Foxes and chickens hawks, OK. but the neighors dog?!?! Come on, man!!!!!!

[prostar]

Well even if you get that "perfect breed" there's still the chance of prey drive and chicken aggression.

Hate it when people don't manage their dogs...ugh irresponsible owners. I've had my stuff destroyed by those who lived above us' chiweenies...come on now. And I confess I'm so nervous of the neighbor's "shepherd/wolf" who does have a penchant for escape and adventure.

 

[centrarchid]

No dog breed is perfect and aggression needs to be channeled. Most important variable is you as the owner and how you handle dogs. I use German Pointers (very high prey drive) as poultry guardians so breed options greater than generally realized. My dogs run with free-range birds 24/7. Dogs in general are not the least-cost approach and require time and acreage plus containment as flock will be contained on less acreage than almost any dog will stay on by choice.

 

[KendyF]

Just for fun, I thought I would share my amazing guard dog. If he wakes up when there is danger, he might lick the predator to death if he can catch it.

 

[drumstick diva]

I am a dog lover but, when you wrote that the dog bit the woman when she tried to pull him off - that's when I decided he should get a case of lead poisoning. I'm sure the dog wasn't starving to death. He is just too aggressive and I'm willing to bet, he is that way under other circumstances as well. They'd be better off if he was gone, and maybe get a decent dog after that. SSS is my advice, the sooner the better. don't know the breed and don't want to know. Then folks would say I was prejudiced.

 

[centrarchid]

Those employing SSS likely kill more dogs and have more trouble with dogs even after. When they are found out, which eventually occurs, the the employer of such gets a rapid reduction in respect from community because does not look brave nor honest. Let people know your intent, doing so in a manner that does not appear aggressive or flippant to their concerns. You live in a community where our responsibilities to each other are not so well defined by property boundaries.


I am not a dog lover but do recognize that pulling a dog not knowing you does have risk of biting you. I still do it but do not hold it against dog as biting under such conditions can be a reflex.


Get back to excluding all dogs not yours because the worst you have not met yet.

 

[Rowsdower]

No dog breed is perfect and aggression needs to be channeled. Most important variable is you as the owner and how you handle dogs. I use German Pointers (very high prey drive) as poultry guardians so breed options greater than generally realized. My dogs run with free-range birds 24/7. Dogs in general are not the least-cost approach and require time and acreage plus containment as flock will be contained on less acreage than almost any dog will stay on by choice.

I agree with this. My parents have a German Pointer LGD (who interestingly enough was shipped in from Missouri, Centrarchid, your dogs could be related!) and I have a Border Collie/Lab. Both are amazing around livestock. I posted here when I was looking for mine, actually, and got quite a lot of negative remarks about my choice to seek out a border collie (they didn't even know about the lab part yet). I cannot imagine having picked a better dog. With very minimal training, mostly just lots of supervised exposure to the birds, I trust her completely. Having said all of this, you could likely fence your entire property for the cost of one dog throughout its lifespan.

 

[wamtazlady]

We have come to a sort of compromise with the tenant who lives up the hill from us. He's building me a lovely new predator proof chicken coop and run. The tenant's dog has been known to kill chickens in the past although he seldom gets loose. I supplied the wood and he, a retired contractor, is supplying the labor. I bought some electric poultry netting to surround the new coop when it's done. I needed a new coop anyway as I'm going from a few chickens to a dozen. My boyfriend has sworn he'll shoot the dog if he goes after my chickens. It's really nice when the dog owner works with you to help control the problem. As soon as everything is done I want him to bring his dog down on a leash so that hopefully the dog will learn that electric netting bites. Hopefully the foxes who have attacked every flock in the area learn the bite of the electric netting also.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

I appreciate everyone's advice and input. Crazytalk you mentioned a dog. Is there a particular breed that chicken owners prefer? Thanks

I think it's about what dog you have and not so much about breed....

I have a German shorthair that I got from the pound as a 3 month old pup. After some aversion therapy with a collar she is great with all the birds.

She protects them because they are mine or in her eyes ours. Two weeks ago she caught a coon by the coops and then yesterday we had a crazy afternoon.

I went out at 2:30 and came face to face with a 200lb black bear 15ft from my house! Paige(that's her name) charged immediately and the bear ran about 40 feet and straight up the nearest tree.

It stayed there for 2 hrs when it finally came down it ran in the woods and I cut her loose again, she ran it 150yards and treed it again.

Hopefully that was enough and it won't be back, it won't get a second pass.

Moral of the story, I have a great dog that does her job and protects the farm from pests makes no difference she's a mutt

 

[CrazyTalk]

I agree with this. My parents have a German Pointer LGD (who interestingly enough was shipped in from Missouri, Centrarchid, your dogs could be related!) and I have a Border Collie/Lab. Both are amazing around livestock. I posted here when I was looking for mine, actually, and got quite a lot of negative remarks about my choice to seek out a border collie (they didn't even know about the lab part yet). I cannot imagine having picked a better dog. With very minimal training, mostly just lots of supervised exposure to the birds, I trust her completely. Having said all of this, you could likely fence your entire property for the cost of one dog throughout its lifespan.

Rowsdower,

my primary alert/protection dog, and the brains of the operation is a shelter border collie mix (we were told border collie/english setter) - I have no idea how accurate that actually is, but he's been a pleasure to work with and train, and I trust him out there implicitly. Training was similar - a lot of supervised time with the occasional 'no' and he figured it out. When we got him I couldn't keep him from chasing the the cats and everything else, but they just learn so quick - couple of months later and hes great.


The traditional guardian breeds are fantastic for the work they were bred for, but they're not always the best choice when we're talking about smaller properties and poultry. Most of the LGD breeds were bred to deal with sheep, goats, etc, and ranging over hundreds or thousands of acres, and moving with the flock. That's a very different situation than what most of us are doing (my two dogs range roughly 4 acres) - so some of the benefits that the traditional LGD have just don't apply. I think a 150lb LGD would cause more problems on my property than it would solve.