A Swede in France
Songster
Hi everyone! I've got 15 pet chickens whom I love very much and live quite closely with. I just put down a deposit on a puppy who will join us just before Christmas. She'll be nine weeks when she comes home, and I want to hear all you tips and advice on how to train her to peacefully cohabit with the chickens. I've never trained a dog before so I have a lot to learn. I'm not naive, I know I'm getting a predator and that it will need work and lots of supervision to make things work.
A bit more about the dog for context. I thought long and hard about what dog to get to suit my household, my preference for low shedding, and the fact that I have pet chickens and pet sheep. I landed on a smallish poodle/old English sheepdog cross. She comes from a good breeder who progressively bred for small size across generations rather than awkwardly crossing an OES with a toy poodle (the latter can lead to vet unpredictable sizes and weird proportions). Her parents and grandparents are from therapy and companion lines rather than working dogs. She's 75% poodle and 25% OES and should end up at 40-45 cm at the shoulder and 12 - 15 kg (that's shy of a foot and a half and up to 33 pounds). She's pretty much the same size as my Ouessant sheep. The OES in her should theoretically make her a little more sturdy than a poodle, and a bit less bouncy and hyper than retriever - poodle crosses. Her mum, who's 50/50 poodle OES is laid-back and shows no herding tendencies, but I realise she's got herding genes in her.
Super thankful for your thoughts, and do share your favourite photos of doggies and chooks living their best lives together!
A bit more about the dog for context. I thought long and hard about what dog to get to suit my household, my preference for low shedding, and the fact that I have pet chickens and pet sheep. I landed on a smallish poodle/old English sheepdog cross. She comes from a good breeder who progressively bred for small size across generations rather than awkwardly crossing an OES with a toy poodle (the latter can lead to vet unpredictable sizes and weird proportions). Her parents and grandparents are from therapy and companion lines rather than working dogs. She's 75% poodle and 25% OES and should end up at 40-45 cm at the shoulder and 12 - 15 kg (that's shy of a foot and a half and up to 33 pounds). She's pretty much the same size as my Ouessant sheep. The OES in her should theoretically make her a little more sturdy than a poodle, and a bit less bouncy and hyper than retriever - poodle crosses. Her mum, who's 50/50 poodle OES is laid-back and shows no herding tendencies, but I realise she's got herding genes in her.
Super thankful for your thoughts, and do share your favourite photos of doggies and chooks living their best lives together!
