What is the best dog to guard your flock?

[AK Michelle]

I think it depends on if you really mean "Guard" your flock or merely co-exist without losses.

As stated by others, it's the personality and not the breed that determines which ones can be taught to not attack the birds. I know pits, bull dogs and rotties that work well with birds and Pyrs that can't be trusted with them. It's the dog.

I have been researching Guardian Dogs quite extensively lately and tho I'm no expert, for my needs it will be a Maremma. I need a dog that will actively guard against birds of prey, our only "predator" loss to date was a millie pullet that was carried off by a raven. I have fox and bear in the area as well as coyotes. But my biggest fear is the neighbor dogs. My dogs don't hurt my birds, but my dogs won't go after the neighbor dogs either. I want a dog that will draw the line and just say NO to any thing and every thing that is not part of our family.

But even among guardian dogs, the wing flapping is a problem, it can inspire even experienced guardian dogs to chase, unless those dogs are trained from a young age for poultry. It is all in the conditions they are taught to ignore. Breeders have told me specifically that they have some dogs that could be taught to guard poultry in their later years, but there are some that, although they can be trusted with newborn lambs, that wing flapping will spark the prey drive. Again, it's the dog, not the breed.

I hope this helps you...

Michelle

 

[Orange Ribbon]

My Golden Retriever took out a few of our little birds when he was young. Now that he is older he has figured out I don't want him to mess with them, but I still wouldn't trust him around the chicks without me there. He thinks they are "squeaky" toys.

I have 2 German Shepherds: A male that does not mess with them, and a female who would kill them all if she could. I also have a little terrier mix who won't even look at them; I think they are beneath him, LOL. But he walks among them all the time, just acts indifferent. But at night I have my birds put up and that I have not seen any predators around yet is attributed to the dogs. I live right in the middle of forested mountain range, and there are plenty of boogers around.

Now one thing I would advise is, never get a dog from the pound that you are wanting for anything besides a personal pet. I don't care how cute they are or how well they act, most of them are there because they have a personality problem of some sort. Either they are not good with kids or other animals, or they are so timid they are useless. To get a dog from the pound that you could make into a chicken guard dog would take some serious work, and then it would be iffy. I'm not saying all dog shelter dogs are not any good, I have personally had quite a few pound dogs. But in everyone of them there has been some sort of problem. That doesn't mean I didn't like them as a pet, but there was always limitations as to how I could use them or where I could have them.

Main thing is to get a pup that is raised with them. That will give you the best chance, I think.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

I let my 3 Golden Retrievers socialize with the chicks and ducklings, they love it and when the birds are old enough to move outside everybody is used to each other. One of the peking ducks I had last summer even used to play "chase' with my female Golden. Leilani would chase the duck then it would turn on her and chase her-funniest thing!

 

[cottagechick]

I have an older mutt dog (13). She recently had to spend a couple of nights at the vet. I was amazed that when she went in the vet I IMMEDIATELY started seeing cats in the yard. I probably shouldn't be amazed. But you get so used to barks being annoying background noise that you forget that they really do see something. So I guess any dog that barks will keep some predators away.

I also decided that if my neighbors ever complain about my dog barking...I will just tell them that she will stop barking if they keep their cats on their property...

I guess the only option is to get them as a puppy. Train them really well. Watch them as carefully as you can. And know that something could still happen.

 

[kareninthesun]

My daughter has a pit, and she is a doll; she owns and oporates a small care facilty for older people. Henni has free access in and out of the house, and she can usually be found either with her big head on someones lap or curled around someone's feet. She hears sounds and seems to understand things before anyone else does and is quick to get assistance. She has never been formally trained, but manohman, is she bright, and gentle. My dogs are German Shepherd and Black Lab. The shepherd puts up with the chickens as long as they aren't picking on her and invading her space. She just makes one sound, and off they scurry. My Lab, well, they hop all over her, they play proper games, and this is pretty amazing, because Katie loves to play physically with humans and the shepherd, but she's very, very gentle with the pullets and babies. All the chickens free range, the dogs have free access, and there has been absolutely no problem.

I think part of the secret is bringing the chicks in from the get go to the house, either as eggs in the incubator or brooder and them getting to know that they are part of the family. When I moved the chicks into the coop, they stayed in the coop for a week before free ranging. This was important, not only for the chicks to get to know that this was their new home, but they and the dogs were on eye level, and it worked out all the bugs associated with dogs learning to control that urge to chase down that which is on their eye level, that these are not the same as the other stuff they chase down. Plus getting to know their sounds and smells better in identifying and learning to be closer 'buds'. Then when I let the pullets out to free range, my goal was to bring one dog at a time outside on a leash and just do what I normally do, then to sit and read or work where the birds were, then feed them treats all while the dogs stayed on a leash. But only needed to do that for a day. Then for a week I only let the dogs outside when I was outside and could watch, correct if needed.

It also helped that these dogs were not puppies, but well established members of the family. And smart. They both consider it their job to watch out for these girls and even at night, they demand to go outside if they sense something afoot.

I also give them treats when I give the girls theirs.

 

[cottagechick]

Quote:
That is interesting. I have wondered if bringing the puppy to the older chickens or the chicks to the older dogs would work better.

 

[ki4got]

I'll post my 2c... ANY dog may be prone to eating chickens on the fly. but consider this... dogs are pack animals, and will protect those he regards as part of his pack. that is regardless of species. Also, training is a BIG part of trusting your dog down the road. "Leave It" is the best command any dog can learn. yeah sit, lay down, heel, stay. they have their uses, but none of them will do any good if the dog decides he wants something. once a dog can be trusted to reliably 'leave it' (i feed raw and don't want mine associating chickens with food) then half the battle is won.

I have 2 standard poodles, one 10 years old, one just over a year when i got the chickens. Neither had ever met a chicken except on the dinner plate (at least once a day), and the pup has a super high prey drive to boot. Well, they met the chicks when i got them at a day or 2 old, watched them grow in the brooder in the computer room, and then got to observe closely when the went into their pen outside. Even so, my older dog was obsessive about them, any time one ran by he'd bite at the wire, and the pup would try to whop it with his paw. when i decided to let the chickens out the first time, i put both dogs in a down/stay and told them 'LEAVE IT!' if anyone got too near. several chicks were curious about the dogs so i just reinforced leave it whenever they got too close. gradually over the course of a few days the dogs lost most of their interest in the chicks as 'prey' but started seeing them as 'pack'. now if someone sounds an alarm, i send my pup out to 'go see'. if it's a predator situation he's quite capable of dealing with anything we get around here, and if it's a squabble, he just runs thru the flock and scatters them. Shadow, my older dog, now only tries butt-sniffing if they get too close and ignores them completely if they go running by.

when the weather permits I leave the doors open all day so the dogs and cats come and go at will, and in the last 2 months Sunny (pup now 18 months old) has brought me 2 possums and tag-teamed a raccoon with Shadow until I could get there with the shotgun. When a hawk went overhead on the tail of my oegb hen, i sent the dogs to 'go see'. the hawk gave up and took off, and the dogs came running home with a little hen on their heels (from somewhere up the hill, out of sight of the house).

sorry if i rambled a bit...

 

[dbounds10]

great story - I will most likely get another pit since I have never had anything else and train, train, train!

 

[honeybeeholden]

well, I have a pekingnese and a pug and I had them supposedly trained to be with chickens and ducks. They had been out this whole year without touching anybody. A couple of weeks ago I ran in to get the phone and as I was coming out there they were with my son's favorite duck dead. We worked with them and it had been a year! So I would say unless you have a livestock guardian dog, never trust a dog with them because dogs are dogs, they get playful, which is what these guys did. They must have been chasing him around playing, and killed him. I can't say why this particular duck, and I can't say why now but they decided to do it this day. And it wasn't the first time they had been alone with them, they have been out all day alone with them, and never touched one.

 

[use2bwilson]

I foster herding breeds for a local rescue. All my foster dogs are out of high-kill shelters and come from all different backgrounds. They are all australian cattledogsor australian shepherds or kelpie or border collies or mixes of all of the above. However, since we got our chickens a year ago every one of my foster dogs have able to be with our free-ranging chickens. Sometimes it would take days or sometimes weeks for me to trust them to be together but I have been amazed at how quickly the herding breeds figure out what the expectation is. You can read a dog's energy towards the chickens and quickly figure out if that dog is going to cause trouble or not. I always supervise them together in the beginning but it doesn't take long. Herding breeds quickly get it after a few mild corrections.

I also have fostered a couple akbash dogs. They are a Turkish livestock guardian dog (similar to the pyrenees) and they have done great with the chickens as well. They are true guardian dogs and we recently decided to keep one of our akbash fosters to guard our chickens and goats full time at night. Since akbash dogs take 2-3 years to mature, you need to be careful with younger dogs and your chickens. They can get a playful burst and easily kill one accidentally. But once they mature, they know their job and can take on any predator.

I agree that the individual dog's personality is the most important factor ... but some breeds have a greater likelihood to be successful at guarding your flock whether it is casually or very seriously.