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About a year and a half ago i rescued a female puppy from a shelter. Everything is just fine, she loves to run, dig in the backyard, sleep in the sofa, anything simply amuses her.

Once i have a big backyard, when i'm away from home to work i usually let the door open so she can go outside, instead of being closed in the kitchen from 8am to 6pm.

Yet recently she found that she can jump the walls and walk a bit in the fields behind my house. So far so good, there's no predators and no roads for a mile.

When i get home, i play with her, run a bit, "fight" with her and stuff. Immediately after we stop playin, i go inside and she jumps the walls to go after the chickens that are in those fields, chooses one and brings it home. I don't even know if she actually eats part of it or just plays with it. What can i do? Besides building a bigger wall or something.

My dad has chickens too and she just smells them, without hurting ( even were i'm at the window just watching ).

Thank you in advance!

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Do you know if she's actually killing the chickens or not? What kind of dog is she? What's the height/build of the walls she's jumping?

Also, are these your chickens? If not, it may be worth noting you could be held liable for any damage she does/has done.

To fix this issue, you have several options.

You could fortify the wall/fence in a way that prevents her from scaling and/or jumping them.

You could invest in some toys to place in the yard that'll keep her interest while you're away. A stuffed Kong ball, for example, works wonders to keep dogs occupied. Or perhaps a puzzle toy to exercise her mind.

You could spend some time familiarizing her with the chickens and training her to leave them be.

You could also look into building a containment area for the chickens, to protect both them and the dog.

  • Mariah
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    yea i already talked to the owner of the chickens and gave him a few more . it happened 3 or 4 times, and they were alive, but damaged. she's small/medium, like 40cm tall but she jumps a 1.70cm wall. she's "mixed", i have no idea who the parents are. But i'm really sure she ain't a pure breed. I have a few tennis balls in my yard and a lot of space for her to be entertained, the way she used to.
    – noidea
    Mar 8 '16 at 9:19
  • Did anything I suggested sound doable?
    – riah
    Mar 8 '16 at 14:20
  • she's ok with chickens .. but when she's excited after we play she feels like hunting.. i already did everything u mentioned, there's only the wall problem. it's way taller than her and she always finds a way; i've tried to put some pots on the wall but she knocks them down and jumps anyway.. and i need special permission to upgrade the walls.
    – noidea
    Mar 9 '16 at 15:40
  • To get over the wall if it's that high, she needs to get a grip with her paws. Go to the hardware store and buy some pvc pipe, string some rope through it, and hang it along the top of the wall. When her paws try to get a grip on the pipes, they will rotate around the ropes and she will fall back. These are called "coyote rollers."
    – Amy Blankenship
    Mar 9 '16 at 21:48

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