Should I get a dog?

[nzpouter]

what comes with $120 from the shelter...? vacs? registration? neutering voucher?

if you can only afford $20 for a pup, how are you going to pay for it's vaccination? what if he get parvo, distemper, etc...?

 

[Malibu99]

The problem with getting a shelter dog is they cost $120 here! I can get a dog on craigslist as a puppy and pay maybe $20 bucks or so. I wish the shelter would lower their costs - maybe they'd not have so many dogs ready to kill because nobody is adopting them.

 

$120 is a very good price. My parents paid $1500 for ours. Also, from my friends experience, many people want to sell diseased, injured, etc. dogs on Craigslist. I'd go with shelter dog, personally.

 

[Baymule]

Just remember, for most dogs a chicken is the ultimate "squeaky toy!"

 

[dainerra]

it's always better, if you do get a dog, to get an older dog. At least 2-3 years old, enough to be past the puppy stage. You can take the dog and test how it is with chickens. The personality is already set and you don't have to worry about what the dog will grow up to be.

As others have said, the $120 your shelter charges are a bargain. Plus, you won't be rewarding a bad breeder by buying one of their puppies. The dog will be vet-checked, spayed/neutered, vaccinated, etc.

Once you select a dog that has a calm temperament, then the real work begins. Even the best of dogs is going to take a lot of work before you can trust it to guard your chickens. Maybe a couple of months, maybe several months depending on the dog.

 

[centrarchid]

I am getting my dogs almost free as pups. Still needs vacinations and like. Makes so I have a known quantity that can be trusted with poultry as an adult. Known quantity as in not a dead-head that does not deal aggressively with predators. "Prey-drive" is encouraged just not to include livestock / poultry.

My dogs handle coyotes fine and my birds are free-range starting at about 5 weeks. I am in central Missouri so predator assemablage similar to Kansas.