# Introducing new chicks to my 12 week old Pyrenees



## minica228 (Apr 17, 2014)

My kids just brought home 8 baby chicks from the farm store and I have 30 eggs in the incubator!! He is a very friendly guy but I am just worried about him excepting new babies. How should I go about this?? It will be many weeks before the chicks are actually out in the barn yard with everyone else so I have some time to work with him.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I would not feed them to him all at once, especially with all the eggs, it could make your dog sick???:bouncy: come on that was funny???

Seriously, I am new to LGD, but I would say supervised visits for quite a while. Tiny yellow squeaky things running around that are bite size will be quite a temptation for a puppy. You would not want to make a bad start by expecting too much from a young dog.


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## minica228 (Apr 17, 2014)

He is doing well! Every morning we check on everyone in the morning. He stays in a pen where he can see the happenings of the yard and is only out to roam if we are home


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

I would suggest having the chicks in a cage that the dog can see through and show them to him. Increase the amount of time gradually. You don't want to put him in a situation where he can grab them. I had a "safe word" for my dog and would use it whenever I wanted to cue him in that something was allowed on the property. It was "kitty", but worked just as well when I introduced him to poultry.


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## minica228 (Apr 17, 2014)

This is Clyde!


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## CAjerseychick (Aug 11, 2013)

OMG such cuteness I could die! But seriously, it will be a bit easier as the chicks grow up (my dog cant resist crunching on little squeaky things but stays away once they are "real" chickens)...


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Oh my word, Clyde is an absolute doll!:grin:

He is also waaayyyyyy to young to be allowed around chicks. Unless as Muleman stated, you are raising them for his dinner.
Keep the chicks well contained, don't really even bother trying to introduce them, it just won't really take. Not at 12 weeks.
Simply exposing him to their normal goings on, by allowing him to see but not interact, is good for now.
Once they grow up into reall chickens, he will be accustomed enough to them, that he will most likely, ignore them for the most part. That is really what you want him to do, totally ignore them.
Our two were good about that, but they were heavily supervised as young puppies, and never allowed to be in with the chickens until they were almost 1yo, and then we still supervised.
As an adult ( read at least 2 yo) he will most likely be fine, but LGD puppies are not to be trusted, any more than you would trust any other dog.
Common sense, and alot of supervision, and he will be an awesome dog!


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

You're getting sound advice here. My LGD is great with all my fowl (even when she was a puppy); however, the moment she saw a keet (baby guinea), it was quickly turned into a meal...I don't think she even chewed it. Just one chomp and it was swallowed. (Now this keet had gotten separated from its mother and I have no doubt my LGD would NOT have done this had that mother guinea been near the keet.

Then I had a chicken with babies walking around and Valentina (my LGD) DID KEEP AN EYE ON THEM; however, when I caught her doing so, I would use the word I have always used with her, being "uh uh", and she would immediately find something else to give attention to.

Dogs will be dogs. Puppies will play/chew. That is just the nature of the beast! If you cannot be with your dog 24/7 when it is exposed to baby chickens, then having them where your dog can see them WITHOUT being able to interact with them is good.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Every dog should have a &#8216;safe&#8217; word. I use &#8216;leave it&#8217;, but I&#8217;m sure kitty would work just as well. Don&#8217;t use the chicks to teach the safe word, use treats. I&#8217;d have the chicks in a wire pen and walk the puppy by, let him sniff for five or ten seconds, then move him on. He needs to bond with the chicks, or at least accept them. Chicks grow fast. Walk him by the cage whenever you have him out so he gets used to their daily appearance changes and they aren&#8217;t novelties. He also won&#8217;t be able to touch them, to try and romp with them, or sit on any of them. By the time his predator instinct kicks in (if it ever does) he will have accepted them as part of the homestead. They will also accept him as part of the scenery.


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## minica228 (Apr 17, 2014)

I have full grown chickens and baby chicks he has done amazing with both but as you guys have stated he has never been left alone with them he thinks that they are fun to chase. I have been vigilant about supervising him with them and when I see a behavior that is unacceptable I repremand him and he gets a timeout. Which he finds not fun at all. Thank you guys for all your wonderful advice he is my first but I'm sure not my last he has been a bundle of fun and these past couple of weeks has been a definite learning experience


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

They will have a tendency to want to play with anything that moves when very young. I teach my dogs "NO" as early as possible and when they wanted to chase, reprimanded them right away. My girls will let the chickens and geese eat right along with them. Geese love to steal the dogs' groceries.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Cyngbaeld brings up another important training fact with LGD's, Food Aggression.
One of mine is great, the male, but my female will eat the other animals if she catches them in her dish. So we have to separate her and her food. We have worked on it, and worked on it.
She will allow us to take her food,even my 2yo grandson can take it, but nothing on four legs is invited to supper , unless it wants to be supper.
Make sure you work on this with him. You at least need him to allow his humans to take it, with no reaction from him, what so ever.
He may never let another animal to do it, be ready for that as well...:facepalm:

My one shame in Maggie, she's an amazing dog with this one exception. I think it may be because she is intact, she also tries to hoard her food at times. Burying it and just guarding it from the other animals. We're working on it...


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## minica228 (Apr 17, 2014)

The only thing he gets growling about is when he finds dead bunnies ( my cat kills those). We are working on the "leave it" command but it defiantly a work in progress!


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