Live Stock Guardian Dogs- Advice Please!

[cmom]

I don't personally have any dogs, but occasionally see a couple of Great Pyrenees roaming around on our property, especially at night. I also see fox, coyotes, coons, possums, other dogs and cats on my game cameras.

 

[cgmccary]

although i have only owned chickens for 14 weeks, my family has owned chickens in the past, my grandfather even owning a farm. in my experience, i witnessed his dogs attack the chickens when he wasn't looking. ive known several people who have had entire flocks wiped out by "loyal" guard dogs. no matter how trained they are, dogs still have a natural urge to slaughter anything that moves, wether for food or for fun. my advice is that you shouldn't use mutts to guard your flock. intead, try something without any predatory urges that will get along with your flock. geese and emus, for example, are loving flock members that will ruthlessly defend their flock. trust me, it would be more natural and effective for an vegetarian emu to defend a chicken flock than a carnivorous wolf to defend a chicken flock.

I have had two Anatolians and now have three Great Pyrenees I raised from puppies. None ever killed a chicken and I had them with chickens beginning at 12 weeks old, no supervision nor training needed. I also presently have 4 mutts from 25 to 70 lbs. I have had many other mutts in the past. My mutts run the gamut from hound, retriever, feist, Border Collie mix, 1/2 Pitbull - all former strays. None ever killed a chicken. You’ve got to know your dogs! Dogs not killing chickens is the rule and I guess the exception would be ones like you describe. I’ve owned chickens all my life and I’m 58 years old. I had them when I was 5. My dogs (mutts) didn’t bother them then.

 

[The chicken wizard]

I have had two Anatolians and now have three Great Pyrenees I raised from puppies. None ever killed a chicken and I had them with chickens beginning at 12 weeks old, no supervision nor training needed. I also presently have 4 mutts from 25 to 70 lbs. I have had many other mutts in the past. My mutts run the gamut from hound, retriever, feist, Border Collie mix, 1/2 Pitbull - all former strays. None ever killed a chicken. You’ve got to know your dogs! Dogs not killing chickens is the rule and I guess the exception would be ones like you describe. I’ve owned chickens all my life and I’m 58 years old. I had them when I was 5. My dogs (mutts) didn’t bother them then.

even though all of your dogs have never killed a chicken doesn't mean they won't. like i mentioned, dogs are technically domesticated wolves, and their instinct to kill is still in tact, if not strengthened by genetic manipulation. your dogs may never attack a chicken, but there are many reported incidents of long-term family dogs suddenly snapping and attacking other pets, livestock, and people out of the blue. even if you are able to monitor the dog and train it to guard, it's still a big risk to take. like i mentioned, i like to play it safe and stick to using gentler guard animals like geese and emus. also, the best protection method for your flock is an electric fence to truly keep predators out. i just want to give advice in order to ultimately protect other member's flocks, and using dogs may be even more dangerous that using no protection at all.

 

[cgmccary]

even though all of your dogs have never killed a chicken doesn't mean they won't. like i mentioned, dogs are technically domesticated wolves, and their instinct to kill is still in tact, if not strengthened by genetic manipulation. your dogs may never attack a chicken, but there are many reported incidents of long-term family dogs suddenly snapping and attacking other pets, livestock, and people out of the blue. even if you are able to monitor the dog and train it to guard, it's still a big risk to take. like i mentioned, i like to play it safe and stick to using gentler guard animals like geese and emus. also, the best protection method for your flock is an electric fence to truly keep predators out. i just want to give advice in order to ultimately protect other member's flocks, and using dogs may be even more dangerous that using no protection at all.

I never said no dogs ever kill chickens. In fact, domestic dogs are the number one killer of chickens. I will say that it is not in every dog’s DNA to kill chickens. Domestic dogs might be descended from wolves but they are certainly not wolves anymore. I also have a friend with a true wolf hybrid that does not kill her chickens. What is annoying is when people infer that most dogs are chicken killers, which my own experience contradicts. I’ve always spent a lot of time with my dogs. Every dog I have owned always wants to please. Sometimes I’ve thought it is simply a matter of them “knowing” that killing the chickens would make me unhappy. For whatever the reason, none of my dogs have ever killed a chicken. My mostly Border Collie mix will chase and kill squirrels. He got one today. So my dogs have high prey drive but not for chickens.

 

[cmom]

I have electric wire around my coops and pens. If there is a concern about someone getting shocked by the wire, and if they do, they won't touch it again. I have accidentally touched mine and got a zap. I have had critters attempt to dig under the wire and they got zapped and didn't try it again. I have concrete under the gates to the pens because of a fox digging under a gate and killing some birds and heavy duty netting covering all of my pens because of hawks and owls. I have had dogs in the past but now it's been many years ago. This is one of the chick/grow-coops. I believe this coyote may have been zapped by the wire at one time or another.

 

[WindingRoad]

although i have only owned chickens for 14 weeks, my family has owned chickens in the past, my grandfather even owning a farm. in my experience, i witnessed his dogs attack the chickens when he wasn't looking. ive known several people who have had entire flocks wiped out by "loyal" guard dogs. no matter how trained they are, dogs still have a natural urge to slaughter anything that moves, wether for food or for fun. my advice is that you shouldn't use mutts to guard your flock. intead, try something without any predatory urges that will get along with your flock. geese and emus, for example, are loving flock members that will ruthlessly defend their flock. trust me, it would be more natural and effective for an vegetarian emu to defend a chicken flock than a carnivorous wolf to defend a chicken flock.

sounds good. also the invisible fence won't keep the fox off your property.

 

[Kholts]

I have a Great Pyrenees male (2 years). In an urban fenced yard. I’ve never used an invisible fence but I have used a remote control shock collar for training and it worked. He does respond to the shock and connects the shocking with what he is doing wrong and doesn’t do it again. So I’d say an invisible fence would work with this breed. Of course every dog is it’s own dog...meaning what works with 1 may not work with another individual.

He’s a great protector. Only my cat is aloud to come and go from the property and any other animal be a cat, dog or other cannot pass the fence. I’m starting my flock in about a week so I’m hoping I have to do very little training with him to leave the flock alone.

 

[cmom]

Most every night on one of my game cameras I see fox and coyotes. You can't keep them away, you can only protect your birds. Even if you were successful to get rid of one, another will replace it. It boils down to whatever works best for you.

 

[cmom]

My brother has trained his dogs with a shock collar. His has three settings first gives a tone then it will vibrate then a shock. He told me he only used the shock once and from then on when his dog heard the tone it would come to him.

 

[cmom]

A coyote the night before last behind some of the coops. This is a picture captured from a video. Sorry it's a bit blurry.