New puppy rottweiler and Miss Pepper

[Eveandmisspepper]

Not sure if I picked the right forum, if I didn't I'm very sorry.
So we just got a new puppy rottweiler, he's now 12 weeks old. We are very consistant on teaching the puppy that my hen is to be left alone. I do catch our puppy chasing my hen and I stop him and tell him "NO", I'm just worried when he gets bigger (and he will get bigger) that he still might want to chase my hen, and what if he catches her and I wont be able to stop him, or what if we are not home and nobody is here to stop him. We are training him to leave hen alone but what if his preditor instinct comes out? So my question is should I fence a section of our backyard that's just for my hen or should I trust that our puppy will grow up knowing the hen is off limits?

 

[drumstick diva]

Definitely fence off a safe place for the hen, really safe . Your rott is going to grow into a BIG, HUSKY dog and even playfully jumping at a fence, he can cause damage. Even playing with her now as a puppy can leave you chicken=less in a very short time.

 

[Eveandmisspepper]

Thanks for the reply, and I'm going to add a new "to do" on my husbands "to do list" My husband is really good with dogs and training them but I don't want to risk my hen's life, she's my lil'girl!

 

[Lorije1]

My Lab would never dream of harming one of my chickens while I am outside. He doesn't get outside privileges when the chickens are in the backyard though, he goes out the front. There are dozens of threads here about "I thought I could trust my dog"... but ultimately they are predators and chickens are flappy, squawky, fun to chase prey.
I would definitely have a designated Ft Knox for your hen so that you can keep both pets safe and happy.