How would you handle this ? Dog chasing horses

It does sound like a dog their son shouldn't be left in sole charge of.

I would worry that they are the sort of people that blame what the dog is and don't like it enough to do anything about it so would certainly be wary/have a back up plan if it happens again.
 
Dogs out of control infuriate me. I've had one recently in my garden after my cat & when my OH yelled "Get control of your dog & get it out of my garden", we had the owner at the door half an hour later complaining he'd scared the kids.

I've had a dog grab my pony's heels. (It got kicked).

If a dog is not under close control & have an immediate recall, it should not be loose.

OP I'd make the police, Dog Warden & the owner aware of the points made above. Your horses are stock. Worrying is an offence & you have a right to defend your stock. Injuries to stock are expensive & those costs will be passed on.
Put signs up & keep a bloody good eye out.
 
ester said:
It does sound like a dog their son shouldn't be left in sole charge of.

I would worry that they are the sort of people that blame what the dog is and don't like it enough to do anything about it so would certainly be wary/have a back up plan if it happens again.
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agree with you on both counts, hopefully we are wrong. Time will tell i suppose
 
My neighbour has two yard dogs .. get this ... they are absolutely APPALLING around horses. Barking, snapping at legs, they go nuts if horses/ ponies are brought on the yard, off the yard, stabled they need to barricade the front of the stable door because one wont leave the horse or pony inside alone, keeps jumping up when it puts its head over the door trying to bite it! Honestly they are absolutely under no control, rarely told off, certainly not consistently thats for sure and if they get out ... they chase everything in site!

They now understand that if they have escaped and are chasing horses in the field and they see me they had better run for their lives because if i get hold of them i will beat the living life out of them! Sad really!

OP a little soft if I'm honest but then I am renowned for going in on a level ten when in fact going in on a level 1 like you have gives you room to go up later on. Next time not so nice Ok otherwise they wont listen or do anything about it!
 
A local farmers got given a warning and a £40 fine for anti social behaviour by police the other day because he used his sheep dog to round up an out of control dog that was causing his sheep. He farmer then got a load of abuse from the owners of the dog as he had bopped it on the bum with his stick. The owners have walked away Scot free. This is mere days after police scotland launched another new campaign to teye to get dogs kept on leads around livestock.

You couldn't make it up sometimes!
 
At least she's suggested she will hopefully now keep him on a lead although if he's that prone to running off I think I'd tell her she needs to keep it on a lead at all times when near your property (which includes going down the road since it jumped into your garden and could potentially have killed your cat!). When we moved in here, our neighbours have a big greyhound type dog that was "free range". They'd just open their door and let it go for its own walk. It was a nice enough friendly dog, and I never found it in my horses field however I did find it pooing in our front garden and it appeared in our back garden sometimes. I would always take it back over to them straight away to politely make a point but I didnt want to fall out with them the second we moved in so at my own expense we put up a 6ft high mesh fence round our back patio so that at least I could let my own dog (and cats) out without fear of my dog running off with or fighting with theirs or their dog chasing my cats. However, I had to say to them that Id really appreciate it if they could keep their dog on their premises once I started to back one of my horses. The last thing i needed was this massive dog leaping out of the woods opposite while I was just getting on the horse for the first time. They were very good actually, put up a fence round their garden and I dont think Ive seen it free range since! They walk it past on a lead now. Maybe Ive just got very nice neighbours ;) Either way, I cant stand free range dogs so I would definately speak to them about it. They wont realise the problems it causes. The twice my own dog has escaped Ive had my heart in my mouth trying to find it quickly, even though it is not a hunter, doesn't look like one and never harmed anything in its life, if a farmer saw it in his sheep field then I know there's a high chance it'd be shot pronto. I find it bizarre some people dont think about that!
 
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Speak to your neighbour and tell them that it's likely if your dog gets too close that your horse will kick out and that it's likely the dog would die. If that doesn't sort it out they don't love their dog enough
 
Adonissaan said:
Speak to your neighbour and tell them that it's likely if your dog gets too close that your horse will kick out and that it's likely the dog would die. If that doesn't sort it out they don't love their dog enough
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I wouldn't do that. If the horse does then kick the dog they can turn around and say you knew your horse would kick and thus is dangerous. This is why we no longer put 'Beware I Bite' signs around the yard now.
 
EKW said:
I wouldn't do that. If the horse does then kick the dog they can turn around and say you knew your horse would kick and thus is dangerous. This is why we no longer put 'Beware I Bite' signs around the yard now.
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A yard is very different to a private field though, isn’t it? I can see the rationale behind the ‘beware I bite’ signs potentially causing difficulty on a yard where others are perfectly entitled to come and go, but the OP’s private field is different, or maybe I am wrong?
 
EKW said:
I wouldn't do that. If the horse does then kick the dog they can turn around and say you knew your horse would kick and thus is dangerous. This is why we no longer put 'Beware I Bite' signs around the yard now.
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I don't see the issue - If your horse kicked a dog in a public area that was under control, then that would be an issue, if you warn people that your horses may kick, the horses are on your property and a dog is there without your permission and is kicked as a result of its actions then its quite simple foreseeable consequences of a dog being out of control. The issue is the dog being on your property and out of control, not your horses kicking dogs.

You are mitigating the risk of the "Dangerous horse" by keeping it on your property unless it is under control (ridden)
 
Snitch said:
A yard is very different to a private field though, isn’t it? I can see the rationale behind the ‘beware I bite’ signs potentially causing difficulty on a yard where others are perfectly entitled to come and go, but the OP’s private field is different, or maybe I am wrong?
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Yes, its a private field with no right of ways etc. The only access to the field is through our front gates, or through another farmers fields. So its usually very private / secure. The neighbour was walking her dog through the farmers field, the dog has run off, jumped a running ditch and through our fencing to get to the horses.
I made the neighbour aware of the danger our horses kicking out in defence , I also made the point that our horses are dog friendly under normal circumstances as they have been brought up with our golden retriever, who they all adore and can be seen grooming him over the fence. But no horse is going to put up with being chased by a snapping dog.
 
Hanno Verian said:
I don't see the issue - If your horse kicked a dog in a public area that was under control, then that would be an issue, if you warn people that your horses may kick, the horses are on your property and a dog is there without your permission and is kicked as a result of its actions then its quite simple foreseeable consequences of a dog being out of control. The issue is the dog being on your property and out of control, not your horses kicking dogs.

You are mitigating the risk of the "Dangerous horse" by keeping it on your property unless it is under control (ridden)
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sadly you are wrong...your logic is correct but legally wrong. This is why warning sign are put up all over boarded up property - in case some idiot actually thinks it is safe to trespass.

Helping the owners train the dog to not chase stock would be a kind gesture. While I fully appreciate it is not the concern of the OP, I was thinking hard about how I trained my own dogs around my horses. In my case it was a few well aimed dandy brushes when I was ignored but I had time and access to my own and now all of mine respect horses. Dog sounds like a proper escapee so I would try to act pre-emptively. Chasing the cat is harder. My dog walker loves and rehomes greyhounds. She knows how to manage her dogs but one has proved to be fixated about cats and a red mist will come down. She has trained and got into the habit of putting a muzzle on her dog whenever he goes outside. This means that if something happens and the dog makes of over the (big) fence, it can't no longer harm neighbours cats.
 
Luci07 said:
sadly you are wrong...your logic is correct but legally wrong. This is why warning sign are put up all over boarded up property - in case some idiot actually thinks it is safe to trespass.

Helping the owners train the dog to not chase stock would be a kind gesture. While I fully appreciate it is not the concern of the OP, I was thinking hard about how I trained my own dogs around my horses. In my case it was a few well aimed dandy brushes when I was ignored but I had time and access to my own and now all of mine respect horses. Dog sounds like a proper escapee so I would try to act pre-emptively. Chasing the cat is harder. My dog walker loves and rehomes greyhounds. She knows how to manage her dogs but one has proved to be fixated about cats and a red mist will come down. She has trained and got into the habit of putting a muzzle on her dog whenever he goes outside. This means that if something happens and the dog makes of over the (big) fence, it can't no longer harm neighbours cats.
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It is a crime to allow your dog to worry livestock - the onus is on the dog's owner to keep the dog under control around livestock (which for this purpose includes horses). It is also illegal to allow your dog to chase mammals i.e. the cat. The owner has been warned about both incidents and wouldn't have a leg to stand on if there is another incident, even if her dog did get hurt. The putting up of signs about biting horses/beware of dog etc is in relation to a person getting hurt, even if they have no legitimate reason to be on the premises.
 
Luci07 said:
She has trained and got into the habit of putting a muzzle on her dog whenever he goes outside. This means that if something happens and the dog makes of over the (big) fence, it can't no longer harm neighbours cats.
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Thats not true sadly. They can and will use their head and muzzle as a weapon and bludgeon for want of a better word :( She would be better increasing the fence or using a long line.
 
Asha said:
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 ?
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The dog would get shot on my land if it was trying to attack the horses or any of our stock, not the dogs fault but if it's my animals safety over a stray dog, the dog is going.
 
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