A problem with hikers

[Brownmare]

The other day a couple of hikers walked through our farmyard on the bridleway and Dash the whippet followed them. I didn't see this but noticed he wasn't around, not too bothered though because he often goes rabbiting down the field and comes back again after 10 minutes or so. However he didn't come back and after I'd started getting worried I got a phonecall to say he's in the village and can I pick him up

It turned out that these hikers had let him follow them out of the yard all the way to the village 1 mile away then happened to say to someone on their way past "do you know who this dog belongs to, it's followed us all the way from the farm" !!! Of course the lovely lady they said this to politely told them he probably came from the farm then grabbed Dash and called the number on his collar but why oh why did they let him go that far when it was obvious he had come from the farm in the first place And how far would they have taken him if they hadn't met anyone in the village

I just don't understand why anyone would see a dog following them and not turn round and tell it to go back. I'm not sure if they even encouraged him or something because we've had Dash over 2 months now and plenty of walkers, cyclists and riders have come through before with no problems. Now I'm paranoid it will happen again but I'm not sure how to go about stopping it. Do you think a sign on the yard gate would be effective, and if so what wording to use? We already have one warning of free range children and animals

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

I would be concerned if the general public had access to my land with my dogs running loose, purely because of the potential of theft. Unfortunately, many people aren't doggy & some are just dopey I'm not sure what the answer is I would put a sign up, "dogs running loose, please shut gates after use" but ultimately your dogs are your responsibility & unless you can chaperone them when they are loose on the yard, this situation may occur again.