pitbulls and chickens

[ndestries]

Hello - I am very interested in getting chickens but am concerned my pitt will take them out. She frequently goes on chipmunk genocide missions. We have 2 cats and they're still here, so that's a positive note. What's the best way to introduce them or given her high prey drive, should I even try?

 

[Mahlzeit]

You know your dog better than anyone, if you think you can teach her that chickens are friends then I say try it. You have to make sure she gives them respect right away and be consistent with it. Any dog can behave with chickens if you put the time and effort into it. Good luck.

 

[SavageDestiny]

You know your dog better than anyone, if you think you can teach her that chickens are friends then I say try it. You have to make sure she gives them respect right away and be consistent with it. Any dog can behave with chickens if you put the time and effort into it. Good luck.

It really isn't true that any dog can be taught to behave. A lot of breeds have prey drive hard wired into them, and it's impossible to remove it. Terriers in particular, and Pit Bulls are terriers! Of course there are always exceptions, but a dog with a high prey drive should never be considered trustworthy around prey animals. You can train a dog all you like to ignore prey animals, but the prey drive will still be there, and all it takes is a split second for that drive to overcome training.

You are right that they know their dog, and can decide if it is safe or not.

 

[Mahlzeit]

It really isn't true that any dog can be taught to behave. A lot of breeds have prey drive hard wired into them, and it's impossible to remove it. Terriers in particular, and Pit Bulls are terriers! Of course there are always exceptions, but a dog with a high prey drive should never be considered trustworthy around prey animals. You can train a dog all you like to ignore prey animals, but the prey drive will still be there, and all it takes is a split second for that drive to overcome training.

You are right that they know their dog, and can decide if it is safe or not.

Just because a breed of dog has prey drive does not mean every dog of that breed has that drive. If that were the case breeders wouldn't be able to charge what they do for good blood lines. If raised properly and balanced 99% of dogs can be trained proper behavior. Of course you want to choose a breed with the instincts or purpose of what you want accomplished. If you're looking for a dog to protect your birds when you're not around you don't want a german shorthaired pointer or lab who are bird dogs. There are dogs that have prey drive geared towards rodents and small critters which if trained from puppy hood on properly will ignore your birds.

 

[Mahlzeit]

Didn't mean to send that yet. My point being not all pitbulls have prey drive either. I know of a few people who have pitbulls out with their chickens all the time. It really depends on the individual bird and no one would know what drives their dog better than it's owner.

 

[SavageDestiny]

That is why I said "of course there are exceptions". My main point was that your statement of "Any dog can behave with chickens if you put the time and effort into it" is misleading and dangerous. There are probably dogs of every breed who can be/are good with prey animals, but not every dog on earth is good with them. Individual dogs with high prey drive can't be trained out of it.