about two months ago we lost our wonderful heeler mix to bone cancer. he was the perfect dog for us–very soft, kind, obedient, loyal, loved everybody, got along great with other dogs and horses, and a tireless trail runner. an unforgettable dog, though we only had him two years, after adopting him from the county animal shelter.
hoping for lightning to strike twice, we started looking for a new dog at the pound, on FB, etc.
we are now almost at the end of the first week of a two week tryout of a two year old purebred heeler. the woman who is giving him up is the second owner. the first owner, who bought the dog as a puppy, was a cowboy who wanted the dog as a working cattle dog on a ranch.
we don’t know the real story behind why the dog was given up the first time. this time, it’s because of the owner getting divorced and moving back east. she’s had him since he was 9 mos. old.
the dog is amazingly smart, super obedient, and has decided, from the moment he met me, that i am his person, and he mostly ignores my husband. he’s totally trustworthy off leash–great recall–and actually is very relaxed and quiet around the house, though we haven’t yet seen if we can trust him outside a crate when i’m out of the house.
he’s also very intense and quite feral, almost seems like a wild animal in some ways. i find this a bit unnerving.
the day we brought him home, we swung by the barn. he growled at my horse, but we chalked it up to him being in a new situation.
a couple of days later, i brought him back to the barn. while i was filling the hay nets, he lunged at the BO’s gelding (who was safely in his stall). a bit later, when the BO was there chipping ice out of the gelding’s hooves, he growled at the gelding.
today, when he was within about five feet of my horse, she started snorting at him. she grew up with a pack of dogs, and has no fear of them. he started snarling at her. the BO held him while i did some round pen work with her, then tied him up in the barn.
when i went into the barn with my horse, the dog flew right past me, through the air, and landed on my horse’s thigh. there was a leash attached, and i got him off the mare fast. the mare is not bleeding and pretty much just ignored the dog.
i put the dog back in my car and attended to my horse; i was pretty shaken. the dog looked to me like it was in full attack mode. i can’t be sure but it looked like the dog either hates horses, or did not like it that the horse had my attention (our other heeler also got jealous of the horse, but expressed it by nudging me for attention, not by attacking the horse!)
i have already called the dog’s owner and let her know what happened (left a VM). my husband is in love with this dog–a great running companion for him. i’m less enamored, and also really missing the dog we lost–hard not to compare unfavorably!
so i’m aware that i’m going to be less forgiving of this new dog.
so, with all that background, my question is–can the dog be made reliable around horses? if so, how would you go about doing it?
it’s not feasible to keep the dog away from the horse, if we’re going to keep him, because my husband and i want to spend our little free time together, and that means including our dog and our horse. we go hiking/riding into the mountains and also saddlepacking as a family. it’s impractical to own a dog that has to be excluded from activities with the horse.
also i ride a lot in groups of friends with their dogs, and want a dog that can be included on those outings. he is good with other dogs, from what we have seen so far.
it is not worth it to me to risk my horse being injured. but if it’s possible to get this dog reliable and trustworthy with my horse, i would like to try, for my husband’s sake.
what do you advise? especially would like to hear from experienced heeler owners.
many thanks in advance.
