accident?!

[dexter]

my 11 month young male rottie and a mixed breed and i have these weekly ventures to a rice field near our place. it has some vacant space where my dogs can really stretch their muscles. we've been doing this for the past 8 months.

yesterday, the 3 of us happened to walk to the extreme left part of this area where goats were grazing.

my rottie was unleashed that time as he always is when we are in that place and he has met farmers, other dogs, carabaos and cows, old and young alike. in short and in my own humble opinion - he seems well socialized.

2 kid goats approached my rottie and patting Bonus all along assuring him its ok, Bonus just smelled them and vice versa when suddenly my other dog lunged at these goats and my rottie joined the fray! Bonus got hold of one over the spine.

my apologies if i have been too descriptive but i just wanted to know how to deal with this after.

am i to confine or not return sometime to that place for my dogs to run? not even within the vicinity of that place? that place is the only large ground where my dogs can freely be themselves stretching those muscles and i am sad not to freely go there now.

your opinions and experiences and advise are very much needed.

more power to the forum!

[Carina43]

Well, he's young...is there always livestock around, where you let your dogs run? If he's pretty obedient, you could just call him back when you see animals, and correct him if he starts any stalking or predatory behaviour, and stay away from where the goats are grazing, if possible.

One of my dogs has a ferocious prey drive, and has killed a possum while onleash with me (and another out in the yard.) For him, it would take a lot of work to let him run offleash around livestock - I'm honestly not sure I could ever do that! He is always on a leash off our property, because we are rural and there's lots of deer, rabbits, possums, all sorts of critters.

What your dog did isn't unnatural or bad - but you may have to find somewhere without goats running around, or take him out on a bicycle to run or something. Good luck!

[Storm]

Your dog just needs to be taught the rules and this all goes hand in hand with instilling obedience at what ever level. There are a lot of dogs out there with drive just waiting to cause all kinds of havoc but just as with many other things, including dog aggression, the key is to maintain a controlled situation and working with the dog with emphasis on reliability. Just put in the work.

[Judi W]

I hope you paid for the goat. If the farmer was around, your dogs could have been shot as this was not your land. Letting your dogs run free on someone else's land without the owner's permission and when there is livestock present is simply not a good idea. Either find another place or keep long lines on them. Because it is acreage doesn't mean the land does not belong to someone and that it is for the public's use. Your dogs exercise does not take precedence over property rights of others or the safety of their stock.

[Carina43]

Thank you Judi - I was going to make those points too, and forgot. Poor little goatling. We had milking goats growing up, they are really wonderful animals.

There are ways to let a dog run full out without risk - bicycling is one good way, I used to do that with Phoebe a lot. Also (with permission) if there are tennis courts or schoolyards you can use, like very early in the morning, often these are fenced. If the dog has excellent recall, it's not difficult to find places....cemetaries (there's a HUGE one near me, never anyone there, and the custodians tell me they don't mind at all if I keep to the several acres of as-yet-"developed" property) big office parks on weekends, places like that. Just ask for permission and be prepared to do any dog cleanup! I've spent years being an inner city dog-owner, and it became almost a game to find good places for the dogs to rip around safely. :)

[Storm]

Do you have permission to enter this property and is the owner aware of what happend? Adressing what happend is a training issue, sure but tresspasing is another.

[dexter]

thanks a lot for all the notes guys!

to answer some of your queries:


- yes i had the permission of the owner to enter his property,

- yes i paid for the goat(@ selling price). i had that in mind the moment i saw it in Bonus mouth. but the young goat survived(till now since the owners were quite sure itll die) and being hand fed; i came looking for them the day after the accident for the "damages"

on second thoughts, i should have gotten the goat for "training". actually thought of it but since i was too stunned by what happened, forgot about it already

- ive talked with the farmer and ive known that he knows me with the big black dog and the white one(mongrel)

Bonus always starts to chase young cows and bark at cows but i always correct him even when he starts to think about it(he pauses and hair at the back seems to ruffle) and ALWAYS he follows and goes back to running and sniffing around(not to mention the occasional tryst with cow dung - excuse me) ;)

thanks again! you guys are really greaat!

p.s. will consider biking though i have been always afraid if he'd suddenly pull off seeing a girl off the street. we'll do some research on biking

p.s.s. me and my buddies practice the dog on leash rule(except for that place) this will no longer be the case i believe, on leash it will be anywhere!

[Judi W]

An on-leash life. good decision Dexter. You certainly don't want you and your dog to be considered and get the reputation of being hazardous.

If an older woman weighing less than 100 pounds (yes, it is myself) can bike Rottweilers, I'm sure you can manage. Yes, one of mine is an intact male, and I've owned many such and biked them all.

[Rottlva]

Just a word on exercising in cemetaries.... I know in my city it is illegal to bring dogs into the cemetary, because people don't pick up after thier dogs, dogs mark the grave stones ect......

Personally I wouldn't want someones dog pissing on my parents grave.

[Carina43]

Jessica - point well taken! Just to clarify, I've asked at a local cemetary if it's OK if I let the dogs run in their wild & wooded back section, & they said sure. It's all fenced, and I don't go anywhere near the graves - for exactly the reason you mention. I have no clue whether it's legal here or not, but the on-site custodians (if that's the correct term) have no problem with it.

Biking - well I weigh a little (ahem) more than 100lbs, but it's not difficult to take a reasonably well trained dog out on a bike. Just start slow, so a tumble won't really hurt! Phoebe only pulled me off the bike once, and I was so mad & embarassed I really let her have it, poor dog - but she never did that again. She's a Shepherd possibly mixed with Greyhound or some big sighthound - very leggy and fast in her youth - and she loved our bike rides! Good exercise for you both. :)

[Rottlva]

Not directed at you Carina....Just thought I'd put it out as the general public might see a cemetary as a large "exercise area".... In my city there were heated debates for months over the "off leash crews" and the family/friends of the dead. It was eventually decided that cemetaries were to honor the dead....not to be used as dog parks!!!