How would you handle this ? Dog chasing horses

[Asha]

A neighbour ( across the other side of the field) has a greyhound type dog. Its escaped numerous times, ive caught it once going up and down the main road. Other neighbours have also caught it on numerous occasions

A couple of weeks ago, the son was taking him for a walk passed our drive. ( Gates closed) Next minute I see the young lad running up and down frantic. The dog had forced its was into our garden ( might have jumped wall not sure) chasing one of our cats. The dog has chased poor Bert and cornered him in the garage. Fortunately Bert managed to jump on some shelves and then into the roof space. The lad then manages to catch the dog and takes him away. No apology from the family

Tonight hubby rings me, theres a loose dog in our field ( no right of way) chasing and snapping at my foal, yearling and old broodmare. They all come running up to the gate, hubby starts yelling at the dog. The owners are in the next field trying to get it back. After a good 10 mins, the dog goes back.

Would you go and see the neighbour, report this to the dog warden etc ?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would report it to the police. I rang the dog warden after an altercation with a local dog-walker who regularly allowed her dog into our field of sheep and horses, it got tangled up in some electric sheep netting and nearly throttled itself on this occasion. The dog warden couldn't do anything about stock worrying but referred me to the police. She could do something about the dogs being allowed to walk off lead along a 40mph road mind you. For these purposes, horses count as stock.

 

[ihatework]

I'd be catching the dog and taking it to the dog warden myself.

 

[bonny]

I think before anything else you need to talk to the owners

 

[Snitch]

Unfortunately being liable to be shot if worrying stock doesn’t apply to the stupid human owner, it only applies to the dog and of course it isn’t the dogs fault, so I’d definitely opt for the police.

((disclaimer.... I really don’t endorse shooting anybody))

 

[eggs]

In the first instance I would talk to your neighbour explaining the danger the dog is in if it keeps on getting loose. Be prepared though to get evidence of the dog being a nuisance when loose to take to the police

 

[cobsarefab]

I once had to get a greyhound out a field of ewes they were trying to get in lamb (valuable ram in there as well) told farmer so she could check the sheep. The next day there was a bug sign saying "if your dog is found amongst these sheep it WILL be shot." I had a vicious little yorkie in my field a few
Times before I managed to get to it fast enough one time to take it back to the owner, explain in no uncertain terms it would get kicked and if the horse got damaged they'd foot the bill (explained that an injury could well be at least 3 grand) told them that if it went in the sheep field it would be shot and I didn't see the dog in the field again. I'd have a similar chat with this dogs owner probably not as bluntly though.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

A neighbour ( across the other side of the field) has a greyhound type dog. Its escaped numerous times, ive caught it once going up and down the main road. Other neighbours have also caught it on numerous occasions

A couple of weeks ago, the son was taking him for a walk passed our drive. ( Gates closed) Next minute I see the young lad running up and down frantic. The dog had forced its was into our garden ( might have jumped wall not sure) chasing one of our cats. The dog has chased poor Bert and cornered him in the garage. Fortunately Bert managed to jump on some shelves and then into the roof space. The lad then manages to catch the dog and takes him away. No apology from the family

Tonight hubby rings me, theres a loose dog in our field ( no right of way) chasing and snapping at my foal, yearling and old broodmare. They all come running up to the gate, hubby starts yelling at the dog. The owners are in the next field trying to get it back. After a good 10 mins, the dog goes back.

Would you go and see the neighbour, report this to the dog warden etc ?

I would go have words with th owner and say if it happens again or the dog in your fields or land you will report it and go to police, at least that way he cannot say he was not told or warned.

If all else fails


Report to police and dog warden - try and get any pictures when this dog is chasing or on your land. If this person cannot control his dog in a public place - he should have it removed.
I would be furious if it chased my cat as we know they can be injured by these types of dogs I would do it tomorrow as you don't want to leave it till to late.

 

[Asha]

ive just spoken to the neighbour. I explained, the dangers of dogs around horses, and how its highly likely that if the dog chased the wrong horse it could easily be kicked, and as some of mine have shoes on, one kick could kill their beloved pet. I also explained that my horses are dog friendly, as they've been brought up with one, but faced with one chasing them and trying to bite, they could kick out in defence.

She explained that the dog is a sheepdog crossed with a lurcher, and therefore bred to chase. They never thought for a minute it would chase horses, just rabbit and squirrels. Well that's ok then I suppose ! She apologised and promised not to let it off the lead in the adjoining field again.

Something tells me there is another incident waiting to happen.

Was I too soft ?

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Was I too soft ?

no, what else could you do? just try and make sure you film it next time and be prepared to take it to dog warden yourself. is there still a fine to pay on collection or is that just Scotland?

 

[blitznbobs]

Get a shot gun licence...

 

[Tiddlypom]

I think you've been too nice . I would tell her that your horses are valuable, and that you will shoot the dog if you see it in your fields again. I would also report it to the dog warden, if there is such a post after the cuts.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

OP, note down all that has happened this and previous times.
Then, if you ever have a repeat of it, you go straight to police and dog warden, with info. I would also revisit neighbours and tell them that you are logging the previous incidents, leaving them in no uncertain position that their dog must be on a lead and any trespass will be dealt with in law.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

no, what else could you do? just try and make sure you film it next time and be prepared to take it to dog warden yourself. is there still a fine to pay on collection or is that just Scotland?

Def a fine in England too, round here it's £100 to 125 min charge. One council also charges for fitting micro chip if none found.

 

[canteron]

Look its not the dogs fault, hunting is clearly in its blood, so the most effective/simplest this is to help train the dog yourself. One of my friends dogs starting chasing my horses when a foal joined us - as it was a lot of fun for the dog, its what the dog is born to do.

So, when the opportunity presented itself I stood with the horses with a lunge whip and while staring at the dog is as aggressive manner as I could manage I lashed out at it with the whip (didn't hit it, but just looking for an impressive 'crack' with the whip) and chased the dog out of the paddock. It never had the confidence to do it again - in fact the horse now chases the dog if it has the opportunity - argh!!!

So like all things, rather than fall out with your neighbour, have a chat and explain what you will have to do and the purpose is to scare the dog to ruin its fun, not hurt it. Maybe they will even let you set up a situation where there are 2 or 3 of you with lunge whips and then you are sure to convince the dog not to try again.



Edited to add, people love their dogs dearly and are very protective of them - my concern if you go in heavy handed at the first point, you will cause long term problems with your neighbours and they will secretly be waiting for the day when they can get their revenge by being equally unforgiving to one of your animals/friends/children when they step out of line, don't do it unless you have no option!!!!

 

[YorksG]

Look its not the dogs fault, hunting is clearly in its blood, so the most effective/simplest this is to help train the dog yourself. One of my friends dogs starting chasing my horses when a foal joined us - as it was a lot of fun for the dog, its what the dog is born to do.

So, when the opportunity presented itself I stood with the horses with a lunge whip and while staring at the dog is as aggressive manner as I could manage I lashed out at it with the whip (didn't hit it, but just looking for an impressive 'crack' with the whip) and chased the dog out of the paddock. It never had the confidence to do it again - in fact the horse now chases the dog if it has the opportunity - argh!!!

So like all things, rather than fall out with your neighbour, have a chat and explain what you will have to do and the purpose is to scare the dog to ruin its fun, not hurt it. Maybe they will even let you set up a situation where there are 2 or 3 of you with lunge whips and then you are sure to convince the dog not to try again.



Edited to add, people love their dogs dearly and are very protective of them - my concern if you go in heavy handed at the first point, you will cause long term problems with your neighbours and they will secretly be waiting for the day when they can get their revenge by being equally unforgiving to one of your animals/friends/children when they step out of line, don't do it unless you have no option!!!!

Good lord, who has the time to "train" other peoples badly behaved dogs? The neighbours need to buy a bleddy lead and keep hold of their dog round stock!

 

[Landcruiser]

Exactly. Why should OP have to keep a look out that her cats and horses aren't being attacked, and keep a lunge whip handy? Letting a dog be out of control around livestock is an offence and the neighbour is totally out of order. The neighbour has now been warned, next step inform the police. You can't take the risk of a killed cat or a horse through a fence, nevermind the dog being kicked.

 

[Denbob]

We had a problem with a labrador chasing our horses for a while. One day I caught it sneaking across the front field while I was riding, horse's blood went up, ears went back and that was it, chased it across the field with not much I could do to stop it. Between that and a pellet gun aimed at the ground about 20 feet in front of him (never aimed to hit it, just scare it) we didn't see it again. I wouldn't say you went too soft at all OP, it's best to try and keep things civil, but i'd agree that writing it down (and letting the owners know you've done so with the intention of proof if things do progress) is a good course of action!

 

[only_me]

Look its not the dogs fault, hunting is clearly in its blood, so the most effective/simplest this is to help train the dog yourself. One of my friends dogs starting chasing my horses when a foal joined us - as it was a lot of fun for the dog, its what the dog is born to do.

So, when the opportunity presented itself I stood with the horses with a lunge whip and while staring at the dog is as aggressive manner as I could manage I lashed out at it with the whip (didn't hit it, but just looking for an impressive 'crack' with the whip) and chased the dog out of the paddock. It never had the confidence to do it again - in fact the horse now chases the dog if it has the opportunity - argh!!!

So like all things, rather than fall out with your neighbour, have a chat and explain what you will have to do and the purpose is to scare the dog to ruin its fun, not hurt it. Maybe they will even let you set up a situation where there are 2 or 3 of you with lunge whips and then you are sure to convince the dog not to try again.



Edited to add, people love their dogs dearly and are very protective of them - my concern if you go in heavy handed at the first point, you will cause long term problems with your neighbours and they will secretly be waiting for the day when they can get their revenge by being equally unforgiving to one of your animals/friends/children when they step out of line, don't do it unless you have no option!!!!

I’m impressed that you can stand by your Horse and crack a lunge whip without them reacting. And then have a few people crack a whip together! Such fun. Perfect way to train a dog.

Also with training the dog - why should she? It’s not her dog, it’s causing a problem and has spoken to owners. Logical steps. Next steps are dog warden/police. The owners have been told of what will happen if it happens again, so it’s up to the owners to control their dog.

Just because a dog is bred to hunt doesn’t mean it should, don’t be so silly. A beagle is bred to hunt but you don’t see them tearing through London looking for the fox. But that would still be ok cos its in their nature? Owners don’t have to try if it’s just their dogs natural instinct :rolleyes3:

 

[Cecile]

Good lord, who has the time to "train" other peoples badly behaved dogs? The neighbours need to buy a bleddy lead and keep hold of their dog round stock!

Completely agree^^
This dog has also been rescued from the main road, who is going to stand in the road and train it and what time is it coming?

The owners need to get a grip and take responsibility of their dog. Small wonder farmers are sick of out of control dogs around their livestock and with 49 dogs shot as time goes on if the law isn't tightened up that number will only rise, it may be the dogs instinct to chase but it is up to the dog owner to control their animal, if anyone is unable to control their dog, get rid of it and buy a goldfish.

I know quite a few people who are working tirelessly to try to educate these type of nutcase owners and I know quite a few who are fed up with idiots and will now pick up a gun, no its not the dogs fault but until the law changes and we are allowed to shoot the dog owner unfortunately the dog takes the blame

http://www.sheepwatch.co.uk/effects-of-sheep-worrying.html

 

[DD]

report to Police

 

[npage123]

In our street there used to live a lady who had zero control over her (beautiful) GSD. She always had him on a lead, however he was always towing her all over the place. I've seen her (through the window) countless times letting go of the lead when the dog was chasing the neighbour's cat in their front yard.

The one day, one of my kitties was in our front garden, and her dog got loose and tried to catch my cat! I stormed out the front door to protect my cat and to confront the woman. Her reaction? She wasn't really bothered about what I had to say, just laughed her head off and said her dog was just trying to go and play with someone's white cat...

Whilst explaining that it was one of my cats and that it's completely unacceptable for her to not be in control of her dog on other people's property, her dog ran into my open front door to try and catch my other cat!! And the stupid woman laughed even harder! Luckily my Staffie is good with other dogs and just seemed very surprised at finding another dog running into the home.

To this day I can't believe the lady's behaviour and her lack of understanding of what it means to be a responsible dog owner. Was SO glad when she moved away! (She even had the cheek to ask me for a lift to work one morning after this incident! I'm usually a easy-going and friendly person but she just got and abrupt NO! from me.)

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I think you've been too nice . I would tell her that your horses are valuable, and that you will shoot the dog if you see it in your fields again. I would also report it to the dog warden, if there is such a post after the cuts.

^ 5 this

Bred to chase maybe but squirrels and rabbits - but you already said it chased your cat. Dogs like that do not know differential other than small fluffy things. What will they say if they go for your cat again and this time injure or kill him.

I would not accept their comment regardless of it being bred to chase, they are bred to chase things on organised hunts or culling events, not chasing people horses and cats.

The VERY least they could do is muzzle this dog and keep it on a leash

 

[Andalucian]

I had a similar problem with an out of control whippet, called the dog warden and they told me to shoot it, no question. Gulp.

I finally saw the owner and told her what the warden said. The dog has been fully controlled ever since, no further issues.

 

[Leo Walker]

I've got working bred whippets, they've been socialised with horses but theres a good chance they would chase them if allowed. They arent allowed because I'm not an idiot. But cracking lunge whips would achieve precisely nothing. The dogs wouldnt come near the people with the lunge whips, but it wouldnt stop them coming back when the people werent there!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would put signs up in very obvious places, saying "Dogs worrying livestock will be shot" You can get similar signs on Amazon etc, so that they don't look home-made.

 

[Cecile]

In our street there used to live a lady who had zero control over her (beautiful) GSD. She always had him on a lead, however he was always towing her all over the place. I've seen her (through the window) countless times letting go of the lead when the dog was chasing the neighbour's cat in their front yard.

The one day, one of my kitties was in our front garden, and her dog got loose and tried to catch my cat! I stormed out the front door to protect my cat and to confront the woman. Her reaction? She wasn't really bothered about what I had to say, just laughed her head off and said her dog was just trying to go and play with someone's white cat...

Whilst explaining that it was one of my cats and that it's completely unacceptable for her to not be in control of her dog on other people's property, her dog ran into my open front door to try and catch my other cat!! And the stupid woman laughed even harder! Luckily my Staffie is good with other dogs and just seemed very surprised at finding another dog running into the home.

To this day I can't believe the lady's behaviour and her lack of understanding of what it means to be a responsible dog owner. Was SO glad when she moved away! (She even had the cheek to ask me for a lift to work one morning after this incident! I'm usually a easy-going and friendly person but she just got and abrupt NO! from me.)

I think she moved to Newbury area

There was an old woman who regularly used to let her dog chase the calves whilst barking its head off on Greenham and when she was told off her reply was Its only playing!
She used to loose this dog for hours sometimes days and seemed to spend half her life paying the pound for its return, some people used to deliberately take the dog to the pound miles away, not locally
just to keep her busy

She also thought the traffic went to quickly in the 30 mile an hour area, so what she would do is put this dog on its extending lead and put it one side of the road and she would walk on the other side with the lead really low down (Usually on a Sunday morning) and when any traffic came along she would raise the lead up in the air whilst laughing, when I saw her do it all I could imagine was the dog being pulled under the wheel arches of a car if the lead was ever caught

She also kept screeching at people who complained to her *He is NOT a dog, he is a hound and he is a hunting dog* complete contradiction

Everyone knew her in the area, I used to see her dog get to the end of his extending lead and keep going and she would often get pulled over or have to run to keep up by being yanked all up the road

 

[laura_nash]

Was I too soft ?

I think you were about right, since she apologised and didn't just brush you off I would wait and see. Did you discuss the escaping and it coming into your garden after your cat? Make a note of everything that happened, the date, and that you spoke to her and she promised to keep it on the lead. Then if it happens again you can follow up more forcefully.

 

[Asha]

I think you were about right, since she apologised and didn't just brush you off I would wait and see. Did you discuss the escaping and it coming into your garden after your cat? Make a note of everything that happened, the date, and that you spoke to her and she promised to keep it on the lead. Then if it happens again you can follow up more forcefully.

Yes , mentioned the cat. She said she wasn’t aware of that, and found it strange as her son usually tells her when things go wrong. I reinforced the fact that it most certainly did happen, I had t made a fuss at the time as her son looked very upset at the time. So I hoped that would have been a lesson learnt.
She admitted she was in the field with the dog and had seen it all, which I find disappointing, if that had been my dog I would have been right around apologising .

As for helping to train their dog, no I won’t be doing that. I will take note of all times etc in case something happens again. Thanks everyone x

 

[Asha]

OP, note down all that has happened this and previous times.
Then, if you ever have a repeat of it, you go straight to police and dog warden, with info. I would also revisit neighbours and tell them that you are logging the previous incidents, leaving them in no uncertain position that their dog must be on a lead and any trespass will be dealt with in law.

That’s a good idea , let them have time to digest what’s happened, then I can let them know I’m taking it very seriously. The idea of putting signs up is also a good one . Thanks again