Dog attack and ignorant owner

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tessybear

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:mad:So a few weeks ago we were out on our 14.2 cob Tessy my sister riding and me cycling beside her. Now befor i go into details this horse is brilliant with dogs we have a big bouncy german pointer who runs through her legs and Tessy doesnt bat an eye lid. Fantastic horse i cannot praise her enough ! So we got to a lane were a woman had a rottweiler tied to her pram with a very young baby inside of it. She moved over and was on the phone in a daydream when we went past, Tessy plodded on as usual and all of a sudden i heard a scream and a draggin noise. The dog has pulled out of her grip and went to attack Tessy who was having none of it and booted it right in the gob. The dog ran off yelping but my sister fell off when Tessy bolted and ended up lieing in a ditch ( good job it hadnt of been raining or water would of been there) The woman then gave me an ear full ! some of the quotes were " YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO RIDE THAT THING" "ITS A DANGEROUS HORSE IF MY DOG DIES I WILL SUE YOU" < that was my favourite. After grabbing her dog i rang an ambulance as my sister couldnt feel her leg and didnt want to move her. so after 4 hours in A+E my sister drugged up with a severly bruised hip joint, the horse is abserloutly fine and really good round dogs still (god know why) the woman had the cheek to tell my mum "my little george just wanted to say hello) thats funny i didnt realise a dog with its hackles up and teeth bared was a greeting !!

I hate ignorant people, if you cant control your dog do not walk it !!!:mad:
 
Well hopefully the police will now be dealing with this for you. What a scary incident.

I must say that when a horse of mine killed a dog, whilst I was upset, my reaction to the owners horror was 'tough luck' you were warned.

I'm all for people to enjoy the countryside or whatever together - and can constantly be seen on here sticking up for dog walkers - but this woman beggers belief.
 
amymay said:
Well hopefully the police will now be dealing with this for you. What a scary incident.

I must say that when a horse of mine killed a dog, whilst I was upset, my reaction to the owners horror was 'tough luck' you were warned.

I'm all for people to enjoy the countryside or whatever together - and can constantly be seen on here sticking up for dog walkers - but this woman beggers belief.
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Yes police went round and told her she needs to control it better and she basically shut the door in his face !

Oh i totally agree as a dog wowner myself i believe its possible for the countryside to be enjoyed and 9/10 it is this way ! But yes she wasnt the most pleasant indivdual, the more shcoking thing is if the lead didnt snap the baby would of been dragged under the horse :(

My sister is now wary of hacking as it was her first real fall and was petrified of this woman leaning over her shouting !
 
Notify the dog warden as well. If you see that woman again calmly tell her that as said dog has been reported, another incident would be looked at very poorly. She has an obligation to keep the dog safe in a public place. I would perhaps check with dog warden as to the legal aspect as well, i.e as dog has been reported and there is a record of this, what does this mean for the dog in the future.

Very very sorry your sister had that fall and has so knocked her confidence. I hope she will be able to hack out again in the future.
 
tessybear said:
:mad:So a few weeks ago we were out on our 14.2 cob Tessy my sister riding and me cycling beside her. Now befor i go into details this horse is brilliant with dogs we have a big bouncy german pointer who runs through her legs and Tessy doesnt bat an eye lid. Fantastic horse i cannot praise her enough ! So we got to a lane were a woman had a rottweiler tied to her pram with a very young baby inside of it. She moved over and was on the phone in a daydream when we went past, Tessy plodded on as usual and all of a sudden i heard a scream and a draggin noise. The dog has pulled out of her grip and went to attack Tessy who was having none of it and booted it right in the gob. The dog ran off yelping but my sister fell off when Tessy bolted and ended up lieing in a ditch ( good job it hadnt of been raining or water would of been there) The woman then gave me an ear full ! some of the quotes were " YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO RIDE THAT THING" "ITS A DANGEROUS HORSE IF MY DOG DIES I WILL SUE YOU" < that was my favourite. After grabbing her dog i rang an ambulance as my sister couldnt feel her leg and didnt want to move her. so after 4 hours in A+E my sister drugged up with a severly bruised hip joint, the horse is abserloutly fine and really good round dogs still (god know why) the woman had the cheek to tell my mum "my little george just wanted to say hello) thats funny i didnt realise a dog with its hackles up and teeth bared was a greeting !!

I hate ignorant people, if you cant control your dog do not walk it !!!:mad:
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I had one much like this years ago. My horse had not long since been attacked by a Staffordshire and been very badly bitten and clawed by it. Prior to this she hadn't been the slightest bit bothered by dogs (even had doberman swinging off her tail once) but not surprisingly now she was scared witless by dogs she didn't know. This silly cow was walking her Boxer, no lead and when I saw it I stopped my horse and said would she catch it please as my horse was frightened of dogs. She made a few lame attempts to call it back but then it charged us and my horse shot sideways down the steep face of river bank at speed. She still couldn't get hold of it but by that time I'd managed to get us away from a possible swim in the Mersey and back onto slightly safer land and she finally got hold of the damn dog. At that point she had the CHEEK to say that if my horse was under control that wouldn't have happened!!!!!!!!!! I replied that if her parents had been under control SHE wouldn't have happened and the world would have been a much better place for it. A few months later another (woman) allowed her two dogs to chase my horse, again on the river bank. I spun my horse around and nearly knocked the stupid witch flying, then asked her how SHE liked it. It amazes me that I was expected to control half a ton with two strips of leather and my voice, and they can't ever control a few pounds of dog. If my horse was as badly behaved as their dogs I would have been so ashamed.
 
tessybear said:
"my little george just wanted to say hello) thats funny i didnt realise a dog with its hackles up and teeth bared was a greeting !!

I hate ignorant people, if you cant control your dog do not walk it !!!:mad:
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We had EXACTLY the same response from some dozy bint with a rottweiler that attacked our hacking group one day.
Punctured the legs of one horse and tried pulling my daughters boot thus almost causing her to fall off her very saintly pony!
Owners reaction was "Buddy just wanted to play"
Buddy is the reason I ALWAYS now carry a schooling whip and I am NOT afraid to use it if I think I need to. One clear warning is all anyone gets!
 
fatpiggy said:
I had one much like this years ago. My horse had not long since been attacked by a Staffordshire and been very badly bitten and clawed by it. Prior to this she hadn't been the slightest bit bothered by dogs (even had doberman swinging off her tail once) but not surprisingly now she was scared witless by dogs she didn't know. This silly cow was walking her Boxer, no lead and when I saw it I stopped my horse and said would she catch it please as my horse was frightened of dogs. She made a few lame attempts to call it back but then it charged us and my horse shot sideways down the steep face of river bank at speed. She still couldn't get hold of it but by that time I'd managed to get us away from a possible swim in the Mersey and back onto slightly safer land and she finally got hold of the damn dog. At that point she had the CHEEK to say that if my horse was under control that wouldn't have happened!!!!!!!!!! I replied that if her parents had been under control SHE wouldn't have happened and the world would have been a much better place for it. A few months later another (woman) allowed her two dogs to chase my horse, again on the river bank. I spun my horse around and nearly knocked the stupid witch flying, then asked her how SHE liked it. It amazes me that I was expected to control half a ton with two strips of leather and my voice, and they can't ever control a few pounds of dog. If my horse was as badly behaved as their dogs I would have been so ashamed.
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Totally agree ! I was close to sticking my whip where the sun doesnt shine ! Idiots these days who blame everything on everyone else. Gosh you were lucky when they are in flight mode they dont think properly and all sorts could happen! That did make me laugh will have to use that in the future ;) haha !!
 
joeanne said:
We had EXACTLY the same response from some dozy bint with a rottweiler that attacked our hacking group one day.
Punctured the legs of one horse and tried pulling my daughters boot thus almost causing her to fall off her very saintly pony!
Owners reaction was "Buddy just wanted to play"
Buddy is the reason I ALWAYS now carry a schooling whip and I am NOT afraid to use it if I think I need to. One clear warning is all anyone gets!
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My mum didnt hear my end of the stroy till we got to hopsital and met up by then she was fuming and said she would of given her a mouth full ! At the end of the day she is not the one sitting in A+E petrified of whats wrong with her ! I thought it was going to attack me to begin with just cant praise Tessy enough for booting it then running towards the horse to scare it away from my sister after she fell off. I totally agree i go out with a stick now :)
 
I had an accident couple of months ago too and the owner ended up shouting at me :rolleyes:

I was hacking alone, usually I extend this certain hack by cutting into another field which loops back to the yard, However choose not too as I could see there were 2 loose dogs already in the field. So choose to go home. As I was walking back, I could hear shouting. Turned around to see the 2 loose dogs charging my way. Quickly spun Ruby round to face them and 1 of the dogs backed off. The other did not (no idea what breed it was) Ruby spooked sidewards and then stayed still. I got off and cracked the dog with my schooling whip. By then the owner (huffing and puffing) came along. She shouted at me for hitting her dog, My reply "well if your Dog wasn't loose and threatening my Horse I wouldn't have had to hit your dog, I have control over my animal, so should you" I mounted and walked back to the yard. When I got home I picked her hooves out and my hand was covered in blood. She had somehow sliced a bit of skin just above the Coronet band, I guess she did it when spooking as she was jumping around. Silly woman!!!
 
LaurenBay said:
I had an accident couple of months ago too and the owner ended up shouting at me :rolleyes:

I was hacking alone, usually I extend this certain hack by cutting into another field which loops back to the yard, However choose not too as I could see there were 2 loose dogs already in the field. So choose to go home. As I was walking back, I could hear shouting. Turned around to see the 2 loose dogs charging my way. Quickly spun Ruby round to face them and 1 of the dogs backed off. The other did not (no idea what breed it was) Ruby spooked sidewards and then stayed still. I got off and cracked the dog with my schooling whip. By then the owner (huffing and puffing) came along. She shouted at me for hitting her dog, My reply "well if your Dog wasn't loose and threatening my Horse I wouldn't have had to hit your dog, I have control over my animal, so should you" I mounted and walked back to the yard. When I got home I picked her hooves out and my hand was covered in blood. She had somehow sliced a bit of skin just above the Coronet band, I guess she did it when spooking as she was jumping around. Silly woman!!!
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See you sounded very cool and calm i stood there with my mare in one hand snorting and chorting, trying to ring an ambulance and calm a very angry chavy woman down :( haha ! If i had forseen it but sadly tessy had her bum to the dog hence why she bolted afterwards i would of crack it round the face or give it a good boot ! Bless its scary to think what could of happened in those situations ! hope she is allright now :)
 
What really annoys me is that morons like this get certain breeds a bad reputation, that's completely undeserved. And whilst of course there is no one to blame but the dog owner when the dog gets hurt, I hate the fact the dog has to suffer. Especially cases when the dog is pts for so called aggressive behavior, when really the owner needs pts.
 
People are so selfish!

We had a situation like this a few weeks ago, we were riding along a bridlepath, there were two or three people walking dogs. Everyone bar one lady got hold of their dogs, we thanked them as we rode past as you do. Anyway up ahead we could see a springer spaniel 'swooping' back and forth across the bridlepath in and out of the fields either side.. The lady saw us but didn't call the dog... Anyway as we got nearer to her the dog was swooping behind the horses - not chasing us but running close behind us, which was unnerving them. So my friend asked her to get hold of her dog please because it was scaring the horses... Que moaning woman going ' well I don't usually have to do this for horses' chuntering away humph moan argue etc

Meanwhile her dog ran behind the horse I was on, and he just launched forwards into a rodeo demo (his owner thinks he may have been chased at some point in his past and gets worried if loose dogs run up behind him BUT he is fine with dogs if they are on a lead, at the yard, or out hunting) So I'm trying not to get bucked off, the woman is ranting about 'it shouldn't be on the roads if its like that!!' (we are on a bridleway love!) instead of argueing all she had to do was hold the dog for a minute while we passed her.

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO FLIPPING THICK!!!!!! The alternative for her was her dog being kicked, someone falling off, or the horse getting onto the road - common sense surely? Most people know horses can be dangerous when frightened surely?

I hope your sister is ok. Poor her and poor you.
 
Sharer 123, your situation is nothing like ops. I have to say, if a horse 'launches into a rodeo demo' because a dog passes behind them, or gets bothered by loose dogs that aren't bothering it, then that's actually the riders issue to overcome. Not every dog owners responsibility to stay clear. The owner should be making progress to overcome the horses fear, not using it as an excuse for bad behavior & to demand everyone else make way for the horse. What if said horse, whilst out of control in public had hurt another innocent bridleway user? It wouldn't be an unforseen accident, seen as yourself & owner both know you don't have control when dogs are around.
 
Littlelegs I meant to sympathise in the nicest possible way that I felt for the OP. We are all supposed to be on the same side here surely?

The horse . As I said he is fine with dogs on leads, hunt hounds running around him, and at the yard. A dog running up behind him how are we supposed to train him against that? It is only in this circumstance on the bridleway that he bucked. So we would need to recreate the exact scenario which would be dangerous as he was scared not being naughty. The lady was in the wrong. We halted asked her nicely. Her dog got too close after we asked her nicely. She stood and argued with us after we asked her nicely. He passed another three dogs and walkers before we got to this person and he didn't bat an eyelid.

As I said I was sympathising with the op at how ignorant some dog walkers can be and sharing my own story.
 
I have bought one of those zappers that set off a high whistle that we cant hear but dogs can and so far they have shut up immediately and actually turned tail.
 
I have to just say, we have been 'that' dog owner but god I can't believe how many dog owners don't admit they're at fault.

All our horses are fine with dogs bar my youngster who is still at that stage of thinking they're fair game to chase.

My sister got a rescue dog about 6 mths ago now - 4 yo GSD x rottie. He has bene pretty good with the horse but did chase my youngster quite early on and, although he got a roasting for it I think the youngster saw it as a good game (as did the dog) so we do have to watch them. My sister has done some work on a long line to stop him chasing horses - he does see it as a game, there's no barking, growling or snapping but it's not a sensible game and dogs need to learn.

One day though we were walking on a footpath that crosses a bridleway, we were trying recall my ratbag of a dog who'd gone off rabbiting somewhere in the adjacent wheat field. Some horses were coming down the track and turned off along an old railway line in the opposite direction to where we were going. Cue my sister's dog spotting them. Because our attention was taken away by calling my dog non of us realised his (the dog's) attention went on to the horses and he started lolloping off. My sister screamed at mum to grab him as he ignored her calls but he shot past her and went down a little narrow path to join where the horses where. I think it was this surprised appearance of a big black dog that spooked the horses who shot off, riders screaming and then dog in pursuit. I can tell you it was a horrible feeling.

Both me and my sister went running after them and I found the younger rider (teenager) had come off and was rather in shock (thankfully she was unhurt). I was panicked by this point as a couple of horses have been killed over the years at this place as at the end of the railway it joins a main road and there's no gates to stop a loose horse.

Thankfully the other rider had managed to catch the loose pony and my sister lead that back (the dog had aleady returned to us at this point). We were mortified though and all we could do was apologise. we were expecting (quite rightly) a barrage of abuse but the riders were very understanding and said how the dog only chased them because the horses ran away. Once she'd got control of the hose she had turned round to face the dog and of course he'd then stopped and ran away, back to us. Being in the situation though it is just horrid, your blood runs cold and I am so glad it ended well on that day.

I really can't understand how these dog owners people have give examples of here don't realise what a serious incident their dog could cause. God, in our case we could have been looking at a fatal accident and we would have been responsible.

All my sister's dog did was follow his instinct to chase. Had the horses not have run, he wouldn't have done a thing. My sister is still working on him to teach him not to do this but it is difficult if your dog is off lead and horses appear without warning. What he needs is to meet some horses out hacking that do not run and then he will not see them as a 'game'. Again though that's down to us as dog owners to ensure we have control.
 
What he needs is to meet some horses out hacking that do not run and then he will not see them as a 'game'.
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It is interesting that so many horses have a problem with dogs (according to this forum anyway). I've never had or been on a horse that's run at the sight of a dog - or much else for that matter. Maybe I'm in the minority:D
 
Some of the examples above are why I always say that dogs should be on leads in public, no matter where they are.

And if you are on a bridleway, and your dog is "rabbiting in an adjacent field", this is tresspass...
 
wench said:
Some of the examples above are why I always say that dogs should be on leads in public, no matter where they are.

And if you are on a bridleway, and your dog is "rabbiting in an adjacent field", this is tresspass...
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I don't think my dog knows the rules of tresspass so I couldn't tell her and there is no fencing on the field.
 
What astounds me is that some people think that it is fine for dogs to run in and out of fields while off their leads. Dogs should be under control at all times when out of their owners' property and certainly should NOT be running through crops or stock.

OP I do hope your sister manages to regain her confidence soon.
 
amymay said:
It is interesting that so many horses have a problem with dogs (according to this forum anyway). I've never had or been on a horse that's run at the sight of a dog - or much else for that matter. Maybe I'm in the minority:D
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We've only had one horse (my sister's) who did not like dogs (mainly whilte ones!) but he got used to them and couldn't care less now.

I think in the situation that happened to us, the track from the footpath to where it joins/crosses the bridleway is a little narrow, overgrown one and the horses did not see the dog coming and it was probably the initial rustling they heard that made them spook and the dog saw this as them running and that's how it all started! I also think had it been the one older rider then she would have stopped her horse almost immediately, it was the pony that scooted off.
 
sorry to hear about your doggie incedency and hope you sister gains he confidence back soon.

just wanted to ad a 'carrot' stick if fantastic for all dog related incidents as it is more visible and longer than a schooling whip and gives a more deft thump to whoever it makes contact with. its also fantastic out hacking as cars tend to give you more space when you carry it out to the side
 
My horse was not great with dogs appearing initially thought completely fine with them at the yard, fields etc. My own dog got him out of that as we hack out and, while not much fun to start with, he did get used to it. I put my hands up to say I am lucky enough to have access to an area near the yard where I can do a short hack (20 mins) up a steep hill and no traffic anyway which makes dog/horse training much easier!
 
amymay said:
It is interesting that so many horses have a problem with dogs (according to this forum anyway). I've never had or been on a horse that's run at the sight of a dog - or much else for that matter. Maybe I'm in the minority:D
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My horse doesn't like dogs really, but I'll be damned if he misbehaves when around them, I have had dogs run up to us, bark etc quite a lot, a my horse doesn't like it - but he'll take it. Its my issue to control my horse, no-one elses - its a different matter if the dog is in attack mode, but the fact that a dog might find a chase game amusing is a part of life, and not everything can be controlled out there in the real world.

And yes, this was my opinion before I became the owner of said GSDxRottie lout above - although tbh, people are more scared of him than horses or dogs, despite his cuddly nature :D
 
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