castle rock ride/dog

[Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>]

>True.  The ironic thing is that one of the reasons I take my dogs with
>me is>because there have been some incidents recently of women being
pulled >off of>their horses and raped,

So you took your Jack Russels????  Honestly, I have had my Dachsund
mauled before (gathered up her intestines in a towel and the vet put them
back in) BUT, I'll have to play devil's advocate here.  I live in the
country.  We have lots of city people move out here, "so they can let
their dogs run loose".  Well, if you're going to let things be more
natural, you'd better be prepared for the nature of things.  Dogs
(especially in the country) don't see property lines.  You took your dog
through that dog's territory.  I learned as a kid that it wasn't good to
take my collie when I walked, rode my bike or my horse past houses.  Even
though the collie usually won, I spent all my time waiting for him to
finish his fight.  

You moved to the country to get away from things like leash laws, but
then you expect the neighbors to have their dogs confined.  You said you
couldn't help it if their dog wasn't trained.  How do you train your dog
not to jump on a Jack Russel who wanders through his turf...buy a few
Jack Russels, let him jump one, then beat the crap out of him for it?

You sent them the vet bill.  Good move.  Good luck getting to ride on
ANYBODY in the county's property in the future.  To me, access to my
trails is worth a lot more than a cash.  It took me 4 or 5 years to earn
my neighbor's trust.  Now, SLOWLY they've all invited me to cross their
property and even ride on it.  One of the main reasons the man who owns
the ONLY access bridge to my side of Lookout Mtn. had for barring anyone
from coming through was that they brought dogs.  After a year or 2 of
seeing me leave my dogs at home, he gave me...and only me access.

If you've decided to "move to the country" to get away from what you
didn't like about the city (rules) you'll have to learn how to adjust to
not being constantly protected.  We generally take matters into our own
hands...a well tossed firecracker will usually make any dog decide you're
no fun, or if you don't want to spook your horse some of the spray that
the mail man and meter readers carry will make sure he remembers you next
time.

P.S. I'm assuming this *is* the country... and not every dog fight is the
same as a major attack like the loose pit bulls they described in a
previous post.... also...one more note, if the dogs were "locked off of
their own property" it sounds as if they escaped their fence.  It's not
too often that anybody around here makes that much effort and has a
fence.  

Angie, Truly, and Indigo

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