Too much trouble to put dogs on leads? (Possible trigger warning)

[Parly]

May be upsetting for some

In the last five years or so we've seen a sharp rise in the number of dog related attacks to sheep. The most recent happened a couple of days ago with fifteen sheep dead and a horse suffering injuries too.

www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/horse-injured-15-sheep-killed-dog-attacks-680675

The owners of one which was killed by a farmer we know went to the local and national press and of course, to social media calling for him out as a disgrace and to be prosecuted.

Poor chap was devastated and said the warning shots and first one to the dog barely registered. Second one made him stumble but he still tried scrambling on his feet again . Third finally brought him down :(

Despite this, we still keep seeing loose dogs on farmland that won't respond to owners or stop for love nor money.

Why don't / won't people just put their dogs on a lead particularly when walking through farmland?

[Brilliantidiot]

The simple answer I guess is they don't care about the concequences.
I love dogs, I adore my two little shits terriers, but I do realise they're dogs, they have instincts and they can sometimes be stronger than training. I realise dogs have their own thought process and it's simply not as sophisticated as ours, they don't think things through. They learn by repetition and re-enforcement. Many people don't know how to train dogs properly, I'm no expert but I know enough to realise one of mine has poor recall (rescue) and is ignorant going deaf with age. She's never so much as lifted a lip in aggression in all the years I've had her. Would I trust her in a field full of sheep? No, because she's a dog. Other one has amazing recall. Will break off anything and come when called, she does show aggression to other dogs but has never towards people or other animals. Would I trust her in a field full of sheep? No, because she's a dog. The potential is there. If we go near livestock (and that includes past fields where they could get through fencing) the leads go on. If we come across children, the leads go on.

I live rurally and every year at this time of year the social media posts about sheep attacks start, and it's horrible. And when I used to ride regularly, have had dogs snapping round horses heels on more than one occasion, off lead and out of control. There was a video doing the rounds on Facebook a few months ago where a dog was harrasing a group of riders on the beach. Owner had no control at all and the dog went for one of the horses faces. Horse tried to get away and that caused the child to fall off. Some of the comments were awful, saying that's what happens when horses are ridden by children, horses shouldn't be on the beach, posh people always blame others, the horse was to blame for reacting how it did....... The horses were walking the surf line quietly and calmly, the dog approached them, and even with a dog running around them barking didn't react, it was only when it lunged for the smallest pony that pony reacted by swinging away, which tbf, a professional adult rider would have had difficulty sitting through.

I think it's a combination of the 'I have the eight's culture that seems to exist and people not bothering to take the time to understand dog behaviour and train them properly. A lovely cuddly pet at home can turn into a killing machine in the wrong circumstances.

[MidniteScribbler]

Some people are fucking idiots.

[Brilliantidiot]

I have the eight's?
That's meant to read 'I have the right'
Stupid autocorrect.

[Bookaree]

People are selfish and ignorant "awww they're only playing with the sheep" .

[k1233]

Brilliant, I was riding my horse one day on a dog on lead path. Of course a person walking along thought that didn't apply to them or their dog and it was off lead. I stopped and saw it sizing up my horse. I gave my horse a big pat and told him "it's alright sweetie if he runs at you you can kill him" - never seen a dog get put on a lead so fast! Reality was if it had gone for my horse he would have left me behind as a distraction while he exited stage left LOL

I grew up on the country and have zero tolerance for wandering dogs. Dogs ripping livestock to pieces for fun is just horrible - it's by no means a quick and painless death for the victims. Agree with shoot first and kill the offending dog.

[LeesPostersAreInFrames]

They think it won't happen to them.

They're not the ones with the heartbreak and financial losses.

They get away with it a lot... until they don't.

Fkn morons.

[Justagirlwholovesaboy]

After watching a video of a dog on Facebook harassing a seal (not aggressive but stressing it out) I worry about dog owner mentality. I have always owned dogs. Terriers I’ve always kept on a lead, even with recall they can’t help but chase. I has a collie who I never even bothered taking a lead out with, brighter than me and could probably walk himself and care nothing of distractions. I do think people should have a license to own a dog and should be held responsible for their actions

[k1233]

The least believable shot dog I heard about was a dachshund that was apparently attacking sheep. By itself probably not a threat but it was with a husky, and that's probably what was doing the killing. Then again I think I remember reading not so long back someone was killed by a pack of dachshunds, so maybe they are more capable of killing than they appear.

[Parly]

@Justagirlwholovesaboy @k1233

Totally agree and find people getting uppity over the breed or size of their dogs and not realising they need not be aggressively chasing or physically attacking sheep for a farmer to kill them.

I have sheepdogs / collie that are well trained and safe as houses but when we're on farmland that isn't owned by people we know they go on the lead.

There's the people that argue to death it's not a risk because they are such small dogs they can't do harm. They can and do very often.

Then there's owners of a breed who will immediately jump to their dog's defence saying it's a lack of understanding and unfair to pick on their dog "just because it's (insert breed here)"

Most people shouldn't own dogs anyway they're barely safe and responsible enough to make toast never mind anything else

[MidniteScribbler]

Dachshunds may be small, but they were bred for hunting. They are persistent and feisty little buggers. I can well imagine a dachshund worrying sheep and causing damage.

Just because a dog may not be physically capable of mauling an animal, doesn't mean they can't do damage. I've seen sheep go into fences to avoid a dog, or running into a dam and getting stuck.

[Thatsnotmyotter]

People always think their dog couldn’t possibly do anything harmful though, don’t they? And I say this as a massive dog lover!) Recently near me a dog walker let two greyhounds off lead and they took down two deer in broad daylight in front of other walkers. I appreciate that the deer weren’t someone’s livelihood but still rather traumatic for all involved tbh.

[User12879923378]

"Recently near me a dog walker let two greyhounds off lead and they took down two deer in broad daylight in front of other walkers."

My grey has no recall and is only walked off the lead in enclosed areas dog walking friendly areas. I'd never let him off the lead on the road or in farmland. He's very gentle and fine with other dogs but has been mauled two or three times whilst on the lead by loose out of control dogs. Must say I can't imagine him bringing down a deer but I have no intention of ever finding out if he can.

[Seahorseshoe]

Yanbu.

[OnlineAlienator]

I think it hurts people's egos to admit that Rex will abandon them and ignore their incredible dogwhispering skills to have fun doing what they love - chasing and killing! Or they just cant be arsed actually managing rex in the first place.

[phpolly]

We stayed recently at a National Trust property with our dogs whom we walked on leads, as required, in areas with livestock as well as wild animals. Of course there was some idiot with a huge white poodle off lead that chased the deer and also harassed our two dogs. When I reported dog and owner to the NT manager, he said that someone else had already reported them and that the man's response was basically "dogs will be dogs." Isn't that the point of keeping them on lead in certain circumstances? I do not understand people who think the rules somehow don't apply to them. And as a responsible dog owner, nothing bothers me more than the irresponsible dog owners that give all of us a bad name.

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

YANBU at all.
Loose dogs who chase livestock, whether on farms or in parks, are a menace. And the owners who can't recall them or refuse to put them on leads are a menace too.

Even with people! I read this with horror recently www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/disabled-man-suffers-terrifying-attack-15834878 - the owners of the attacking dog didn't care a shit about the victim's dog, they just punched him because he was trying to separate their dog from his own assistance dog. The level of entitlement that abounds these days is horrifying and yes, I do believe people who are caught allowing their animals to maim or kill other animals or people SHOULD be prosecuted and banned from ever owning a dog again.
Of course I know that random accidents do also occur - but the owners in these cases are usually mortified and take massive precautions afterwards to ensure that it never happens again, or if they worry that it would, they have their dog put down anyway.

They have the potential to be dangerous animals. Even the ones who apparently are "lovely gentle breeds" can be dangerous. Like this family pet, for e.g., which appears to be a labrador cross , although if you google child maulings by labradors and retrievers, you will get results.
No dog is completely safe at all times.

[OnlineAlienator]

That poor baby :( suffering due to incompetent adults. Why do we expect the dogs to endlessly put up with our shit without comment?

[Brilliantidiot]

Both of those links are awful, total idiocy. The one about the assistance dog is just beyond belief.
And it seems like dogs are status symbols for some, instead of a family pet.
"Look at me with my lovely dog that loves me so much it won't behave like a dog"
Wrong.

[OutOntheTilez]

Thank you to all of the responsible dog owners who have responded here. I’ve never owned a dog in my life but I like them well enough.

OnlineAlienator, that’s a frightening video. Poor little baby.

A little off-topic, but many years ago when my brother, sister and I were all little, we were at my grandparents’ house and my siblings were in the backyard with my grandparents’ German shepherd. DB and DS were playing in a cardboard box when suddenly the dog jumped on the box, breaking it, and then began attacking them. Never before had he ever attacked anybody.

My dad was watching from the window and literally tried to climb out the window in his terror to save them, but he couldn’t get the window open. We ran into the backyard and scared the dog away. DB and DS were scratched up and crying, but not seriously hurt. They were more shocked from the attack. God bless my grandma, but she was upset and crying too, not for her grandchildren, but because my dad was pissed at the dog. She kept saying, “But he’s such a good dog!”

And yes, he always was, and he never did anything like that again. But you never know what can trigger a dog to attack and therefore, when in public, they should always be kept on a lead. Not in our situation in a private backyard necessarily, but in public places and near farmland with other wandering animals. It’s common sense.

[Justagirlwholovesaboy]

My last dog never got over an off lead out of control dog biting his bum as a puppy, he was amazing with people but not with other dogs after that

[FairfaxAikman]

We are tenants on a farm. I know my girl is bombproof enough to be walked off-lead past a field full of sheep - but I still don't do it.

[claptomania]

It’s not an offlead dog problem, it’s an irresponsible dickhead problem. I have a rescue sighthound, and would never, ever allow him offlead in the countryside. Because I understand a dog is a dog, no matter how well trained.

There should be much better regulation of who is allowed to own dogs IMO, and maybe even some compulsory training or testing, as with driving.

[Santaclarita]

I think it should be the law to keep your dog on a lead. It sucks for the well trained ones and responsible owners but the idiots are growing in number and need to be controlled somehow since they aren't capable of doing the right thing.

My horse will attack dogs that enter his field with full intention of killing them. He got attacked as a youngster and he won't forget that. If I am not there, he will attack.

[Cherrysoup]

It doesn’t matter what size the dog is, it can still chase and harass livestock. Even if there is no physical damage done, a ewe could well abort due to the stress. I think owners who allow their dogs to roam in fields with livestock deserve everything the farmer does, including having the dog shot.

[havingtochangeusernameagain]

It's just another symptom of the entitled society we live in. Dogs are expensive to have and therefore a status symbol. So how dare you say that my "furbaby" can't do exactly what it likes?