I don’t, either. Both as an owner of a dog that fell well outside the norm and as a professional pet sitter who has taken care of extremely challenging animals. I’ve cared for a German Shepherd who was one bite away from 3 strikes you’re out; 2 giant wolfhounds; a rowdy but friendly crew of Am Staff that came with a mapped walking route; two rescue dogs that I never actually saw because they were so shy (they had a doggie dooor, I was just asked to stop in for 15 minutes to check that all was well); dogs that required a rugged hike to burn off energy. I got all types because I’m strong and athletic and used to handling giant breeds. The company I worked for had an intake visit questionaire. I took copious notes and pics of set ups with my phone. One cat will only eat on the counter of the basement bar? No problem. Fluffy and I need to walk south on your street to avoid the Doberman up the street? Got it. Fido likes ice cubes from the dispenser on the fridge as a treat? He’s getting them. Honestly. Any good pet sitter will do this stuff. You might have to interview a few candidates to find the right one bit they’re out there in spades.
I have been attacked, my kids have been attacked, and our dog was attacked while I walked down the street with him on a leash, my 10 year old son at my side pushing a stroller with my 2 year old in it. I try not to be fearful of dogs but I am - especially dogs I don’t know. I heard a vet once say when he was examining a horse as three dogs ran about - “Dogs and horses just don’t mix”. I’m actually surprised and glad so many have chimed in here. The shows and loose dogs are not good.
Except they don’t, because how often do we see dogs getting loose and chasing riders on course, at premiere events? (I think at Land Rover this year it was notable in the stream that there was one dog that picked up barking furiously every time a horse passed on course…this year or last year?) Not to nitpick - but I don’t think we should really hold eventing up as some paradigm of a world full of responsible dog owners/savants who have all the answers.
At the end of the day, a dog at a show should have someone attentive to them at all times. No exceptions. This means being in proximity (and paying attention) even if they are kenneled in a tack stall or tied to the front of a stall. If a dog’s behavior becomes disruptive or inconvenient at a horse show, the person there for the dog needs to cede to the purpose of the event (which is horses), and change the circumstances so that whatever it is the dog is doing is no longer an issue.
I have met some truly lovely horse show dogs. At one of the premiere dressage shows last year there was a wonderful basset hound who ended up practically in my lap. Her owners were willing to keep her right next to them, but when I indicated I didn’t mind petting/company, they let her come over, and I had a grand time watching lovely horses with a quiet, well behaved dog. But dog owners need to remember that at a horse show, riders and horse handlers should not feel like they have to yield to dogs/dog owners. It is a horse show. The horse has the right of way, and if the dogs are being problematic in any way, the dogs are the ones that are in the wrong.
Again - it comes down to a distressing lack of awareness on part of dog owners. There are good ones. I have met them, and I delight in them because their dogs are lovely animals. But it is the ones who are ignorant, oblivious, or indifferent that ruin it for the rest.
It cannot be directed at me, as I have NEVER taken a dog to a horse show. In fact, I quit showing/going to horse shows 40 years ago, which was 15 years before I ever GOT a dog. It is obvious from some of your continued statements that you don’t really read everything I am writing. I explained my current search for a motorhome or camper van so that two or three of my dogs could be away from the horses/people in comfort. I chose where I lived? So, I could have lived OUTSIDE the city and lost my job over that choice? I chose to buy a home when I had NO dogs, so it’s MY fault that I didn’t pick one with a big backyard? Maybe I bought (and I stated this previously) a house I could afford. So that means it’s MY fault that I didn’t buy a house that I would have lost (to lack of “enough” finances) when I divorced? And if I HAD bought something bigger/better for dogs, I would have had to RE-HOME them when looking for another place–most apartments didn’t allow big dogs, let alone Dobermans.
Maybe you should buy that $200,000 hunter or jumper? You can’t afford it? Surely, it’s YOUR choice; you should buy it!
I would NOT have a dog ringside, next to horses, leash loose, threatening, or underfoot. But I expect you have NEVER dealt with someone who was/is intensely into dog obedience training and showing. There are ABSOLUTE RULES that you have to abide by, even OUTSIDE of the show ring, i.e. cleaning up after your dogs, cruelty towards your dog (will horse show management take a rider to task for cruelty to his/her horse?), and aggression. IF your dog shows AGGRESSION towards another dog, competitor, or judge, it can be BANNED FOREVER from showing in that kennel club’s (AKC, UKC, ASCA, SKC, CKC) shows.
YOU make the choice to show at venues where dogs are allowed to come. It is YOUR choice to continue showing at those venues, even if show management WON’T ENFORCE their own rules. My and any other’s well-behaved and under-control-at-all-times dogs should not have to be banned (for me, in the possible future IF we ever GO to horse shows) just because you can’t get off your high horse (Hah! A pun!) to complain to those who are supposed to enforce the rules about those who are abusing the same.
Caveat: I am feeling incredibly grumpy, because I am in the midst of doing the minutes from the Board meeting and general membership meeting of our dog club. I HATE being the secretary, I hate this job, and I thought I was done with this type of crap when I retired. But you know, people like to take advantage of “perks”, like SHOWING, and don’t like to volunteer for stuff that’s not so much fun, like unloading from a trailer and then reloading in the same trailer ten 50’ heavy mats after spending 4 hours washing them before the recent obedience, rally, and nosework trials (I ached for two days after), setting up and tearing down at the venue 20 miles away, being a steward (not THIS year), being an officer in their club, etc. You know, the kind of stuff that horse people ALWAYS volunteer to do JUST so they CAN have a horse show.
[QUOTE=RHdobes563;n10432054]
It cannot be directed at me, as I have NEVER taken a dog to a horse show. In fact, I quit showing/going to horse shows 40 years ago, which was 15 years before I ever GOT a dog. It is obvious from some of your continued statements that you don’t really read everything I am writing. I explained my current search for a motorhome or camper van so that two or three of my dogs could be away from the horses/people in comfort. I chose where I lived? So, I could have lived OUTSIDE the city and lost my job over that choice? I chose to buy a home when I had NO dogs, so it’s MY fault that I didn’t pick one with a big backyard? Maybe I bought (and I stated this previously) a house I could afford. So that means it’s MY fault that I didn’t buy a house that I would have lost (to lack of “enough” finances) when I divorced? And if I HAD bought something bigger/better for dogs, I would have had to RE-HOME them when looking for another place–most apartments didn’t allow big dogs, let alone Dobermans.
Maybe you should buy that $200,000 hunter or jumper? You can’t afford it? Surely, it’s YOUR choice; you should buy it!
I would NOT have a dog ringside, next to horses, leash loose, threatening, or underfoot. But I expect you have NEVER dealt with someone who was/is intensely into dog obedience training and showing. There are ABSOLUTE RULES that you have to abide by, even OUTSIDE of the show ring, i.e. cleaning up after your dogs, cruelty towards your dog (will horse show management take a rider to task for cruelty to his/her horse?), and aggression. IF your dog shows AGGRESSION towards another dog, competitor, or judge, it can be BANNED FOREVER from showing in that kennel club’s (AKC, UKC, ASCA, SKC, CKC) shows.
YOU make the choice to show at venues where dogs are allowed to come. It is YOUR choice to continue showing at those venues, even if show management WON’T ENFORCE their own rules. My and any other’s well-behaved and under-control-at-all-times dogs should not have to be banned (for me, in the possible future IF we ever GO to horse shows) just because you can’t get off your high horse (Hah! A pun!) to complain to those who are supposed to enforce the rules about those who are abusing the same.
Caveat: I am feeling incredibly grumpy, because I am in the midst of doing the minutes from the Board meeting and general membership meeting of our dog club. I HATE being the secretary, I hate this job, and I thought I was done with this type of crap when I retired. But you know, people like to take advantage of “perks”, like SHOWING, and don’t like to volunteer for stuff that’s not so much fun, like unloading from a trailer and then reloading in the same trailer ten 50’ heavy mats after spending 4 hours washing them before the recent obedience, rally, and nosework trials (I ached for two days after), setting up and tearing down at the venue 20 miles away, being a steward (not THIS year), etc. You know, the kind of stuff that horse people ALWAYS volunteer to do JUST so they CAN have a horse show.[/QUOTE
Ease up friend .
Life is short. Don’t work at what you hate. It’s not worth it.
Ease up there friend.
Life is short. Don’t work at something you hate.
Easy there friend.
Life is short. Try not to do things that you hate.
I hope you are ok.
Having trouble with the quoting process.
Hope you can find a way not to do things that you hate.It’s not healthy or fun.
If you never take your dog to a horse show then comments about people who are irresponsible about dogs at shows are not about you. If your dog is a luck dragon, then comments about wendigo dogs are not about your dog. If you follow rules, comments about people who don’t aren’t about you.
Your (collective) dog is a special freakin snowflake. Cool cool cool. I don’t care. When my horse is getting chased by it in schooling the fact that it poops golden eggs and has a world title in irish mushroom rolling won’t matter much to me. It’s just a dog and dogs do what dogs do sometimes.
Honest to god, talking about dogs brings out the goddamn crazy in people!
Dog people are crazy. I have a dog. I may be crazy. Probably unrelated to dog.
It’s like, I go to someone’s property/venue/show/whatever and they say no dogs. I don’t bring my dog. I am not even offended.
They say keep your dog on a leash, I keep my dog on a leash.
The end.
One time my friend said if you think horse show people are crazy, dog show people are even worse. I don’t know what she meant, and I will never find out because I do not go to dog shows.
This it be true. 0_____o
I really don’t understand why people are getting so upset. If there are people that can’t control their dogs, and there aren’t enough resources to reliably monitor the dogs that attend these shows, then the logical solution is to just not allow any dogs. It’s not to say “Oh but there are people whose dogs are well behaved so we should just not worry about it”. Congratulations for having well behaved dogs, or dogs that stay at your trailer. That doesn’t make up for all the dogs that AREN’T well trained and cause trouble, and that there is just too much going on at a show for management to try to enforce rules on everyone that tries to sneak by without a dog on a leash or with a badly socialized dog. I don’t get why people are arguing about their own dog being good.
If they decide that the only way to really, truly stop things like this from happening is to just ban dogs completely, even if it “punishes” those with good dogs, you will just have to deal with it like everyone else. I seriously don’t know why people think risking someone getting hurt, dog or person or horse, is worth it so they can have THEIR dog at the show. How well behaved your dog is, that has absolutely no bearing on the discussion. This isn’t about YOUR dog(s).
Ignoring all the tangent hating on each other…
Are there any updates on the original situation?
Has the person who owns the dog who attacked been held responsible? Is the young kid OK?
This should not be hard.
Would you bring your dog to a black tie wedding? Out of town? Even if it meant leaving the dog for a weekend and you had to get a sitter or similar?
If you were invited to a wedding in a park, and it was casual, but the invite said “no dogs,” would you complain and winge? Even if on non wedding days you take your dog there? Even if your dog is well behaved?
Does the specialness of you or your dog play into EITHER question?
Not hard.
The ‘you’ is directed at anyone with a dog. It’s even directed at myself as I own dogs.
And as much as you want to say destiny decided your living arrangements and how many dogs you own, you made all of those choices.
So when someone says ‘I can’t leave my dogs at home alone’ I call BS. Which is what you said.
And why do you assume I don’t complain to horse show management?
This. x1000.
Just because (g) your dog is “special,” does not mean the rest of us want it at a venue that is for horse shows.
I’m sure the dogs that attacked and killed the child’s puppy (the topic of this thread) are also considered “special” and deserving of being at a horse show by their owner.
If (g) you don’t want dogs banned, then perhaps owners of “well behaved” dogs should be speaking to dog owners who are locking barking dogs in stalls, allowing them to roam free, etc. Because unfortunately it’s those who take advantage of certain privileges that end up ensuring everyone loses those privileges, such as having dogs at horse shows.
Also, as someone who does not have children, I would never consider my pets and horses (who are also pets) at the same level as human children. They might be my kids but they do not have the same privileges or need them.
The more I read responses to this thread, the more I am convinced that banning dogs may be the best solution after all. Apparently the issue with dog owners is that they think their dogs are “special” and deserve to attend a show with them, or, despite being able to horse show, they cannot afford to provide proper care for their dogs at home while they are away.
This is not the type of response that makes me think dog owners are going to make good decisions when it comes to deciding whether or not their dogs should be at a show.
And, as I’ve said earlier, I’m speaking as a dog owner here. And as someone who has seen more horrible behavior from dogs at shows than good behavior, as someone who has been bitten and has a significant fear of unknown dogs, and whose horse has been chased by dogs as a weanling and is still nervous around them.
I’ve always heard that cat people are crazy (I have four), but dog people certainly out crazy cat people when it comes to this topic. :lol:
All I need to know about this issue is that the owner of the dogs that killed a little girl’s puppy had a history of attacks, and were at a show the next week. I’m sure the dogs will always appear at shows, and the owner doesn’t care about the safety of other animals, or humans. Apparently, show management doesn’t care about the safety of their participants, the audience, or anything else.
Sadly, some people do act this way. A friend’s sister basically started a family wide fight because she insisted she bring her dog aggressive pit bull to Thanksgiving dinner, even though they asked her not to. The home of the hosting family had a dog and they didn’t want to have to keep their dog locked up for hours on end because Sister HAD to bring her dog or she wasn’t coming to dinner at all. She acted as if the dog was literally her child and being asked to not bring her dog to Thanksgiving is like telling her she can’t bring her daughter to Thanksgiving.
Some people are amazingly self centered.
I feel bad for those poor individuals who are actually allergic to dogs or extremely afraid of them. You can have dogs practically anywhere now, no matter how ill behaved.
I should get a retired pet fighting rooster, name it Little Jerry Seinfeld, and bring it to horse shows with me. I’ll leave it in a stall or let it hang out on a really long leash that crosses the barn aisle all day long. I hope you love the sound of roosters crowing while you do your class.
Eventing has their own issues with dogs. In 2009, Buck Davidson’s Rolex ride was marred by being attacked by a spectator’s dog. Or the issue with the “invisible verbal leash” caused by another Event rider’s dogs. They have their own identical thread over in the Eventing forum, with the same issues covered here.
I have a dog. I love my dog. He doesn’t come to the barn or to horse shows. He doesn’t enjoy it, I don’t enjoy it. I doubt other people would enjoy it. I make sure his needs are taken care of when I’m not able to be home. Budgeting for my dog care is part of my financial picture. That is part of being a responsible dog owner.
I get that people love their dogs. But just like children, no one loves your dog as much as you do. And it is absolutely 100% not right that people who are irresponsible dog owners will bring their barking, ill-mannered, tied up, or unleashed dogs to horse events, and think it is ok to be disruptive to competitors that work hard, and spend long hours and lots of money to be prepared to participate in a horse event.
