Hacking out with a dog?

[florence32]

Just wondering if many of you guys take your dogs out with you hacking? If so, do you keep them on a lead? or have you trained them to stay with you?

Also what sort of age was your dog when you started taking it out with you? Thanks in advance

 

[Scoopy]

We have 5 dogs up the farm, and the 2 young puppies will quite happliy come with me, but we have alot of land, so no leads needed and they always stay with me, but we have an old sheep dog, Luke who used to always come with me but now, he loves the slower life and cuts corners, but my little girl Jess a.k mop head, gets lost in the long grass, so i spend most of my time trying to find her LOL

 

[Laafet]

I take my springer spaniel out with me - woody is three and I have trained him hard and he will heel to my horse and sit and stay while I cross the roads.
I still worry but think it is better to have him loose than on his lead.

 

[MillionDollar]

Yes i hack out with all my dogs. I don't have them on a lead, but thats because i ride on my own land as i live on a farm with lots and lots of acres, lol. I currently take 4 dogs with me, 2 adults and 2 puppies who are just 12 weeks. So i take them with me as soon as i can. They soon learn that they have to stay with the horse so they don't get left behind, and not to get too close, lol. And i tell you now it soon gets them fit. I took my border collie dog to the vets and she kept going on and on about how fit he was and how big his muscles were, lol. Well they have to be to keep up with a galloping horse.

 

[Scoopy]

here is us !

 

[druid]

I hack out with 4 of mine, all well trained and all heel to the horse and know the "wait" command.

 

[florence32]

Thanks for the replies, just really interested in what everybody else does!

I have been getting very mixed advise recently about whether to take a dog out on a lead. Should I wait until my puppy is fully trained and listening to me 100% before I take him out with me without a lead OR should I start taking him with me sooner on a lead so he gets used to sticking with me?

 

[riotgirl]

My Jack Russell is 5 and comes out with me if I'm hacking on my own land/farmer's fields. The horse actually treats her as one of the herd and looks towards the dog for reassurance if there is soemthing scary about! She also comes into the bit of the field I do schooling in. Its quite funny watching a dog cantering alongside your horse doing perfect 20 metre circles etc!
I don't take her on the actual road as she isn't really traffic savvy and wil lie down in front of a car rather than get out of its way.

 

[spaniel]

Sorry but have strong views on this. Hacking out with a dog IMO is NOT safe. I dont care how well trained your dog is, you are not in full control of it.

Id be very interested to hear what the insurance industry would make of this on both horse and dog insurance fronts.

 

[druid]

Spans, what if it's only on private land?? I wouldn't dream of doing roadwork with them...

 

[S_N]

I'm affraid I am in full agreement with Spans on this one - though if it's all off road/private land, then I can see the attraction.

In these days of litigation, it is just not worth the risk IMO!

 

[BroadfordQueen]

I take my 2 year old Jack Russell out with me all the time, but only on private land. luckily we have alot of acres to ride in with no roads etc nearby, so i can let her go off on her own, although she loves my horse so is always near by, and always comes when you call her

 

[matthew]

My y/o owner owned a gold club which ran along by the yard-i used to take my dog with me on the gallops there but she did get a bit left behind bless her! she never strayed but i wouldnt take he if i had to go on road-you cant really keep putting on and taking of a lead!

 

[Evadiva1514]

I wouldn't consider taking my dogs out hacking with me, mainly because i have a very energetic young boxer and a weimaraner that doesn't take a blind bit of notice most of the time, they get enough exercise on and around our yard without coming out with me. LOL!!

 

[flyingfeet]

I tried to take our jack russel x out hacking round our farm - however he did one circuit and then got bored and p**sed off rabbitting.

Would never take him on the road as he is a terrier and not too fond of instructions. However used to take our lab out on quiet roads, but he was very well trained and could be made to sit in the hedge if a car came.

 

[pedilia]

I have a border terrier and always take him with me, but I do have 700 acres to ride on which is all off road. Even though he is very well trained I would never take him on the road.

 

[JessPickle]

Personally I would say please dont because I have had 2 problems hacking due to someone else on a horse not having full control of there dog, pickle is quite scared of dogs and dogs that are taken out with horses tend to be more boustrous. Private land fine do what you want but bridleways a big no no in my opinion

 

[allijudd]

i used to take my terrier out with me whn i was working at a hunt yard.....but he used to sit on the pommel of the saddle and balance but i would never take bramble out with me...i would be to scared something would happen!

 

[Autumna1]

I always take my dog with me but I don't have to use roads at all. We do meet others on horses and walkers with dogs, but mine is very quiet and does not rush up barking or anything like that so I have no qualms about taking her. If she was likely to be a nuisance, I wouldn't do it.

As for people's horses being spooked and consequent insurance claims against people with dogs, I would suggest that you make sure you can control your horse before you take it out in public. If you have a problem and your horse tramples a walker, a cyclist or sits on someone's car, you are in big do do and it's no use bleating that something spooked your horse. You are responsible for it and its behaviour and if you can't control it outside of an enclosed arena then you shouldn't be hacking it out at all - end of.

That said, I was on foot walking with my in-laws recently in a country park with bridleways when we met a woman with a boisterous young German Shepherd dog. As we stood talking, a woman on a horse came riding towards us and the GSD immediately started barking. Its owner remarked that it does tend to chase horses but made no attempt to catch it. Sure enough, it rushed up to the horse barking its head off and running around behind it jumping up. The horse duly pissed off pursued by the dog, and the rider did well to stay on.

The dog owner went to catch the dog, and then complained that the girl on the horse had been rude to her - hardly bloody surprising! I pointed out that one kick from the horse and she would have been carrying her dead dog home with her. She said that in her opinion horses belonged in fields and not in places where people walk their dogs - what an arsehole!

 

[Tia]

I take 2 of my dogs with me riding every time - the 3rd dog comes with me in the winter but she can't keep up in the summer as it is too hot for her and she is too old.