What Should I Do?

[fdmedic]

Two of my dogs keep chasing the horses. They never hurt or even touch them, they just stand there and bark at them. My gelding and one of my mares occasionally will run, but other than that, they just stand there and look at the dogs like they are crazy. I have tried to pen the dogs up, but they always find a way out. I even tried hot wiring on the top and bottom of the pen.....they just dug farther away and deeper!! They are German Shepards, we use for search and rescue, so we can't just get rid of them. They are our babies, and we have spent alot of time and money on them. Now, if they do get ahold of one of the horses, that would be a completely different story!

Am I being overly worried?? Does anybody else have dogs that do this?

:

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mizbeth]

NO!

You are not over worrying. Find those dogs a new home now! Others will be on here shortly to enlighten you.

Beth

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Hmm well I would have to say I am guessing being search and rescue dogs they are highly trained so they should stop when you tell them to?

Where are they when you are not home in the house or out with the horses?

To be honest most ranch dogs I have ever seen always chase horses at one point or another be it when they are being lunged and they are barking after them , or when they are turned out ect.

I think it partly is in the way and the time they are "chasing" horses that would be a big factor, are they running into there pasture or pen when they are just standing there and then barking and such

do they only run after them when the horses start to run

there are some concerns however with dogs like you describe and the amount of time and training (not to mention the amazing work they do) just giving them up would surely be my last option

 

[FoRebel]

NO you aren't being overly worried! You need to do something with those dogs! Have you tried burrying chain link fencing 5 feet down around their pen? Have you tried putting them on a cable stake in the yard?

Honestly, I don't care if the dog is a Pomeranian, German Shepard or a Great Dane.... I don't care how well you have trained the dog or how well the dog listens to you.... I don't care if you THINK the dog is "playing". All that matters is that the dog(s) have it in their heads that their behavior around the horses is acceptable. THIS NEEDS TO STOP NOW! Ask yourself this.... Would you rather have to get rid of the dogs to save your horses? Or are you willing to have your dogs seriously injure/kill your horses?

In my honest opinion.... If they were my dogs I would be finding them new homes. I love my horses way too much to even think about that decision! It sounds like you are going to need to choose your course wisely with the dogs and horses!

Good Luck!

 

[Anne ABC]

No, you should never allow dogs to chase your horses regardless who they belong to. If they were my dogs I would first try getting their attention with a B-B gun everytime I saw them doing it. If that didn't work quickly I would find them a new home.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I do not actually think you are worrying half enough!!

If you cannot get rid of the dogs as they are your babies then you need to get rid of the horses, preferably before you come home and find your babies have killed them!!

 

[Relic]

Now, if they do get ahold of one of the horses, that would be a completely different story!

Am I being overly worried??

l sure the heck wouldn't wait for that day to happen you should be worried before the fact not after if you can't even contain them so they stay away from your minis...

 

[sfmini]

If you can't keep them from the horses when you are not around, then I agree, either the dogs or horses have to go.

If you are always supervising, remote electric collars might work. If you are doing search and rescue, do you work with a trainer? If so ask for help fixing the problem or placing the dogs.

Or, see if Ceaser Milan would come whisper to them. LOUDLY!

 

[mad for mini's]

I have not had too much trouble with my dogs chasing the horses , I correct them as soon as they attempt it ,with a sharp yell and glaring stare and place myself between them and the horses. You have to be the dominating one to accomplish the submission and get your point across to them. I also use the training collars with my dogs ( they are hunting dogs) My collars have a beeper along with the shock collar, after the initial use of the shock part it usually only takes the whistle to get a response from them. If you train correctly with it. I never just shock them , call or whistle first , then use the beeper and last resort use the shock. My collar has different shock levels to use as the situation warrants. I always run the dogs with the collars no matter how they are behaving so I have a back up if something unexpected happens. You could try it when they are digging to curb that unwanted behavior too.

 

[Minimor]

If you cannot get rid of the dogs, and you will not get rid of the horses as rabbitsfizz has suggested then I'd suggest building a kennel that the dogs absolutely cannot get out of--chainlink fence all around as well as over the top so they cannot climb/jump out, and a cement floor so that they cannot dig out. And then make very very sure that the kennel gate is always kept closed, never accidentally left unlatched, and make sure that it cannot be opened & the dogs let out by someone else, either accidentally or on purpose.

 

[fdmedic]

I could get rid of the dogs quicker than I could get rid of the horses. To me they are more important! I will just keep the dogs in kennels until we can get another pen built for the dogs. We are gonna try a chain link fence and pour concrete all around it.

I was just wondering if anybody else has their own pet dogs that do that. I saw a couple of pictures with dogs and horses running, so thats why I wanted to know what others do.

Thanks for the responses so far!

 

[Marnie]

Why don't you go on the top of the page in the "Search" and write in something like dogs killing horses or mauling minis or whatever, then you'll know why people will get upset over this thread. I know german shepards, nice pets, kill the minis. I agree, if the dogs mean that much to you, get rid of the minis before we come on here and see a new thread from you with the horses mauled or dead. I see you just wrote that you'd get rid of the dogs, wise move. We've all seen to many of these situations and they aren't good.

 

[Mercysmom]

Dogs are predators and horses are prey, no matter how we look at it. The dogs are doing what they were created to do, and the horses do as they were created. My brother-in-law could not understand when his Beagle Shepherd mix attacked and killed one of their chickens but the dog was doing what was natural for her. She did not see them as "family" but as "dinner".

You might try a Tri-tronics collar - we use them for training our Lab and our German Shorthaired Pointer in the field. Bridget, the GSP, who has been bred to be a hunter, is cat aggressive and has shredded wood rats and mice that are stupid enough to linger around the barn. I do have two house cats and she knows from work with the collar, that they are off limits but I do not trust her for a moment.

I only have to say "Zap a dog" to them if either dog is misbehaving (in my eyes) and both dogs know that a corrective shock is imminent unless they listen to me. They prefer to listen.

:

Bridget has chased my horses on occasion outside of the pen when we were going to turn out but she recently took a solid roundhouse to the chin from Nefertiti and she is wary about going behind horses now. She liked chasing the younger horses but steers away from Finnie and Mercy and was thinking twice about going after Freedom when Freedom loaded the double barrels and was ready to deliver a hard kick. Then Neffie settled it with hard contact - you could hear the wind getting knocked out of the dog.

Good luck with your dogs and horses. It is tough to have prey and predators coexist sometimes but with work and diligence, it can be done to an extent.

Denise

Silversong Farm

 

[Minimor]

Just to clarify about dogs running with horses, I have to say this:

Years ago when we had only big horses, we had two Shepherds that would run with the horses. By run with the horses I mean if the horses got running and playing, the dogs would follow along. Those two dogs showed no aggression to the horses and would do nothing more than follow along....or sometimes run in front of the horses. If the horses stopped, the dogs stopped and walked away. If the horses didn't get running on their own, the dogs made no attempt to get the horses running. They did not run at the horses, they did not bark at the horses. If there had ever been any sign of aggression from the dogs, they would not have been allowed to be out with the horses at all.

If we'd had Minis at the time we had those two dogs, the dogs would not have been allowed to run with the horses. Minis just seem to have a different effect on dogs than full size horses do. We've had dogs here that would ignore our big horses but attempt to harrass the little ones. Those dogs did not stay here long! The black Austrian Shepherd we had I fear would have become aggressive had he been around Minis--not only would we have not let him run with the horses, we probably would have had to get rid of him. I don't know for sure as he was gone of old age before we got the Minis, but that's the impression I had of how he would have reacted to Minis.

One time after I got after a neighbor's dog for chasing our Morgans this neighbor said he didn't see what the problem was, why could our dogs chase our horses but his couldn't? Urrgh. The guy was so stupid he really didn't see the difference between his dog going for the horse, down & dirty, and our dogs running along "with" the horses yet well away from them with no aggressiveness.

 

[TTF]

see if Ceaser Milan would come whisper to them. LOUDLY!

Sounds good to me! :lol:

We actually, don't have a situation where our dogs could get out or go near the horses. We keep them within the fenced backyard and if by chance, they got loose it was because of a gate left open accidentally. While we aren't home, we bring the dogs in and put them in crates.

 

[Manda]

....

 

[fdmedic]

They have never shown any agression towards the horses. If they see the horses running, they want to go run too. Never have they touched them. They don't keep barking at the horses until they start running, they just go in there and "talk" at them. All I have to say is "leave it" and they quit. If the horses ignore them, they quit. I watch from inside the house as soon as I hear the barking. They aren't left unsupervised, and when I am out there, they are usually right by me.

 

[Buckskin gal]

I beg you, please do not wait until something bad happens before doing something about the dogs. No, they should not be barking or chasing the horses...if they can't be taught to behave make sure you have a very secure place to keep them so they never have a chance to be around the horses. I have seen dogs that just barked and then turn into holu terrors of running other animals and eventualy causing damage or death. You may be gone sometime and if the dogs are out and other dogs would come along the wild comes out of them and they will chase and end up killing another animal. PLEASE DON'T LET THE DOGS CONTINUE TO BARK OR CHASE THOSE HORSES. Mary

 

[rabbitsfizz]

IMO there is NO way you can train a dog not to go in a horse pen.

You need strong, dog proof fencing round your dog pen and you need the dogs never to be loose when you are not there with them.

You also need ALL members of your household to be in full agreement with this, otherwise you are going to come home to a tragedy, trust me.

My Dobes are with me all the time, and they do have access to the fields in that they can jump the fences.

I also use the electric collars- they only work if they are fully charged and on the dogs and you are there in plain sight.

They do not work if you are not there to push the button.

I am trying to get the makers interested in making an "aversion " collar that will work when the collar is on the dog and the unit is on whatever it is you are trying to teach the dog not to go near- for example the horse.

That way the warning would go off as the dog gets too close to the horse and then it would get a sharp slap if it went closer.

They are interested but need proof of the market, as it were.

I am sure there is one, it would be a logical extension of the training aid the collar offers at present.

It is hard on the dogs- it is far better to train the dog early on not to do this, but what about rescue dogs and dogs that come into the situation later in life??

I would rather teach all my dogs just not to go near the horses at all.

It's a shame we have to look at our dogs as potential predators- my first Dobe used to hang around after the foals were born, begging the mares to let them come out to play.

At about a week they usually would and she let them suck her ears and nibble her bum- she genuinely loved them.

But, knowing what I know now I doubt I would ever let her get that close in the first place, nowadays.

 

[stormo41]

I don't think anyone should tell her to get rid of her dogs! they are search and recsue dogs, meaning they can save lives, even your life!

Maybe dog proofing your horse feilds would be a good idea, putting chainlink on the bottom of it (depending on what type of fencing you have) could work if they don't show any willing ness to jump that fence. Also this same chainlink could be used to fill gaps if the dogs simply just go through the next highest.

I think that the cement dog pen is a very good idea, and the shock training. What about invisbale fencing for your dogs.

It does not sound like your dogs are trying to hurt your horses at all, but sometimes bad things happen. You should not just get rid of the dogs or the horses with out trying out a few things, dog proof fencing and pens, and training. My mom trained her dog to stay out of her garden and she does even when there is chimpmunk or squrrel in it (she loves to chase them!) even when no one is around, we watch from the window. I think it very possible for you to train your dogs to stay out of a horse pen.