Your dog sounds like one of mine. My colhapso (cocker spaniel/lhapsa apso mix) is always ready for the hunt...she tries to catch flies and chases off the big noisy birds (grackles and kiskadees) from the bird pond...but she doesn't bother the hummingbirds at all...nor does she try to chase away the doves that are ground feeding.

During the hummie migration I hung out about a dozen feeders from my back porch eaves as well as other numerous smaller ones from the arches and trees. Last year I got about 25 to 30 hummies zipping around and doing that battle of the beaks only a few inches above the ground...and she never attempted to chase them.

Am not sure if my dog understands I like having hummies around or maybe she figures they are big bees and she wants nothing to do with them?!

Guess you could hang out some feeders and see what happens. Hummies are quite agile and am sure they'd zip out of harm's way if a dog tried to chomp at it :o)

~ Cat

I have a black lab that goes after anything that moves but he leave the birds alone. I had to scold him a few times when we first got him but now he looks and then goes about his business.

Penny

My Pudelpointer (versatile hunting dog obsessed with birds both as a genetic imperative and a product of her training/experience) definitely notices the feeders when they're active. She points them and stays locked up until the birds leave.

I use this as an extension of her training. You see, it is especially bad form in a pointing breed for a dog to "bump" (chase, flush) a bird. A pointer is to remain on point until her master tells her otherwise. So when she points, I tell her "Whoa!" (important hunting command with a very specific meaning), stroke her fur, scratch behind her ears, and soothingly tell her she's good. She hasn't broken a "whoa" for a hummer yet, in fact, she points them out to me because she knows I'll reward her for it. Lightning bugs are another story though: She eats those!

Setters are pointers. Has yours had any hunting training? Would this work for you?

I don't know if your dog will keep birds from visiting in your yard, but I can tell you the birds in my yard aren't dissuaded... even when there's a (calm) greyhound lying right beneath the feeder, and a goofy, mustachioed pointing dog just a couple feet away.

The kitten is another story. I'd never let her near one of my feeders!

Thanks for your input everyone! JazmynsMom.....she has had some training, but all done by hubby and son.....guess I will be able to pitch in and help now :) She is pretty good at locking in and not moving unless told to. She points at everything that is sitting still...birds, flys, even ants occasionally....lol. I will have hubby explain to me what to do. Thanks again!!
Susie

We have a German Shorthaired Pointer named Lucy and the hummingbirds ignore her and she ignores them. She likes to watch them but she has never gone after them - probably because when we first started sitting outside with her to watch them, we kept her on a leash and told her to stay. Now she just looks up when one comes down to her level but she doesn't do anything.

Give it a try with your dog.

Charlotte

Yes my two small dogs go after my hummingbirds that are on my back deck it must be the noise that the hummingbird makes