shikoku and larg livestock?

Does that sound like a disastrous thing? Does anyone have experience? I don't have either a shikoku or livestock right now just to clarify. Just thinking about future possibilities. Id love to have many acres of forested land with a small portion of it for some livestock someday. How do you think that would go with a Shikoku? also if i hade big foul like turkeys and geese free ranged and the dog was raised with them would that be viable or is that pushing it?

Comments

  • edited June 2013
    What kind of livestock?

    Saya my shiba is 20lbs, but she'll go for Canadian geese if allowed. She does good job deterring Canadian geese from staying in my pond.. I only let her chase the geese ducks are off limits.

    Saya leaves small birds like cardinals and doves alone, but big birds game is on!

    Turkey probably be fair game for her she looks up at turkey vultures and hawks cautiously..

    Saya is friendly with neighbor's horses they met multiple times, but I'm not sure how she'd react to a cow or goat..

    She is a shiba though not shikoku, but still.

    Shika used to be used for hunting deer and other game, so live stock might be an issue.

    I remember a kai ken who had issues with goats..

    I plan to one day have chickens, but they'll have a secure fence to protect from coyotes, fox, and whatever..

    Rabbits are fun to chase and shake too for Saya. :\

    Shikoku probably still have high prey drive like shiba so coarse who knows you might get a very low prey drive dog, but hard to tell as pups.

    I'm sure more shikoku owners here will be along to help.

    Could always keep them separate via fencing that way if it doesn't work out both animals are safe..
  • Since they are a breed that was originally used for hunting wild game, I'd say that special care must be taken to prevent the shikoku and livestock from hurting each other. If you do take extra precautions, you could get away with it, but there may always be that risk factor involved with this prey driven breed.

    @edgewood keeps horses, I'm not sure if they are technically considered livestock or pets (maybe both), but maybe she could share her experiences.

    As for me, I keep chickens and free range them in the backyard when I'm home. I've had the chickens before I got Miyu, and she has grown up seeing them practically everyday. The dogs have a separate fenced in area, to which the hens will run up to and just tease the dogs.





    Out of my 3 pups, Miyu has the greatest desire to get at the chickens, often charging at them and smacking them with her paw through the fence. We've installed a double gate system (like you see at dog parks) as she has forced her way through the gate to get to them. Luckily, all she has managed to do was pluck a few feathers, but that's not something I want to repeat.
  • I have Miyu's sister and she has an insane prey-drive. I would never consider having a livestock anywhere near her! I think she would obsess over it and it would make both me and her very unhappy! She's intrigued by horses, but she treats everything else like prey.
  • Not a Shikoku but my kishus will chase wild turkeys, cows, and other live stock. It's kinda neat watching my dogs "bay" a giant bull black angus in the area we hunt. They bark and chase them a little, get bored, and get back into hunting boars.

    If you introduce a young pup to live stock early they should be ok as they grow up but it's up to the owner to teach the pup not to chase them.
  • edited June 2013
    I was thinking about having yaks lol. They are a little smaller than cows, less flighty than horses and are more tame than cows sense one of the things they use them for is to ride. So hopefully there calmness will make them less exiting to dogs and less of a threat too but thats just speculation. image
    Its nice to hear all the reactions all your dogs have to different animals. If it can be done with reasonable training and socialization from puppy-hood im confident i can work with that. But if not that would mean a lot of fencing.

    @Calia
    that so weird seeing the chickens go right up to the fence like there taunting your dogs lol
  • edited June 2013
    I have horses, but the dogs are not let to run free around the horses. That being said, when the dogs have accidentally gotten out of the yard, they generally tend to ignore the horses and look for game like ground hogs.

    I wouldn't want mine running free with the horses if they were not pretty used to them because they do have a high prey drive
  • Hey Brad wanted a yak at some point! Yaks are cool!
  • My 5-month Hokkaido's prey drive is pretty darn high. She has gone after deer, rabbits, marmots and anything else that moves. She is great with other dogs, but gets pretty wild when she smells anything else.
  • edited June 2013
    Hey Brad wanted a yak at some point! Yaks are cool!
    LoL Lisa, about as cool as bow ties :P
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