Henypenny Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I am hopefully taking delivery of a lovely red cube on the 17th August (as long as the rain holds off over the omlet factory) I have two beautiful but slightly crazy springer spaniels, Morgan is 6 years old and extremley intelligent ,although he chooses to use his intelligence to cause as many problems as possible and is subsequently often referred to as "the evil one" Barkley is 5 years old and is as daft as Morgan is intelligent and is very loyal Neither of them have had any previous experience of chickens, and being a gun dog breed I am very concerned, to say the least over the impending chicken / dog relationship. I would be extremly grateful of any advice or tips on how best to manage the introduction of the chickens so that we don't end up with any long term residents of the dog house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starboyhull Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I have no experience with spaniels but we have 2 dogs, one of which is a shar pei and they are both fine with our girls....At first they were very curious about them and did want to sniff and chase them a little, but now I have full confidence with them........ Maybe someone else on here will have more expereince with spaniels..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanchick Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hi, my three chickens arrived 3 weeks ago and my terrier is great with them. They are behind netting now and I did follow a desensitising procedure, which I'm sure was the key. I let him sniff at them when they were confined to the run for the first 5 days and this also meant the girls got used to him rushing around them. Then he was on a lead when they were out, with a sharp tug from me if he got overexcited, lots of praise, etc. Then I put up the netting and took him out on the lead again, then the muzzle, then took the muzzle off. He is my first dog, so if I can do it successfully I'm sure others with more experience can. One of them flew over the netting the other day when the dog was out too. My heart was in my mouth when I saw it from the kitchen. I was putting my 2 year old in his high chair at the time so I couldn't rush out to intervene straight away. I was hugely relieved to see the dog get very excited, chase a bit when she flapped, then stop and sniff her. This happened a few times as I tried to catch her. I was worried he might chase and trample on them at the very least, even if he did not bite. However he was very careful around her and never showed any aggression, just lots of tail wagging. I think the fact that the omlet chickens are a very good size really helps - they are more like small dogs to him than prey. Unfortunately he does like to put his nose through the netting to eat the chicken poo, which is disgusting as he then spends the evening farting and guess what it smells like.... Good luck. Chickens are MUCH easier than dogs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henypenny Posted July 24, 2007 Author Share Posted July 24, 2007 Thank you so much, that seems like very sensible advise and I will definably be giving it a go and will keep you posted! I know exactly what you mean about a dog's interpretation of edible material, we have a field of sheep next door to us so you can imagine what my two's chosen delicacy is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 we have huge hairy german shepherd with big teeth She had never seen a chicken in her life before ours and has been as good as gold with them, she has really suprised us....a few stern "NO'S" to start off with when our chickens were 8 weeks old and that was it. Our dog and chickens can roam the garden together now and we dont have to worry. Im sure with a slow, gradual, controlled introduction you will be fine. It says in my chicken encyclopedia that some "herding" breeds of dogs - collies/shepherds etc turn into guardians/protectors of chickens!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henypenny Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 That does sound promising; I have this wonderfully idealistic view in my head of the dogs and chickens roaming around the garden in perfect harmony on a beautiful summers day. Now ive got a few great tips to gets the menagerie on the right tracks has anyone got any ideas about how to sort the weather out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starboyhull Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Ours do Henypenny....We left our dgos to look after the girls the other day when the weather was nice.....We was only out an hour or so but we felt safer knowing the fox wouldnt come witht he dogs there...... Some people would say what we did wasnt safe, but I think everyone knows their own dogs, I know ours wouldnt do anything to them....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 we also completely trust our dog with the chickens. I sometimes wonder to myself what she thinks of the chickens they way she looks at them sometimes she must think "what on earth are those fluffy things that mummy and daddy are talking too??!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neal & ella Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 We have two working Australian Kelpies both of which are fine with our bantams. I kept an eye on them together for the first few days but now, one year on, I can happily leave them alone together all day with no problems. Must admit though that this is partially because they are a herding breed so naturally protective of live-stock. Amber, our "Ooops, word censored!", loves rounding them up and helps me herd them back into the eglu, whereas Rust, the male, just tends to treat them with indifference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
