Possibly buying a puppy.... Advice?

[NevilChick]

Knowing you have chickens, and seeing that a lot of the important topics have been covered, here's my experience with dogs - and chickens.

First, australian shepherds are insanely smart and I love them. SUPER easy to train, eager to please, and once they figure out that you do NOT want them to chase the chickens, they just don't. It's awesome. Close second to them are german shepherds. Even the puppies are hardwired to do EXACTLY what you want. Only issue I have with them is the health problems they tend to have because they're so intensively bred. :/

As for training, be CAREFUL. Once they kill a chicken, it takes 10 times as long to train them to stop. I have absolutely ZERO tolerance for ANY dog chasing, messing with, or scaring my chickens, and every dog that has the guts (stupidity) to step inside my yard knows it. (Shoot I ranted -__-) Be firm, but always reward them when they look back at you instead of the chickens.

I'm probably the least adequate person to give dog training advice, because I have very little patience for untrained or disobedient dogs.... But I wish you luck!

Yes be very careful with chickens and puppies. I have a 4 month old Pyrenees that was supposed to be my guard dog....but has killed one of the rarest roosters I had along with a few others. I did not do my research up front and was told the dog slept with chickens so I thought she wouldn't harm these. She is just a puppy so I know how that is...have had many puppies with three daughters. But look into proper training methods BEFORE you lose your first chicken. Some dogs will not stop killing once they have killed...puppies are generally playing. Either way, the chicken is gone. Good luck and be informed!

 

[Fishkeeper]

You might hear something about how dog training requires you to establish yourself as the alpha of the pack. Don't do that. It's based off a misinterpretation of wolf pack dynamics, which dogs don't even adhere to. Anything that Caesar guy on TV says should be ignored completely, his techniques are misguided at best and abusive at worst.
Don't yell at a barking dog to stop, they'll think you're also barking and are confirming their action.
To get a play-biting puppy to stop, make a sharp yapping noise, pull away, and ignore the puppy. That's how another puppy will signal upset, and your puppy will quickly learn that what would be fine for another puppy will hurt you and isn't good.
Also, if the puppy pees inside, don't rub his nose in it. You're not teaching him "do this outside" if you do that, you're teaching him "don't do this where I can see it". Same for most misbehavior- don't punish the puppy, he doesn't know that what he's doing is wrong. Redirect or ignore unwanted behavior, reward good behavior.
To introduce your dog to chickens, put the dog on one side of a barrier, put a chicken on the other, let the dog sniff and be introduced to the chicken in a safe environment so you can see how he reacts and what training measures might be needed.
Dogs have been bred to adore humans, they want to do what you want. You just have to show them what you want.

 

[PatriciafromCO]

chow, husky, blue healer ::: you might want to look them up and see if you like the possibility of having those traits be strong in your new pup...

 

[dainerra]

meeting the parents on their own turf is actually not going to be a good indicator of their temperament. Except for dogs that are obviously aggressive or fearful, most dogs are going to be stable on their own turf. That doesn't mean that they actually have good temperaments.
To get a good feel, you need to see how they react in a new place. Around sights/sounds they haven't seen before. That is why titles are so important - an unbiased determination that the dog reacted appropriately in a stressful environment on at least 3 different occasions. CGC is only 1 day but that is better than nothing.

The pup will come home wiht first vaccinations but you need to do the rest of the series. Personally, I prefer to follow Dr Dodds limited vaccine protocol

 

[Susannah4040]

Agree with dainerra...all our dogs have only had the 'puppy vacs' and have not had a days illness...our German Shepherd however, died aged only 3yrs, from what our vet termed, 'Explosive Cancer' - from diagnosis to her death was only 2 weeks...she was vaccinated yearly...the site of her cancer was on her foreleg, where she had her vaccinations...we researched this and found that many vets are now advocating only to have your dogs have the puppy shots - after all, you don't continually have your children re-vaccinated every year, 'til death in their old age, so why do this with dogs/cats?
On another note - make sure you have someone whom will take on the responsibility of your dog, if anything should happen to you...having been involved with 'rescue' animals for some yrs, it is heartbreaking to see an otherwise healthy animal brought into a pound/shelter to languish there, not knowing why it has been abandoned - it's only crime, was having an 'owner' that didn't take into account what would happen to their dog should they pass away...lots to more to consider, besides where it will sleep, which training method, food and toys...too many folk take on an animal, without considering all that it entails...hence the huge amount of 'pets' euthanised each year around the world.

 

[dainerra]

I wasn't planning to. This is from a good friend, and they're giving it to me for way cheaper than they could sell it for.

I will, our neighbors have a puppy at the moment.

Thanks!

that is where they get you. What they should actually be charging for these pups is a token amount to make sure that they aren't being purchased by someone looking for bait dogs or to sell to a medical lab. PERIOD. The value of these dogs equals whatever your local shelter charges for adoptions. Most shelters that will be less than $100 and includes all vaccinations and spay/neuter. So, in breeder terms, they would be charging less than $50 because you aren't going to be bringing home an altered dog and will be paying that fee yourself later.

They haven't done anything that make these puppies any different than any other mixed breed at the shelter. There is no guarantee that the pups are healthy. No proof that the parents are healthy. No proof that the parents have a good temperament.

I hate to see people breeding mutts on purpose and saying "I'll give you a deal" They are not responsibly breeders, no different than puppy mills and pet stores. They're making a huge profit and not doing any of the work and don't have the best interest of the dogs at heart. That may be from ignorance of responsible practices but ignorance is no excuse when you are talking about the pain and suffering of living beings.

 

[PeepersMama]

@BYCforlife what breed is the puppy? I missed the post.

 

[tastyacres]

@BYCforlife what breed is the puppy? I missed the post.

My friend (The seller) Said that they are a Labrador Chow mix. (Husky, Collie, Blue Heeler)

 

[PeepersMama]

Ah, thanks Shey

 

[BYCforlife]

that is where they get you. What they should actually be charging for these pups is a token amount to make sure that they aren't being purchased by someone looking for bait dogs or to sell to a medical lab. PERIOD. The value of these dogs equals whatever your local shelter charges for adoptions. Most shelters that will be less than $100 and includes all vaccinations and spay/neuter. So, in breeder terms, they would be charging less than $50 because you aren't going to be bringing home an altered dog and will be paying that fee yourself later.

They haven't done anything that make these puppies any different than any other mixed breed at the shelter. There is no guarantee that the pups are healthy. No proof that the parents are healthy. No proof that the parents have a good temperament.

I hate to see people breeding mutts on purpose and saying "I'll give you a deal" They are not responsibly breeders, no different than puppy mills and pet stores. They're making a huge profit and not doing any of the work and don't have the best interest of the dogs at heart. That may be from ignorance of responsible practices but ignorance is no excuse when you are talking about the pain and suffering of living beings.

There are a lot of people against me getting a puppy from a perfectly responsible friend, so maybe I'll just stop asking puppy questions on here. I already bought it, so I can't stop now. Thanks for your opinion.