Nasty loose dog on bridle path: what would you do?

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

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Hi, am throwing this situation on the forum coz I'm still a bit shaken up to be honest.

Went for a lovely hack this morning, with a friend, and on our route along a bridle path there's a house with a fenced in garden, where there's normally two alsation dogs who usually go ape***** when anyone goes past.

This morning there was only one dog INSIDE the fence, the other was outside, on the bridle path, and as we went past it barked at my friend's little mare as she was in front, and snapped and snarled round her hind legs. She's a better rider and more quick on the uptake then me, and rode straight at this friggin dog, i.e. horse chasing dog rather than other way around.

This was getting a bit hairy tho' - my boy was behind and was getting a bit stressed as he could see what was happening to "his girl". THEN the owner came out, obviously having heard the commotion, and got the dog in. "Aw sorry" was his response.

The dog had obviously got through a corner of the fence; I don't know whether this has happened before. We've ridden through there before and there's been no problem.

BUT, I'm still shaken from this incident. OK so nothing happened, BUT if I'd been on my own without friend who had more presence of mind then me, I don't know what the heck would have happened. My boy is fine with dogs, but I'm convinced that this dog - if it had been allowed - would have attacked our horses round the back end. Children and other dog walkers use this bridle path which goes right outside the house where these dogs are.

Sometimes I take my little dog out with me if riding solo; and I've a horrible feeling about this whole thing, that this awful dog would just have got hold of him and by the time the owner had got off his arse to do anything about it, my little man would've been a meal.

I'm afraid to go this way again; I don't want to be a victim of a dog attack. There was an awful incident in this area (about 6 miles away) on the common a few months ago, where someone's dog attacked a horse and it bolted and she was badly hurt.

What would people do? I'm inclined to report it to the local dog warden; is that being OTT? I'd feel awful if this dog attacked a child and I'd done nothing, or someone else's kid on a pony who wouldn't know what to do.
 
I would knock on his door, politely explain the situation and point out the hole in his fence. Tell him you don't want his dog getting taken away for agressive behaviour by a dog warden or the police and he won't appreciate a vets bill if the dog did attack a horse in the future. :)

ETA Mention the previous incident regarding the dog attack on a horse and the repurcusions of it.
 
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I am sorry you got a fright and glad no one was hurt.

It's difficult to judge without having seen the incident and you obviously feel the dog was dangerous, but from what you say the dog didn't do much that was dangerous. OK it was loose, which it shouldn't have been but it sounds like the dog sumitted to your friend's horse and backed down, the owner was apologetic and it sounds like a one off incident. I wouldn't necessarily assume from the fact that the dogs bark at horses from inside their fence that they would attack either horses, other dogs or people when free.

However, maybe I am misunderstanding what happen. You say the dog was snarling and snapping at the horse's back legs but then your friend managed to herd it? Are you sure it was being seriously aggressive rather than hyper? I don't want to diminish what happened or how scared you got, but without being present it's difficult to estimate how dangerous the situation really was.
 
I have problems with loose dogs/out of control dogs every day, both when I am riding my horse and walking my dog! :mad:

Whether a dog is being agressive or just "hyper" it can still cause an accident, and in my opinion owners are fully responsible for keeping their dogs under control and on their own property..... end of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had better stop now before I have a major rant ..... :mad:
 
I have always found the most effective way to deal with aggressive dogs when you are on horseback is to turn on them with your horse and get it with a front leg, while you as a rider shout loudly at it to get away. You need a horse like my old boy who was a phenomal dog sorter. He had many a dog running fear as he would actually chase to strike if I was on board. The key is to not walk away, just turn to face and make so much noise the idiot owner comes out. Do not act afraid, your horse will clearly pick that up from you. If he is dog proof, then you will have no problem with turning him round to get dog. if you can actually get them running then actively pursue you will actually be an effective deterrant for others. of course, be careful of roads, I had it in the forestry commission where I used to live, where idiot owners would just let their dogs run out of their sight. Seeing their dog returning at speed with its tail between its legs being pursued by a rider on a horse normally scares the owner shitless:) and may make them think twice in future.
 
I tend to agree with Bosworth that, where dogs are concerned, attack is the best form of defense. I ride past many dogs (usually safely confined, admittedly) and my horse knows what I mean when I say "Woof" which always prompts him to look for the offending canine and he isn't then surprised when it jumps up and barks at him.

If they come running towards us, I encourage him to turn towards them and I find they usually turn tail rather hurriedly.
 
If the owner of the dog had knowingly allowed his dog onto the path then yes I would have been miffed and let him know that!
BUT, this dog escaped a garden. It wasn't let loose to roam. However I would at the very least expect the owner of said dog to apologise and enquire whether there were any injuries and give a contact number should that be the case, along with an assurance that the hole in the fence be mended and the dogs kept in until it happened.
 
I was in a similar 'attack' last weekend. We turned onto a bridlepath and a dog started running after us. The owners were shouting it, but it ignored them. We started to canter, and I shouted to my friend in front that we had a dog following, but she thought it would give up once we got moving.

Anyway, it went for my mare, she kicked it in the head and it fell down, shook itself and carried on chasing. It got past me, went for my friend's horse, got kicked again, but got up and carried on :(

Hopefully now the owner has seen the dog chasing you he will mend the hole before you ride past again.

We were running out of bridepath, and a busy road was coming up, so my friend turned round, chased the dog to the owners, and kept moving it until the owners caught it (It got kicked again in front of the owners). Eventually they grabbed hold of it.

We told them to get it muzzled in future, but I doubt they will. It was a staffie/rottie type, snarling and we felt lucky that neither of the horses, or ourselves got injured. It shook me up too; I'm scared of big dogs at the best of times, and wouldn't have thought of turning on it, but it did work very effectively.
 
It happens quite often to us on various routes, dogs either bouncing off the gates or farm dogs running out and barking their heads off. Ours are fine with it. Doing as your friend did, and riding towards the dog is usually the best course of action (same with cows, sheep, pheasants, geese...) Unless its really dangerous, the dog backs off, its more likely to be injured from a kick, than the horse bitten and the horse gains confidence from making the dog move its feet.
We used to have a peacock that would fly into our school, shrieking its head off. My youngster nearly went into melt down, til I rode her towards the dratted thing and to her surprise -and immense pleasure, the peacock ran away from her each time she got near it.

I hope he dog owner gets his fence fixed, at least he realised he should have kept it on the other side of the fence.
 
I'd have a word with the dog warden, they will happily go and remind the chap to repair his fence and make sure his dogs are secure and it will be taken more seriously coming from someone official.
 
Mmmm, thanks for responses.

I'm not sure the dumbo owner knew there was a hole in the fence, probably not, but he must have wondered why the dog got out.

I'd like to have a chat with him to say look, there's obviously a hole in the fence coz thats where the dog came out of, BUT I'd have to go back there, either mounted - or on foot, which isn't a particularly welcoming prospect!!

I don't know his name to give him a ring, and don't even know the name of the house, its right out in the sticks, tucked away.

As for his dog's behaviour, I'm not sure he would have seen the fact that it was near the horse's back legs, he came out after this had happened and the dog was being chased.

Sodding thing. WHY do people have to have dogs they obviously can't control? I'm trying to be charitable and give the owner the benefit of the doubt, BUT suspect he's such a dimwit that the same thing will happen to someone else.
 
To be honest having had dogs and horses all my life I can't say I have ever had an animal under complete control 100% of the time. It may be I am a dim-whit owner, but I find my animals will always find a way to surprise me despite my best efforts to train then and contain them, so I tend to be more understanding when an animal is ACCIDENTALLY out of control as seems to be the case here.
 
Booboos said:
To be honest having had dogs and horses all my life I can't say I have ever had an animal under complete control 100% of the time. It may be I am a dim-whit owner, but I find my animals will always find a way to surprise me despite my best efforts to train then and contain them, so I tend to be more understanding when an animal is ACCIDENTALLY out of control as seems to be the case here.
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I would agree with this. The dog was normally contained and an accidental escape happened, as a one off, assuming the dog didnt injure the horse or rider, the owner deserves the chance to seriously toughen up their fencing.

I dont think its fair to involve the dog warden at this stage unless either the owner isnt willing to step up and make the fencing such that you have confidence in it, or unless the dog ever gets out again. He needs to be given the chance to do the fencing. I would chat to him, but he may panic and be very defensive initially as he might be terrified that his dog will be taken and put down! so try to go in softly and then get the firmer points across, that you need him to take action to make sure this NEVER happens again and so you have confidence 100%, as you wouldnt have any option then other than to contact the warden.

NB Horses should be able to go past a fence with a dog behind it even if it's barking, thats part of the training like traffic training riders have to do with horses as it is always going to be encountered, - as long as the dog is behind the fence, the horse should be able to pass. Otherwise, noone with a house whose garden adjoins a lane or bridleway will be able to let their dog out in their own garden if they think it will bark a lot.
 
A few years ago I went on a ride with a friend and I took my 5 year old. We had never been this way before and now i know why!!! The bridleway goes through a field which is at the end of someones garden, we were just having a nice walk in the sunshine and out of no where came 2 collies both barking and heading straight towards us. Both our horses shot off (mine bucking as the dog was right behind him) while the owners were in the garden and didnt even bother to acknowledge when their dogs had just done. They literally chased us out of the field!!

Later we went up and tried to speak to them but they wouldnt have any of it. I rode past a few days later with another friend and the same happened. We rang up the council and they said they had received a number of complaints about these dogs and were going to go and talk to the man. The council thought it was because they didnt like the bridle way going through there field and wanted to put people off using it. They certainly have...no one from our yard goes that way anymore!!!

I think maybe if its just a one off maybe the owner didnt realise the fencing was broken but if it continues to happen then I would call someone about it. Even if your horse gets use to it, someone else's may not be and it could cause a nasty accident.
 
Dog is normally fenced in. Sounds like he escaped. Sometimes this happens with animals! Owner sounds apologetic. If it happens again ring dog warden but I wouldn't for one incident.
 
Hopefully it was a one off as the dog is usually in the garden but I do know how you feel as it has happenned to me on a few occasions on the bridleway, mainly minor things but 2 stick in my mind. One thankfully had a muzzle on as it was really going for my horses hind legs but the owner was shouting at me to keep my horse still while she got it, cheeky mare :mad: and the other a young English Bull, stood its ground so I did as some said above and chased it but it didnt move and I made the situation worse as it ended up with my horse bolting with it in tow :(. Thankfully we lost it but I am now a nervous rider, not because of my horse but because of what we can meet down on the bridleway. Sad really as its a lovely place to ride.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Mmmm, thanks for responses.

I'm not sure the dumbo owner knew there was a hole in the fence, probably not, but he must have wondered why the dog got out.

I'd like to have a chat with him to say look, there's obviously a hole in the fence coz thats where the dog came out of, BUT I'd have to go back there, either mounted - or on foot, which isn't a particularly welcoming prospect!!

I don't know his name to give him a ring, and don't even know the name of the house, its right out in the sticks, tucked away.

As for his dog's behaviour, I'm not sure he would have seen the fact that it was near the horse's back legs, he came out after this had happened and the dog was being chased.

Sodding thing. WHY do people have to have dogs they obviously can't control? I'm trying to be charitable and give the owner the benefit of the doubt, BUT suspect he's such a dimwit that the same thing will happen to someone else.
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It sounds like you were understandably quite scared, but in this instance I think you are over-reacting slightly. The dog escaped accidently, was retrieved by owner who apologised.

I would give dog and owner benefit of the doubt in this instance.

For piece of mind it might be worthwhile going there on foot before you ride again to see if the fence has been mended. If it hasn't, knock on door and just mention the incident.
 
Someone on the Muleskinners Forum had a great solution to loose dogs attacking his mule on the trail,...took his gun out of the holster and shot it...said it never bothered anyone again! ;)
But that was in America :D
 
jinglejoys said:
Someone on the Muleskinners Forum had a great solution to loose dogs attacking his mule on the trail,...took his gun out of the holster and shot it...said it never bothered anyone again! ;)
But that was in America :D
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People assume a dog barking/snarling/showing its teeth is 'attacking.' I can understand someone shooting a dog mid-attack, but to go around shooting loose dogs just because they are, what some perceive as 'attacking' is utterly bonkers. Thank God our Government doesn't have the same attitude to guns as they do in the USA. Amen.
 
This is one of the many reasons why I carry a whip on hacks, even if I never *fingers crossed* use it

Just to clarify- I would never deliberately attack an animal, BUT if I was in the situation of having a dog actually attack my horse I'm afraid my horses welfare comes first.

In this case, I would leave things be, and be glad that the owner was in and came to get said beastie!!!
 
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I really feel for you, a similar thing happened to me and I wouldn't go on the path where the dog lived for ages. My horse was always really good with dogs and it has taken a long time to get her confidence back where dogs are concerned.
Also, my OH fell off his horse in the road when a dog was hiding in the hedge and then jumped out to attack his horse. In this case I did go round to the owners house and tell them about the incident and that their dog was out unsupervised and running into the road. The owners were really nice - so they should be as they had horses in their field!
The other dog on the path is now chained up so we can now hack on that path again, it is a public right of way. If it continued I was going to put some stones in my pocket to throw at the dog. As others have said turning your horse to face the dog usually works, but it is horrible when this happens. Saffy was terrified every time she heard a dog barking for a long time.
 
If would be riding with a hunting crop and using it if the dog approached again

I would like to have the aim and accuracy of a huntsman, as I think most dogs would be put off horses with that!
 
I've gone at a dobe and a staff and a collie with a whip, shouting, while mounted and they all turned tail and fled.
I was on a mare and a GSD was hovering beneath her and making her rear, his owners were in the garden and I just said loudly that I had a GSD and there was no way she would be loose near horses and could they please recall their dog as it wasn't doing anything for his reputation.
He wasn't doing any harm, just jumping up but so was she :o

I wouldn't make this into something it isn't, in the nicest possible way, but sorry you had a fright.
 
Dog attacks are one of the most frequent forms of accidents that are reported to the British Horse Society.

You mentioned that whenever you ride along this bridleway that the dogs kick off at the boundary fence. There is a solution to this problem which has been used where dogs are causing a nuisance to passing horses and that is to report the incident to your local District Council who then have the power to use the '1990 Enviromental Protection Act - as ammended' to compel the owner to take action and keep their dogs well away from the boundary of the land where the problem is occorring.

If you ever have a serious problem with dogs always report it to the police stating that you felt you where in danger of being attacked 'that the dog caused them fear or apprehension' and ask for an incident number as this will ensure that it is loged in to the system. Also report it to your local District Council Dog Warden. (It is not necessary to prove under the 1971 animals act that that a dog has a history of having previously attacked and behaved dangerously).

If you ever do have a serious problem with dogs please report it to wwww.horseaccidents.org.uk as incidents are recorded by precise geographical location and can then be used as a historic record of incidents happening at a specific location.

For more information on dangerous dogs go to www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/domestic/dogs.htm or contact defra on 08459 33 55 77

Peter Natt BHS Volunteer BHS Bridleway/Access Officer
E-mail: peter.natt@btinternet.com
 
Booboos said:
To be honest having had dogs and horses all my life I can't say I have ever had an animal under complete control 100% of the time. It may be I am a dim-whit owner, but I find my animals will always find a way to surprise me despite my best efforts to train then and contain them, so I tend to be more understanding when an animal is ACCIDENTALLY out of control as seems to be the case here.
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Totally agree! I can't understand why the dog owner is immediately referred to as "idiot"
or "dumbo dog owner". I guess everybody on here has perfectly behaved animals at all times....
The dog seems to have got himself out of the garden one way or another and the owner retrieved it as soon as he was aware of the situation. I'm not at all convinced this could be classed as a dog attack, it's one of those things. As the Op said, the house is out in the sticks, so probably not a lot of local 'traffic' coming by, hence the dog doing what it's supposed to do, make a lot of noise and look threatening.
 
jokadoka said:
Totally agree! I can't understand why the dog owner is immediately referred to as "idiot"
or "dumbo dog owner". I guess everybody on here has perfectly behaved animals at all times....
The dog seems to have got himself out of the garden one way or another and the owner retrieved it as soon as he was aware of the situation. I'm not at all convinced this could be classed as a dog attack, it's one of those things. As the Op said, the house is out in the sticks, so probably not a lot of local 'traffic' coming by, hence the dog doing what it's supposed to do, make a lot of noise and look threatening.
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Oops, apologies!!!!!!!
OP did not say the house was out in the sticks, that was somebody else, My age must be creeping up on me....!
 
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