Did I do right?

[Mel]

Just took Tali for a nice long walk this afternoon. We passed by some horses and he was very good with them. I was on the phone to my brother and having a sit down on a log when two horses and riders came up with two dogs. One was definately a GSD/Weim cross as he was exactly the same as Blue, my OH's sister's passed on dog, but I wasn't sure of the other. It was very big. Anyhow the GSD/Weim cross came up and I noticed it seemed a little unsure of Tali who was squeaking and not being polite. They sniffed though. Then other other dog came up and all I can gather was it gave Tali a nip on the left ear or left side of the neck because he squealed, and boy did he squeal.

The lady on the horse called the dog and it went. The incident was over as quick as it started. The woman said nothing to me. I made no reaction other than to tell my brother the squealing he heard was Tali. I checked his ear and neck and no blood was flowing out. Tali sat a bit shocked for 30 seconds then carried on mooching about as if nothing had occured.

I gather he was just being told to reign himself in he's no longer a puppy? They were free range and he was on the lead. I hope I did right not reacting, would have been nice if the bint on the horse had said sorry though.

[elaine.e]

I think you did right by not reacting. If you had it might make Tali anxious with other big dogs in the future, especially if he's on lead and they're off lead. It's never easy for the on lead dog in that sort of situation, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If Louis is on lead I know that he's more reactive than off (I'm certainly not saying that Tali is) but when they're on lead they can feel more vulnerable can't they.

Overall it sounds like Tali pushed his luck a little and got told off, but nothing more than that as Tali didn't retaliate and the other 2 dogs didn't follow up so it didn't escalate.

My issue with it would be that I feel quite strongly that people on horseback shouldn't have dogs running loose with them. There's no way that they can have proper control of their dogs. I used to own horses and ride but I wouldn't dream of taking dogs out with me while riding. What does the rider do with her horse if her dogs are in, or cause, an emergency situation?

A friend of mine used to do this many years ago. Her Border Terrier attacked a small dog one day and did a lot of damage to it. The other dog owner couldn't stop what was happening and neither could my friend as she was on her horse. All she could do was try to call her dog off and pay the other owner's vet bill afterwards. More recently I heard of a dog killed on a road while it's owner was riding her horse. She thought it would be safe as it was a quiet country lane.

Sorry, diverted your topic a bit Mel, but IMO the horse riders were pretty irresponsible.

[Mel]

I quite agree Elaine. The country lane is quiet but not without traffic or children or other pedestrians. I'm sure she would of had something to say if Tali had spooked her horse.