Your own dogs: Good or Bad

[youngjedi32002]

Quote:
That made me laugh because I, too, have a "vicious killer Pit Bull"! She is half Pit, half Lab so you'd think that she would kill them and then bring them to you! (LOL) But, oh no, not my girl! She is scared of the chickens! She just doesn't know what to make of them. She was two when the chirping box arrived in the mail and just didn't know what to do! While they were in the house, we would have to put them in a pen in the kitchen while we cleaned the brooder and she would flee upstairs. She doesn't feel threatened at all, now that they are in the yard, she goes right up to the run and sniffs at them. They peck her nose and she is just shocked every time!!! It is a funny thing to watch! She is very protective and has chased a neighbor's dog away very ferociously! But she just doesn't know what to do with them! It also helps that she knows they belong to ME and that puts them off-limits no matter how she feels!

 

[CrookedFurrows]

I have a Chug (chihuahua pug mix) and she is the sweetest thing she will lick you (actully only me...) and cuddle and is veeery protective around me so much that my brother once couldent get near me when i had fallen asleap with her in my arms she would growl and snap every time he got near she kills mice and rats and moles in an instant but is just a little angel around the farm animals for example a few years back we had gotten five sex links from tractor supply and (When they were grown) the dog would hang out with them and after the first attack on them (from what I don't know fox or neighbors dog or something) would not let them out of her sight in fact if they stryed to far away she would chase them back into the barn and she seems to know when ever something bad is happening to them and would chase whatever danger away but this was a few years ago and we only just recently got more chicks (the rest died last year) 25 new chicks about two months old now and free range and she just wants to sniff their butts although they don't seem to fond of that idea!

 

[Hillbilliology]

I found out the hard way this morning I have one good dog and one not-so-good dog around chickens.

I had fenced off the back half of my backyard so that the chickens and the garden would be away from the dogs. I had just tilled up a new section of the ground and I had turned my chicks out in there. They are about 5 weeks old and they were having a great time eating worms and grubs. I saw some places that needed hit with the tiller again so I fired it up, and it freaked my little Buff Orpington out. She took off through the 2" by 4" holes in the fence and started flapping her wings. This all got the dogs attention.

My mountain cur squirrel dog started towards the chicken first. I think she just thought it was fun but as soon as I hollered at her "No" she pulled back. But then I saw my big German Short Hair Pointer/Plott hound mix coming straight for it. This dog is a heck of a bird dog when I hunt with him, but it was all prey drive and no listening to me. I had no way to stop it, it happened too fast. The chicken didn't suffer long, but the dog did

I gave him quite the attitude adjustment. I will trust my mountain cur, but not the bird dog.

 

[chena16c]

Chicken Killer picture posted below. !!!!!!!WARNING!!!!GRAPHIC PICTURES!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, he's pretty good with them. Though he was 8 weeks old when my first set of chicks were about 2 months old. He was raised around them and now he watches the chicks I get every spring grow up to the hens we have. He's been unsupervised around the, and it good. He'll help me herd the chickens into the coop, but not the chicks as he tends to nip at them (but not the hens for some reason). He's a border collie, anything that moves fast usually catches his attention fast (like the squirrels in the backyard) but he does great with the birds. He even let me know of an opossum one night (coop door wasn't closed yet, but I think it was after the water from the sprinklers).


My sister has an Aussie that was around some hens from when they were chicks. Did great for the longest time. One day she looked out back to seeing her dog carrying a chicken around by it's neck...........ya just never know with dogs.

 

[Buns]

Our dog family:
Miniature Daschund - very good around the birds but then she's five pounds and doesn't have a typical daschie temperament. She won't even think about killing a mouse.
Dalmatian - excellent with birds and all animals. Very motherly. Super smart and I'm glad I didn't listen to all those folks who said to never get one, that they were idiots. She is awesome.
German Shepherd puppy four months and 3 weeks - perfect. Huge and rambunctious, but very intelligent and has excellent recall so if his herding instinct kicks in (rare) a simple call disrupts it. Has shown no predatory tendencies toward the birds whatsoever.

Our dogs are never left unattended outdoors because they go where we go. We live on a county road and I wouldn't want them to be run over, so they are always supervised when around the birds. They are also therefore constantly observing us with the birds and they understand that they are part of our large animal family.

I visited a peafowl breeder this past year who honestly, and I would not lie, had a "guardian" bred half grown huge puppy who constantly rushed the peafowl pens she had as if he wanted to catch them. She said she shot him with a pellet gun to dissuade him. I was in a state of disbelief. Goes to show that even dogs with specific breeding to be safe around birds can sometimes not be. I won't mention what it revealed about the owner's level of understanding of dogs.

 

[swampcat]

The jury is out on my pooch. She's a Nova Scotia Toller mix. I have two chicks that are almost 6 weeks old and she is great with them. They climb on her, she digs them holes when they are rooting around in the yard, and even chases the cats away when they get too interested. I have 6 easter eggers that are almost two weeks old and twice now she has stuck her head in the brooder and did something like a nip toward them. She quivers when she watches them, but when I hold them she just sniffs and licks. I'm hoping because she was a quiverer when the older two were 2 weeks, as these other guys grow she will be less inclined to try and grab them.

 

[hummingbyrd]

I wondered how our other animals would do with our hens too when we first introduced them.

Our ten year old bordie collie is kinda funny with our hens. When they are enclosed in their run he will run/pace/herd around and around their area. He seems kinda stressed and will do this over and over until we tell him to lie down. But when the hens are out and free ranging he is very calm and just walks amongst them or sits quietly near them or ignores them. He is fine with a hen or a cat lying near him but he really doesnt care for other dogs or being pet/snuggled with much by people.

Our little mini pincher/something mix is the opposite. He is a snuggly little lap dog and will play with other dogs and cats as sweet as can be; but hens seem to be more like food to him. He had our big Buff Orp., who is easily twice his size, pinned to the ground within seconds of being allowed nearby for the first time.

I had a little talk with her(the hen) after recueing her and told her to "Beak up there girl and dont let that little dog boss you around!"

Also, both of our cats do fine with the hens and will sit nearby and I have never seen them stalk or chase them. Actually, I have seen our hens charge them a few times!

 

[4-hmother]

I'm happy to state that we have a 3yr female BuffCoocker Spanial and a 2yr male German Shepherd that are our farm dogs. They are out side 98% of the time. We also have free range chickens. 40+ hens and roos with a couple ducks in the group. Our dogs do great with the chickens. The Shepherd will check on the chickens when the roosters fight. I'm guessing its to check on the comotion. Other than that the chickens and dog advoid each other.

 

[rebbetzin]

I think Spartacus would be "ok" with the chickens, but I am not taking any chances, one paw swipe and it would be the end for the chicken. He was already four years old when I got the chickens and probably thinks they are very nice "squeek" toys. This is a close as he gets to them.

(my husband says he is saying "When's lunch?")


He tries to get them to play... making "play postures" at them, which they ignore completely. They don't even seem at all afraid of him.

 

[Peck Johnson]

All day and all night.