Enemies in the gate: An awful puppy

[Chickn Keaper]

So my dad got a golden doodle puppy last April, so he's about ten months old now. As of yesterday, my flock of thirteen has slowly dwarfed into a flock of 4 because of him. We put up a fence, using garden posts and fencing, to let them range in our back yard. Today, the puppy, Biscuit, learned that he can jump the fence, and I caught him mid tossing my speckled sussex. She's alive, but sensitive right now.
He jumped over a portion of the fence that was beginning to lean over, it rained alot the other day.
I believe that he can't jump it now because I straightened it up, but that remains to be seen.

My question is if I should add an electric wire to the top of the fence so he doesn't jump, or if I should build a fully enclosed, smaller run and only let them range while supervised. Or both? I can't get rid of Biscuit, that isn't my choice, and he's imprinted on me and my parents.
I'm just afraid that I need to take action now, or else he'll get the rest of my chooks.
Any thoughts?

Leash train the puppy to be nice to the chickens. Kinda like training heel. Let him be around the chickens on a tight leash and pull him heavily back if he gets too close. Let him smell the chickens and let them come to him but until he becomes trustworthy don't let it go farther than nose to beak contact. It will take some work but it will be worth it. I trained my 12 year old dachshund to be good to the chickens. His first experience with baby chicks was to eat 2 of them not good . Training was extensive but it has worked out very well!

 

[sourland]

Leash train the puppy to be nice to the chickens.

I would agree with this as far as most dogs go, but golden doodles are a creature all to themselves. Smart, willful, high energy - a joy, but not a dog for everyone. Yeah, we have one, and she is a challenge - worth it, but a challenge indeed. I agree with high and low hot wire and supervised free ranging for the chickens. Good luck in resolving this.

 

[kadani]

Two electric suggestions. Get an electric fence for the chickens. I got mine from https://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/fencing.php I didn't want to fence them at all, but in spite of the chickens being securely cooped at night, predators had taken their toll during the day. I have a dog who wanted to chase the chickens when they were unfenced, but I taught her not to by using an electric collar. I had never thought I'd use one, but they work when nothing else does. Only a couple of slight shocks quickly taught her to come when called. It's nice to have a dog be able to run off leash and still be under control. Good luck. And congrats on your good attitude toward the puppy!

 

[kadani]

Two electric suggestions. Get an electric fence for the chickens. I got mine from https://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/fencing.php I didn't want to fence them at all, but in spite of the chickens being securely cooped at night, predators had taken their toll during the day. I have a dog who wanted to chase the chickens when they were unfenced, but I taught her not to by using an electric collar. I had never thought I'd use one, but they work when nothing else does. Only a couple of slight shocks quickly taught her to come when called. It's nice to have a dog be able to run off leash and still be under control. Good luck. And congrats on your good attitude toward the puppy!

 

[Judy Todd]

PS -I'm opinionated, but I don't mean to be rude. Please forgive me if I was.

Youknow,, if you are not opinionted, what is the opposite, no opinion at all. You go girl.

 

[Judy Todd]

Two electric suggestions. Get an electric fence for the chickens. I got mine from https://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/fencing.php I didn't want to fence them at all, but in spite of the chickens being securely cooped at night, predators had taken their toll during the day. I have a dog who wanted to chase the chickens when they were unfenced, but I taught her not to by using an electric collar. I had never thought I'd use one, but they work when nothing else does. Only a couple of slight shocks quickly taught her to come when called. It's nice to have a dog be able to run off leash and still be under control. Good luck. And congrats on your good attitude toward the puppy!

I am using a muzzle when my 7 month old pup is around the chickens, they are fenced in free ranging in the orchard, but she charges the fenceline and runs back and forth. I think I might try a shock collar, canot elec wire as it is too far from the barn.

 

[Judy Todd]

A poodle has a high prey drive but with proper training, they can be taught to leave chickens alone. A golden is not as prey driven, but please take your dog in the house and teach it manners and to "leave it"!
I had a doodle dog. He was fine with my chickens after a 10 minute lesson in the bathroom with my chicks.

Wow, that is so smart, wish I had thought of that when I got this pup.

 

[Grandma BokBok]

This is my first reply post on this site. We have successfully taught several dogs to live in harmony with a wide variety of birds by initiating training the moment the puppies arrived at our home. However, this method was not successful with our Grandpuppy - a German wire-haired pointer. For her, at around 9 or 10 months, it became apparent that she loved chasing the self propelled, squeaky chew toys too much to be deterred.

We put a shock collar on her. We set it to a minimal number on the beep setting (not the shock). Then we hung out with Ginny and the chickens, while remaining calm. We praised and rewarded her for gentle curiosity, but beeped the collar for all other chicken directed activity, over a period of a couple weeks. It has now been well over a year since she killed one of my chickens. And we trust her to be outside alone with them.

Best of luck to you in resolving this issue.

 

[Jerry Dog Man]

So my dad got a golden doodle puppy last April, so he's about ten months old now. As of yesterday, my flock of thirteen has slowly dwarfed into a flock of 4 because of him. We put up a fence, using garden posts and fencing, to let them range in our back yard. Today, the puppy, Biscuit, learned that he can jump the fence, and I caught him mid tossing my speckled sussex. She's alive, but sensitive right now.
He jumped over a portion of the fence that was beginning to lean over, it rained alot the other day.
I believe that he can't jump it now because I straightened it up, but that remains to be seen.

My question is if I should add an electric wire to the top of the fence so he doesn't jump, or if I should build a fully enclosed, smaller run and only let them range while supervised. Or both? I can't get rid of Biscuit, that isn't my choice, and he's imprinted on me and my parents.
I'm just afraid that I need to take action now, or else he'll get the rest of my chooks.
Any thoughts?

Sounds like the puppy needs some obedience training. He has a strong pray drive and with some training with a firm no or leave it command you should have some control.

 

[Conway Corbello]

We free-range, and my wife bought a full sized, 5 month old Labradoodle puppy. Our hens like to jump the backyard fence. I let the puppy out to go pee & she saw hens in the back of the back yard & took off like a sprinting giraffe. I was shouting "NO" and "COME" and running behind her to avert disaster, but she didn't stop chasing (honestly, she probably just wanted to play, not harm, knowing her now) until I got to her, and she KNEW she was bad wrong. (This dog is so smart it's scary) I kicked the living out of her a couple of times & told her to go lay down & stay there while scolding her. She hid under the table that evening like she was gonna die. The next time she saw a chicken, she laid flat on the ground & trembled. Two years later, she can walk among our flock with no trouble & they're not threatened by her at all. She would even play tag with our red rooster, it was a big game for both of them. So, I said all that to say that IF your golden doodle is trainable, and I'd bet good money that he is, all you have to do is let him know that when he goes for a chicken, he has messed up in a way that he doesn't ever want to mess up like that again. If that doesn't work, you know that there's a $0.15 solution to an $800 problem. At least at my house, anyway.