I have two hens and a rooster that free range all day and are really tame (they eat out of my hand). I'm planning to get a puppy and would like to know what breed could live peacefully with my small flock without making a meal out of them.

Most breeds can be taught. No puppy of any breed is naturally "safe" with chickens. But some individuals in the "herding" breeds are most likely to train easily with livestock of any kind. There is always someone who has had success with a wide variety of breeds, but it is the person and the individual dog! It may take time, or you may find one that is natually easy to educate. Meantime, no free range for your lovely birds until the puppy is reliable! CJR

I don't really have any brilliant insight to offer, but I just got a puppy about a month ago & thought I would share my successes & failures in the no-chase livestock training we've been going through, so far.

In order to deter any future livestock problems, I take her w/ me to do all the chores & all the aspects of the chores. Don't laugh, but I've been using binder twine on her b/c all our leashes & collars are for big, adult dogs (or goats, LOL!). The red, nylon kind of binder twine is terrific b/c it doesn't fray as easily & if she chews it up - you pitch it into the burn barrel & go get a new piece! Here's how I do it: I tie a slip knot for the "collar" part, for extra control & to work on "sit/stay/heel" while you're doing whatever - I make it so it will loosen easily, so it doesn't choke her in case she decides to balk or be stubborn - or go the opposite way you're going! & the other end, you can tie to your belt loop or your shirt or whatever - this keeps him/her w/ you at all times, keeps your hands free & is a good, controlled way of introducing a new puppy to livestock. It takes a little getting used-to, but soon, you will automatically adjust for that puppy being attached to you. The first thing I did was work w/ her on "heel" so she'd learn to stay on one side of me, so I wasn't constantly tripping over her &/or the "leash".

I take her into the pens w/ me, so she is introduced to the constant scurrying-by & activity of all the chickens (goats, horses, llamas . . . ) my theory is that she'll get desensitized & in doing so, I'm hoping that a running chicken won't instantly trigger her "chase" instinct. So far, this seems to be working fairly well!

Also, I made sure I introduced her to our most fearless, dog-hating RIR hen. Pecked her pretty good a few times & this seems to have quelled her chicken-chasing desires a bit. *wink* Or at least made her a little more wary!

Feel free to email me privately. Perhaps we can live through this together. I do have quite a bit of dog training experience, but I am farrrrrr from a professional & am mostly doing it by the seat of my pants! I do rescue work, so I've dealt w/ quite a few dogs, but we are recent to the farming life, so training dogs & puppies to get along w/ livestock is a new one for us.

Good luck!

Regards,
Sarah/MI/USA
chilechile@hotmail.com

P.S. Sage is a mutt - definitely some german shepherd . . . possibly border collie? Standard collie? Something fluffy w/ a pointy nose & half-pointy ears anyway! Heinz 57 for sure!