What kind of dog should I get for my backyard?

[ChickensRDinos]

Getting a puppy has it's pros and cons just like anything else. When you start with a puppy it is a little easier to mold the dog into exactly what you want in the end but you have to deal with puppy behavior and two years of a little bit of craziness. With a slightly older rescue you may have to deal with some history but often the dogs are calmer faster as they are more mature. If you work long hours a puppy is hard.

Either way its great to check out shelters for any age dog. You can sit with different dogs and often even walk them around to get to known them a little better before you make a choice. Ask lots of questions because the volunteers often get to know the dogs pretty well.

 

[OR4-hmom]

We have 3 dogs, a golden that I would never trust with my chickens, a pound-puppy that is fantastic (kelpie-dutch shepard mix), and a retired racing greyhound. The mix and the grey I trust with my girls.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

You can train any breed to be around your other pets if you are willing to put in the time and be extremely consistent with overall training and impulse control training.

I still hold that since this person is asking what kind of dog to get, you'd be better off getting one where you didn't have to work AGAINST centuries of selective breeding when you have the opportunity to chose a dog where you could work WITH centuries of selective breeding. Why set yourself up for additional frustration. Mankind has moulded their dogs to perform an amazing variety of tasks. Why not take advantage of that rather than work against it?

 

[JUPAFiSH]

I have a labrador x jack russel, a boer-boel x rhodesian ridgeback, a labrador x boerboel x boxer and some other kind of indistinguishable cross breed and I've trained them all to leave my 8 chickens alone. It was difficult and took a while but I am finally there. I have a slight problem with the indistguinishable cross breed as when the chickens run, his prey drive sometimes kicks in with him and I see the 'stare'. As a whole I truely believe almost any breed can be trained

 

[CHICKEN CRAZY1]

DON"T GET A BIRD DOG! They will kill all your chickens.

 

[mestaske]

We have three border collies, one is a half australian shepard. They have never had any interest in eating the chickens.

 

[Deebsra]

He's beautiful!

 

[Deebsra]

Okay, that was weird, I was trying to reply to just one person at a time because I love all the pictures and stories about how you came to have your dogs, thank you for sharing with me!!

 

[debluvachook]

My miniture dachshund is also a hunting breed and we trained her from a puppy just as alienkitties did. Ripley is two and a half and I trust her 100% around chickens of any age without my presence. She's not allowed to kill anything (we have lots of big lizards, possums and wild birds) except rats which is why she loves going to the chicken house every day in the hope of sniffing one out. Although she spends a lot of time with the chickens and sometimes they attack her (the young ones asserting themselves usually) I know that if I gave the word she'd attack them in a instant. So it's not that she doesn't want to attack them its because she's knows she's not allowed. For example she can't chase the wood ducks that help themselves to the chicken food everyday but if they land on the swimming pool I say, "get those dam ducks off the pool" and she immediately runs to the pool barking like mad at them (to no avail usually they're so confident around her now). With good training you could have any puppy even hunting breeds, Deb.