Looking for a new dog to be around my flock, Options?

[Bawkbok]

A Great Pyrenees puppy is highly trainable and while they are a LGB, they are great house pets also, which it sounds like you prefer. They are good with older dogs or other pets already in the home if they are brought in as a puppy. If you want to leave them out with your chickens you could after they are trained which would require time on your part, but any dog you bring in is going to require a lot of time with the chickens for exposure and to learn acceptable vs. not acceptable. Your Aussie will provide some training, but you cannot rely on that alone. Bear in mind, any breed can have an individual that is off. We had a Pyr once that could not be trusted around anyone, people or animals. Something was wrong with that dog - very high aggressive kill drive. Unless you go with a breeder, you never really know what you're getting from a shelter. There's obviously a huge cost variance between the two, whatever you get, remember your initial motivator is a friend for your current aging dog, chickens are secondary.

 

[Squawkers]

Well just to clarify, I'm not looking for a livestock guardian dog. Just a dog that won't eat my birds lol I'm not looking to put a dog outside full time, just like when I let them out to use the bathroom or too go play. They would stay inside or go to work with me the other times. But what you and others have said does give me some more insite and puts my mind at ease about getting anything with a terrier in it. So I will stay away from those and any pittys too. Anything Im looking at will be a puppy for sure, 8-12 weeks is what im looking for. Any thoughts on better breeds that dont have high prey drive?

I think a better question is what kind of dog fits your lifestyle? How big of a dog do you want? How active are you? Do you want a more protective dog or a dog that will love everyone? I really think pretty much any dog could be fine with chickens and getting a puppy would help tremendously. Some breeds would just be more difficult

 

[Bawkbok]

Something else to consider - puppies are high energy and a ton of work. Depending on what kind of health your current dog is in, young hyper active puppies can stress older dogs. If your Aussie is male, I would suggest going with a female as opposite genders just seem to get along easier. Not that two males won't work, we have two males and they get along famously.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Maybe look for a breed that would suite your lifestyle. And find a specific breed center.
For me im pretty active. Love the outdoors. Wanted a dog to hunt(that didnt happen), a dog for agility. And mostly a friendly dog(which also didnt completely happen). We had labs before, so we tried a golden and she made us want another(he came sooner than expected). If i were going to a shelter j would look for golden retriever specific shelters. Or search around for that specific breed.
Puppies are high energy and as long as your current pup has some tolerance and likes puppies it should be good.