Hank is a chicken puppy! [Pics]

[princess_laquisha]

Are most golden retrievers good with chickens? We are thinking about getting a golden retriever but what our new dog to be good around our house chickens. Our previous dog was not and on multiple occasions tried to attack them. For some crazy reason, the chickens are going to come first. Haha. So we want a dog that won't mind them

 

[tamberlin]

A lot of people will tell you it's all in the training. Our golden was not raised around chickens, but is good with them. He is pretty calm (going on 6 yrs) and knows we mean it when we say NO. It helped that we had a cat before the dog and the cat put him in his place right away. Our neighbor's golden is a spaz and thinks about nothing but chasing the chickens. Back and forth along the chicken fence.....
So if you get a young dog, you train it that the chickens are part of his/her pack. I wish I had more advise on this but hopefully someone else can help....

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
Our last golden retriever who passed away in 05 was great with the birds. If a baby chick got out she would sit there and wait next to it until we put it back in the pen.

Our gr we have now, Sadie, she will chase the birds down, and hold them down with her paws, but she won't bite or try to kill them. She just wants to play with the birds. I have to work with her on being a little gentler.

 

[suebee]

I've raised and trained 3 Golden Retrievers to be my silkies companions and protectors. The younger the dog, the easier to train.
Start by exposing the puppy on a leash for several days. Call the chickens over. Each time the puppy takes interest in the chickens, gently yank the leash downward and saying a firm "NO". Keep watching the puppy's reaction and consistently redirect his attention by leash yank/NO.

Walk the puppy around the chickens on a slack leash. If he starts running after them, gently roll him onto the ground on his side and place your open hand across the side of his face. Firmly say "NO". Let him get back up and start over. Never let puppy out of your sight after removing the leash. It took 3 weeks to fully train each puppy.

Another tip....you may want to start the exposure with a rooster, will leaving the slower hens inside a pen.

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Quote:
Great advice and pretty much exactly what we did.

Also good advice about starting with the rooster. When we first brought Hank home he was MUCH smaller then our rooster, who immediately upon introduction gave Hank a firm wing beating, I think that let him know pretty quickly that chickens were not to be messed with.

 

[kathyAtABetterWayFarm]

I had my dog before our chickens so no chance to train him as a puppy. I think its all about how you introduce them. My dog became protective of the chicks. I put him in the first little portable pen I setup outside when we let the chicks outside for a bit at first and now he roams with them freely. He is unattended with them regularly, never a problem, like I said he actually is protective of them. I agree with one of the earlier posts, if the dog feels like they are part of his pack, or his responsibility, then there shouldn't be issues. My process shown below:

First Pic: Are You My Mother?

Second Pic: In the temporary pen with the chicks as they were let outside for a little while each day in the beginning:

Now he roams free and the chickens do too. He is a good protector! He cornered a fox under a storage building one day! Face to face, about 12 inches between them, that fox was hissing and bigger than him, but Knuckles didn't back down until I came and took the situation over!

 

[Nat123]

Lucky! I have a dog that's not familiar with the chickens, they haven't met yet but realizing how hyper my dog is, I don't think they'll get along. So best to keep them away

 

[suebee]

Kathy, great pics and story!

Nat, good thinking. Intuition tells us how things might go.

 

[FowlRanger]

He is the Guardian of the Flock!