What dog breeds can be taught NOT to hurt my chickees?

[Iowa Roo Mom]

I have an American Pit Bull Terrier- wouldn't give him up for the world, and have fallen in love with the breed- and plan on getting another in the next few years. While I would not reccomend this dog to someone who is not willing to put in the time towards reading, researching, and training, they can and are some of the best dogs I've ever been blessed to know.

As a young'n he was interested in the chickens. Went after the roo a couple of times- not trying to kill or even catch 'em, because he could have if he really wanted to, I'm 150% sure. But, after some firm correcting, he has now accepted that they are part of our pack and is 100% OK with them.

 

[anjbagley]

I think that starting a dog young helps. The older they are adopted you not only have to train them but untrain them. I have a golden retriever that is so mellow any pet we have had is totally safe with her. She spends alot of time out scratching with the chickens. I adopted a 1 year old german short hair that has been a nightmare. Of course he is a bird dog! I still think there is hope though, he is getting much better. It just takes a lot of work. Good luck.

 

[Brick243]

I have a pyr and a mountain cur. They are both great with the chickens. I got the cur as a young pup and worked with him around the chickens. He is getting old now and has always been good to protect the chickens. I have two pups from these two dogs that are around 5 months old, and so far, I think they are going to be excellent dogs around the chickens.

 

[MotherOfMany]

Quote:
I have a golden who is just about 1.5 years old and she killed an entire brand new bunch of chicks and ducks. I was ready to toss her to the streets. She's still here... for now.

 

[eastbaychicks]

So sorry to hear that. Dogs can be so naughty sometimes. Bad dog!

 

[DaveBeaty]

My pug just killed both my pullets (pug got off tether while birds were free ranging). So far that is two strikes against pugs in this thread.

 

[DaveBeaty]

UPDATE: (Sorry to revive an old thread)

One of my hens got into the PUG'S run while free ranging. The pug didn't attack her. Either the pug has outgrown chicken chasing or the chickens can now handle themselves against the pug. The chickens being LARGER than the pug may factor in as well.

I now consider pugs neutral about chickens, instead of confirmed chicken killers.

 

[WillieBoy]

It doesn't really matter what kind of dog you get. If you don't spend the time teaching the dog its wrong chase chickens, you know what to expect, from reading here on BYC..
Its not true that its a dog natural instinct to chase and kill chickens. If trained properly, your new dog will protect your birds. So basically any dog will do the job.Only dogs that are not trained correctly by irresponsable dog owners attack and kill chickens. Take the time to train properly, or you probably shouldn't have a dog and chickens...

 

[iluvsedward]

border collies, i had one, and i loved it

 

[Morgan7782]

As long as I have has chickens, I have had pit bulls. Like an above comment said, these dogs are best with somebody who can train them correctly and take the time, so probably not best in this paticular situation, but I just wanted to give my experience.

I taught my dogs early on a Don't Touch command, and both of my pitties were bombproof around the chickens. Never touched them. They would kill squirrels, and other small animals, but they never even looked funny at the chickens. In fact my current pitty get's harassed by my Barred Rock on a regular basis! She has had him in check since she was 8 weeks old haha.

The one dog I had kill my chickens was a german shorthaired pointer. And she was a trained hunter so that incident was totally my fault.

One more thing, IF something happens do not blame the dog, no matter the breed. Even though my dog would probably not intentionally kill one of my chickens, if he ran across the yard and trampled one that would kill it. All I am saying is accidents happen, and dogs - predator and chicken = prey. All depends on training!

Just IMO

congrats on falling victim to chicken math haha!