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Re: More Dog fights



>If everyone follows your considerate behavior, then we will have no
problem.
>When we had a "no dogs" policy, a few brought dogs, but kept them as hidden
as
>possible (they were afraid of me?).  With a more lenient policy, will those
>same ones step farther over the line?  I hope not, because I HATE being the
>meanie, but dogs running loose are not conducive to a well-managed and safe
>ride event.
>
>Barbara

Barbara, years ago when I was still showing, there was a show manager that
told everyone no dogs off leash, but of course there was always a contingent
of folks who thought the rules didn't apply to them and there was increasing
trouble with yappy little terriers darting in front of some very high-octane
Saddlebreds.  After a young girl fell off and was injured because a dog
nipped at her horse's legs, the show manager changed the policy---she had an
official Show Dog Catcher, and any off-leash, unsupervised  dogs she could
catch were immediately transported to the dog pound.  The owner had to go
and get it and pay a fine to get it back.  If the owner came looking for the
dog before it was taken off the show grounds, the show manager took down
their names and disqualified their horse from the show with no refunds.  The
DQ also applied to any dog on a leash so long it could still cause problems,
like tangling legs with the leash.  Before she implemented this policy, she
made sure it was prominently discussed in the show flyers and entry forms,
required a signature acknowledging they had read this notice and also had
signs up in the show office (the staff pointed it out to everyone picking up
numbers) and on all the barn rows.  So no one could claim ignorance, unless
they were blind, deaf and couldn't read.

It sure did cause an uproar and alot of screaming at the first show where
Randi enforced her new WELL PUBLICIZED policies, but after that, there were
no problems at all with loose dogs.  Also no more injuries to riders, dogs
or horses, also a lot fewer loose horses (which is a much bigger deal when
it's a Saddlebred, believe me).  All it took after that was the designated
Catcher strolling through the aisles for people to rush and make sure their
dog was still tied up or otherwise contained.

I'm not sure it would be as practical to do this at a base camp, but if a
ride manager did DQ the horse/rider associated with a troublesome dog, I bet
it would solve the problem.  OTOH, I'm not a ride manager and maybe the hard
feelings caused wouldn't be worth it.  I, for one, would be more likely to
attend a ride where I knew the dog problem was being addressed.  How to
solve the problem when an idiot vet can't control his own dog, I dunno.
Seems to me the ride vet should be taking the higher road and setting the
example, not adding to the problem, but that's just IMO and maybe I'm just
too impatient and crabby about that kind of behavior. :-)

Susan G



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