To let my barky dogs have free reign of the garden?

[Mayhemmumma]

We live in a rural area with no neighbours.

Our garden is surrounded by a public footpath (to three sides of property)

It's usually silent here in the week but at weekends there are horse riders, cyclist, walkers and dogs enjoying the country side.

My two small dogs get very excited and bark at passers by, they ignore the horses and cyclists on the most part but go a bit crazy when other dogs walk past, lots of barking and they follow them by running around the garden barking away.

They love being outside but as the nice weather approaches and more people are out and about, is it unfair to let them roam and bark at passers by?

Completely normal in a rural property in my experience. As long as they are contained then you can do as you like if you don't have neighbours to upset.

Personally I'd look to train them to keep their cool as it is annoying

Can they see or get to the passers by?, if not then I doubt people walking past will not be bothered about dogs barking for a few seconds. But, every time they bark and chase they are learing to ingrain the behaviour and the more they do it the harder it will be to get them to stop.

Noise aside, is their overexcitement and heightened stress levels not a worry for you?

If they are safely enclosed and no neighbours to complain then let them be.

As long as they aren’t disturbing any neighbours then let them crack on .

I was about to say yabvvvu, expecting you to say you lived in a terraced house in the middle of a city and stuff the neighbours my garden, my dogs, my rules

But rural and with no neighbours, as long as they're safe I really can't see a problem with it

We do quite a lot of walking on public footpaths in rural areas and have been barked at many times. We are not bothered in the slightest if the dog is behind a fence and can't get out. We do take exception to loose dogs who jump on us or the one who actually bit DH on the leg once - which was actually on a tarmac lane/road.

Thanks. It does bother me hence why I'm asking.

They are young (1&2) and intact, if that makes any difference and a barky breed - dachshunds.

It's been hard to train them because most of the time it's so quiet so dogs are startled by other dogs and passers by, it's also been totally silent here in the cold weather too.

I'm glad to see most people wouldn't be overly bothered, I don't want to ruin a nice walk for people but seems a shame to keep them indoors.

They are safely contained so no risk of harm.

considering where you live it’s ok. But I’d still
try and train them out of it if possible.

Training tips welcome I'm at a loss! One starts and the other follows

Safely contained, is fine and not free rein. The horses might be startled by sudden yapping though

Perhaps you could have one of those dogs running free signs near the path then riders know to keep a short rein and watch out for a shy and dog owners have the opportunity to put them on lead.

I would worry about them doing this at a passing horse and rider and then causing an accident.

Could you put some kind of cover on the fence so the dogs can't see who's walking by ?

Given where you live YANBU, but I might consider putting a sign on the back fence or where the path is to warn horse riders that there's dogs. That way they can anticipate some barking rather than be caught off guard.

Can you put peep holes in thefence for you dogs so they can see who it is.

Provided there are no neighbours that would get annoyed by the barking I'd just let them be outside. If we are out walking and dogs bark when we go past we don't think anything of it. If you're rural and usually quiet it's probably because they aren't used to it. Useful safety feature though!

No its not good to have barky dogs at all.

It can cause the horse/rider to panic, either hurting themselves or others.
It can cause cyclists to swerve, perhaps hurting others.
It can scare young children, or indeed adults who are wary of dogs.
Noise carries further than you think.
Your dogs will feel stressed out and its not good for them.

Just train them properly. A warning bark is one thing but constantly yapping dogs running up and down is another.

THERE IS PROGRAM ON AT LUNCH-TIME AROUND 12.30 WHERE A MAN TRAINS DOGS WITH BAD BEHAVIOUR. HE IS VERY GOOD.

SORRY FOR CAPS. BAD EYES.

I was in rhe countryside the other day and some cows started making that moo-ing noise. I quickly remonstrated with a farmer who was mucking about in a tractor (just going up and down a field!!!) and he told me to "Piss Off" but in a 'Jethro sort of accent'.
I think he said something else too but some blasted sheep began that baa-ing sound, so we left.
Why can't it be nice and peaceful in the countryside? Surely that's what we pay our taxes for?