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Our area is good, and the areas we camp. The Walgreen's will give dog biscuits and all the camp stores are dog friendly. He hates riding in the truck, but loves going on the boat.
My dogs love the pickup, love the boat, & love to swim.
Plus they scare peoples animals. A lot of the dogs that run loose scare peoples horses and alpacas around here, and they don't appreciate that.
Yeah, in rural Utah, I had to quit riding my horse to certain places because someone's huge dog would run out into the road and harass my horse with me on him. That was not safe as it freaked the horse out.
The owners (the building inspector, lol) could care less. He didn't care that his dog was harassing me and making it unsafe. That road led to a prime wilderness area for riding, so that was a bummer.
OTOH, a banty hen came visiting from the neighbor and we adopted it. Best pet we ever had!
I just cannot understand the mentality of people who let supposed "beloved" pets roam when they KNOW there are predators out there. Talk about cruel. [ETA: Hawk, this wasn't directed at you; we posted at the same time.]
I live on 1.29 acres in southwestern New Hampshire in a small town just outside of Keene. I get lots of wildlife in my backyard, which backs up on conservation land. I've seen lots of deer, foxes, wild turkeys, hawks, a rabbit once (that was actually this morning!), and bear tracks (I haven't ever seen the bear itself, just his tracks around the perimeter of my house -- many of my neighbors have seen him). I have never and would never let my cats go outside; besides the damage that THEY could cause to my neighbors' property, the cats themselves could quite possibly die a horrible death, or simply disappear and I would never know what happened to them. I think I would go nuts.
This thread makes me very sad ...
I hear you. It makes me sad, too.
And yet... I think I have mixed feelings. There was a time in my life that I was brutally poor, and had no business having animals but I was trying to have them. Even surrendering one to a shelter cost a surrender fee, and I was that broke, I was grocery shopping with a handful of change broke. There was a dog that we'd found tethered at the back of a property when we moved in, abandoned. We cared for him as well as we could. But when he got very sick, we could not afford vet bills. No one was able or willing to help. Maybe now, in the age of the internet, we could have found an alternative, but back then we did not have that. Fortunately for me, I had the guy who ended up being my first husband, and he'd spent his childhood hunting and helping out on a working farm, so he was emotionally able to handle ending that dog's suffering. I wanted it done, but actually doing it...I just couldn't work out a way to do it that I could handle doing.
I have seen animals treated very badly by more impoverished rural people. I grew up in Virginia, and in rural VA there were people living in cobbled together and added-onto trailer homes in the woods, the folks who dumped trash and old appliances in whatever forest nearby, and one family I knew even had a family graveyard on their property. They had owned the land and lived there a long time. And they had dogs, guard dogs like rotties and a brindle bullmastiff that I remember, that were chained outside. I always thought it was a terrible life for a dog.
But they just had a whole different mindset. And yeah, some folks did let dogs loose to roam. When I was a child I was chased by a pack of dogs and I don't know if they were feral or roaming pets. I jumped in my Mom's car and had to sit there and wait for quite a while before they got distracted and ran off. I did feel that my life was in danger, I was only about 7 or 8 and I was a small girl.
I'm not a fan of roaming dogs. And cats...well, like some others here, I have an indoor cat. I put considerable resources into giving him a great life. I pay a lot for him to have a good diet, I play with him and he's got a lot of toys and enrichment here. He seems to have a very happy existence. And yeah, given what I've seen in my lifetime, of cats let to wander outside...there's a very good chance he's got a better life than he would outdoors. We don't have to worry about fleas or ticks, either. Heck I live in the city of Phoenix and I can hear coyote packs outside every night. That's not even just a rural thing.
But something that strikes me as interesting to consider... I have observed that in times in the past, animals and children were more of an asset to a household. The kids, those that survived, would become part of the family labor force. The animals had work and utilitarian purposes. I have wondered if there is an impulse for poor people to acquire and have more kids and pets than makes sense, because of this impulse which surely worked for thousands of years before modern life. In modern life though, we "pamper and cosset" our kids and our pets. We protect them from everything. You can't spank, let alone beat your kids into doing what you want, and most urban and suburban pet owners do not treat them like working animals or livestock with all of the harsh realities that entails.
So "progress" is this kinder approach to children and animals but it turns having them from a net asset, to a net liability (in accounting terms.) A cost, not a profit. And this "progress" (such as it is) is driven by city people. And emotions. And while in principle I agree with it... I also can kind of comprehend the thought that if you live in the country, your life may be ruled by a different set of realities than that of city people. And there would logically be some serious resistance to urban folks pushing you to change your way of life to accommodate their progressive ethics and things that seem to suddenly be "not OK" or "problematic." I think that it is important to try and respect that there can be different needs people have in different communities and regional cultures. I mean, some rural areas have more roaming animals...some ARE hicks with unfixed animals hanging around the back door...some have to deal with dumped animals attracting WOLVES for crying out loud! Regional issues, that those who live there have to deal with in the way they see fit.
So ehm, tl;dr I have SOME opinions (especially about dangerous roaming dogs, or tethered dogs)...but I try not to be too quick to project my feelings & ethics on other people's situations.
EDIT for clarity, I'm not saying that rural people abuse kids or that doing so is alright. I'm saying that just a couple of generations ago, no one batted an eye at a kid getting spanked, it was normal. Right or wrong, it was normal. But there's been a cultural shift there, and along with it, this push to brand that as wrong... I see a parallel in ethics and thinking about animals, and I comprehend (even if I don't agree) why there might be some pushback about it. Especially in more tradition-driven households. "It's always been this way"...
Last edited by Sonic_Spork; 06-17-2022 at 11:29 AM..
Yeah, in rural Utah, I had to quit riding my horse to certain places because someone's huge dog would run out into the road and harass my horse with me on him. That was not safe as it freaked the horse out.
The owners (the building inspector, lol) could care less. He didn't care that his dog was harassing me and making it unsafe. That road led to a prime wilderness area for riding, so that was a bummer.
OTOH, a banty hen came visiting from the neighbor and we adopted it. Best pet we ever had!
Guys I used to ride with taught me how to dog bowl. There were a couple houses along some of our routes that had several dogs that would run out and bark and nip at the horses. Turn your horse around, drop its head and aim straight for the dogs. Run them right back up to their porch.
Guys I used to ride with taught me how to dog bowl. There were a couple houses along some of our routes that had several dogs that would run out and bark and nip at the horses. Turn your horse around, drop its head and aim straight for the dogs. Run them right back up to their porch.
Never heard that term, but it’s what I do without any horse if a dog runs out at me in an aggressive way. Turn the tables on it so the predator finds himself now the prey.
One of the neighbors told me a dog used to bark like crazy when she rode her horse past that house. Neither she nor her horse deigned to respond to the doltdog. Then one day the dog charged at the horse, who quietly flicked out a powerful leg and KICKED that dog an estimated 20 feet away. The dog never charged out again.
All justifiable action, no bluff. A noble animal, indeed!
Never heard that term, but it’s what I do without any horse if a dog runs out at me in an aggressive way. Turn the tables on it so the predator finds himself now the prey.
One of the neighbors told me a dog used to bark like crazy when she rode her horse past that house. Neither she nor her horse deigned to respond to the doltdog. Then one day the dog charged at the horse, who quietly flicked out a powerful leg and KICKED that dog an estimated 20 feet away. The dog never charged out again.
All justifiable action, no bluff. A noble animal, indeed!
When I was a kid, there was a dog down the street that loved to chase bicycles. One day, those of us who had speedometers on our bikes(this was in 1970 or so) were riding down the street to see how fast we could go. The dog chased me, but got in front. There were two thumps, and the dog went running back home. It never chased another bike. Some sort of smaller dog, it was pretty yappy.
I have always lived in a suburban environment, but we have some camping land in a very rural area. I am curious if there's a difference in attitudes, regarding suburban feelings about dogs and cats, and rural attitudes?
I'm well aware that lots of times, dogs and cats have 'jobs' in rural environments. Barn cats keep the rodent population down, and dogs herd, and guard sheep and cattle, etc. I get it, don't have a problem with it
BUT...IS it a general thing to let dogs roam all over the place? Not just all over YOUR own property...but just roam in general?
I ask, because where our camping land is, we have a Facebook group page, and apparently there is a farmer who lives close by, and he continually lets his dog(s) (a mother and puppies) roam, and they roam onto other people's property who then get on Facebook and complain about it.
It seems that one of the property owners has taken the mother dog and several of the puppies to a dog rescue organization, but it caused a controversy and one lady tried to defend the idea of just letting dogs roam, saying it's been happening for years and years, and that's just how it is in the country. You let your dogs and cats go wherever they want to go. And she was chiding the property owner who gathered up the mom and pups, saying that the property owner was basically stealing these dogs.
Is this classic misunderstanding of the differences between country life and city life...or is this particular lady wrong, or was the property owner wrong for gathering up the mother and puppies and taking them to a shelter?
If I wasn't clear, the mom and pups were continually showing up on the property owner's property, looking for food and attention.
I have my prejudice on this...but really, I'm just curious on what the attitude on this might be. And I don't feel judgy about it...just wondering.
I live in a rural area and my four dogs don't free range. I keep them on my property. Occasionally they get away- rarely, but I call or find them and they come back. They're bird dogs so if given a chance- they will roam.
I don't know anyone that intentionally let's their dogs 'roam'. I have many friends with cattle dogs and they have livestock and those breeds tend to stay very, very close to the operation. In fact if they do roam- you don't feed or pet them- grab the collar and get the number and call the owner.
It's not a big issue here, and this a very, very dog friendly *working dog* state. Just not an issue here.
The only time my dog has left our farm has been to go visit his play buddies. Our nearest neighbor lives about 1/2 mile from our property, for years now I walk over to meet with a group of old men for coffee. For a while we all brought our dogs and all of our dogs could socialize together. But after a while the atmosphere of it turned dark, so everybody quit bringing their dogs. Since my dog used to walk there with me to play with his buddies, it makes sense now that he will walk there sometimes looking for his play buddies.
That is the only time that my dog leaves my property.
I know the names of most dogs in our township. Most of my neighbors name my dog's name.
A few years ago, a friend asked me to board his dog for a while. I did and everything was fine for a while. One day I went out to the road with that dog, and a lady was jogging with a baby carriage. That dog totally lost control of himself barking and lunging at the baby carriage. I managed to get between them but I could not get the dog to come to me and calm down. Eventually the lady was able to continue her jog. I walked home and the dog followed me. The dog was put down that night.
Nobody should tolerate a dangerous dog.
If that dog had managed to tear into the baby carriage I would have felt obligated to shoot him right there.
In my old neighborhood, we had a dog that was dumped by a hunter in the local woods. He had an old collar but the phone number was OOS. I ended up feeding him (it took months for him to even look at me), but eventually he became the neighborhood pet. It turned out he was an American Foxhound. My eccentric neighbor used to dress him up in outfits and take pictures of him; he was that docile. Eventually he got picked up by animal control, but he went to a rescue group and then to a permanent home in NJ. We were all so happy that "Teddy" had a forever family. He was a really sweet dog who just couldn't scent.
At the end of hunting season, hundreds of beagles and other hunting dogs are dumped. Some are shot. I can never understand this callous behavior.
When I was a kid, there was a dog down the street that loved to chase bicycles. One day, those of us who had speedometers on our bikes(this was in 1970 or so) were riding down the street to see how fast we could go. The dog chased me, but got in front. There were two thumps, and the dog went running back home. It never chased another bike. Some sort of smaller dog, it was pretty yappy.
Heh heh.
A dog rushed across its yard and beelined toward me when I cycled past its home. Its timing was flawless: a car behind me smacked the attacker hard enough that I heard the CRACK of metal on bone, followed by agonized yipping. No more chase!
I looked behind to make sure the doltdog was not going to charge again, laughed out loud, saw the driver stop ahead and also look back, and then both of us hurried onward.
Next time I saw that dog it had a leg cast and was tied up. Never had any trouble from it again.
When I later told a friend, he said he was shocked I laughed. I pointed out that it was clearly trying to bite me, so whatever it got in the process was self-caused. I guess the owners had to learn the hard way to tie it up.
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