Irresponsible dog owners!!!!!!!!

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alfiesmum

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out on a little hack last nice along our own bridle way which is used by joggers, walkers, horse riders and dog walkers. all is usally fine until last night!

Out on my own on my friends extremely well behaved stallion passing several types of people and i saw it coming....

A jogger with a huge dog (german sheperd cross)! big stick in its mouth which it dropped and it headed straight for us snarling and barking, owner whistled on it, (seriously he whistled) dog jumped up at us several times definetely trying to bite horse. owner just kept whistling, no attempt to grab dog himself, i shouted that if it got kicked it was his fault, (there was no obvious sign of a lead either).

Got away from the dog and owner and stopped to get over the shock. this was all witnessed by several other dog owners who all came to check we were both ok and thankfully we were. i carried on hack for another ten minutes and turned for home.

Was chatting away to a really nice gentleman walker and he saw the dog approaching again! YES the same dog and jogger! so the nice man shouted to jogger to get control of dog and did he? NO! attacked us again luckily clever horse booted the dog as soon as it tried to jump up at his hocks!
normally i am quite quick to shout at people but i couldnt even speak, i was so shocked that not only did it happen once but twice within half an hour,
horse nor i were hurt but imagine if that was someone else!


Now should i go to police or not?


rant over :P
 
No if's and's or but's!!!!....GO TO THE POLICE! The next rider might not be so lucky.If the incident has been reported and a discription of the dog (better still witness's)then it is on record......also fill in the BHS incident form the more these are done the better case riders will have for safe riding areas
 
Report it, please.

Your horse was amazing to handle it so well. Mine would have left, pronto, and left a wake of discarded dogs and pedestrians behind him.
 
alfiesmum said:
out on a little hack last nice along our own bridle way which is used by joggers, walkers, horse riders and dog walkers. all is usally fine until last night!

Out on my own on my friends extremely well behaved stallion passing several types of people and i saw it coming....

A jogger with a huge dog (german sheperd cross)! big stick in its mouth which it dropped and it headed straight for us snarling and barking, owner whistled on it, (seriously he whistled) dog jumped up at us several times definetely trying to bite horse. owner just kept whistling, no attempt to grab dog himself, i shouted that if it got kicked it was his fault, (there was no obvious sign of a lead either).

Got away from the dog and owner and stopped to get over the shock. this was all witnessed by several other dog owners who all came to check we were both ok and thankfully we were. i carried on hack for another ten minutes and turned for home.

Was chatting away to a really nice gentleman walker and he saw the dog approaching again! YES the same dog and jogger! so the nice man shouted to jogger to get control of dog and did he? NO! attacked us again luckily clever horse booted the dog as soon as it tried to jump up at his hocks!
normally i am quite quick to shout at people but i couldnt even speak, i was so shocked that not only did it happen once but twice within half an hour,
horse nor i were hurt but imagine if that was someone else!


Now should i go to police or not?


rant over :P
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You should definately report this. The problem you have is that you don't know who, or where this person lives, but do report it, and give a description. The Police, and your council's dog warden may have a record already of this person.

We had a similar problem, where a very vicious collie dog near us attacked 5 horses being ridden in separate incidents. The owners were identified and were warned several times by firstly the local dog warden, and then after the 2nd incident it became a police matter. In the end the owners were forced to have the dog destroyed when the last rider was hurt after she fell, and the horse bolted through the village, also sustaining injuries and causing traffic caos.

I think I was the 3rd rider who was attacked by the collie. I was walking along, and the dog ran out of the owners open driveway, and jumped onto my horse and latched onto my horses tail. My horse partially fell down, then did some massive bucks and the dog let go, but I was so frightened and my horse went into a blind panic, and it happened in the village. I'm thankful there were no cars around when it happened, and that I somehow managed to stay on, otherwise the outcome would probably have been horrendous for me.
 
Do report it, it helps us as riders too if incidents like these are recorded even if they don't do much about it.

I ride on the cotswold way and usually encounter polite people but if I saw that I would be really scared out on my own!!!
 
I have a very well behaved German shepherd who would not dream of doing that to a horse..as he comes to yard with me and is trained around the horses...so please dont tar the dog with a nasty broom. he does not know the consequences of his actions. it is the owners fault therefore the owner should have been booted a lot bloody harder...some people are just pure irresponsible and shouldn't IMO have any animals.
 
Always Blue said:
I have a very well behaved German shepherd who would not dream of doing that to a horse..as he comes to yard with me and is trained around the horses...so please dont tar the dog with a nasty broom. he does not know the consequences of his actions. it is the owners fault therefore the owner should have been booted a lot bloody harder...some people are just pure irresponsible and shouldn't IMO have any animals.
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You are right - it's the minority that spoils it for everyone else.

The thought of booting a few owners I know is delightful! Don't worry I won't obviously... but if the horse kicks the dog then that's between them. Nothing to do with me.
 
Report it to the police (telling them you where in fear of being attacked) and ask for an incident/chrime number.
Also report the incident to the local dog warden.
Also report it on www.horseaccidents.org.uk as the British Horse Society are collecting statistics on dog attacks on horse riders.
We have also been attacked while hacking out past a farm. The farm dogs ran out on to the road and attacked my horse pulling her down on to the road. My horse was injured and I ended up with vet fees to pay. I reported the matter to the police and dog warden and they both visited the owner of the dogs and warned him to keep the dogs on his land.
The same dogs had attacked a number of horse riders before but no one had bothered to report the owner. Consequently the dogs had continued to attack horse riders and eventually me. Had others bothered to report it my horse would not have been injured. So for the sake of others please report this incident.
 
How scary for you! you are lucky the Horse you was on didnt go mental!

I would report too as the next Horse and rider might not be so lucky, I was hacking the other day and a loose German Shepard came running up to the Horses, my share Horse can handle dogs but she wouldnt be able to cope with them jumping up at her, a van was just passing us, so we put our hands up and asked him to stop, he did and got out the van so we asked him to hold the dog as we were frightened it would get hurt or we would get hurt, the man then replied "oh his mine, I left the back gate open for him :O" some owners are just so irresponsible! Luckily the dog wasn't being aggresive to the Horse's but could have been much worse if it were an aggresive Dog!

We reported this dog as it also went for the yard cat, when again it was let out loose!
 
My horse is now scared of dogs because of 2 owners like that :( one day a collie type sarted biting his fetlocks when I was taking him out, when I asked the lady to get hold of it she said it was fine, it was just hearding the horses and then got really stroppy at me when I pointed out it was about to bite and I would not be responsible if it got kicked. Then we went hacking and got chased by a diffrent dog and the owner made no attempt to stop it as the pony ran for his life, I only just managed to stop him running through a wire fence :eek: now he struggles to walk past a dog and will kick out if one comes too close and he is not a kicky type of horse :( its a shame as I was considering taking him hunting next year but now I dont think he will cope with all the dogs
 
Definitely report it, even if nothing happens in this particular case the police may know who it is or begin to build up a case against the person. I had a very nasty accident after my horse was chased by a dog, you've been relatively lucky that nothing too serious has happened but we need to speak up so that the authorities know that these things happen and can take action.
 
Always Blue said:
I have a very well behaved German shepherd who would not dream of doing that to a horse..as he comes to yard with me and is trained around the horses...so please dont tar the dog with a nasty broom.
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Yes it is the owners, but relax, nobody was saying it was because the dog was a german shepherd cross. ;)

I think it is more forgiveable if the owners are at least trying their hardest to get the dog back under control, because let's face it, as animal people we are all well aware that even the best trained animal can sometimes behave less than desireably. its when the horse is obviously getting upset and the dog isn't laying off and the owners are just strolling along oblivious that it ticks me off! :mad:

I have been known to shout at somebody who wasn't in the least bit bothered that their dog was running around to my horse snarling and barking and generally winding him up, "Its up to you love - call your dog off or he gets his head stoved in by half a ton of horse!" That prompted them into rather swift action, although I must admit the pony's well timed buck also helped! ;)

Going off-topic a bit, but in order to win a bit of dog friendly PR I often used to offer to owners to bring their dog to meet my (under control and not bothered by dogs) horse. Half the time they are scared of the huuuge animal in front of them, and I think a scared dog can turn into an aggressive one easily in the wrong circumstances, so I'd far rather introduce them in a controlled situation for the safety of all local horse rider's sakes. Same principal with groups of teenage lads - I'd rather stop and have a friendly chat and let them have a pat of the horse, that way next time they are driving and come across a horse rider on the roads I like to think that they are more inclinded to be considerate.
 
I totally agree with everyone elses opinion. Report it.

Me and the cob were attacked last year by a border terrier. It wasn't on a lead and the old woman who was walking it had no control. It bit the horse so I called across to her (politely) could she get the dog as it was likely to get kicked. Long story short, the cob kicked the dog, the woman went home crying and he son (50 year old bloke) followed me and verbally attacked me. He had a proper go and I was really upset. I went to the police straight away. I wanted the incident on record because for several reasons.
a) if the dog was injured/dead they might try to claim from my insurance. b) in case the son tried to attack me again and finally in case it happened to someone else.

I now know that they couldn't claim from my insurance but I'm pleased I reported it as it is a regular occurence with this dog.
 
Naturally said:
Going off-topic a bit, but in order to win a bit of dog friendly PR I often used to offer to owners to bring their dog to meet my (under control and not bothered by dogs) horse. Half the time they are scared of the huuuge animal in front of them, and I think a scared dog can turn into an aggressive one easily in the wrong circumstances, so I'd far rather introduce them in a controlled situation for the safety of all local horse rider's sakes. Same principal with groups of teenage lads - I'd rather stop and have a friendly chat and let them have a pat of the horse, that way next time they are driving and come across a horse rider on the roads I like to think that they are more inclinded to be considerate.
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This I completely agree with!!! I sometimes let dogs have a sniff and say hello. I speak to the owners too and it's good to explain how things are and how some horses are ok with dogs and others aren't so. I even throw in a "you could always ask a rider if it's ok" and this seems to work around our part as the riders seem to know each other and we are gradually getting to know the dogs.

Funny story: Border terrier wants to say hello, Malt just been on looooong hack, quite bored of long walk home, dog sniffs gingerly, horse sniffs and does MAHOOSIVE snort..... in dogs face! Poor dog, flies through air in startlement now covered in mud AND snot. That particular yapper will not be going anywhere near a horse anytime soon... :D

ETA: owner stopped saying hello.... :(
 
tallyho! said:
Funny story: Border terrier wants to say hello, Malt just been on looooong hack, quite bored of long walk home, dog sniffs gingerly, horse sniffs and does MAHOOSIVE snort..... in dogs face! Poor dog, flies through air in startlement now covered in mud AND snot. That particular yapper will not be going anywhere near a horse anytime soon... :D
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Ha ha ha! I love it!

I'm not sure I'd want to take my dog up to something which was going to cover us in snot, either! ;)
 
Sorry to read about your incident but def report it!!! I live in Berks/Surrey and recently heard of a woman that was hacking her horse out (as safe as houses apparently) when they got chased by a husky........ she is now paralyzed, dog owner didn't even try to find her.

I was XC schooling on the weekend (a very busy venue- find it hard to believe a dog walker would fail to notice this!!). However, we just got onto the course- 4 very fresh horses- when a white german shepherd looking thing came charging at us. Seriously nearly got off as just wasn't sure what the dog was going to do (you know when they have that crazed/hunting expression?!!). Anyway...after 20 mins or so the dog was caught but the owner was just clueless; a) the dog could have been killed and b) me or horse (or both) could have been seriously injured.

I have no problem with dogs off leads as long as they are known to have a certain level of obedience. It's sad that such tragic accidents still take place but until we all start reporting every incident I don't think anyone (i.e. the police!!) will take any notice.
 
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