We have a field and at the bottom of the field, running along the whole of one side, is a public right of way. It's also a small part of a big national walk way so it gets busy in spring/summer.
We have fenced it off (the right of way) completely - it has a gate and a stile at one end and a kissing gate the other end. Not only is it fenced off, but I've had to run pvc coated chicken wire across the whole fence to stop people's dogs and people themselves from getting access to the field. It also stops our dogs from getting on to the public right of way.
Dp called me the other day because he said the dogs keep running off and could I watch the field and see what's happening. So I parked myself where I could watch and there are 2 people from the nearby village coming to the fence, calling the dogs then feeding them fgs. So what is happening now, which never happened before, is the dogs hear someone walking on the right of way and run down to see who it is (whether it's the people feeding them or not).
We're both really worried about the dogs getting stolen now let alone being fed when they shouldnt. I went down and spoke to the people who got really arsey with me and said they were doing a 'nice thing' and it gives them pleasure - they have continued to call the dogs every day.
I am genuinely at a loss. We've asked them not to and they refuse. Only thing we could do is now completely fence off this field from our own dogs which is a shame as half this field is our official garden. It would also be expensive for us to do this as the right of way end of the field is the shortest and narrowest side and the field gets wider towards us. We can also try and train the dogs not to respond but they have the run of the property at the moment and I'm not sure how successful we would be.
Is there anything else anyone can think of? Any rules that prohibit them doing this that I might not know about?