Socializing a new puppy to chickens, any successful strategies?

[gimmie birdies]

My dog ignores chickens. He thinks they steal my love.

My dog Duke, and Splendor. My chick wants to cuddle, my dog wants to run, I had to tell him to stay.

 

[aroostercalledBrownie]

My dog ignores chickens. He thinks they steal my love.View attachment 2039427
My dog Duke, and Splendor.

Oh my gosh that is so funny!!!

 

[calboy147]

I am looking at purchasing a new puppy to fill the terrible void in my life that my very old dog has left upon her recent departure. She was really too old to be bothered with the chickens but I rather doubt that will be the case with a new puppy!

Does anyone have positive experiences to share in introducing a very young dog to chickens? I do understand that much of this will be breed and individual dog specific but I would dearly love for a new pup to live harmoniously with my birds. The dog will be a working breed, a Portuguese Water Dog. These dogs are workers but bred to retrieve fishing nets not hunted birds. Smart, mouthy. It will be my first intro to the breed so that is as much as I know so far.

I've got some ideas but would love to hear strategies that seem to have worked. Any proven suggestions for socializing to chickens are most welcomed!

I'm sure there are likely threads here that talk about this but lets face it, if people don't post questions then there is no discussion here right?!

You should make sure the puppy understands some basic commands first. Then hold the puppy while letting it sniff a calm chicken or curious chick always worked for me. Later when any chicks got scared they would flee TO the dog.

 

[NightingaleJen]

Also, sometimes dogs misunderstand things. When the roosters first started mounting the hens the dogs thought that was bad and broke it up.

Okay, that's actually kind of cute, even if undesired.

Excellent tips, too. This is such a wonderful thread, and I really appreciate all of the good advice people are sharing.