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- #11
Thank you. We bought a rough collie because we’ve heard from many people that if any dog is going to live with chooks it will be a rough collie. I will continue with the training but in the mean time we’ve put up a ‘safety area’ for the chooks, we have one little Pekin bantam who has been fascinated with the pup since we bought him home and I do have concerns for her welfare if she gets too trusting while he is so you gI agree with the posters above.
I've had rough collies and worked with our local collie rescue, and am heavily involved with dog sports and training. I can't think of a better breed (in general) to have with chickens or small animals. In my experience even collies that have decent herding drive have a very inhibited bite instinct. Granted, my experience is with actual show-type rough collies, if you have a "farm collie" type your milage may vary.
My old collie, Katie, loved to "groom" our pet rabbit, which he didn't appreciate, but if he tried to make a break for the bushes she'd gently herd him back to the lawn. Sometimes he'd give her a solid thump in the face with those powerful back legs, but she never reciprocated. My little brother's hamster got out one day when we weren't home and she just carried it around in her mouth unhurt until we got home. Didn't have chickens then, but I would have trusted her with them.
But you have a puppy. Be patient. Puppies have to be taught; you can't expect them to instinctively know everything and be perfect right away. Mistakes will be made but the puppy will learn from them. (BTW "Leave it" is a great skill to have - just don't expect a young dog to be solid on that skill in every situation until mature).