Re: RC: Oh boy, I'm joining the great dog debate...

[Teddy Lancaster <Teddy@runningbear.com>]

To understand dogs you must remember that they are basically "home-bodies".  They
have "their" territory...be it home or the trailer/vehicle they came in.  When they
are tied, they feel helpless.  Their ONLY defense (their opinion) is to bark to
scare off the "intruder" in "their" territory.

Tied dogs are almost always more dangerous and threatening then untied ones.
Untied, they may bark, but given the chance, they slink AWAY from an intruder.
Physically invade THEIR territory and they are doing what is their nature..to
defend THEIR home, just as you would yours.  Try barking back at a dog that barks
at you....see what happens...most are surprised and shut up or back off.

Dogs that chase do so because they learn that it works...it makes the intruder GO
AWAY.  Dogs that chase cars almost always win cause the car goes away almost all
the time. They feel great, they have done their job...hence they will do it again
and again.  SOOOO, when chased by a dog, most certainly GO AFTER IT...then the dog
is bewildered..YOU did NOT go away.  Most times, the dog will run off...often still
barking.  I have used water pistols to spray dogs that bother me while riding.  If
they are unusually bothersome and worrisome, try something caustic...such as amonia
(don't use bleach..if it leaks from the pistol, it will discolor YOUR saddle,
equipment and clothes).  NO dog likes to have his face sprayed.

Dogs are trained, often not intentionally, but the way their owners treat and keep
them.  Just put yourself in their shoes and maybe you can pysche one out instead of
letting a dog "win" by intimidation.

BTW, NEVER wake a sleeping dog.  You get what you deserve......

Teddy

Sarah Roxanne Zawacki wrote:

>     Two things: first off, my lone bad experience with dogs at rides.  Probably
> because I have only been to one ride, a condition that will (hopefully) be
> changing soon.  :) :) :)  I forgot about it until someone posted the dog tied
> to fifty feet of line.  We were riding around in morning, before our 25 miles
> CTR.  There were five of us, two experienced horses with experienced rider,
> one newbie on an experienced horse, a *very* laidback QH, and me (newbie!) on
> Elliot.  We were walking (some of the horses who knew what to expect were
> dancing a bit) around camp.  As we went past a trailer and got within eight
> feet of it, a dog jumped out from under it, snarling like mad and barking
> and frothing and scaring several of the horses very, very badly.  Then he
> quickly retreated under the trailer, invisible and waiting for the next
> group.  Elliot didn't panic because of several experiences he'd had with dogs.
> A friendly dog used to trot behind us on trail rides.  Elliot hated having
> something following in the brush out of sight, but definitely there, at first.
> But then he got used to it.
>     The other dog experience was an aggressive but non-biting dog we almost
> always rode past.  The dog would come bounding up the driveway as we rode past,
> barking, and then come onto the road and try to run after the horses.
>     Which leads to the second thing: a long time ago, when I was in the 4-H
> CTR club, we used to go on training rides twice a month, with about thirty
> people.  Anyone who wanted to could come, and we had a lot of adults who rode
> weekends come along.  It was quite the event, and we had a great time.  I
> remember one lady, who wore a fancy black hat (the kind someone would wear for
> sidesaddle or driving) with a red scarf tied around the brim, responded quite
> differently to a threatening dog.  We usually just tried to walk past, but
> this lady said that if you turned around and chased the dog, they usually got
> scared and ran away.  She demonstrated.  She was on a Rocky Mountain horse
> and she held her arms out from her sides as the horse trotted right at the
> dog, ears pricked, as she made the most awful noise.  The dog got scared and
> ran away.  While Elliot would *never* tolerate the letting go of the reins
> and holding my arms out part, we have practiced the chasing bit with great
> enthusiasm.  Elliot is sort of timid, but chasing dogs away seemed to give
> him a bit more confidence in the face of barking canines.  It also helped
> us out a bit when we tried team penning a couple of times. (*great* fun!)
> Has anyone else here tried chasing the dogs away?  Any good/bad results?
> Safety concerns?
>
>                             Sarah & Elliot (BARK!)
>
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=