General rule of thumb is to NEVER trust any dog alone with prey animals, be they goats or chicks.
I've had 19 dogs, mostly rescues. Only one, that I got as a puppy, was good with animals WITHOUT me. The baby ducks slept on him, the rabbits bounced around him, jumped over him, played with him, the goat followed him through the woods on trail rides with the horse. The horse never tried to to kick him and the dog never tried to bite his heels. He was Boston Terrier/Beagle. Cool dog, rare personality.
Cattledog, well trained, we could have competed. I worked with her everyday. I would stand on the porch and tell her to get the chickens, and she really did figure out how to move the chickens into an orderly flock and push them towards the house. The roosters would fight with her, she'd get mad, drop to her paws and bark, running them back to the hens. Took her about 20 minutes, but she got them "home". The chickens had no fear of her, and she had no intention of killing any, as a herding dog she knew they were her "job".
Those two were the only dogs that had it in them to 100% leave the chickens/ducks/whatever alive and unharmed. Though the cattle dog did insist they be orderly, so I taught her to do it nicely so that she wouldn't sneak and do it the wrong way.
A beagle killed every call duck I had when I went inside to change the laundry, after 5 months of training. I was gone all of 1 minute. Call ducks dead, Pekins injured because they were too big for the shake to kill.
Doberman, caught a rooster when he went into the back yard. Plucked his tail, I heard him, came out the back door. Dog dropped the chicken and bee lined it straight for the dog house, knowing full well how much trouble she was in.
German Shepherd, ran through flocks of anything for fun, never snapped at them or chased them, just ran right through the thick of them as fast as she could to make them fly, then she'd sit down and watch them fly. (always wild, never had a shot at domestic flocks)
My own German Shepherd snapped at a hen during chicken training when the hen (favorite pet) went to jump in my lap. I had her on a short leash expecting her to lunge at least once towards a chicken, but didn't expect the chicken to "lunge" at me within the 6 inch leashed dog reach. No one hurt, lessons learned on my part, the dog's, AND the chickens. Never forget the stupidity of a chicken or the quickness of a dog.
This same Shepherd pounces at the chickens at the fence. Initially they would jump back and wing flap... she was showing signs of being like the "goose chaser" Shepherd. Then the chickens got hip to it and quit responding. Now she's bored with them and is back to the squirrels.
Logan might actually be ok with them. But there's something in his eye sometimes when he calmly watches them.
The key difference I noticed in all these dogs when compared to the first who seemed to love the other animals, was that first initial responce. Boston didn't get excited, didn't flip his ears up in "What's that? Can I smell it?.... can I... taste it??"... he didn't have the normal dog responce at all. When I showed him the baby ducks I had to call him to me, he came and laid down. I plopped the ducks at his feet. He buried his nose into one for a good long sniff, then laid his head on his paws. No excitement, no intrigue, no questioning eye balls, no whines... nothing. Never licked them either. He never tried to snatch a rabbit when it jumped over his head. He'd roll over and throw a paw towards them. That first summer I'd be on a blanket with a book, a dog, 5 ducks, 3 rabbits, and an
Amazon parrot in his travel cage, all sitting in the sun hanging out.
When he met the goat, it was mutual butt sniffing, the goat rammed the dog in the side in play, dog decided he was game, and off they went as best buds. When that dog met the horse, he didn't care about the horse, he wanted to go sniff other things. So I held the dog and let the horse get a good long sniff. Figured someone should get a sniff in. Cut the dog loose and he could care less. Never gave a second look.
And there's never been another dog before or since that could do that. Not by a long shot. All the dogs I have now would try it. I know they would. They're too intrigued. Logan is so lazy he's worthless. But I know he'd get some go in his giddy-up if those chickens were loose.
