[PuppyLove]

Hey Everyone,
I'm new and me and my family just decided to adopt a jack russel x jack russel cross puppy from my aunt's brother The puppy won't be coming to live with us for another four weeks as she is only 3 and a half weeks old. I have an elderly dog who, from past experience, I know will love the puppy. My biggest problem is the new puppy with my poultry and rabbits. My poultry are free range and will be in the same garden as the puppy all the time (although the puppy will be a house dog) and it is very important for the dog not to want to kill them, it would cause so many problems and Dad has said if the dog kills the poultry, she'll have to go. I am determined not to let this happen, I need advice and tips on getting my new puppy to accept the poultry and not attack them, I know this is possible with training

I also need tips (links appreciated!) on other things like house training, socialising and any other things it's important to teach the puppy

Thanking you all!

 

[Criosphynx]

I also have free range chickens what breeds do you keep?

Teaching a JRT not to go after chickens can be done, but will be very difficult to do. Your going against instict with that mix.I personally reward my dogs for ignoring the birds very heavily with whatever they like...food, toys or praise.

I do lots of activities with the birds in the background, and don't allow my dogs to become bored around the birds, that way they wont chase them out of boredom and practice what I don't want.



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[PuppyLove]

Thank you
I keep Hybrids, bantam mixes and I forgot to mention ducks!

As she is a mix, I am hoping that I have that on my side. My own dog is a terrier and just knew herself that she had to be gentle with other animals. My neighbour has a dog who is really good around the chickens, and the dog's parents are the biggest chicken killers in the community. I'm hoping that by raising her with the animals and by training her aswell she will learn...I hope!

 

[PuppyLove]

If anyone has some good puppy training links I would appreciate it

 

[fawkese1]

Thank you
I keep Hybrids, bantam mixes and I forgot to mention ducks!

As she is a mix, I am hoping that I have that on my side. My own dog is a terrier and just knew herself that she had to be gentle with other animals. My neighbour has a dog who is really good around the chickens, and the dog's parents are the biggest chicken killers in the community. I'm hoping that by raising her with the animals and by training her aswell she will learn...I hope!

not to sound negative, but do you have a back-up plan? don't get me wrong, i believe that this can be done, but in the event that it doesn't work out well, what will become of the dog? you said your dad said that you will have to get rid of her? it sounds to me like you might be setting this pup up for failure.
definately agree with crios, do not allow the dog to become bored around the chickens, and rewarding very heavily for ignoring the birds is the way to teach her. i think the biggest risk will be when you aren't around....what will you do with her then?



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[pawzaddict]

not to sound negative, but do you have a back-up plan? don't get me wrong, i believe that this can be done, but in the event that it doesn't work out well, what will become of the dog? you said your dad said that you will have to get rid of her? it sounds to me like you might be setting this pup up for failure.
definately agree with crios, do not allow the dog to become bored around the chickens, and rewarding very heavily for ignoring the birds is the way to teach her. i think the biggest risk will be when you aren't around....what will you do with her then?

I have to agree with fawkese. I feel a jack russel is a hyperactive dog who can have problems around small exotic animals. My chihuahua "herds" and nips at my ferrets, not out of aggression, simply playing and getting overwhelmed. She has to be put in "time out" (she goes on the other side of the baby gate) when she starts to get to this point. I dont necessarily think the dog is going to KILL a chicken, but they are a smaller dense, more fragile creature...what if the puppy gets too rough and injures a leg?

 

[Criosphynx]

lol...my chickens are bigger than three of my dogs (I keep brahmas)....you'd be surprised how much of their own they can hold.

Perhaps a fenced in area, for either the birds or the dog, would be a good idea, easier to manage this situation, that to train for it.



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[fawkese1]

lol...my chickens are bigger than three of my dogs (I keep brahmas)....you'd be surprised how much of their own they can hold.

Perhaps a fenced in area, for either the birds or the dog, would be a good idea, easier to manage this situation, that to train for it.

my thoughts exactly......



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[PuppyLove]

She won't be around them when I'm not around because she'll be in the house all the time, we priced fencing and it costs hundreds so we won't be doing that. Dad said if she kills chickens we have to rehome her, but since she's a mix and since I'll be training her hopefully it won't come to that.

 

[fawkese1]

i hope that it won't come to that either, it is very sad to get a dog that you don't know if you will be capable of keeping.



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[PuppyLove]

Well hopefully we will be able to keep her I'm not planning on giving her up that easily, I think Dad was on a rant too because he didn't really want to get a dog as some of our neighbours dogs are savages for killing chickens and we had out whole stock wiped out before. It would just make it a whole lot easier if we didn't have to be watching her every two seconds and I don't want to use the radio fence on her.

 

[fawkese1]

Well hopefully we will be able to keep her I'm not planning on giving her up that easily, I think Dad was on a rant too because he didn't really want to get a dog as some of our neighbours dogs are savages for killing chickens and we had out whole stock wiped out before. It would just make it a whole lot easier if we didn't have to be watching her every two seconds and I don't want to use the radio fence on her.

i understand, i really do. i have kept all sorts of different types of animals at the same time, with mixed levels of success ( had a puppy kill my favorite house rabbit once, it was awful) i really am just trying to stress the back-up plan. it doesn't matter that she is a mix, she is a dog. some dogs just have a very high prey drive, and JRT are one of them. i mean they were bred to kill small animals. on the other hand, i have heard of them being kept on farms and things, so though i don't think it is impossible to teach her to ignore/not chase or kill your chickens, i just hope that she is given every opportunity to have a great and lasting home with you. i would over-plan how to keep her separate, train her, etc to avoid having to re-home her.



Dog | Forum | Rocks!

 

[PuppyLove]

Yeah I've been thinking of ways to train her and ways to keep her away from the chickens, we have a radio fence already, but I hate, hate, hate training dogs into that thing. We had it for out current dog but she's old now and she never really used it anyway as she's great with our small animals, and is a terrier so gives me hope with the pup. It breaks my heart to have them go through that thing. I was thinking if she is bad with the poultry to muzzle her while she's out playing? I don't know if that's cruel or not, she'll be in the house all the time and going for walks without it on.

 

[fawkese1]

a muzzle may be a good plan if the training doesn't work, you will have to watch her carefully. when my dad's pup got the bunny, it was literally in a matter of 5 seconds. unfortunately we had taught her to chase the bunny when we weren't looking by punishing her for doing it in front of us. i wish i had known then what i know now! anyway, she was only corrected a couple of times for chasing him, and then she didn't do it anymore, in front of us. i was exercising him (the bunny)in the yard and had the pup out to go potty ( she was only a few months old) i got a phone call and ran in the house, grabbed the phone and ran out again. just seconds. when i got back out, she was chewing on him and wagging her tail at me. the lessons i learned from the mistakes i made.



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[PuppyLove]

Thankfully I can keep the puppy totally away from my four bunnies. How do you train them not to do it behind your back? Or is there anyway?

 

[pawzaddict]

I guess the concern is when the dog goes outside to go potty? Is she going to be indoors and only go outdoors for potty breaks? If so and she does not like the chickens or likes them too much what about keeping her on a leash outside?

 

[Criosphynx]

Thankfully I can keep the puppy totally away from my four bunnies. How do you train them not to do it behind your back? Or is there anyway?

There are two methods....modify the behavior with positive reinforcement...or create avoidance to the birds using an e collar.

Personally I think management (the fence) would be the safest alternative. Positive reinforcement to "fix" this is complicated and long and an ecollar, if used wrong can really really confuse the dog...

we can speculate up the yin yang about this dog you don't even have yet...when you get the dog, tell us exactly whats going on, and we'll go from there...its to long and complicated to type out a method for a dog that isn't even displaying the behavior we want to alter.



Dog | Forum | Rocks!

 

[PuppyLove]

I guess the concern is when the dog goes outside to go potty? Is she going to be indoors and only go outdoors for potty breaks? If so and she does not like the chickens or likes them too much what about keeping her on a leash outside?

Yeah only outside for potty breaks, she will be supervised either way whether she likes them or not because my garden isn't totally secure and I don't want her rambling around the country side, especially if she chases farm animals. It would be nice though if she doesn't go for the chickens so I can play with her outside off the leash.

 

[pawzaddict]

Yeah only outside for potty breaks, she will be supervised either way whether she likes them or not because my garden isn't totally secure and I don't want her rambling around the country side, especially if she chases farm animals. It would be nice though if she doesn't go for the chickens so I can play with her outside off the leash.

I understand I agree with Crio, lets wait till you guys get her and see what she does.

 

[PuppyLove]

Yeah, I'm just hoping she'll be ok with them.