Our dog

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

We have 13 hens that we keep in a coop with a run and fence around the whole thing. We let our chickens peck around the fenced in area and thought we would test our family dog and see if she could be a good guard from predators if she got along with the chickens. We kept her on a tight leash incase instincts kicked in. She is such a friendly dog! At first she was more interested with the chicken poop in the grass/dirt and then I brought a chicken over to her, the calmest one we have. They were doing fine but as soon as Martha(the chicken) started to run away, our dog chased after her with her mouth open. Martha made it out fine (our dog was on a leash) but we are not sure we should try again. Should we try to get her used to chickens so we have a good deterrence from hawks? Or is it just something she cannot do. She is a black labrador retriever. Please help! I would love to get her to be a friend to the chickens but I understand if she´s just not a breed that can do that.

 

[jvls1942]

I would try again.
whether or not she ever guards the chickens, at least you won't have to worry about her doing any harm.

get a chair and sit in the chicken yard with the dog. don't do anything but sit there.
if she shows interest in the chickens, that is OK..
if she tries to chase, you have the leash. just say NO and stop her.
most dogs get the idea quickly..
expose her to the chickens as often as you can. On the leash.take her along when collecting the eggs..
soon the novelty will wear off.
the dog in my avatar is 110 pounds, chickens can walk on her back without fear..

 

[woodmort]

If she's a Lab it's in her genes to chase and capture birds. I love Labs, and have worked with some that were the nicest, friendliest dogs you'd ever want to have around other animals but I'd never trust them around birds. Sorry.

 

[Mrs. K]

Generally a lab ( or at least my son in laws) would chase and grab a chicken, but then just tends to carry it around. However, pretty upsetting to the bird. One did die.

Labs are a hunting dog. You might be fighting that.

 

[centrarchid]

Most dogs have the potential to be "good" around chickens, even bird dogs. German Pointers have been particularly helpful for me with chickens. @jvls1942 suggest very close to what I do as breaking in each dog. It takes time and you need to have control over dog before process begins. I have a couple threads dealing with parts of how I break dog in with chickens.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

We have 13 hens that we keep in a coop with a run and fence around the whole thing. We let our chickens peck around the fenced in area and thought we would test our family dog and see if she could be a good guard from predators if she got along with the chickens. We kept her on a tight leash incase instincts kicked in. She is such a friendly dog! At first she was more interested with the chicken poop in the grass/dirt and then I brought a chicken over to her, the calmest one we have. They were doing fine but as soon as Martha(the chicken) started to run away, our dog chased after her with her mouth open. Martha made it out fine (our dog was on a leash) but we are not sure we should try again. Should we try to get her used to chickens so we have a good deterrence from hawks? Or is it just something she cannot do. She is a black labrador retriever. Please help! I would love to get her to be a friend to the chickens but I understand if she´s just not a breed that can do that.

Labs are super easily trained and you’ll just have to work with her. I have had many Retrievers and they have always been super trustworthy with other animals. One of my retrievers used to even come and get me when he would find baby birds or even lizards that he would find.

 

[Willowspirit]

Technically labs are bred to retrieve birds rather than strictly to hunt them. I think your dog may be trainable. Just don't get too confident too soon. Boredom is the key as jvls1942 says. And you must let her know that "chase" is not okay because that's where predation starts.

 

[centrarchid]

@TheFirstLadiesChickens

See link below. It involves a lot of effort using German Pointers started as pups for purpose of guarding chickens. I have a fair amount of ground and now kids in the mix making for a complex arrangement that works pretty good.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/planned-poultry-guarding-dog.426408/


More current involving English Shepherds.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/english-shepherd-as-poultry-guardian.1008645/#post-15616568

 

[aart]

you need to have control over dog before process begins.

Key Point!!
Voice commands of 'leave it' or 'drop it' or whatever words you use should be firmly in place.

 

[jvls1942]

I'm sorry, I don't buy into the hunting dog theory..
dogs first job is trying to please us humans.
My key word is NO.. it covers everything that a dog can do wrong.. once they get used to that word, the rest is easy..
btw. everybody in the household has to be on the same wave length in teaching a dog.
I have seen many labs in farm yards who do not chase chickens or cattle..
I have had quite a few beagles and one beagle/brittaney and lots of just plain mutts.
I never had a problem with any of them..
take the time now to teach your dog, and it will save you the decision later down the road to keep her or get rid of her or the chickens.