Had to let our dog go

Jasper is a Great Pyrenese/Golden Retriever cross. I bought him as a pup purposely thinking he would make a good livestock guardian for our goats and chickens. We had him for over a year and we all got pretty attached to him during that time. He is the most loving, happy and gentle dog, but I just could not break him from stealing chickens, and I know I could never trust him completely with them.
The odd time a poor unlucky chicken would scratch a hole under a fence and manage to squeeze out, Jasper believed it was free for the taking. I had suspected this was happening during the summer, but the last 2 times I caught him in the act chowing down on a still-warm chicken. Even swift and firm punishment did not seem to sink in. I don't think he could make the connection in his mind of why he was being punished, and it was breaking my heart to see him so miserable and not understanding why. I'm feeling so bad that I failed to train him well enough, but honestly I found him a difficult dog to work with. He was too shy and timid, and did not seem to remember things or connect the dots the way our older dog always has.

So I put the ad on Kijiji being very honest about why we could not keep him and instantly had several families reply. He went to good home this weekend with foster kids to play with, and NO CHICKENS! I know he will be treated well and will be happy there, but we sure miss him. It was especially hard for my oldest daughter who had bonded tightly to him.

I hate being without a good dog on the farm. Our 14 year old purebred Golden has been so perfect, but she is certainly in her golden years and not able to protect the goats or chickens any more. I guess I'll start the long process of looking for another dog, getting through that trying puppy stage and lots of work to teach him what behaviours are expected and what is not tolerated. I appreciate any suggestions regarding breeds or training advice. I'm doing some research on the different breeds, and Akbash seems like a definite possibility. Thanks everyone.

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I have a Golden/Maremma that I cannot train either. She bolts as soon as the gate is opened and simply will not come back when she is called. Then she started taking the young dog with her. He is 10 months old and is happy just to follow at this point. I need to rehome her as well. She is a sweet dog, with all the traits your pup had, but she does not harm any livestock. I live on a busy highway and have lost 2 dogs already in 2 years. The yard is fully fenced and generally the dogs stay inside, except her. She always comes back, but I am worried she will get hit on the highway too.

It is hard to give up a dog. They are like family, much closer than most other animals, though some people bond to horses in that same way. My pup is Akbash, Anatolian, Pyrenees and Maremma cross and going to be a great dog. I love the mix and he is black. After doing some research, Pyrenees were either black or white, the day time dog or night time dog, but over time the blacks were considered flawed colouration and not recognized. He is great. I would recommend an Akbash cross for sure.

The key is to get a full guardian dog,it can be a cross of different guardian breeds but should no have any hearding or bird dog in them. It is like the cartoon with the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, the dog is always pulled two ways.
The Akbash are very nice dogs, my in laws have one and he is just perfect for them. But he has a huge territory so be mindful of your neighbors. Our Pyranese was a great dog, the Maremma/pyranese we have now is not as bold to predators, but his is very gentle to the kids, so training could have something to do with that.
I would suggest when you do get the pup that you kennel him in your chicken house, where he can bond with the birds but not get to them. So a wire kennel in the house that he sleeps in and spends time in when you are not able to be with him. Also walking on a leash around the chickens, being mindful of play, if he initiates play correct. These big dogs dont realize play can harm smaller animals so they need to be taught young.
There are a lot of different guardian breeds out there, your choice will not be easy, but look at temperments of the parents as well as the breed and see which ones might work best for you.

Sorry to hear that you had to place your dog Kathy, Remember when looking for a new farm dog anything 6 months or older is being placed for a reason. Ask all kind of questions.
We had to place 2 pups we had gotten that ended up killing poultry because we believed what they had said.
We now have 2 wonderful Pyr's they are only 8 months old so we have at least another year of their puppy dragging everything they can find stage. Love the breed but they do have their draw backs LOL. My old Pyr Show dogs also worked as LGD's
As for the akbash they are a great breed if you can find one here in Canada.There are not many breeders in Canada.

Another to look into is the Anatolian Shepard But breeders of them are hard to find also.
Good luck in your Quest as I know a good Farm dog is hard to find
And like Hidden said they dont realize they are playing rough with a chicken they just think they are playing.
My one girl that I Showed and that lived with the Goats and the free range Chickens hated it when they bred she always thought that the rooster was attacking the hen so she would run over and break them up.

Have an Anatolian, a fabulous dog but glad I have several hundred acres surrounded by Crown land as he patrols constantly. He did take a few birds at the start, especially those sassy Guinea Fowl who insist on flying low overhead, but now he is over it and is really good with all the birds. With all the livestock he had to learn which ones were mine and therefore part of his job to protect. Took about two years with some relapses.

My Newf is almost 4 now, and he finally got the hint. I have heard many people say that it comes with age. The longer a dog stays "puppy", the longer they will chase. The chickens free-range now and he doesn't bother them, but I let the dog in the house the other day and he almost got the pet bunny!!! What helped me is that I usually caught the dog before he killed the bird. He actually has no intention of killing-just playing. I would make him sit with the bird and I would give him a correction with the pinch collar every time he looked at the bird. I took him out to the coop daily for a few weeks and practiced with him. He now avoids them. I keep the collar hanging on the door outside the chicke house just so he sees it-he does not wear it all the time, just when we practice bird avoidance.

My heart goes out to you -- Rehoming Bella was hard as well but I did it for the same reasons

Sorry that you had to let your dog go. It is heartbreaking when one has to make such a difficult decison. We're dealing with the same type of problem with our dog. Our year old german shepherd has killed at least two chickens and mauled a couple others. At first I think that she was just enjoying the chase without the intent to kill but the last time I let her outside just before dark and forgot that the chickens had been let out for awhile after supper. When I went out to shut them in she has injured one so badly that I had to kill it and she had killed and eaten another one of my best layers. I have been trying to train her not to chase chickens since we got her at 6 weeks of age and she will not bother them if I'm around but left unattended for any length of time her instincts get the best of her. Otherwise she is a good dog and we love her but we cannot free range our chickens unless she is chained. Our old shepherd would never bother a chicken but this girl is a different kettle of fish to be sure. Sweet but oh so high energy and ready to chase anything that moves.

Thank you everyone for the responses. It seems like a fairly common problem!
I don't like to think about it, but we also once tried a German Shepherd (btw,this was in 1992, so a long time in the past!!). He had been making good progress in training and seemed good around the chickens and I thought he would be a keeper. Until one awful Sunday when we were only gone for maybe 2 hours, he completely flipped out. Forced his way into the chicken pen - which back then was not as secure as the fences we have now. but in those 2 hours there was a massacre. We came back to chicken and duck bodies littering the pen. Only 4 very traumatized hens remained. Such a horrible day...I remember crying unconsolably for hours.

It might be hard to find just the right dog to fit our needs, but I know that when we find the right one it is so worth the search.