Yorkshire Terriers and Chickens

[w8tn4fresheggs]

I am thinking of getting a Yorkshire Terrier. It says to keep them away from small pets, like hamsters, rabbits and guinea pigs. Does anyone have a Yorkshire Terrier? How do they do around your chickens? Thanks, Steph

 

[devora]

I don't have a dog, but aren't YTs bred to find little things and tear them up?

I do think you can train a dog to behave accordingly. It is work, however. I assume you want to have the pooch integrated w/ the flock during free ranging?

 

[lurky]

If you got one as a pup and raised it together with the birds, i bet they wouls be fine. My maltese love to sit outside with the silkies. They wish the silkies would chase them.....but the standards will

 

[Agilityscots]

Yorkies are high energy (read: hyper), like to bark (a lot), and are extremely difficult to housetrain. I recently worked with a client whose two Yorkies still weren't housetrained. The dogs were 6 and 7 years old. I frequently work with Yorkies that aren't housetrained and are well over a year old.

Amy

 

[w8tn4fresheggs]

Wow. I didn't know about the hyper and barking part. Or the not being able to be trained very well.

I do have a sheltie that is five years old. Shelties are sappose to be barkers too, but I nipped that right away when he was little. He loves the chickens and I don't think he would ever hurt them on purpose. YT are terriers, so I thought too that it just might go after the chickens.

Thanks for all your posts. Steph

 

[Agilityscots]

Quote:
They're very intelligent little dogs, and generally good with kids and other people...but the housetraining issue is a serious problem. Literally every Yorkie I've worked with in the last five years has had a housetraining problem. I even have a friend who's a vet, and we go to dog shows together...her Yorkies are pretty much housetrained but will still go in the house on a semi-regular basis! Bichon Frises are another breed that's difficult to housetrain.

Another problem with toy breeds: terrible teeth. The smaller the breed, the worse their teeth are. Toy breeds usually need to have their teeth cleaned by the vet at least once or sometimes even twice a year if you want them to make it to old age with a mouthful. Dental hygiene is really, really important with the tiny breeds...which means if you want one, you need to factor in that expense.

Amy

 

[kritter keeper]

i have a 3 year old male yt that does VERY good with my mixed group of chickens he did chase the geese after one went after him my 4 month old female yt walks around in the chic group with out bothering anyone also my older yt was housetrained when i got him 2 years ago the baby is about 90% house trained with no accidents at night for the last 6weeks or so wouldn't trade the yt for any other dog

 

[NewHopePoultry]

A friend of mine, has 2 of them.
1 is ok with the chickens and stuff He doesnt like them, but he doesnt bark or chase them.

The 2nd one is a terrer, he chases the chickens and if he can get them, he bites them, and has killed several bantams.

They were raised together, same age and all,but from 2 different breeders.

My friend raised them the same, but he was talking to another breeder and he said that some lines have stronger killer instints.

Maybe you try to find a show line, they will be less apt to chase after a chicken, then a pet line or working line(There are still a few working yorkie lines,lol)

 

[sundance]

I have a yorkie named J.R. and he always go with me to feed the chickens. The wind blew the gate open today and most of them ran out of the yard. J. R. just looked at them but i was there to tell him no so don't how he would act on his own. and yes they are hard to house break but they make up for it with all the love they give.



Mother to 24 RIR, 1 pitt bull, 1 poodle mix and l yorkie

 

[Romayorkie]

My yorkie just killed one of my chickens. Definitely depends on the dog but mine has a high hunting drive.