When did it become acceptable to allowdogs to run free across other peoples land?

I think everyone agrees that accidents do happen - but an accident means you do everything possible to apologise and ensure it doesnt happen again!!

Sounds as if one owner was downright rude and the other too enbarassed to do anything other than bugger off...they should've been straight to landowner begging not to be reported.

Any dog off lead in a public place can be deemed dangerously out of control, and therefore subject to the risk of being confiscated and put to sleep (worst case scenario).

All my dogs are allowed free roam of my private land because they cannot get out - and are stock broken in any case, but if they did somehow get onto anyone elses land and go after a rabbit/deer/bird etc througha flock of sheep then the landowner would be well within their rights to shoot the dog!! It would be my fault for putting the dog in that situation where they were able to be "out of control"!

I only walk a few of mine in public off lead and thats because they are the ones which I know I can rely on not to be disobedient to commands even in the unexpected scenarios - but even those rock steady ones are put on lead around any livestock!
 
My job involves trying to educate people to keep their dogs under control in a conservation area. Birds tend to abandon their nests when rampaging dogs appear, and we have had plenty of young birds killed by uncontrolled pets, and owners remarkably do not understand why they should use leads. Or poo bags for that matter.

The thing about "accidents" is that yes, they do happen, but a responsible person will do their best to make sure they don't.
 
bonny said:
I appreciate that, I’ve seen what attacking dogs can do to sheep, I haven’t owned sheep but I’ve lived and worked on a farm, people are numpties, some shouldn’t have dogs, we live in an imperfect world.
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By taking the line of "no harm was done this time, so I'll let it go", you're not exactly helping to educate the dog owner.

That owner will continue to let his dog run free around grazing land until one day there really is damage done. Either the dog will injure livestock, will cause a ewe to abort, or the dog will get mangled by a horse.

What's better, then? Wait until the numpty allows his dog to injure or kill an animal or to be injured or killed itself? Or to politely inform the numpty that the incident will be reported to the local police and that further incursions may result in the livestock owner taking all measures allowed by law, possibly including shooting the dog?

On the subject of shooting a dog that is worrying livestock... how many farmers have a .303 rather than a shotgun? I can't imagine that a shotgun is the right gun for a dog running around in a flock of sheep.
 
This is completely bizarre, is harm being done only being measured by visible blood and gore now??

I live by a canal which is a SSSI for, among other things, little grebe and water vole. It is a popular walking/cycling route, and legally and reinforced by signs, dogs should be on leads and are absolutely not meant to be leaping in and out of the water, wrecking the banks and disturbing wildlife. I'm guessing the majority of people I encounter on my walks are also of the mindset that "no harm was done" because little Tiddles didn't actually come out with a water vole in their mouth...

I keep my dog on a lead constantly because a) his recall is hit and miss b) I live in Derbyshire, so even if I enter a field without sheep/cattle/ponies you can put money on them appearing at some point, never mind the nesting birds, hares etc I might encounter on the moors etc. Its not worth the trauma to any livestock and me and my dog if he was (quite rightly) shot for being a nuisance. He is only off lead at mine/friends secure gardens/land or in confirmed arable country when visiting friends. How people can be so certain their dogs are 100% never going to chase/spook livestock I don't know.
 
I live in Scotland, even with the right to roam, you dont have the right to have your dogs running loose around stock even if they arent bothering them directly. And if 'your' loose dog gets in with my poultry or my horses then 'you' will get a mouthfull (and actually my ponies are more than likely to see dogs off with teeth and front feet-and no, I wont give a toss).

I've had a pack of out of control dogs scaring my horses on slick ground (wet on top, frozen underneath) and it wasnt remotely alright, it was terrifying. we've had so many attacks on stock in my area that its got to the point where I wont let my steady dog off except in specific areas because I want local farmers to know that any sheep worrying would never be from my dogs as they are always kept safe. as soon as any 'no stock' areas get known to dog walkers, the paths get full up with dog crap and numpties parking in passing places-then they get annoyed because I am out on a pony and their dogs go mental. I bloody hate dog walkers me.

*I am spectacularly grumpy today.
 
bonny said:
The way I read it the sheep weren’t worried, the op just seems to be annoyed about dogs on her land.
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And rightly so. It's not a right of way for people or dogs.

When hounds came on to my property last year, was I happy - hell no. Even though no harm came toy dog or cat ( on that ocassion).

Wow betide they enter again.
 
Despite the access laws in Scotland, dog owners are expected to act responsibly and that means not allowing their dogs to hurtle through livestock after rabbits. Yes of course accidents happen (and a couple of times recently I’ve had off lead dogs jump in a field with my sheep) but a heartfelt apology goes a long way.
 
Start walking with your gun when checking your stock if you have one.

You wont have to use it in most cases but its amazing how quick word gets out and people suddenly learn better control in the local area when theres a clear possible consequence to their actions.

A dog without reliable recall should not be off lead near stock especially sheep.
 
The thing I don't get in this thread is that Bonny is hanging onto the idea that "it's OK as nothing was hurt" and her insistence that the op is overreacting. I thought it was very common knowledge (even to townies but especially to countryside dwellers) that dogs must be on a lead around livestock and they don't have to bite livestock to cause an issue. I think we all understand that sometimes we misjudge things and get it wrong, I was walking my dog in the borders many years ago and I always check if fields are empty before I let her off but in this instance there was a small bit of field that I hadn't seen (looped around the corner at the bottom) where Tehya found all the sheep, she proceeded to round them up and keep them in the corner, I was very bemused by where a 1 year old malamute learned hearding behaviour and even though she didn't bite anything I didn't then think "oh look she's good with sheep I don't need to worry about her around them", I felt terrible that I had not checked the field enough and had the landowner been there I would of course have been embarrassed and extremely apologetic. I think it's the lack of apology and sense of entitlement that makes the OP so annoyed more than it actually happening in the first place and I don't see how Bonny can't see that, if we all have to learn to get along and be more tolerant of each other than surely that goes for dog walkers respecting other people's land and livestock and following simple rules.
 
Aru said:
Start walking with your gun when checking your stock if you have one.

You wont have to use it in most cases but its amazing how quick word gets out and people suddenly learn better control in the local area when theres a clear possible consequence to their actions.

A dog without reliable recall should not be off lead near stock especially sheep.
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We don’t own a gun, nor would I want to, but there are six gamekeepers on this Estate, all who carry guns and who would undoubtedly shoot a dog chasing sheep. We rarely have a problem thankfully.
 
Luna is never off lead unless we’re at the horses where I have secure boundary fencing. She stays well out of the way of the horses. I do let Aled off lead when we are in the woods or in fields well away from roads, but there are no livestock where we tend to walk them. We don’t live too far from the Derbyshire Dales, and often take them out for the day for a lovely walk. Both are on lunge lines then so have freedom to run around, but we still have hold and can get them back quickly if sheep appear.

I rent my own field for the horses, and I wouldn’t be happy if strange dogs were running around amongst them, any harm done or not. If I’m honest, although my 3 are ok with my dogs, 2 of them wouldn’t be with strange dogs anyway. One would want to play (roughly), and the other can get quite aggressive. I’ve seen it before where I used to livery and people walked their dogs through the fields.
 
The Right to Roam in Scotland is actually a Right to RESPONSIBLE Access - allowing a dog to run around livestock is not responsible - end of.

How would a dog owner know is a ewe later aborted or became ill through stress after a dog ran through a flock? A horse could later be found to be lame after being upset by dogs or could potentially act out of character when seeing dogs when out hacking because of an incident in their field. Just because there was no noticeable harm done at the time of the incident doesn't mean this was actually true in the long run.
 
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