Dogs

[miss heny]

Okay i have been looking for a pet dog breed that would be okay with goats,chickens,horses rabbits, pretty much livestock, any ideas?

 

[thebanthams]

depending on the size of breed you want. they will do well when you train them as a puppy. I have a Border collie she wants to chase chickens, labrador will do the same. Hope someone else will chime in to help you !

 

[cafarmgirl]

On the rare occasion when I am in the market for a ranch dog I check around with the farmers/ranchers near me to see if any of their working cow dogs have pups. These are not usually purebred's, usually a mix of Queensland or Border Collie. My current youngster is a Queensland/Border Collie/McNab mix, she's the best farm dog I've had yet. I've always had excellent success with dogs who come from working lines and I've never had one of my own dogs kill a chicken or bother any livestock.

I do think breed matters but what's most important is that you raise a pup with careful supervision and training every single day.

 

[miss heny]

okay. the size really doesn't matter since it gonna be a outdoor dog.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I think it really depends on the dog. Ours dog is very goofy, all he wants to do is play, cuddle and eat. We were worried at first because he is a Lab, and spent last winter hunting birds and gophers. He was very curious about the chicks at first, but by the time they were ready to go outside he was pretty bored with them. I think it also helps if the dog observes the humans being very careful about the chickens ... dogs do seem to have an instinct to be protective, and though ours doesn't guard anything, not even his food bowl, he does seem to understand the chickens are ours an we don't want them or the ducks or turkeys to be hurt. We have a rooster that got sent to our place because he attacked the dog at his last home ... when this rooster first met the dog the rooster was aggressive to the dog, but the dog didn't even seem to notice (he was too busy playing fetch). Pretty soon the game developed into the dog chasing the ball, and the rooster chasing the dog, and everyone is having fun. This only took a few minutes of supervision to work out.

Our dog has been through some obedience classes with us, and the two phrases that seem to be most useful were "uh uh!" and "leave it!" And when he obeys, we tell him "yes!" and "good leave it!" and give him some love or a treat. But most importantly, lots of supervision.

A working dog would be great to help guard the flock ... maybe then I'd feel more comfortable letting them freerange during the day, but we had the dog first so didn't think about that. I DO think having dog poo in the back yard has kept the wildlife away. We hear the coyotes howling almost every night, but since our dog took over our yard, I haven't spotted any coyote poo near the house.

Here is a photo of our dog greeting some of the chicks we brought home yesterday. He was down on the floor with us as we were playing with them. Two goofy humans and one goofy dog, all on our bellies squeeing about the cut little fluffybutts. We had the dog get "down" because he is still young and doesn't always know where his feet are ...

 

[Nelson-90]

I think it really depends on the dog. Ours dog is very goofy, all he wants to do is play, cuddle and eat. We were worried at first because he is a Lab, and spent last winter hunting birds and gophers. He was very curious about the chicks at first, but by the time they were ready to go outside he was pretty bored with them. I think it also helps if the dog observes the humans being very careful about the chickens ... dogs do seem to have an instinct to be protective, and though ours doesn't guard anything, not even his food bowl, he does seem to understand the chickens are ours an we don't want them or the ducks or turkeys to be hurt. We have a rooster that got sent to our place because he attacked the dog at his last home ... when this rooster first met the dog the rooster was aggressive to the dog, but the dog didn't even seem to notice (he was too busy playing fetch). Pretty soon the game developed into the dog chasing the ball, and the rooster chasing the dog, and everyone is having fun. This only took a few minutes of supervision to work out.

Our dog has been through some obedience classes with us, and the two phrases that seem to be most useful were "uh uh!" and "leave it!" And when he obeys, we tell him "yes!" and "good leave it!" and give him some love or a treat. But most importantly, lots of supervision.

A working dog would be great to help guard the flock ... maybe then I'd feel more comfortable letting them freerange during the day, but we had the dog first so didn't think about that. I DO think having dog poo in the back yard has kept the wildlife away. We hear the coyotes howling almost every night, but since our dog took over our yard, I haven't spotted any coyote poo near the house.

Here is a photo of our dog greeting some of the chicks we brought home yesterday. He was down on the floor with us as we were playing with them. Two goofy humans and one goofy dog, all on our bellies squeeing about the cut little fluffybutts. We had the dog get "down" because he is still young and doesn't always know where his feet are ...

dont forget he likes the chicken poo too thats his favorite treat

 

[Hayleigh Barnes]

Okay i have been looking for a pet dog breed that would be okay with goats,chickens,horses rabbits, pretty much livestock, any ideas? 

border collies are great i think. personally i feel working dogs are excellent for that sort of thing. i wouldnt recommend any sort of terrier as.they are.hunting dogs so.instinctively they would kill. dont get me wrong some are perfectly fine but its easier with larger dogs. anything like a border collie or a sheltie maybe even a german shepher.or.boxer would be fine. But just make sure u are absolutely 100% confident.in the dog before u leave it alone.with anything. also try get a pup abd raise it with animals that would make it easier to.train.

my border collie cross german coolie loves all our animals and has been.exposed to chickens ducks rabbits guineas even a lorikeet and hes fine but he can get a bit rambunctious as he loves to play with then and has accidentally harmed one.of.our guineas. so constant attention would be good while its still a pup.

 

[LissyB]

My golden doodle is the sweetest dog! He licked the kitten, and never ever bit anything! He is 7 and is still more hyper than our puppy (but she is super mellow) he has no common sense though, but he is extremely smart with training. My puppy is a Catahoula Leopard dog, and you probably have never heard of that one. Catahoulas were bred to heard feral cows and hogs out of the swamps of Louisiana. She would try and play with the ducks, but learned quickly not to. They are the coolest looking dogs too! The puppy has more common-sense and brains than the doodle, but she's stubborn!