I'm reaching the end of my rope. (wild, livestock, fence)

[SVTLightning]

Burr, I am 100% supporting your decision to bring out the lead and that comes from a story close to BrokenTaps except I was a bit younger.

My very first childhood memory was when I was 3 1/2. yes an early age to remember something, and I remember snapshots not the entire episode.

We had come home from wherever we were and I remember seeing our dead chickens all over the lot we kept them in. There was my german shepard mutt mixed with something with feathers all over him in the lot. (i think he was playing and having fun, the chickens would run and he chased them)We went in the house and dad got the gun, he could have a dog on the farm that attacks the chickens that we got eggs from, and sometimes fed the family. now, my memory is just snapshots, I clearly remember seeing the dead chickens, and my next snapshot is the dog under the house. he was smart enough to know he had gotten in trouble and was hiding under the house. My next snapshot memory was the truck and car pulled up to the house, with the headlights on, facing the house and the area the dog was hiding.

The dog was mine, my mom said she had to seperate us many times so I could go to bed, or dinner or whatever because I was always with the dog. He would not come out from under the house even though they had laid food out for him. he would only come out for me. So my next snapshot was them telling me that I needed to call my dog out. I did. i stood there as a 3 1/2 year old and called my dog out from under the house and led him to his death. Thankfully I don't have a snapshot of that moment, but I knew it happened, even though at the time I didn't understand everything.

I'm 43 now and a few years ago my mom, my sister, and I were sitting around and talking about our earliest memories. I brought up this story and my mom started crying because she hoped I had forgotten that.

So Burr, I fully understand and support you shooting the dog before something bad does happen. Those dogs could chase people, or other pets, or wildlife. Sometimes you have to make the hard choice and do what is right.

[DSOs]

Originally Posted by Faworki1947

#1 rule.... keep your dog at home ..
That not happening is the reason most Urban folks dont feel welcome in the country .. their damn dog that isn't kept home .. I love new neighbors but its usually thier dog I meet first ... running the farm critters or killing the poulty .. worthless dog means worthless owner .. I just dont have time to play nice at that point .. NOW I do know that not everyone is like that but but the facts tend to support the reasoning IMHO anyways .

Agreed 1000%! I'm just trying to get to the root problem: he needs more room (my opinion).

[netwit]

Originally Posted by marmac

As I stated, a major problem is all those tracts of 5-15 acres.

All it takes is one jerk, and your problems are no different than if you were living in town.

5-15 tracts are too darn small to have people flocking to living their "homesteading dream"

Heck, with 5 acre tracts, there would be 16 different people living on 80 acres.

Sure would have a great chance of --1-- ruining it for the other 15.

Not necessarily true. We have considerably more land than 15 acres. There is a small town that borders our land to the south but we still have 100 acres between us and it and we still have a dog problem and we're not the only ones around here.

There is currently a sign in the local post office on the bulletin board by an anonymous someone stating: "If you don't take care of your dogs, we will take care of them for you."

I love dogs and there's only been one dog ever shot here and even though he killed chickens and calves, and not just at our place, I still feel awful about it.

Some year ago I did have one of my dogs shot at by someone I presume was in town. The dog was on OUR land, hunting mice in the swaths and she was shot in the leg.

To be charitable, although this is not a hunting area, I thought it was someone with no respect for private property who thought my dog was a fox, due to the coloring and the size of the dog at the time. (The dog eventually had that leg amputated when arthritis set in and died last year at the ripe old age of 14 1/2)

I also had one smart ass kid who, who, when confronted on my alfalfa field, complain that my dog had snapped at his hand. Well, get off the land, you moron. Jeepers.

In addition to four-wheelers driving over alfalfa fields and where ever else the hell they feel like it, there's also the problem of people who think moving to the country gives them the right to shoot wherever they want. And it is almost always newcomers to the country. It is never farmers.

[mollyblythe]

Originally Posted by burr

Some have noticed and mentioned detail that I intentionally included in my posts because I knew if I hadn't (included these 'alternative solutions ideas'), then 98% of replies would suggest shooting the dogs. And most of these are rancher types that lose poultry, livestock, etc. They have a positively airtight case IMO. And in future, if I lose the same, this would be a far different case. Unfortunately, this solution is one that must be dealt with for time unknown as the guy is a neighbor, good one or not, and although not exactly next door, he is within range. And he may be there for the rest of our lives, who knows ? I don't want to be in that type situation with somebody that shares a property boundary with me.

Now, although I have stopped target shooting and hunting at my place (simply a respect thing to the increase of human population that are neighbors, not actually illegal) for several years now, I have decided to re-open my target range. My problem neighbor shoots freely behind me, so my tuning up the 22 today seems totally appropriate. Starting with my Ruger Mark III 22/45 since I have several thousand rounds, it will be fun; I miss shooting. As I go about with various chores (never-damn ending, huh ?), I will plink throughout the day, and when time comes for the expected daily runs, I might dedicate a little more lead to the cause. Tommorrow, I plan to rack the SKS (a little less subtle) if needed. And if that doesn't change attitudes, I will invite my best friend to participate also, just to increase the presence of this sweetoleboys quiet and nonassuming neighbor to the northwest

(me).

Does this make any sense ?

Burr- I think this sounds like one of the best ideas offered. If this neighbor gives one whit about his dogs, frequent, loud gunfire from your place should get his attention. Step it up when you know he's home. This should give him the impression you're likely not to be trifled with and it might not be such a good idea to let his pooches run loose on your land. Again, good luck!

[lucknow]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

This topic of folks allowing their dogs to run free has been well covered recently on a number of forums.

The bottom line is your property is out in a remote area of the county where services are limited, such as animal control. That leaves animal control up to you and your dog-owning neighbor.

If your neighbor cannot or will not be a responsible pet owner, then you have no choice but to do what you can within the limits of the law. You'll need to check on your local statutes to see what they allow.

In our case, in rural Wyoming, everybody knows (except for the citiots that move in on a little parcel and think they can let their dogs be a problem for everybody else) that their dog will be shot on others properties. Yeah, it's not entirely the dog's fault being a dog ... but when you are a livestock owner and see your property being destroyed for "fun" by a stray dog, you must do what is necessary.

I've been down that path of politely advising new neighbors that their dogs are a problem, and gotten a lot of cra* from them about their right to let the dogs run free ... after all, we're "out in the country now". A few times, I've asked a deputy to go by and let the folks know that they won't have a dog if it is in my poultry, or running my sheep or horses ... and I'm not going to sit around and wait to catch it "in the act" again. If it's on my property, it's dead. And if you call the county animal control to complain about the dogs, that's what they'll tell you to do ... shoot the dog when you can.

Now this may seem pretty harsh, but even some of the citiots around here have come to understand that their dog and its behavior are their responsibility. Some, like a neighbor around here who breeds and trains $1,000-5,000 hunting dogs and used to let them run freely when he came home, now understand that even a lab retreiver can be a deadly pest to a livestock producer, or a neighbor's pets or working LGD dogs. He keeps his remaining dogs under his strict control, either kenneled or with a electric dog collar and him present when they are out of the kennel. And his threats of violence against his neighbors who might be the ones to shoot his dogs were met directly with peace warrants and the possibility of his arrest, not to mention the loss of his firearms and hunting/fishing license priveleges in this state. Even he learned that his dogs were a serious financial burden upon his neighbors, and he could be sued for the losses ... at least he paid up for my lost poultry.

You haven't seen a large dog in action until you watch them in a poultry yard kill about 30 birds in less than a minute of snapping and growling and lunging at them. Similarly, that dog "hunting" can drive away all the desirable wild animals from another person's property. When that dog "marks" it's territory, other animals do notice.

So, Burr, do what you need to do to control the problem, and don't feel sorry for the dog or the dog owner. Check with your sheriff's dept about your rights and act accordingly. You shouldn't fear for your "quiet enjoyment" of your rural land because of a local dog owner's irresponsible actions.

I had a hobby farm with a few animals and I started having problems with stray dogs. I bought a Kuvacz puppy and by the time she was a year old I did not ever have to worry about any dogs coming on to my property. Everything on my place belonged to her and if anything showed up with trouble on their mind they got it. She knew where her property line was and she never crossed it. I would recommend anyone with live stock to get one. Horses just love them and are very relaxed when their guardian is around. In BC they have even taken down the odd grizz while protecting their sheep. I had to give her to a friend when I moved to a smaller place. She now has a couple hundred acres and a herd of horses to mind.

[stillkit]

I'm surprised that nobody has metioned rock salt.

Load a few .12 gauge slugs with rock salt and, when a dog comes onto your property, let 'im have it. The salt doesn't fly too well so the range has to be pretty short, but when you bury rock salt under his hide he'll get the message to stay away pretty quickly.

[Ticky909]

throw the dog in your rig and drop it off on the neighbors front porch, tell them to keep it under control.

[saharan]

with ranchers the old adage is true: sss

shoot
shovel
shut up

[old_cold]

It's such a shame that it's the dog that suffers for the owners negligence.
If only there was some way of making it legal to take the dog home, call out the owner and then unload a little buckshot.

[stonecypher5413]

This thread is worth reviving to add this frightening news story that should shake up any dog owner in a rural environment who sees nothing wrong with letting the family mutts roam:

A pack of dogs has killed about 100 animals in the past three months in northeastern Washington state while eluding law enforcement and volunteers.

...Authorities are warning residents to take whatever steps are necessary to protect their families and animals because the dogs appear to be killing for fun rather than food. No humans have been attacked, but officers fear that could happen. "We have this pack that is out there killing for the sake of killing," Webb said. "What is going to happen if they come across a small child?"

..."Trying to figure out where they are going to hit is next to impossible," Webb said. "Nobody is claiming ownership of any animals involved in the pack."
One resident managed to take some photographs of the pack, and it seems to include four or five large dogs. It's not clear if the dogs are wild or if some or all go home to owners during the day, Webb said. It's also not known what breed they are.

Dog pack kills animals, terrorizes Wash. town (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/06/09/national/a130725D78.DTL#ixzz1OoQxI9Bz - broken link)