wow - that's horrible, ll -

"So never say your dog won't do it"
Those are the people that will be shocked when something happens. My first 'set' of dogs as an adult were a Golden and a Black Lab...most docile dogs ever known...They died at 10 years and 16 years old, never EVER hurt a person or another animal and never had aggressive behavior, but I never trusted them around the littles 100%. My dogs now are a wolf and a lab, again, both of them LOVE our Grandkids and the wolf is overly protective of the littles, but again, I don't ever trust them 100%. That's how you prevent bad situations.

Most of the discussion about walking dogs off leash should focus on the owner not the dog. A well trained dog under the supervision of the owner should not be a problem. When we walk in the forest she is off leash but also in my field of vision and if she does not respond to voice command on second command the collar around her neck will beep, then buzz and shock if really needed. Training a dog not to chase deer does take some effort but can be done. Puppy just sits down when she spots deer on our walk and waits for command on what to do. We she was a puppy she got happy feet but that was solved and now she will not leave my property unaccompanied. Get a training collar or help from someone if your dog does not listen. I had dogs before and with my current puppy I take at least 1 hour a day working with her and figure I will not be comfortable for 100% obedience with less than 2 years of work. When she goes down the hill with me she wears a leash but that has to far more with the animals there than her behavior. Even when letting her out to take care of business I still keep her in view but there is no fence, just training to keep her on my property.

I also know feral dogs can be a huge problem for an area and with very little hunting in the area the time that feral dogs would be addressed is very little. A rule when I grew up was during deer season never let your dog roam free, a large number of hunters looked at it as a duty to put down any of the dogs they saw. Personally I do not let my dog roam free besides not wanting to bother the neighbors; even with a fair size dog there are a lot of things that would attack puppy. I have seen a coyote pack working the area looking for pets for dinner, throw in lions and bears plus little furry creatures that can cause harm and if you can not see your dog how would you know if they are hurt or need help. The owner that lets their dog run off their property or does not have control off leash are the people that need punishment not a dog just doing what dogs do without human control. As for a dog taking down a deer, the dog I had before was a large Chesapeake and did knock a deer or two down on our walks by herself but that had to do with bedding deer jumping up close to us and she stopped on command and after further training looked for command.

If I had to get puppy al the exercise she wants and needs on leash pretty sure I would have had a heart attack already. The idea of running up and down the hills she just flies up and down gets me tired thinking about it.

When riding in the forest during hunting season, we cloaked horses and riders in orange, and did same for the dog.
It was easy and cheap, we just cut up some ponchos and tied them on.
If all else fails, a dog who can't be trusted to stay at his place or under control of his owners, can be equipped with a loud, no-kidding bell on his collar, so that everybody else knows he's out there and headed their way.

I've been watching this post and subsequent responses grow over the last few days, and personally, I think it's all about control, fear, and immaturity. Whoever the nameless coward was that posted the sign must be very angry, very fear-based, and completely lacking in common sense or compassion. Chest-beaters with a well stocked gun cabinet, who know that their own conversational skills are dubious at best. Rather than engage in discourse with a dog-owner, they'd rather have the opportunity to kill the poor animal so that they can feel, albeit temporarily, like the lead character in "Lord of the Flies" for a moment or two.

It's basically a way of proclaiming that while they don't really understand how the world works, or better SHOULD work, they're going to have rifles ready to make their point to the "no-good, liberal Obama-lovers" who in their tiny fear-based brains fear that the world is coming for their guns, beef jerky and 4X4s. Don't get me wrong - these are people to be feared, much like a cornered dog who has been bred to attack. It's just unfortunate that they have to live behind a wall of fear and lack of education to make their points. We have several dogs. They've never gotten out, and we work to ensure this doesn't happen. That said, one of the things that I have always LOVED about our community is how everyone looks out for each other's animals, and I have taken in several "found" pets until they've had a chance to be reunited with their caretakers. People like this don't deserve the luxury of living in a close-knit community. They take the same sense of family that I feel with my neighbors and turn it into something quite ugly.

Just wondering if you live down Wandcrest, because I can tell you several ranches will shoot on sight and ask questions later, Wandcrest has and always will be a dumping ground for unwanted pets, I have lived back there for 30 plus years, I have taken a great many pets that people just dump. I have spoke with my neighbors many many times about letting their dogs run and it doesn't work, right now we have a guy back there that lets his dogs run and he doesn't care, animal control has been called many times, I was sitting in hot tub not a week ago and his dogs came right behind my place and killed a fox, not a pretty sound, many neighbors have been warned and they just do what they want. I guess I can kind of understand what this person is trying to say, granted should have been wrote differently but still the same. No sympathy here

I would like to know why people think dog owners LET their dogs run. I have tried physical fencing, electric fencing, tie downs, harnesses, aerial lines, damn near everything I can think of. My dogs will push over my son and my dad to get out and run.

It's not that I LET them run, [censored word] happens and people who don't own dogs, or have perfectly behaved ones don't seem to understand.

My dog got out once.............eight years ago and it never happened again. She is not perfect but as an animal owner, it is my responsibility to keep her safe. If it happens once or twice, that is understandable.

i had some friends that had two border collies that escaped all the time - they just couldn't build anything that would keep them in
so they researched, and found the solution - training!
yes it worked!
they used rolled up newspapers and hit their own legs with it (for noise)whenever they started climbing (that's how they got over a ridicuously high fence)
then they would leave the rolled up newspaper sticking out of the fence and it, by golly, worked! they never had a escapee after that!

When I was a boy my uncle had a coon hound that could climb an 8' chicken wire fence.

Because many do let their dogs run. I don't think anyone is accusing you of letting your dogs run so don't take it personally. There are dogs that are very difficult to contain and it takes a lot of work to do so.

First of all, if you have males and they aren't already neutered, do so ASAP. Intact males are more likely to roam.

If your dogs are pushing anyone over to get out, that's a training issue. As far as physical restraint, that can be a real challenge. Electric fencing works great for some dogs and doesn't work for others so not really much help for determined dogs.

How are they escaping fenced areas? A hot wire around the bottom will stop most diggers. Often times you can turn it off after a short time as the dog learns to avoid it. You do need to make sure the dog is grounded when they touch it or it won't work. For instance, if there is snow on the ground. The best way to install it is to run a ground wire along a few inches below or above the hot wire so they dog contacts both. You need to stay on top of a hot wire system and keep weeds and grass from contacting it. If the dogs are jumpers, raise the fence. Even better is to angle it in at the top. Works for prisons. I've seen some with chain link runs put panels on top for a roof. But that would only work for a narrow run.

The bottom line is to just to keep after it. If the dog adapts and changes it's tactics, you'll need to as well.

some people and we all know some. Do, just let there dogs run. It's the chance they take.