Dogs and fields
Discussion
It's always nice to work on nature reserves with brushcutters in areas where dogs have been s
tting all over the place because their owners are useless. I especially love it when the poo flies up all over your visor, t-shirt and arms and you get that fresh doggie smell all day.
I've reasoned with, and sometimes shouted at, dog walkers who let their dogs charge freely around fields that are set aside for very rare ground-nesting birds or hold livestock and young.
I moved to a farm (owned by someone else) about 18 months ago and the girl I moved in with had recently been for a nice walk over the hill, on completely private land with no footpaths through, to find 3 of the graziers rarebreed sheep dying on top of the hill. She was fairly traumatised, I've only seen the photos but they were horrible enough. Young ewe alive but with guts hanging out the side and 'fresh' grass falling out is just wrong. Dogs can do a lot of damage in a short period and we never found the responsible dogs (had suspicions though). One sheep died and the other two had to be put down I think.
I really love dogs but find I have limited patience with badly controlled owners. If it says keep your dog under close control then bloody well do so. If you can't do that with it off lead then put a lead on it.
tting all over the place because their owners are useless. I especially love it when the poo flies up all over your visor, t-shirt and arms and you get that fresh doggie smell all day.I've reasoned with, and sometimes shouted at, dog walkers who let their dogs charge freely around fields that are set aside for very rare ground-nesting birds or hold livestock and young.
I moved to a farm (owned by someone else) about 18 months ago and the girl I moved in with had recently been for a nice walk over the hill, on completely private land with no footpaths through, to find 3 of the graziers rarebreed sheep dying on top of the hill. She was fairly traumatised, I've only seen the photos but they were horrible enough. Young ewe alive but with guts hanging out the side and 'fresh' grass falling out is just wrong. Dogs can do a lot of damage in a short period and we never found the responsible dogs (had suspicions though). One sheep died and the other two had to be put down I think.
I really love dogs but find I have limited patience with badly controlled owners. If it says keep your dog under close control then bloody well do so. If you can't do that with it off lead then put a lead on it.
Japveesix said:
It's always nice to work on nature reserves with brushcutters in areas where dogs have been stting all over the place because their owners are useless. I especially love it when the poo flies up all over your visor, t-shirt and arms and you get that fresh doggie smell all day.
I've reasoned with, and sometimes shouted at, dog walkers who let their dogs charge freely around fields that are set aside for very rare ground-nesting birds or hold livestock and young.
I moved to a farm (owned by someone else) about 18 months ago and the girl I moved in with had recently been for a nice walk over the hill, on completely private land with no footpaths through, to find 3 of the graziers rarebreed sheep dying on top of the hill. She was fairly traumatised, I've only seen the photos but they were horrible enough. Young ewe alive but with guts hanging out the side and 'fresh' grass falling out is just wrong. Dogs can do a lot of damage in a short period and we never found the responsible dogs (had suspicions though). One sheep died and the other two had to be put down I think.
I really love dogs but find I have limited patience with badly controlled owners. If it says keep your dog under close control then bloody well do so. If you can't do that with it off lead then put a lead on it.
Mmm dog stting all over the place because their owners are useless. I especially love it when the poo flies up all over your visor, t-shirt and arms and you get that fresh doggie smell all day.I've reasoned with, and sometimes shouted at, dog walkers who let their dogs charge freely around fields that are set aside for very rare ground-nesting birds or hold livestock and young.
I moved to a farm (owned by someone else) about 18 months ago and the girl I moved in with had recently been for a nice walk over the hill, on completely private land with no footpaths through, to find 3 of the graziers rarebreed sheep dying on top of the hill. She was fairly traumatised, I've only seen the photos but they were horrible enough. Young ewe alive but with guts hanging out the side and 'fresh' grass falling out is just wrong. Dogs can do a lot of damage in a short period and we never found the responsible dogs (had suspicions though). One sheep died and the other two had to be put down I think.
I really love dogs but find I have limited patience with badly controlled owners. If it says keep your dog under close control then bloody well do so. If you can't do that with it off lead then put a lead on it.
t. we all love it. I have seen first hand what dogs do to sheep. Its not good.
The trouble is people think their pooch wouldn't hurt anything so they let it roam a bit. Like it or not, sheep are natural dog food. Dogs are hunters and they want to hunt. All of the behaviour they display is hunting related. They then chase after the sheep and their rusty hunting skill will once in a while get them a kill. It's nearly always curtains for the sheep and the dog will get destroyed if it gets caught. So there are no winners. Innocent sheep gets killed and the dog that kills it was having a great time and didn't know any different, all for the sake of a lead.
A neighbour of my parents had 2 sheep dogs, one was very good, the other managed to get an adult cow to the ground. We went back to the farm, got his shot gun and shot it.
Willy Nilly said:
I have seen first hand what dogs do to sheep. Its not good.
I've seen first hand ( and posted elsewhere on this forum) of the damage a Sheep( never mind a Ram) that's not bothered by dogs can do .Problem is that with this sort of sheep the dog will get hurt, or will take so much before defending itself, and that's when the farmer can step in . So if on public land, do we shoot the sheep, or prosecute the farmer. And that's neglecting the damage done to the dog, and if next time ,what will the dog do if faced with a sheep . I've got a terrier that's been attacked by Staffies. He won't wait to be attacked again . He ( if not restrained) will get in first ,even if it's a docile dog . He's not dangerous, just not prepared to be chewed up . it's like a small person ,who's been attacked, and now caries a big stick. Any form of threat is met with force. Sometimes before . Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Willy Nilly said:
Mmm dog st. we all love it.
I have seen first hand what dogs do to sheep. Its not good.
The trouble is people think their pooch wouldn't hurt anything so they let it roam a bit. Like it or not, sheep are natural dog food. Dogs are hunters and they want to hunt. All of the behaviour they display is hunting related. They then chase after the sheep and their rusty hunting skill will once in a while get them a kill. It's nearly always curtains for the sheep and the dog will get destroyed if it gets caught. So there are no winners. Innocent sheep gets killed and the dog that kills it was having a great time and didn't know any different, all for the sake of a lead.
A neighbour of my parents had 2 sheep dogs, one was very good, the other managed to get an adult cow to the ground. We went back to the farm, got his shot gun and shot it.
A fair amount of scaremongering there.t. we all love it. I have seen first hand what dogs do to sheep. Its not good.
The trouble is people think their pooch wouldn't hurt anything so they let it roam a bit. Like it or not, sheep are natural dog food. Dogs are hunters and they want to hunt. All of the behaviour they display is hunting related. They then chase after the sheep and their rusty hunting skill will once in a while get them a kill. It's nearly always curtains for the sheep and the dog will get destroyed if it gets caught. So there are no winners. Innocent sheep gets killed and the dog that kills it was having a great time and didn't know any different, all for the sake of a lead.
A neighbour of my parents had 2 sheep dogs, one was very good, the other managed to get an adult cow to the ground. We went back to the farm, got his shot gun and shot it.
Ours walks through a field of sheep simply not giving a f
k. Not a word, look, command or suggestion from me.
Not all dogs are the same you know.
The two dogs I saw kill 15 pedigree sheep were lovely dogs, ever so friendly. They just managed to get into a pen full of high value sheep and round them up into a corner. Most of the dead sheep had been trampled to death, but several had bits ripped out of them. The dog warden couldn't have been better. The dogs owners didn't want them destroyed, but she quietly suggested that they came to see the damage before they took the dogs home. They never went home.
If your dog is off the lead in sheep and it does decide to run after them, you'll have a job getting it back.
Bird nesting/lambing/calving season = dog needs to keep to paths in the countryside just like the humans, unless you can absolutely GUARANTEE your dog will remain by your side throughout the walk, that means on a leash.
The family collie doesn't have the best recall, so she never, ever, ever goes off-leash in an area where there's so much as a possibility there might be grazing livestock.
The family collie doesn't have the best recall, so she never, ever, ever goes off-leash in an area where there's so much as a possibility there might be grazing livestock.
I am not fussed by dogs I grew up with them and love them but my GF is still nervous around dogs she doesn't know. So all those owners who let their dogs run upto and jump at people, think not everyone is ok with dogs. I actually take a water spray with me when I go out and it usually makes the dog back off from the Girlfriend or I grab it's coller untill the idiot owner comes over and retrieves their dog. Also if your dog won't come back to you when you call it's name straight away, it should stay on an extendable lead until you have trained it properly.
Edited by Merlin28 on Friday 20th April 07:13
I don't know the rules so may sound a bit thick here but is it law that if a dog kills livestock then it has to be put down?
I know I can't trust mine not to chase sheep, she is a shepherd after all (mind you my last shepherd was not bothered by sheep) I don't know if she would just chase them or if she would do harm but I'm not willing to take the risk so would not let her off lead in a field with livestock.
If she did by accident get into a field with sheep and had one I would not be happy to have her put down. I would gladly compensate the farmer for his loss. I just don't see it as fair that the dog is killed for doing something that comes naturally.
It is the owners responsibility to make sure the dog can not act on its urges so surely it should be the owner that pays the price not the dog?
I know I can't trust mine not to chase sheep, she is a shepherd after all (mind you my last shepherd was not bothered by sheep) I don't know if she would just chase them or if she would do harm but I'm not willing to take the risk so would not let her off lead in a field with livestock.
If she did by accident get into a field with sheep and had one I would not be happy to have her put down. I would gladly compensate the farmer for his loss. I just don't see it as fair that the dog is killed for doing something that comes naturally.
It is the owners responsibility to make sure the dog can not act on its urges so surely it should be the owner that pays the price not the dog?
Not as simple as paying for dead sheep or ram as I was offered money if a locals dog killed one of my mine. Average mule sheep let's say one hundred pounds....pedigree two hundred plus and on a bad day your dog kills a top quality sheep and your going up to 50k and hold your breath 235k. Not only are we talking life destroying sums of money you must not forget the years of breeding your dog has destroyed. Dogs only need to worry sheep to start off an abortion reaction which you don't see when stupid walker goes home and thinks his dog has had a lovely day running around.
The country code is there for a reason I only wish it was practiced more.
The country code is there for a reason I only wish it was practiced more.
C3BER said:
Not as simple as paying for dead sheep or ram as I was offered money if a locals dog killed one of my mine. Average mule sheep let's say one hundred pounds....pedigree two hundred plus and on a bad day your dog kills a top quality sheep and your going up to 50k and hold your breath 235k. Not only are we talking life destroying sums of money you must not forget the years of breeding your dog has destroyed. Dogs only need to worry sheep to start off an abortion reaction which you don't see when stupid walker goes home and thinks his dog has had a lovely day running around.
The country code is there for a reason I only wish it was practiced more.
People never make the connection that livestock are some body's property and livelihood. Letting a dog into a field full of animals is not much different from letting it into a bakers to piss all over the bread. The country code is there for a reason I only wish it was practiced more.
Likewise dont let your fking kids play in fields with pregnant horses in it.
I was at the stables the other weekend when I heard loads of shouting from the top field, take a look and theres 3 kids trying to chase the horses about with their fat chavette mother stradling the fence, the top bit bowing under her immense weight.
I grab the 3 GSD guard dogs/pets and head up the field, at which point the fat slag is going mental about what she will do if the dogs bite her kids (they won't they're all on leads and very well trained)
I calmy tell her that this isn't a public right of way but the field she was stood in previously is and that if the horses feel properly frightened they'll kick 1 of her kids in the face which will be alot worse than a dog givin a warning nip.
At which point she goes bat st crazy about how I've threatened her and her kids with the dogs and that it's just a fking field let them play and that they were on the correct side of the field but the horses wouldn't come over to be stroked so in they jumped presumably trying to round them up.
All the while the kids are still running and screaming chasing the horses making the younger 2 dogs a bit excitable barking and pulling their leads.
Now this is where I'm not proud
I yell at the woman that if she doesnt get her kids out of the fking field and away from the horses I will not be responsible for what the guard dogs do to intruders on the land and that I had our horses interests at heart (I would never, never have let the dogs of the lead in such a scenario with little kids but by this point I was angry)
Thankfully this is when the woman calls her kids to heel and they jump over the fence and walk away as their mother waddles across the field and out of sight, I check the horses over, everythings fine happy days. Me and the dogs walk back down to the stables and continue with our lunch, this is where it gets crappy.
20 minutes later and theres 2 policemen walking down the yard towards me, I greet them and enquire as to the reason for their visit, It would appear Miss Shrek has called them accusing me of setting the dogs on her kids and being generally threatening and intimidating using the dogs as weapons.
Thankfully the police calmly let me tell my side of the story at the end of which they ask to see the dogs, I ask them to wait where they are as I let the dogs out of the stable where they eat lunch(they're not keen on too many people crowding round their stable), the coppers' faces were a picture as 3 GSD's came bounding out straight towards them only to start laughing as the big one jumps up and licks one of their faces while one of the youngsters starts covorting on the floor infront of the other copper begging for her tummy scratched, after about 15 minutes of the dogs getting fussed over more than they ever have the police decide they have seen enough and leave to talk to the woman about fabricating events.
Before leaving one of the police tells me about a similiar scenario where the dog was destroyed only for the woman to be heard bragging days later about the compo she got and the dog being destroyed because her story was so believable (fking lowlife)
Anyhow Im not quite sure what point I was trying to make when I started typing anymore but it sure felt good to vent
If anyone feels this is waaay out of line with the thread let me know and I will remove my post
king kids play in fields with pregnant horses in it.I was at the stables the other weekend when I heard loads of shouting from the top field, take a look and theres 3 kids trying to chase the horses about with their fat chavette mother stradling the fence, the top bit bowing under her immense weight.
I grab the 3 GSD guard dogs/pets and head up the field, at which point the fat slag is going mental about what she will do if the dogs bite her kids (they won't they're all on leads and very well trained)
I calmy tell her that this isn't a public right of way but the field she was stood in previously is and that if the horses feel properly frightened they'll kick 1 of her kids in the face which will be alot worse than a dog givin a warning nip.
At which point she goes bat s
t crazy about how I've threatened her and her kids with the dogs and that it's just a fking field let them play and that they were on the correct side of the field but the horses wouldn't come over to be stroked so in they jumped presumably trying to round them up.All the while the kids are still running and screaming chasing the horses making the younger 2 dogs a bit excitable barking and pulling their leads.
Now this is where I'm not proud
I yell at the woman that if she doesnt get her kids out of the f
king field and away from the horses I will not be responsible for what the guard dogs do to intruders on the land and that I had our horses interests at heart (I would never, never have let the dogs of the lead in such a scenario with little kids but by this point I was angry)Thankfully this is when the woman calls her kids to heel and they jump over the fence and walk away as their mother waddles across the field and out of sight, I check the horses over, everythings fine happy days. Me and the dogs walk back down to the stables and continue with our lunch, this is where it gets crappy.
20 minutes later and theres 2 policemen walking down the yard towards me, I greet them and enquire as to the reason for their visit, It would appear Miss Shrek has called them accusing me of setting the dogs on her kids and being generally threatening and intimidating using the dogs as weapons.
Thankfully the police calmly let me tell my side of the story at the end of which they ask to see the dogs, I ask them to wait where they are as I let the dogs out of the stable where they eat lunch(they're not keen on too many people crowding round their stable), the coppers' faces were a picture as 3 GSD's came bounding out straight towards them only to start laughing as the big one jumps up and licks one of their faces while one of the youngsters starts covorting on the floor infront of the other copper begging for her tummy scratched, after about 15 minutes of the dogs getting fussed over more than they ever have the police decide they have seen enough and leave to talk to the woman about fabricating events.
Before leaving one of the police tells me about a similiar scenario where the dog was destroyed only for the woman to be heard bragging days later about the compo she got and the dog being destroyed because her story was so believable (f
king lowlife)Anyhow Im not quite sure what point I was trying to make when I started typing anymore but it sure felt good to vent
If anyone feels this is waaay out of line with the thread let me know and I will remove my post
The main point of my post was to point out the problems we and others have with land and how others see it. I'm now waiting for "you've got a bull in the field, that's illegal to have a bull in a field with a footpath". To put the record straight it's not if it's a beef bull and my highland beef bull is not a baby .
. Landowners are often their own worst enemies by obstructing rights of way, pulling down path markers etc. Often have found myself trusting purely in the OS map rather than signage. Does also piss me off when there are bulls in fields with rights of way, again it backfires on the landowner as I'll often just use a different route, going across ground that I shouldn't be on. No I'm not interested in distinguishing one type of bull from another! Another common one is electric fencing across the path. My dog isn't interested in sheep particularly but I put her on the lead as it keeps the sheep calmer, especially at the moment with all the lambs.
Dannyscene - just wondering why you felt the need to take 3 GS 'guard dogs' up the fields to deal with a couple of kids? Surely you could have dealt/ushered them out much more easily if you'd been on your own.
Dannyscene - just wondering why you felt the need to take 3 GS 'guard dogs' up the fields to deal with a couple of kids? Surely you could have dealt/ushered them out much more easily if you'd been on your own.
Edited by 66comanche on Friday 20th April 15:10
OS maps are the best in the world for directions but unfortunately it's the numptys that cannot read them that's the problem. As for bulls in fields or highlands with horns. Well farmers don't have limitless supply of land and resting land due to worms, silage and crop rotation is the reason you may come across a bull on a footpath. Dairy bulls are a different ball game and I for one would not be going into its field. I only have three fields that don't have footpaths through them which I use for my pedigree herwicks and the highland calves when their first born.
Willy Nilly said:
Three strands of electric fencing will sort that problem out 
We've now installed elecy fencing Cammanche(hope i got ur name right cant see it while typing) at the time from where i was stood it just looked like 3 lads in tracksuits and a chavette on the fence, didnt know they were young kids and as its a rough area known for
s and chavs I wasnt willing to chance it, obviously when I got close enough to see they were young kids it would've been irresponsible for me to just drop the leads so they came with.DannyScene said:
Willy Nilly said:
Three strands of electric fencing will sort that problem out
We've now installed elecy fencing If the latter, you will need to hide the energiser and battery. Put them in a plastic box and bury them out so sight.
Maybe I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs, but you want to check the fence every day, just put the tester in your pocket and check it when you check the animals. Make sure the weeds don't grow up around it to allow it to short to earth. You should see 5-6000 volts easy enough. Watching the the chav straddle that will bring a smile
We have 2 orphan lambs at the moments which are being bottle fed and put out with the other sheep during the day. One of the lambs will never be able to be put in a field with a footpath through as she has no fear of people or dogs as she spent the 1st 2 days and nights of her life in our kitchen as she couldn't stand.
Although I had said this to MOH before I'm not sure he believed me until we had a bloke training his 2 Spaniels not to chase aniamls on our land. When MOH saw him he was bringing the orphans back for their evening feed and to come in for the night, and when he got close enough to the bloke with the dogs (now on leads) Minty didn't know any different and went as if to say hello to them and both dogs started growling and barking at her. This told the bloke his dogs weren't as good with live stock as he thought, and taught MOH that maybe she would have to be kept away from people.
People don't need live stock in fields to make them take short cuts, you get people running all over your fields and climbing dry stone walls to get out when they can't find the style. Then when you tell them there in the wrong place they say 'no harm done'
. As we run Highlanders and the females have horns its amazing how many times people will say 'shouldn't have a bull in that field' and won't have it when you tell them they're females, even though they have calves at foot. Some people should have to take an exam before being allowed out in the countryside on their own.
We've taken all precautions to keep our animals away from people with walls and stock fences and gates, is it too much to ask for people to learn how to read a map and follow the little yellow markers that tell them where they need to be??
Although I had said this to MOH before I'm not sure he believed me until we had a bloke training his 2 Spaniels not to chase aniamls on our land. When MOH saw him he was bringing the orphans back for their evening feed and to come in for the night, and when he got close enough to the bloke with the dogs (now on leads) Minty didn't know any different and went as if to say hello to them and both dogs started growling and barking at her. This told the bloke his dogs weren't as good with live stock as he thought, and taught MOH that maybe she would have to be kept away from people.
People don't need live stock in fields to make them take short cuts, you get people running all over your fields and climbing dry stone walls to get out when they can't find the style. Then when you tell them there in the wrong place they say 'no harm done'
. As we run Highlanders and the females have horns its amazing how many times people will say 'shouldn't have a bull in that field' and won't have it when you tell them they're females, even though they have calves at foot. Some people should have to take an exam before being allowed out in the countryside on their own.We've taken all precautions to keep our animals away from people with walls and stock fences and gates, is it too much to ask for people to learn how to read a map and follow the little yellow markers that tell them where they need to be??
Capercaillie killed by a dog walker that should have been under control:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-is...
Unsurprisingly at the height of the breeding season this male was a bit bolder and more aggressive than usual, most people avoided him but presumably someone's dog didn't.
Shame as there are probably less than 2,000 birds in the UK
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-is...
Unsurprisingly at the height of the breeding season this male was a bit bolder and more aggressive than usual, most people avoided him but presumably someone's dog didn't.
Shame as there are probably less than 2,000 birds in the UK
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