Q about walking over agricultural land.

[Slubber]

I am bristling with rage here, possibly unreasonably but would quite like to have a sensible discussion with fellow dog owners and not burst into flames of fury.

Have just done the dog walk, one that I do twice a day. A good percentage of it is over agricultural land that is currently planted with wheat.

Dog is off the lead and pretty much the whole time is on the footpath with me or rootling about in hedgerows, sometimes she will stray onto the field, and then I will recall her back to the path. Initially I was concerned about her damaging the crops but on several occasions now I have stopped and looked what her paws are doing and yes they are sometimes treading on the crops but by no means are they being destroyed. I'm a reasonable person so if I'm told on here that by going on the field she is really destroying the crops then so be it, I will have to walk elsewhere.

Today I am walking with a friend and her cocker. Cocker flushes out a pheasant from the hedgerows and both dogs start to chase it. My dog recalls straight away to the whistle (thank God), my mate has forgotten her whistle so she asks me to whistle for hers and her dog comes back. Yes they were running on the field, pheasant has flown off.

Next thing we know we have an angry woman in our face, lecturing us about the growing crops and keeping our dogs off them (they were off them until pheasant incident) and then she says that the pheasant is her hand reared pet and if she see my dog chasing it again then she will shoot it.

mmm here I lost the plot a bit and called her a cow, thus losing any higher ground I might have had.

Then there is a full blown row with much shouting.

Not great really, I hate losing my temper.

God this is long sorry,

Anyway apart from that I SHOULN'T have called her a cow, does my dog need to be on the lead at all times if we are walking over agricultural land? As this is what this woman insisted that it should be.

Slubber - the woman definitley went over the top. It was not her land. She did not need to speak to you that way.

However, the land your dog was on is private. Footpaths do cause a lot of friction. Most farmers are actually quite relaxed about them (admittedly some break the law and try to be obstrucive) they just want people to be respectful and not treat the field around as if it was public property. Not everyone is respectful.

Most people would be very unhappy with people walking through their garden with a dog - but dont feel the same way about a farmer's field.

No one has a right to stop you walking your dog on a footpath though and you should not be frightened to do so. However, as you obviously know, a dog like yours need quite a lot more than 'a walk'.

Is there a piece of land near you that you can use one of those 'sling shot' devices that throw a ball a long way so your dog can do retrieving practice? Its a good way to excercise a dog in a small space and would build your dog's obedience and interest in retrieving by making her/him sit until the ball is thrown and then only running to retrieve on command rather than 'rushing in'.

Sorry, just to be clear. I am not implying you are not respectful of the farmer's land.

Beta this thread has been very useful about making think more carefully about the land I am walking over and how I manage my dog while we are walking.

We have a ball lobber (much loved) but rather frustratingly now I will have to get in the car and drive the dog to the nearest common ground rather than being able to use it on the miles and miles and miles of public footpaths that I can access directly from my house.

Tis a bit of a bummer tbh but I have taken on board that she needs to be on lead on them until I can guarrantee close heel off lead walking.

Sorry, GentleOtter, I only just spotted your post. how awful about your poultry, just awful .

My friend and I have discussed the incident and think it might be a good idea to drop the local Bobby an e-mail to explain the incident and see what he says.