Out for a ride this morning, on a bridleway that passes through a farmyard. The dogs there usually bark but today…

…it just sank its slavering jaws into my calf. The farmer apologised and said the dog hadn’t bitten anyone before, and asked me if I’d be alright. I said I’d go home and clean it up, but if it turned out that I wasn’t OK then I’d be back. I’ve never been a dog fan but have grudgingly accepted that working dogs were justifiable – now I’m not so sure.

Can’t get pics embedded from Picasa so look here if you are interested

report it to the police now.

the next thing it bites could easily be a childs face.

My cousin was pinned down and her face was torn to bits by a family dog which “hadn’t bitten anyone before”. (a lab)

If its a working dog then the farmer will have to keep it under full control at all times or put it down.

mr nutt do you work for the daily mail?

mr nutt do you work for the daily mail?

He has a point though.

I was interested but I was already looking “here”, got the Picassa link?

What would you do if a cow charged you? Ram knocked you off?

Oops – linky

MrNutt is totally right, I have a dog he is fine with the kids and everyone. But the day he bites anyone will be the day he goes to sleep. Report it

I have to say that looks bloody sore, my first intinct wold be to go and talk to the farmer before the police, but then I hate the police.

Aye, fellow dog owner here, but that needs to be reported. There’s no excuse for a dog biting anyone unless it’s acting in self defence, which it wasn’t.

Put all of them down – damn things.

Not good. You up to date with your tetanus shots?

I’d go have a quiet word with the Farmer. I’ve heard the ‘never bitten anyone before’ line too many times (and have a scar where one ripped through my nose to show for it) and there’s no getting away from the fact he’s got a dangerous dog and has to do something about it.

My only concern would be hat he’d do to the dog so it may be worth notifying the Police anyway.

Ask the farmer what he is going to do about it and then decide. If he says the dog will be chained up or otherwise controlled perhaps it might be OK.
I am willing to give farmers and working dogs a bit more leeway than for pets.

I don’t think MrNutt is being ‘Daily Mail’ at all. He’s speaking of experience, which mustuv been horrible. That poor child.

I’m assuming the bridleway is a Public Right Of Way? Therefore the farmer simply has to ensure that the dog is kept under control at all times.

It’s your obligation to report it, really, as the dog could potentially attack someone else. If the dog needs to be put down, it’s a shame, but there’s a good reason for such laws; to protect people from dangerous dogs.

Farm dogs often seem to be a lot more aggressive than pet dogs; they are guard dogs, and need to be. Therefore, they should be under control anyway. Can’t have a dog like that out amongst people.

I love dogs, including my own. But – number one golden absolute rule of having a dog is taking responsibility for its behaviour. Biting people is not acceptable under any circumstances. I’d be telling the farmer that if I ever saw it out of control again I would be reporting it to the police. “Never bitten anyone before” is total bs too.

@TJ he said he would keep it tied up – I guess I’ll see next time I’m riding that route.

Trouble is, it’s the best Mayhem training ride around here, and I really don’t want to stop using it.

Wound-wise, I’ve cleaned it up and given it a good splash of TCP, and I think my tetanus is up to date. It’s not much worse than some of the damage I get from the carnivorous brambles around here.

No I don’t read the daily mail, but I did see the following:

a very pretty little seven year old girl with a very normal life ahead of her.
the result of what happens when a dog pins said little girl down and tears her “mask” off.
the disbelief and anguish that the poor little mite had to endure at the time.
the true horror at what had happened to her when the dressings were removed
the resultant difficulties that she had to deal with everyday when going to school, children can be very cruel.
the years of extensive plastic surgery required to rebuild her face and fix the major scarring.
the strength of character that she has shown and the fact that she’s turned out a well rounded and pretty adult. (much credit deserved all around, her, the surgeons, her mother, etc)

so no, I’m not a fan of knee jerk reactions, just common sense.

The dog has bitten. It is NOT an acceptable risk.

As I said, if it is a working dog then the farmer should be allowed to keep it but conditions should be imposed that it is kept under control at all times.

otherwise it should be shot. end of.

Sympathise got surrounded by 5 collies off their leads on a bridleway dogs surrounded me and then backed ioff then came back growling. I stopped they encircled me one decided to bite me shoe and then my calf. Woman in charge said my dogs never bite so enraged with her denial that i forgot to pull up my tights and show her the wound. Gave her some verbal and then reported it to the police. Was told that collies do nip but even thats not acceptable. How can anyone control 5 dogs off a lead….

Agree with TJ’s, and others, sentiments that working dogs should be given some latitude, but I’d still report the matter to the police – you never know; this may not be the first time this has happened.

Yes, I’d much rather be attacked by a working dog 🙄

I am willing to give farmers and working dogs a bit more leeway than for pets.

That’s cobblers. I bet the farmer would be quick enough to destroy the dog if it started attacking his sheep.

Farmer’s choices: remove aggression; remove dog from public; remove dog.

Report to police, I’d say.

There is nothing ‘Daily Mail’ about it, a dog bite is unacceptable, regardless if the dog is working or taking time off between jobs. Those bites look nasty, if it were me, i’d report it.

Is the owner really going to say, ‘goodness, this happens all the time, i’ll do something about it’? No, he’s going to say it’s the first time it’s happened, everytime it happens.

Needs to be reported mate that’s a nasty bite not like it just “nipped” you.You could have had your son or daughter out with you and a bite like that on a kid could be serious.
I had a farmers dog attack me few weeks back it somehow got hold the strap on my shimano boot near ripped it off. I went to speak to the farmer who said the dog “aint used to people on bikes up here” WTF !!

5 collies off lead

I’m a collie fan, and even I find that frightening.

And they do nip – they’re small animals bred for herding much larger ones – but it’s up to owners to train it out of them. It’s one of the reasons collies make such difficult pets.

I’m starting to believe in the collie breeders’ mantra: no sheep, no collie.

“aint used to people on bikes up here”

Well, that I can understand. Tricky compromise. I think there’s potential for a good magazine article here: MTBers meet expert dog handlers.

One: what to do when you meet a nervous/spooked/aggressive dog. Two: how to train your dog for polite and safe trail-hound usage.

Farm dogs often seem to be a lot more aggressive than pet dogs; they are guard dogs, and need to be.

Rubbish, and rubbish. Why does a farmer need guard dogs? I’ve always understood that working dogs on farms are herding dogs, for which the last thing you want is an aggressive dog.

Just looked at the pics OWWWWCH

Get yourself down the doctors tommorow and get yourself a tetanus booster you dont know what the dogs been eating or licking.

I’ve always understood that working dogs on farms are herding dogs, for which the last thing you want is an aggressive dog

Trouble is, most of the herding breeds also come with strong guarding instincts. Anything that moves that isn’t their owner is a potential wolf out to get the sheep, as far as their DNA tells them.

That behaviour’s mostly redundant now (since we got no wolves), and they’re just used for herding. But farmers mostly don’t bother training the guarding behaviour out.

Which is why I’d never get a(nother) collie from a working line.

Why does a farmer need guard dogs?

To ward off foxes, and to protect the farm. Do you know how much some farm equipment costs? There’s a thriving black market in stolen farm stuff, and even livestock and horses.

I’ve been trying to look up the official line on a farmers responsibilies with regards to where RoW cross through a yard where he keeps his dogs.

I’ve found a lot more info about bulls though, but did find this on the Leicestershire CC site

Also, an offence may be committed if an animal deters use of a route or injures a member of the public whilst using a public right of way.

So I reckon you’d be justified in reporting it. However, it sounds like the farmer has been reasonable in his reaction; he’s apologised, asked if you’d be OK and offered to keep the dog tied up. It may even be true that it’s never bitten anyone before!

Provided your injury gets no worse and heals properly ,give him the chance to do the decent thing. He wouldn’t just be losing a pet; buying and training a new dog will have fairly serious implications for him. Have a civil word with him, and ask him to keep his promise and hopefully, he gets a view of bikers as reasonable people and your incident today becomes the lucky escape that makes that track safer to use in the future for you and that hypothetical 7 year old girl.

IS there any evidence to show that a dog that’s bitten once will be more likely to bite again? What if the dog is punished/disciplined on the spot. Not really a dog fan but I dislike the idea of putting a dog down based on the fact that it MAY bite again at some point in the future – might as well put them all down now bcause all dogs MAY bite. If its not a retaliatory response (i.e. killing it for biting you) then the logic of killing it in case it does it again seems a little tenuous?

I’d imagine if the farmer sniffs any legal hassle on the horizon he’ll be giving the dog the old Kurt Cobain nasal floss quick sharp.

IS there any evidence to show that a dog that’s bitten once will be more likely to bite again?

Yes.

What if the dog is punished/disciplined on the spot.

There is a school of thought that says the dog is more likely to bite again – punishment increases the fear response.

Depends on the circumstances and the dog: behaviour is no more black and white in dogs than in humans.

Surely it’s not a question of if the dog is more likely to bite again, Unless the dog is LESS likely to bite again (which I think is very unlikely), surely it should be put down?

I don’t mind dogs, but if an owner can’t excercise sufficient control over the dog, I think the owner should be punished, and the dog put down.

We have had a large dog run full on at our daughter (age 4 at the time) and even though the dog did not attack her, she was terrified. It’s antisocial and irresponsible behaviour on the part of the dog owner.

To ward off foxes, and to protect the farm. Do you know how much some farm equipment costs? There’s a thriving black market in stolen farm stuff, and even livestock and horses.

Foxes, lol that’s what fences are for. As for guard dogs you don’t use your sheep dog for that you use a pair of Alsations that you lock up during the day and let out in to a fenced compound during the night. The collies will be getting their zzzs.

Farm dogs are wilder and collies especially because of the herding instinct, territorial goes with that. If there’s a bridleway they ought to be chained end of.

Before putting the world to rights though I’d be more concerned about getting some injections quick, dogs mouth’s are not nice places.

Is the owner really going to say, ‘goodness, this happens all the time, i’ll do something about it’? No, he’s going to say it’s the first time it’s happened, everytime it happens.

Logically, of course, there has to be a first time.

Tinribz; a dog or few would help keep foxes away (a fox would be able to smell farmyard dogs, and vice versa, and the foxes would keep their distance) without the need for costly fencing (foxes can burrow under fences anyway), and dogs could alert the farmers to any intruders. I’m not suggesting they keep hungry Rottweilers to rip people to bits!

Damn. I wouldn’t be happy if that happended to me. I had a dog run about 100m from its owner at Mach 10 towards me and my two kids in their bike trailer today. It got to within about 1m before stopping and turning around. It gave me a bit of a shock to be honest and I was very close to giving it a good punt in the head. Gave me a bit of a fright and it had bitten me or my children it would have been reported straight away.

Having a word with the farmer and/or checking it is chained up in the future seems reasonable but you can’t have dogs running around biting people.

Report the matter to the police but state that if the dog has never attacked/been reported for aggressive behaviour/not under control that you will not be willing to attend court but that you want the owner advised in the strongest terms. There will be records if the dog has been reported and that way you aere protecting others from attack but also saving a working dog that was doing wahet dogs do -protecting its ground albeit on this occasion not under proper control.
As for the injury itself as per what a lot of others have said, clean it make sure you are up to date on jabs and any signs of infection get straight to the docs.
A word of advice for all if you see an untethered angry looking dog do not look it in the eyes stay facing it and back off slowly with your head lowered keeping the dog in your peripheral vision. If you have your water bottle to hand keep it in hand and if the dog does approach give a sharp blast of energy drink in its mush. This may be sufficient to make it back off or not attack. Eye to eye contact is a definite no no-it is a signal of intended attack/dominance.

Surely this is not a grey area?

I am a loving dog owner, but if they ever bit anyone they would be put down, and I would see it as a failing on my part as an owner.

The OP hadnt broken in to the farm buildings had he?

“on a bridleway that passes through a farmyard. The dogs there usually bark but today…

…it just sank its slavering jaws into my calf.”

It should be reported to the police, the dog should be destroyed and the farmer should get whatever the law decides he should get…

He wasnt in control.