Introducing Dog to Ducklings?

[DesertBird]

I have a German Shepard/Husky mix. She's about 7, and still kind of energetic. She sleeps on and off all day, and tends to get excited in small bursts when she wants attention, is going on a walk, playing with toys, etc. We're planning on getting about 3-4 ducklings (hopefully all female!) as mainly pets, but the eggs are a bit of a perk. Based on your experiences, do you think we could safely introduce them? Are there any warning signs to watch out for during introduction (if it's possible with this breed type) to see if the dog is about to attack? She's an extremely sweet dog, gets along well with other dogs, humans, etc. We used to have cats about 5 years ago, and when our dog was young, she'd desperately want to play with the cats and our older dog and torment them in the process. Any advice, experiences, etc. would be very helpful!

She's not the most photogenic. Her nose looks even bigger in one of these pictures than it is! lol

 

[gal5150]

Sweet dog or not, if she doesn't have a solid sit/stay/leave it, allowing her access to ducklings and or ducks could be a death sentence for them. She's much larger than they will be and even the most well intended play could easily result in death.

Here's a great article to get you thinking!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ng-these-two-creatures-with-each-other.72175/

Does she have high prey drive? What are her favorite toys/games? Does she like to grab her toys and shake them, etc?

 

[DesertBird]

Sweet dog or not, if she doesn't have a solid sit/stay/leave it, allowing her access to ducklings and or ducks could be a death sentence for them. She's much larger than they will be and even the most well intended play could easily result in death.

Here's a great article to get you thinking!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ng-these-two-creatures-with-each-other.72175/

Does she have high prey drive? What are her favorite toys/games? Does she like to grab her toys and shake them, etc?

Thanks for that! She's never quite grasped those commands, because she's so fidgety. I believe she does have a high prey drive, as she gets excited seeing birds or squirrels. She doesn't run after them until they run or fly first, but the ducklings definitely wouldn't be able to run or fly as fast as a roadrunner or squirrel. She doesn't play many games, except with herself, and she ignores any toy that isn't a tennis ball. lol She rolls it around, tears off all of the little green hairs, and then breaks it in half, but she doesn't shake them much. She's also very curious.

With all this being said, I'm definitely leaning farther towards the no! lol

 

[cyriuskee]

I put 5/8 deer netting around the wire dog cage which is putside pn my porch that my ducklings go into after a few days. I learned the hard way that if a duckling stuck his lil head out it would get treated like a squeaky toy. The dogs no longer do that, I can leave them in a big sterlite tub with no top now without worrying, but lost 2 ducklings and a gosling the first time I hatched out.
To train them not to chase the adults ducks, geese and peafowl I bought zap collars with remote. The ones I bought have tone, vibrate and zap just like their petsafe collars do so they were familiar with the consequences of a collar vibrating right before they get zapped. I think I only had to zap them once or twice on a 10% shock before they decided it wasn't fun (of course I would yell NO! Stay! BAD DOG!). After that they only tried to chase them a couple times when I myself was rounding them all up to go into the pen for deworming (the peafowl and geese), but they both listened to my commands to stop at that point.

 

[DesertBird]

I put 5/8 deer netting around the wire dog cage which is putside pn my porch that my ducklings go into after a few days. I learned the hard way that if a duckling stuck his lil head out it would get treated like a squeaky toy. The dogs no longer do that, I can leave them in a big sterlite tub with no top now without worrying, but lost 2 ducklings and a gosling the first time I hatched out.
To train them not to chase the adults ducks, geese and peafowl I bought zap collars with remote. The ones I bought have time vibrate and zap just like their petsafe collars do so they were familiar with the consequences of a collar vibrating right before they get zapped. I think I only had to zap the once or twice on a 10% shock before they decided it wasn't fun (of course I would tell NO! Stay! BAD DOG!). After that they only tried to chase them a couple times when I myself was rounding them all up to go into the pen for deworming (the peafowl and geese), but they both listened to my commands to stop at that point.

Good to know! If I do introduce them, I might use a very low shock collar like you did. I would never let my dog out at the same time as them, as she's always on a leash, so luckily there wouldn't be much issue with the chasing, unless it'd be me involved being dragged on the ground behind my dog! She gets distracted and tends to wander out of the yard, no matter how well I try to secure it, and back at my old house 5 years ago she escaped and the cops picked her up! We also learned around that time the tie-outs were bad, so we just let her out frequently and take her on walks a lot.

 

[cyriuskee]

I definitely recommend petsafe fence and stubborn dog collar. It did wonders for my younger dog, when we got her (someone abandoned her and my daughter brought her to us) she had 0 training, didn't even respond to her name haha. She's now a really good dog but still obnoxious. The petsafe setup keeps her in the yard. Alot of people are scared of any dog that looks like a pit bull, she's a lab-pit mix, so its important for me to make sure she's not wandering free down the road.

 

[DesertBird]

I definitely recommend petsafe fence and stubborn dog collar. It did wonders for my younger dog, when we got her (someone abandoned her and my daughter brought her to us) she had 0 training, didn't even respond to her name haha. She's now a really good dog but still obnoxious. The petsafe setup keeps her in the yard. Alot of people are scared of any dog that looks like a pit bull, she's a lab-pit mix, so its important for me to make sure she's not wandering free down the road.

Thanks for the tip! And awe, I love Pitties. So sad the rep they have. When I was very young, my family got a pit/lab mix who was meant to be a guard dog, trained him to growl at random people, all that. My grandpa then got rid of him due to him being part Pit (very small, less than 25%) and the growling at people, which he was trained to do.

 

[Jessi1210]

I have two golden retrievers and one who is a mixed breed. Maybe a collie and retriever mix.
They all seemed okay with the ducklings. Until the ducklings ran, then they were interested in having a bite.
Now that some of the ducklings are bigger (muscovies) they don't mess with them, the ducks just hiss at the dogs.
When my chickens are free ranging my dogs don't chase them either.

However. Every dog is different and I would just keep a close eye on them when they are near each other

 

[DesertBird]

I have two golden retrievers and one who is a mixed breed. Maybe a collie and retriever mix.
They all seemed okay with the ducklings. Until the ducklings ran, then they were interested in having a bite.
Now that some of the ducklings are bigger (muscovies) they don't mess with them, the ducks just hiss at the dogs.
When my chickens are free ranging my dogs don't chase them either.

However. Every dog is different and I would just keep a close eye on them when they are near each other

Alright, thank you! That's how my dog is, too, with little things. lol Gently sniffs them a bit until they run, and then she freaks out and wants to chase them. I definitely will keep a close eye on her and keep her on a leash with possibly a fence between the ducklings and her if I introduce them.

 

[Kiki to Nana]

The best answer we can give you is be 100% honest with yourself and your pets. Just because you like the idea of your dogs and ducks hanging out does not mean they should or that you should even try it. You should be full aware of your dog's nature and temperament, it's just one of those things that only an owner can know.

I for one know my dog is amazing around anyone and anything. Has never once shown aggression towards anything, or ever barked at a squirrel person or anything else. As soon as he seen my ducklings at 3 days old. He was nudging them so they could pet him on the head.

But if you're not completely honest with yourself about your dog's behavior and think there is even a 1% chance he'd go off I wouldn't risk it.