How to train a dog to protect chickens.

[centrarchid]

Readings I have suggested the poodles and German Pointers are related. Both having in common smarts and flexibility. Most folks also do not realize some poodles are fairly large. Why they bred them for the hair growth does not make sense.

 

[aart]

Readings I have suggested the poodles and German Pointers are related. Both having in common smarts and flexibility. Most folks also do not realize some poodles are fairly large. Why they bred them for the hair growth does not make sense.

....or maybe the pointer was bred out of the poodle to get rid of that hair ;-) who knows?

I don't know that the hair was bred into them, but have read that it was left cut long over the joints for warmth.

Rascal is 24" at the shoulder and weighs 45 lbs....I got him from SPCA at 6 months old and 17 lbs, rather sick and neglected. He's just a pet dog trained well for obedience, returns with a whistle when we roam the woods.

 

[Bullitt]

Poodles were originally bred in Germany(pudel - german for 'to splash about') to be water fowl retrieval dogs.
The funny hair cuts came from protecting their joints from the cold water.

They are very smart and trainable to do many things including herding.
There's even a dog sled team of poodles.

If you cut them short the burrs pretty much brush out easily.

I was going to say that his body looks similar to the German Shorthair Pointer. No doubt that they have some common ancestry.

At 45 pounds he is a little on the small side. I wonder if he would have been larger if he had not been sickly as a pup?

 

[aart]

I was going to say that his body looks similar to the German Shorthair Pointer. No doubt that they have some common ancestry.

At 45 pounds he is a little on the small side. I wonder if he would have been larger if he had not been sickly as a pup?

Not many people ever see a poodle's real body shape, they do look like the retrievers they are.

He may have been bigger if not sickly as a pup (he had giardia, kennel cough, ear and eye infections when they got him but recovered quickly) but I also do not over feed my dogs.

 

[D Kluck]

We have a black Lab (9 years old) and a Chow(6 years old) ... they are great dogs with the chickens and cattle...... both dogs watch over them all the time... over years they have killed or chased off predators many times...

...the only training(if you can call it that) was that we slowly introduced the dogs to chickens and other livestock when they were one month old puppies over several week period.. ... both dogs took over the job of taken care of the farm animals... i think the key is to get a good puppy and not get an older dog......

 

[chickengeorgeto]

An attack beagle? Obviously the size is the issue. But I am sure a large hound breed could be trained for the job.

A large state prison near here uses beagles to track inmates. Beagles trail as slow as a man can walk and they'll bark at every foot fall of an escapee.

http://news.wildlife.org/featured/sheepdogs-save-australias-endangered-little-penguins/

Here is a link to Live Stock Guard Dogs guarding birds (in this case little blue penguins) from red foxes as part of the LSGD's ethos. The idea is to raise the dog with the species that you wish to protect. The dog sees the bird or sheep as a member of its pack and attacks the predator or intruder to protect what it sees as the dog's pack mates. This behavior is inherited, not learned or taught.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Most folks also do not realize some poodles are fairly large. Why they bred them for the hair growth does not make sense.

The reason they bred poodles to have big hair is so that the poodle can benefit from the flotation and insulation all that oily hair provides. Poodles originally were water dogs bred to retrieve water fowl for the gun. That was also the idea behind the "poodle" cut.

 

[Bullitt]

The reason they bred poodles to have big hair is so that the poodle can benefit from the flotation and insulation all that oily hair provides. Poodles originally were water dogs bred to retrieve water fowl for the gun. That was also the idea behind the "poodle" cut.

I understand the hair helping with insulation and floatation. But shaving a dog's butt would not help a dog jumping into cold water. That "poodle cut" was probably developed later by people, who for whatever reason, liked the look.

 

[Bullitt]

A large state prison near here uses beagles to track inmates. Beagles trail as slow as a man can walk and they'll bark at every foot fall of an escapee.

Of course Beagles are used for tracking. We were discussing "attack Beagles."

 

[aggiemae]

Our dogs, 3 Puli's and a Komondor, both breeds with a high prey drive, watch over our goats, cats, chickens and kids...pretty much anything they identify as belonging to our "flock". Unfortunately, with the exception of four legged livestock, they are pretty much aggressive with other peoples animals.