Told by the farmer to keep dog on a lead?

[mudstuck]

I was walking my dog through a field and the farmer came up on his tractor and complained that he had seen my dog off the lead. There are no sheep or livestock around, and I would always always put her on a lead if I there was any chance of encountering any livestock.I did raise the fact that the field was empty with him and he said there are young pheasants going about... I apologised and agreed to keep her on a lead in future. However on reflection I am wondering if he is in the right to ask that of us? My dog doesn't have a very high prey drive at all and lives happily with three house cats. I don't allow her to chase wildlife although her recall, even though it's good, is not 100% and we have had the very occasional chase of a squirrel or deer. She probably would chase a pheasant if she saw one running away but she would never catch it. What do you think? Like I said I am happy to keep her on a lead just for an easy life. I live close to the farmer and don't want the trouble/conflict. Just wondering who is in the right..

I think the OP jumped the pheasant quite a few posts back.

Maybe a farmer dumped her or something. She seems very bitter.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

The birds have little roadsense because of the way they are bred in captivity, poor things ... To be fair the same ould be said of badgers! No road sense whatsoever!

It's a bit different as badgers are out at night and probably get dazzled by headlights.

These people who believe they are above the law

The farmer asked you politely to put your dog back on the lead, as he had the right to do, as per the Countryside Code. Where did this farmer ever demonstrate any belief he was above the law.

In comparison with your posts on this thread ...

@mudstuck

Can someone please explain how a farmer is legally entitled to shot your dog just for being off the lead? When the dog has not threatened livestock?

A farmer cannot shot your dog just for being off the lead, but a farmer is perfect within their rights to ask you to put your dog on a lead during nesting season, irrespective of what you think

www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land/use-your-right-to-roam

[quote mudstuck]@BillyTodd
Every dog has chased something at some point unless kept exclusively on the lead which is very few in my experience. [/quote]
There's chasing and there's chasing though. I had a working lab who chased a squirrel half heartedly twice in her life ever, and gave up because she realised she would never catch one, and wasn't prey orientated anyway. She was a dream to walk off lead, but she also went on lead when polite or necessary.

My terrier, on the other hand... she's incredibly obedient and very clingy.... until there's a squirrel, then it's like a red mist has descended and she's a different dog. So she's walked on the lead unless we're on one of a tiny handful of places that I know are enclosed, tree free, and I've never seen squirrels.

This is why the laws need to be change to ALL dogs on lead on private property.

[quote StarCat2020]@brokengate
Your husband gave the hill walkers a lift in his jeep so they could enjoy their picnic safely out of the way?

If I have understood you correctly that restores some of my faith in other people[/quote]
My aunt and uncle (farmers) would take hill walkers to a better place, if they were pleasant and genuinely loving the landscape. Otherwise they'd be shown the road.

Op farmers would never shoot your dog without reason.
Many posters have tried to explain some of the valid reasons they would, yet you seem to disregard them all.

savvy7 To be fair, they do seem to be a bit deaf. I was checking on our haylage crop one day and TWO of them took of near my feet, doing their little bum shuffle toward the woods on the edge of the field. Scared the shit out of me! I thought maybe they had hidden from me and lost their nerve when I got too close but a month or so later, I was walking down the path which is bordered by woodland back to the house with my dogs (all on the lead as they are demented idiots) when a huge badger was snuffling on the path ahead of us. We all froze, the dogs thought Christmas had come early and I waited for a couple of minutes as it bumbled along towards us, thinking, "Any minute now, it will see us." It didn't spot us until the LAST minute, freaked and dived into the woods!

@mudstuck

So a farmer can shot a dog that's not chasing, worrying or attacking livestock? A dog that's just walking through an empty field with its owner? And the farmer would face no legal consequences because they own the land?

So next time the neighbours dog goes running through my open plan front garden I can shot him? Madness

If you have a gun license and livestock yes. All you have to say is that you thought the dog posed a risk to your livestock.

In my area a lady walked her dog across an empty farmers field and a farmer shot her dog dead. Farmer said he believed the dog to be a risk to his livestock (which were nowhere to be seen). As the dog wasn't on the lead there were no consequences for him. The lady is still traumatized by it. I actually think there have been quite a lot of incidents like this that have happened

I don't think anyone has said it's fine that a farmer may possibly be trigger happy and shoot a dog where possibly they legally shouldn't. Just that it might happen and has happened, why take the risk.

It's a bit different as badgers are out at night and probably get dazzled by headlights. They are as likely to wander out in late afternoons or early mornings, in daylight and just walk into the side of your car.

A colleague's husband had an unusal job, he collected and analysed dead badger, for the government. He was a font of knowledge about the whys and wherefores of badgers and roads - the usual answer was "because it wanted to"!

Most national parks will have signs this time of year asking you to keep your dogs on lead at this time of year due to the risk of them disturbing ground nesting birds or destroying eggs. Why should a farmer be any less worried about it on his farmland (that you are lucky enough to be able to wander through). You sound pretty ignorant of the countryside and your responsibilities to protect it.

@JackieLavertysWeirdVoice
Hearing this has really made me feel optimistic again about people in general

Thank you

OP,
I own a lot of farmland in the US and I'd like to see you come a trespassing my land. Yes, it's called trespassing here.

One of two things will happen;

1. Your dog will be shot dead and you will be arrested.
2. You will be shot and your dog arrested.

I pity British farmers with no real private property rights and having to put up with people like you. How would you like it if someone was in your back garden shitting on your lawn, killing your animals, trampling all over your livelihood and being an arrogant arsehole while doing it?

Why were you walking your dog on private land?

Wouldn’t you be a bit annoyed if people walked their dogs in your garden?

This thread hasn't gone how you thought it would has it OP?

Everyone tends to have a reason why the rules shouldn't apply to them with dogs off leads. Fortunately for me only a small part of my land has a foot path across and people are very sensible.

Yes you can have access to cross land but why would you question what the owner has told you? You have no idea what could have been in that field.

Poo bags in baled hay that owners have dropped are really starting to become a problem also.

@MariposaLilly

OP, I own a lot of farmland in the US and I'd like to see you come a trespassing my land. Yes, it's called trespassing here. One of two things will happen;

1. Your dog will be shot dead and you will be arrested.
2. You will be shot and your dog arrested.

I pity British farmers with no real private property rights and having to put up with people like you. How would you like it if someone was in your back garden shitting on your lawn, killing your animals, trampling all over your livelihood and being an arrogant arsehole while doing it?

it's not trespassing where the OP is. She didn't do anything wrong. She put the dog on the lead when asked and had said she'll keep him on the lead in future. Come on mumsnetters we don't all need to be having a go at the op. She's got the message.

I can't believe you actually needed to ask

Do I take it then the field was mown with no tall grass and you could see that there was not a ewe with a lamb put their for whatever purpose lying down in the grass?

I like the idea posted previously that farmers put up a sign that says whether a dog can be free or not.

Otherwise, I would never assume unless it is absolutely obvious and you can see every bit of the field that there is no livestock at all in there.

There was a deer killed locally because it was in the sectioned off dog area and the owners of the dog did not check at all that it was free of deer.

Look @mudstuck, maybe you need tp start looking at things in a different way.

It's the countryside and the spring. There will be many young animals around (not just pheasans or lambs). That's why you can see signs advising people to keep their dogs on lead beause of nesting birds etc....
Regardless of whether you are in field with or wo lambs etc... this is the time of the year when I wouod keep a dog on a lead. That's it - basic respect for the countryside you can enjoy atm.

Then there is the question of pheasans. I'm not sure you realise but very few pheasans are actually wild. They are usually reared by farmers and then released for shooting. So basically, a dog going after a pheasan isn't just going after a wild animal (which in itself is wrong. I'm sure you will agree with that). It's also going after what is the farmer's/estate income too...

I get that you have said you will keep ypour dog on a lead. This is great. But comments around the lines of 'you lot are all nutters' arent helping your case.

I live rural (England) and have never ever heard this. Farmers have put signs on gates asking dog walkers to put dogs on leads when walking through fields with sheep. These signs are take down when the sheep leave the fields.

Also I would query if pheasants are 'protected' as they are not necessarily livestock unless being bred for shoots.

The comments about 'his land his rules' - he may not own the land. He could be a tenant farmer. Also, footpaths across fields can be public bridleways and footpaths and not owned by a farmer.

Don't walk through a farmer's fields if you don't want to abide by their rules. He has asked you to keep your dog on a lead which is easily done. I always keep my dogs on leads when walking on the country where I live because of livestock.

You sound like a stroppy child that hasn’t got its own way. Keep your animal on a lead. Any dog, even trained ones, will run off and kill other animals.