Labrador Retriever with chicks....

[CowgirlMama]

I have an almost 3 y.o. Black Lab... he is my hunting dog (and yes- I now have almost 40 chicks!) and I was just wondering if there was anyone else out there who has a hunting dog and how they introduced their dog to the chicks and what they did to keep the dog from "retrieving" the chicks... I have not let him around the chicks unsupervised (nor will I until they are MUCH older), but once they are outside and if I decide to let them free range, there are times when the dog is outside alone for brief periods... I'm just curious as to what y'all did....

 

[mommto3kiddos]

Great post! I don't have a "hunting" dog persay, but our boxer has killed 3 rabbits so far this spring, soooo...

I have been putting my chicks outside in a great dane size cage & then letting her out with them, watching closely.. When she gets excited and runs up to the cage I give her a sharp "NO".. After about 20 minutes each time shes bored and moves on.. But I highly doubt I will ever be able to let her & them out in the yard together..

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

I can't tell you what your labrador will do but, ours loves the chickens. The fact that he is now around 11 years old may have alot to do with it though. He will nap by their pen and race them to any scraps that get thrown out.. It is funny to see the chickens reach up and yank food from his mouth.. They aren't afraid of him and have no reaosn to be... He's a gentle giant..

 

[BHyder1]

My yellow lab is great with my 36 chickens. He came to us when he was 8 weeks old and has been taught that they are a big no. He does love to run and scatter them, and will try to break up a rooster fight, but has never hurt one in a year now! He is also great at chasing hawks.

 

[nanawendy]

Our black Lab is afraid of our chickens... at least when they are on the same side of the fence. I would NEVER leave her unattended though

 

[duckking]

We have a 14yo Golden lab/bull terrier mix. We let the new chicks run around a couple of times a day in our living room. He just lies there and if they come near him, he gets up and walks away, carefully stepping over them. Now if they were another dog....he'd have them by the throat!

 

[backyardmenagerie]

I have several Golden Retrievers, and I would say the most valuable command I ever taught them was "leave it." It's different from "wait" which is what I do for meal times; they wait until I put the food down and say ok. Wait means just that, wait and you can have it when I say. "Leave it" means don't touch it, and you won't ever get it either. I taught them leave it by putting a low value object on the ground (like, say, a rock, or something they just don't care that much about) then said leave it when they went to investigate. When they looked up at me, I rewarded them with praise and treats. I did this regularly, upping the value of the object, till eventually I could throw french fries at them and tell them leave it, and they would turn up their noses at the french fries and come right over to me.
When we'd go out, I'd practice leave it with items on walks, such as road kill and snakes, which has proven very valuable to me as it keeps my dogs safe! When we got the chickens, I let them investigate them, but if they got too interested they were told leave it and given a toy to go do something else with.
I have friends that used a shock collar to train leave it, which works fine if your dog needs it, but I found positive reinforcement to work just as well with my dogs.

 

[CowgirlMama]

Thanks everyone! I think Toby will be ok with the chickens (eventually). He is kinda afraid of birds when we go hunting. It takes a lot of encouragement to get him to retrieve sometimes (he doesn't get a lot of practice!). He does know leave it. I grew up with dogs and my dad showed and trained dogs, so I've been around it all my life... I was just wondering what other people do/have done and if they've had any trouble with retrievers or other gun dogs and their birds! He is VERY interested in the chicks, but we'll see what happens when they are big enough to defend themselves!! I think it'll only take a couple pecks on the nose for him to figure out that the chickens are NOT to be messed with!!! And I can only hope that he's smart enough to chase hawks away!!!

 

[duckking]

Quote:
He'll be great. We used to have a parrot who would peck him on the nose if he got too close. He seems to respect birds now. I have found that if he is out with our mature chickens/ducks, the hawks and eagles simply don't come around. If he is not, they are circling in minutes.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

My 11 year old lab is great with the chickens. We allowed him to see and smell the chicks. When they got older and we started introducing them to the outside, he would go out with us and sit and watch them. Leave it is a great command for your dog and ours was trained with that command. It has helped keep him out of trouble and when he showed too much interest or excitement around the chicks, a leave it would have an immediate effect. He has appointed himself flock watcher and will often lay outside with them while they are freeranging. Keeps the predators away. The chickens walk all over him but on occasion he feels the need to jog through the flock just to scatter them. I think your dog will be fine as long as you train him right.