as a puppy would try to play with them and bounce around them, but never chase them.

Your right though, most dogs will need training to leave chickens alone.

 

[ninja333pirate]

Don't worry about breed. You're adopting. They know their dogs and will match you with a dog. These are rescues, they are not well bred pure breeds. They may not hold the same traits which makes them good with chickens

this, one thing to consider if you go to a shelter you can find an already adult dog that is already good with chickens and other animals, you will know for sure it doesn't drool, and often a lot of these dogs are trained quite a bit, getting a puppy and raising it up and training it to be well behaved is a lot harder then most people think. my dog is 100% mutt (1/8 American bull dog and 1/8 rat terrier the rest is unknown) and I made sure to introduce her to all sorts of other animals throughout her life, despite her being a terrier I can 100% trust her around chickens, I trusted her around my previous guinea pigs, other dogs small and large, I can even set a plate of human food on her back and she wont touch it.) if you go to a shelter you can have the shelter find you a dog that will be good around chickens, best thing to look for is a dog that is avoidant of chickens, you don't want one that pays any attention to them what so ever. (and on top of all that its easier to each an older dog to be good with something because they don't have puppy energy)