Farmers dogs on public footpath

[Cuppateeee]

Just been on a lovely walk in the countryside, only to be spoiled by a shouty farmer. Need a different perspective on it otherwise it will just wind me up. Will include picture.

Walking with my dog on a lead through a field, staying on the public footpath when I see two border collies barking in the distance. I stay where I am to look for a farmer to check if they are aggressive or not, no one in sight, they are staying where they are but still barking and in the way of where I need to walk, so I went back and walked down the other side of the fence.

I get to the bottom and see the dogs have gone, also notice the gate was open so they could have got to me anyway, never mind I’m there now and go over the stile back onto the public footpath.

Only then I notice the dogs have come back, so again I check to see if I can see the farmer because whilst they weren’t growling they were barking which is intimidating enough.

At this point there is a fence between us so not a problem but I check to see where the public footpath leads and you’re supposed to join the farm track but their gate is open. The dogs are following me and my dog down the fence, still barking, so I decided to walk away from them not wanting to risk what would happen when we reach the open gate. I am at this point on the farmers field.

After a few steps a farmer comes running shouting for my attention, I stop and see what he wants. He said ‘the footpath doesn’t go along there, you’re damaging the crops’. So he was clearly watching me, and would have been able to see that I was uncomfortable with his dogs around.

There is snow on the field so I wasn’t sure what I was walking on but either way I said, sorry I appreciate that but your dogs were being aggressive towards me and my dog so I felt I had no choice.

He kept repeating that if I can’t stick to the path then I shouldn’t go on the walk, which in normal circumstances I totally agree with, but in this case I felt it best, to protect me and my dog.

He insists his dogs are not aggressive, they are with him at this point, still barking but I admit not growling or coming closer, just staying with him, but I said again that I was not to know this and didn’t want to risk anything happening to my dogs.

In the end I walked away because he clearly could not see my point of view.

So was IBU waking on his land or was he. And if he was is there anything I can do to stop if happening to someone else. Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading.

Deadbudgie
Maybe just lots of the people I know have been unlucky!
I encounter farm land and farmers quite a lot with my job. I've never been bitten by a dog, but I've had several near misses with horses, been chased by bullocks, harassed by geese and menaced by a goat or two...

And on a public footpath every time!

Geese are bastards.
I have seen them chasing a big dog. I am wary of geese.

Bullocks tend to be very friendly and curious. They act more like over large puppies. So they may have chased you as a game. But doubt very much they were attacking. Although I appreciate it may have seemed that way.

Also because public footpaths are usually very ancient paths that have existed for hundreds of years, I have zero sympathy if they go very close to your house. This is like buying a house in the countryside and complaining that muck spreading should be banned.

The worst thing about terriers is their love of chasing rats.

The worst thing about the 3 I've had was their ability to open doors. One of them could even open doors that had round handles. I'd shut the buggers in the kitchen while I hoovered the living room, and I'd have barely started when they'd open the door and charge in, and give the Dyson a serious what for.

I don't mind the chasing and killing of rats (at one point, we found a dead rat in the garden approx once a week), but I was very upset when the current dog managed to kill a hedgehog in the garden. Of the 3 I've had, she has the strongest prey drive by miles. She is also the sweetest and the most loyal.

I would be upset by the hedgehog too.
Our family live in a house with old fashioned doors where you had to put your finger through a hole to open the latch. Terriers could not manage that.
I am happy for them to kill rats, but not to chase them so they run near me.

I do not think you should have walked on his crops. I know it is a pain, but I think you should have turned back and found another route.

Working dogs bark, it’s how they communicate, and you were on their land. My (supposedly working, but totally lazy) dog barks if someone’s near our property, but doesn’t growl and wouldn’t arrack, it’s just her way of warning us that someone is there.

Bullocks can be quite sweet, and I say that as someone who has been sat on their arse by a horse who took exception to a load running up to the fence we were riding next to, I kept hold of the reins and the witch made friends with them over the fence as I picked myself up! They were just being inquisitive, but I was glad the farmer had fenced them in with seperate set aside from the bridleway. They didn't want to hurt us but they're big rough buggers and I'd have ended up hurt if I'd been in with them I think.
Interestingly a stock man once told me that if you find yourself amidst cows and calves with a dog being chased, don't carry it or hold it - let it go, most dogs could out run a cow and are more agile(I await being refuted for this!) And will get themselves out of the field, the cows follow the dog and you can get away. Not sure about that though because of the risk to the cows from the dog attacking? Never been in that situation.
As for terriers, lovely, loyal and intelligent dogs, with absolute ownership over anything they decree is theirs and this includes humans. Great guard dogs as they can hear a pin drop, and excellent at escaping from anything I think my JRT has thumbs?! and great for keeping vermin down.

Mary, beamur agree about geese very aggressive animals. Those beaks!

Also because public footpaths are usually very ancient paths that have existed for hundreds of years, I have zero sympathy if they go very close to your house. This is like buying a house in the countryside and complaining that muck spreading should be banned.

Public footpaths are a recent development and gained legal status thanks to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Up until that point many paths would have been access routes. Roads will go between larger settlements. Paths go from a house to the road, generally. So many farms and rural properties will have ancient paths which were declared public footpaths under the 1949 Act. These go pretty much right up to their door, because their original purpose was for occupants to go the church or school and for post to be delivered.

So it would be hard to buy a rural property that was free from one of these paths. Often they are slightly re-routed to avoid going directly to the door of the property but that is their origin - they're access routes which became leisure routes later.

I know they are access routes. I used to walk them between villages, and not for leisure purposes. And if a path was only used by the occupants of the house, although that is unlikely, it has still been used for 70 years as a path open to anyone. If you don't like them, don't buy a house with one. And it is rubbish that you can not buy or rent a cottage that does not have one, although it may be true that you can rarely buy a whole estate without one.

Most signed public footpaths are paths between villages. And some of these are still used for access purposes.

And just looked, paths had to be used by the public to be designated rights of way.

"the law assumes that if the public uses a path without interference for some period of time – set by statute at 20 years - then the owner had intended to dedicate it as a right of way."

I do find it v strange that at a time when people are worried about the UK being able to produce enough food, pressure
On farmers by supermarkets to sell goods at ridiculous prices, well documented pressures on farmers mental health there are so many people calling for them to expensively fence off their livestock/crops so some entitled and overly sensitive walker can go for a sunday stroll.

And most rights of way are ancient paths recorded by enclosures act or similar.

Budgie They don't understand that would also mean walking on a narrow strip of land between two fences. It would be very unattractive and the last thing most walkers would want.

"the law assumes that if the public uses a path without interference for some period of time – set by statute at 20 years - then the owner had intended to dedicate it as a right of way." Which is why we will be walking the currently closed path to ensure the developer can't claim it is an unused pathway!

It's also why we used to stand in our garden and explain that the right of way didn't go through it, it went round it, yes, through that puddle/pond that grew overnight because of the torrential rains. And no, you can't just nip through! No, that is our path to our back door!

Mind you, at the other end the right of way does go to someone's back door and on to the main road. Most uncomfortable to walk past, especially iin summer if they had the door open. But they had lived there forever and each generation of kids made pocket money selling cold drinks

Mary exactly. In all my years of walking tbh I have never come across anyone with an issue on any animals they meet in the countryside- non of them are exactly unexpected obstacles!!!

I have come across a bull in a field that was a public footpath. Just the bull in the field. Some farmers are cunts.

How wide is a right of way?

There was a right of way along the stream where one part of my family kept sheep. No one in the family cared. It was frequently boggy down there anyway, which is why it was used for sheep. The only thing they did used to complain about was people parking so they blocked the farm gate.
And they would shoot dogs that were off the lead.

I assume it’s just wide enough to walk along or ride along if a bridlepath

Walking in single file or in pairs though? This is just something I was idly wondering - you always know which direction the path should head in but not just how wide it is. I wondered if there was some kind of rule. I'm guessing it's basically "common sense" though.