Official BYC Poll: What Kind Of Relationship Do Your Dogs & Chickens Have?

[agold23]

I recommend this "see-no-touch" method of intoducing your dog to your chickens if at all possible. Take yourself out of the equation. If you are always there to tell your dog NO or Leave It!,

The “see don’t touch” method is actually how (in my opinion) all training should go and is the premise of free shaping! You reward your dog when they’ve actively decided to make a choice with no prompts or lures from you. Free shaping is especially useful for general training with unbiddable breeds (hounds, guardian dogs and other breeds who don’t care about you or your treats) because they were bred to think for themselves. This way they feel as if they’re making their own decisions and they’ll be more likely to do it again due to the magic of positive reinforcement and conditioning. Free shaping and engage/disengage games are my favourite methods to use for training with my unbiddable dog with her reactivity.

 

[M-H-Fielding]

I have a little dog, a westie. She used to chase the chickens, until we got a new rooster. He gave her a piece of his mind and a few good kicks to go with it, and she NEVER goes near them now. She's terrified of the roo.

 

[FiveFowl]

We have three pugs. The oldest has no interest in chickens whatsoever and their only interaction is to steal each other's food if they can.

The one year old pug will chase a chicken, sniff it all over when it stops running, and quickly lose interest. He's a nuisance not a danger, but it's proven difficult to make any progress toward a calmer relationship. The chickens will sometimes just poke around in the grass next to him and I think "oh maybe they're finally accustomed/bored of one another" but then one moves quickly and he's off chasing it.

Our third pug is not quite three months old, so still a puppy, and the adult chickens are bigger than him. He seems to think they're neat but also kind of scary

 

[AgnesGray]

I cast two votes for my two dogs that have chicken access. One guards them ferociously. The other is a chicken guardian in training and would play with them if he could get to them.

This is my girl that I adopted this spring. Anything that looks crosswise at her birds gets told that she will not tolerate it. haha She's a good, if sometimes scary, protector and gives the best snuggles too. She repays me every single day way beyond anything I did for her by adopting her.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Rescue dogs are so loving we've had several of them. She looks like a BIG love.

 

[9_OddHens]

Thousands of people love dogs. Thousands of people love chickens. And, thousands of people wonder how they can make their two loves get along with one another and live together in peace. So in this poll, we would like to find out: What Kind Of Relationship Do Your Dogs & Chickens Have?

I have 4 dogs...

-my 7 year old Irish Setter cross & his 'mini-me' (a chocolate brown year old pup, an evil cross between a Tasmanian devil and a 2 year old child) would chase them down and rip them limb from limb if I let them anywhere near the birds. They fancy themselves as 'hunters' and their prey drive is off the charts. I've tried training the pup to be a bit less 'go git em' but she's beyond 'waiting'.... her 'go' button is stuck at 100 miles per hour at the best of times.

-my Lab cross & my red heeler vacillate between wanting to snoof them and lick their feathers while following them around for hours.. or they want to just lay in the dirt with them and eat as much bird poop as they can... they are the less bright of the 4 LOL

 

[9_OddHens]

I cast two votes for my two dogs that have chicken access. One guards them ferociously. The other is a chicken guardian in training and would play with them if he could get to them.

This is my girl that I adopted this spring. Anything that looks crosswise at her birds gets told that she will not tolerate it. haha She's a good, if sometimes scary, protector and gives the best snuggles too. She repays me every single day way beyond anything I did for her by adopting her.

you're a very lucky dog lover.

 

[Sahraschweiss]

-my 7 year old Irish Setter cross

I have a 7year old field English Setter. It took work, lots of work to get him to chill with chickens. There was about a year of leash work and then training collar. Some might disagree with training collars, but he never got past the beep and vibration stage.

It depends on the dog. I know the chicks are way too tempting for him, so I don't put him in situations where he will fail. He's a bird dog. There is only so much training will correct.

 

[9_OddHens]

I have a 7year old field English Setter. It took work, lots of work to get him to chill with chickens. There was about a year of leash work and then training collar. Some might disagree with training collars, but he never got past the beep and vibration stage.

It depends on the dog. I know the chicks are way too tempting for him, so I don't put him in situations where he will fail. He's a bird dog. There is only so much training will correct.

"he's a bird dog" ... yup. I'm trying not to worry about training the 'hunt' out of him & his cohort. It'd be like trying to teach fish not to swim LOL

 

[floricik]

Thousands of people love dogs. Thousands of people love chickens. And, thousands of people wonder how they can make their two loves get along with one another and live together in peace. So in this poll, we would like to find out: What Kind Of Relationship Do Your Dogs & Chickens Have?

Please place your vote above, and elaborate in a reply below if you chose "Other".

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Further Reading:

• Introducing Your Dog To Chickens- Tips & Tricks
• How To Protect Your Chickens From Dogs
• Dealing With Dogs Who Kill Chickens

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

My dog could care less about my chickens or ducks. But…she won’t miss a chance to either eat their food or poop