Herding Dogs

[cassie]

Ok, ignore the naysayers. Herding and hunting breeds are The EASIEST to train to leave your chickens alone. If you ha huskies there'd be a problem.

But - think about it - herding breeds traditionally live on farms. If they were endlessly harassing the livestock, traditionally they were shot - those dogs didn't breed. And hunting breeds are flat useless if they're running around like maniacs after every little rustle and scent. If they were unable to focus on the exact desired scent and work I in a controlled manner, again, bullet and no puppies.

So, now that that's out of the way, what you have are 3 dogs specifically bred to work for you. So now, you need to put in the work - give them jobs.

Start simple. Start with Down. A dog is physically incapable of chasing anything while Down. Work it inside and out. Commercial break? That's 10 reps. Does Pup want out? Door doesn't open until Pup downs. Same for in. Work on leash right next to the chickens. Work far enough away that the dog can focus, because clearly, they're not used to paying attention to you. Also work on Watch Me and Leave It.

Frankly, if your dog will Leave It an Down at 50 yards, there's not much more training you need.

As far as them getting trustworthy, I have an Aussie/Chow mix and a GSD, both of whom are completely reliable around poultry of all sorts. When I clean the brooder, I can let the chicks run around the kitchen floor (the kids love it) and all 3 of my dogs would never dream of touching them. The third dog is a Standard Poodle (hunting breed) and is only 15 months old, so not totally reliable off leash at distance outside. Meaning, I still have to tell her Leave It, she doesn't yet just assume she's not allowed. But when I say it, she does, from across a 5 acre field.

This is a totally doable thing.


Double Merle is usually lethal, as it leads to incomplete development of eyes, ears and intestine. They can live, if they have an anus, even though they're likely blind and/or deaf, possibly with small or no eyes and intestinal trouble. Which is why most breeders do the kind thing and put them down at birth. And yes, good, careful breeders can have them. Accidents happen and also genetic merles may have very, very little visual merle.

Herding and hunting dogs are the easiest to train to leave livestock alone? Really? It depends on the dogs. I have known border collies that were outstanding herders that the drive to herd was so strong the sheepmen who owned them kept them confined when they weren't needed for work because otherwise they would be herding the sheep from morning to night.

 

[Trisseh]

100% dependent on the individual dog. I don’t care what anyone says. I’ve seen huskies that wouldn’t touch a small animal, and I’ve seen retrievers that will rip them to shreds, and anything else they can get their supposedly soft mouths on. Doesn’t matter what breed they are, what matters is you knowing your dogs and taking the steps to train them, and the precautions that are needed for your particular dogs, especially if training just isn’t enough. I have a husky/shep/BC (and who knows what else!) who doesn’t touch any small things, doesn’t chase anything. etc as long as I can see her. If she thinks she’s “invisible” all bets are off. She overrides her instinct when I’m there because she knows she’s supposed to, otherwise anything is fair game. I wouldn’t leave this dog unsupervised with children, either, no matter how friendly she is with them. A dog is going to dog, no matter what. We just need to understand our dog and work with that.

 

[RiverOtter]

Herding and hunting dogs are the easiest to train to leave livestock alone? Really? It depends on the dogs. I have known border collies that were outstanding herders that the drive to herd was so strong the sheepmen who owned them kept them confined when they weren't needed for work because otherwise they would be herding the sheep from morning to night.

Speaking as someone who used to train dogs professionally, yeah, really.

Sure, I've met psycho-no-off-switch dogs. My uncle used to prefer those for his drug detection dogs. Do you know how long it would take him to find a dog like that? They have their use - it's in professional hands, with a job and a kennel. They are NOT breed representative and are most often not bred, except by dogpeople who are just as happily nuts, like people who live on the herding dog competition circuit or who run the Iditarod.
Full time farmers - like our ancestors who developed these breeds - did not have time to deal with that. Farming is hard enough without having to protect livestock from your own dog.

A vast, VAST percentage of Border Collies - and again, yeah, really, it's a breed I've worked with a lot, owned, etc - are not that. If someone tells me they have Border Collie, I have no reason to assume they're like that. I've never met anyone who was accidentally sold a Border Collie remotely like that - dogs that strong are on the herding circuit and they hoard them and their pups until they turn out.