Dogs and Chickens, Living Together...

We have two adorable Boston terriers. My biggest concern regarding the chicken's ability to free-range was that the dogs would create problems for the flock. They are adorable, but not at all rational. For example, they never chase the squirrels or rabbits that make our backyard their playground. The varmints have no respect for the dogs. I mean, how humiliating.  But for some reason, Gladys hates Frank, our Sulcata tortoise. Of course, this video may show why Gladys barks like mad at Frank whenever he makes an appearance in the yard.

Likewise, Gladys cannot stand when our neighbor's dog is out in their yard. She makes quite a ruckus as she insanely barks at the dog through the fence. We had to put chicken wire on a section of the fence because she would claw at it so much, we thought she would dig a hole right through.

Compared to Lola, however, Gladys is the picture of rationality. Gladys is a very pretty Boston, with a shiny black coat and pointy ears. I call her "The Princess" because of her regal look. Lola, on the other hand, is an exceptionally adorable dog. She is very small for a Boston and has a very puppyish appearance, with a big round head and giant eyes and cute little eyelashes.  But she's nuts.

Although she never tried to get at the chicks when they were in their brooder, something I was concerned about, whenever I tried to acquaint her with them, she would get all stiff and shaky and her eyes would bug out even more than usual. Which is her normal reaction under the circumstances.

Understandably, I was a little nervous about co-mingling dogs and chickens. I was hoping that it would work out nice and easy, but i was preparing for the drudgery of bringing the dogs in the house, letting the chickens range for a few hours and then somehow getting the birds back into the coop so the dogs could have their yard back. I started to socialize them little by little. About the third night of the chicken's backyard forays I took the dogs out one at a time on their leashes to interact with the flock. I really needn't have worried I guess because the chickens pretty much showed the dogs who was boss, and they had numbers. I had to bring the dogs in because they were actually getting bullied by the flock. The next night I let them out, off leash but one at a time. Two dogs are too unpredictable and they get a "pack mentality" that can be dangerous. Gladys, no problem. She went about her business and I only had to rescue her from the flock of thugs a couple of times. Lola, well, it wasn't really a problem, but she stayed about two inches away from me and shivered with her eyes bugging out the whole time. After a couple nights of this, we decided everyone was properly initiated and appropriate boundaries were established, so it was full speed ahead.

The chickens still make Lola a little on edge, and when they are pecking at the ground sometimes she just can't resist snapping at their bobbing backsides, but they quickly put her in her place.

PS: Frank gets along with the chickens just fine.