Irresponsible dog owners

[arabmania]

I am sick to death of people who either cannot control their dogs or don't appear to want to!
Both my mares, whilst riding today, were attacked twice by the same 2 dogs, whilst their owner seemed oblivious to the danger of what his dogs were doing.
The 1st time resulted in me having to eventually growl at the dogs to back off and pleading with the owner to get them on a lead before they either got kicked or caused the horses to flee.
The 2nd time, which was 20mins later as we were riding homebound, i called out to the owner to get hold of his dogs. He didn't.
The result was the dogs jumping and snapping around one of my mares, Asti's, legs and stomach. To her credit she tolerated it again for a few minutes before going into flight. She had simply had enough. The dogs went for chase continuing to bark and jump on her, snapping all the time.
The owner took no responsibility at all and i had some very serious words with him, He refused to give me his name and address should a vet be needed for any injuries that may be caused by his dogs that he would need to pay for.
I was so angry although i did remain calm and watched my p's and q's at the time.
Poor Charisse was beside herself. but to her credit, listened to me asking her not to flee after Asti.
My mares were injury free but Asti is obviously affected as she kicked out at Charisse as we rode too close afterwards. This applied inhand also as we entered our yard, missing me by inches
I know they will get over it with time as they do have years of experience with dogs. My own dogs ride out with us and are regularly in their stable and fields.
It leaves me with a very bitter taste in my mouth as to what can be done with these irresponsible owners? I am literally fed up of my dogs being attacked and paying out for vet fees and now my horses

[cuffey]

Please report on www.horseaccidents.org.uk/

The map already shows a number of dog attacks in Manchester area
Statistics are important when BHS are lobbying

[jinnie]

My daughter had a similar experience when out hacking,Two joggers had a dog with them and were letting the dog run loose.The dog chased after my daughters horse snapping at him.Luckily although he was very young at the time he remained calm.My daughter had a schooling whip with her and was able to hit out at the dog and scared it off.She always carries a schooling whip, not for the horse, but as a deterrent against cars as you can tap them with it if they get too close(scares the life out of them). I recognized the description of the dogs owners as I had already had a run in with them crossing a footpath through a horse field and letting their dog chase the horses.I went to their house blew my top and threatened to inform the police if I ever saw their dog out of control again.Also I can't understand if they love their dog how can they but it at risk of injury?

[Furiey]

My family have had dogs since I was a child. However I've also been on the receiving end of uncontrolled dogs when out riding. Some dog owner seem to have either no idea or just don't care about how their behaviour affects anyone else. After all they have a friendly dog, he's just playing. Same problem when I was bitten by a yorkshire terrier when I was on my bike as a child. The bite broke the skin, but I was saved from more serious injury by a fallen down sock. The owners thought it was funny (they were more upset that I had kicked the dog to get it off) and didn't like being told the police would be informed if it happened again (this was 40 years ago).

[mollichop64]

I think I would have been tempted to ring the police there & then. Irresponsible, arrogant jerk!

[wabuska]

And sadly... as soon as the horse does flee, things get worse. We try out best to turn and face them... it's so dangerous. You're quite right to get their details. Idiots.

[Azrael]

Some people just aren't fit to have dogs, idiots.

I've fortunately not encountered many such idiots but take the attitude that if they don't recall their dog it'll be sent packing back to them and my ponies are very used to dogs and quite enjoy chasing back. Last time we had an idiot thinking it was funny their dog was chasing the horses at the beach I pulled up and decided it was my turn and chased it back towards the owners. Dog wasn't all that bothered but owners were shocked enough to keep hold of the flippin thing afterwards ;D

[jes]

Now here's a tail of well behaved dogs. We were out hacking the other day and turned down a rough lane to find a man with 6 Labradors, all loose. As soon as he saw us he called his dogs to him and got them all sat in front of him in a semi circle. He talked to them the whole time as we went past and they had their full attention on him. When we had got past he just said "come on then" and all 6 dogs turned and followed him back up the track. Wonderful to see, it made my day!

[marsay]

On a positive note I have also had dog owners who have behaved above and beyond what was necessary and I have thanked everyone last one of them. Can't say the same for the two riders that came towards me in the woods a few weeks ago.

I have a young puppy but after a bit of chasing I caught her. They never called out to me to catch my attention nor did the riders have any high viz on and one had no hat and neither of them thanked me for catching my puppy or for my perfectly well behaved collie dog sat next to me obviously well trained.

I was really pissed they had such a snobby attitude to me and looked me up and down giggling at my obvious struggle with the puppy and these were adults not kids.

Not defending those bad dog owners it must have given you a fright!!

[jinglejoys]

Its modern society.Dogs aren't allowed socialisation unless its at a vet puppy party or dog training where they meet the same situations every week and people have no socialisation with dogs for the same reason.The only time the dog gets off the lead is on a footpath(which wasn't what they were meant for)where they run loose and get no training either.If you can't control your dog then don't let it off the lead full stop,the basic first lesson in obediance

[marsay]

The people we are talking about don't think they have any responsibility to keep their dogs in control, thats different to socialising a dog. In my response my Collie is never on a lead very well trained comes to heal immediately and would never chase a horse, my puppy on the other hand is being trained so therefor it take a little while to catch it if she gets over excited, but if horse owners don't behave the way we expect dog owners to do then we are just as bad!!

But I think the original thread was about dog owners who don't give a S**t!! My brother in law was recently mauled on his way to work, the dog was destroyed and the owner went to court but was let off as she was at a loss as to how it had gotten off it's chain, my brother in law said it was never on a chain, ever but managed to break through the fence that day!! He had to have plastic surgery!!

The dangerous dog act has so many loop holes all we can do is keep reporting to the BHS who may be able to lobby for a change, but where the hell do I report rude and irresponsible horse riders!!

[mrsfields]

argh my neighbour's dog escaped from their property last night as our guineas were out of their enclosure ranging on our farm, and killed two of them - am absolutely gutted!

she's had her eye on them for a while from over her side of the fence, and she took her opportunity to escape and went running straight onto our land, despite her owners being right there!

they did apologise profusely but i warned them that if their dog gets out onto our land again and goes for the horses, it will end VERY badly (my lads are likely to go into full-on attack mode - they have done so in the past) - she also runs at them along her side of the fence when she can - the horses ignore her mostly now, but the other day she did sneak up very quietly and then jumped up against the fence and ken was so startled he turned on the spot, slipped on the mud and sat down! poor lad - he was fine, but a little embarrassed bless him!

loose dogs out hacking are a nightmare! we used to have an aggressive New Foundland to deal with at our old yard - was petrifying! it had NO respect for its owner, and regularly attacked horse riders and cyclists! even ended up breaking its owner's leg in one incident it was so unruly! we had to give up hacking along that route - was just too dangerous! it really can be a problem!

[Solly]

Mine (and a cat) were chased by a large golden retriever yesterday. The owner wasn't at all bothered when I told her. One of my New Forest ponies won't let dogs near him as a result of previous chasings, so this has reinforced that problem. Anyway, I need to put some signs up about keeping dogs under control/not chasing horses. Could anyone tell me please if it is an offence to let your dog chase horses? (It's council-owned land riddled with footpaths.)

[cuffey]

Some areas have dog Wardens--worth finding out especially if land is Council owned
I have been known to report professional dog walkers who totally spoiled a beauty spot for all other users there at the time--dogs racing about, chased horses which were being led--so either total beginners or RDA, poop not removed, bird watchers lunch hour wasted etc.............

[clara81]

In our area loose dogs are a real problem on the roads and footpaths. I haven't had much bother with the ponies but my dogs are always getting attacked. The main problem is guard dogs (GSDs and Rotweillers) which are not fastened up properly and they run out at you as you pass. Me and my house mate have emailed the dog warden numerous times and inlcuded photos of dogs in the road but they don't even reply. They did once send a letter to the owner of an Akita that grabbed and shook my friend's JRT but only because it had crossed a main road in front of a load of witnesses and had already attacked various other dogs, one which was fastened to a push chair!