Fordyce Maxwell: Dog owners need to show their pets who is the boss

In an attack on 50 sheep by two dogs, only one of the flock was not bitten

One of the most impressive sights I’ve seen involving dogs was on a quiet day in Holyrood Park where seven huskies sat on the grass beside a marker or changed places on command. In the ten minutes I watched not one dog put a paw out of place – they sat still until spoken to, then did precisely what their owner told them.

As with anything made to look easy, a lot of training had obviously gone into what they were doing. I thought about those huskies and their pack leader – the man in charge – last autumn when the “Fenton … Fenton … Jesus, Fenton…” film of a dog out of control chasing deer in a park appeared on YouTube.

I also think of them whenever I see some yapping, barking, jumping dog on the street or a beach, or read about a child being mauled by a dog in a park or by a family “pet”. Or when I read reports of sheep worrying.

Occasionally pictures of the result of particularly shocking cases of sheep worrying appear in farming magazines and newspapers – sheep with their throats torn out, faces ripped off, and more usually with back legs, bellies and hindquarters savaged as chasing dogs tried to take hold.

Even when sheep aren’t killed, heavily in-lamb ewes being chased at this time of year can lead to abortions and other severe lambing problems. Sheep are easily panicked and a dog doesn’t need to be savage to cause havoc, only lively and noisy. A fond “owner” who has forgotten – or never knew – who is supposed to be boss does the rest.

There has been anecdotal evidence of an increase in sheep worrying for several years. Last week Farmers Guardian did us all a service by providing statistics gleaned from freedom of information requests to all UK police forces.

As only two-thirds of the 51 forces complied with the request, there are still gaps and the situation may be much worse – the information from the 31 forces that replied is bad enough.

There were 691 cases of sheep worrying in those 31 police areas during 2011, with 110 in Scotland, 95 in Wales and 486 in England. In Scotland, Lothian and Borders had the most cases, with 32 calls reporting dogs chasing sheep and 20 confirmed attacks.

In England, Devon and Cornwall had the highest number of cases, at 79, with Sussex reporting 68 and North Wales recording 40 incidents.

One of the worst casualty tolls was in mid-Wales, where 35 in-lamb ewes suffocated and drowned in a ditch after being cornered by dogs. A farmer in Cornwall had eight sheep killed; a couple in West Yorkshire dealt with an attack on 50 sheep by two dogs which resulted in six dead sheep and three that had to be put down – only one of the flock had not been bitten.

The Cornish and Yorkshire farmers both said the problem is not dogs, but their alleged owners: “Some people don’t seem to accept their dogs could do that sort of thing … What often happens is that someone takes a dog for a walk, lets it off the lead and within seconds it is out of sight chasing sheep.”

And: “It’s in dogs’ nature to chase anything, but many owners say their dogs would never do anything like that.” Another farmer, trying to run a flock of several hundred ewes in a popular tourist area, said many of these walkers seemed to believe there was no problem with dogs chasing sheep as long as they did not bite.

Amazing, isn’t it? Or it would be if those of us who are not dog lovers did not see evidence every day of how blinkered some of those who have a dog in their life can be:

“He’s only playing … it’s just because he likes you … he doesn’t mean any harm … he’s excitable … children upset him … he’s never done that before… I’m sure you can get another ball…”

The basic mistake, made endlessly and repeatedly – as any shepherd, dog trainer or, indeed, the responsible dog owners who are in the majority can tell the deluded – is to let the dog be boss. A dog looks for leadership. If its owner isn’t firm and decisive, the dog goes for the leadership itself and the results are there for all to see, on streets, in homes and on country walks.

Theoretically, a dog out of control in a field containing livestock – whether attacking animals or not – can mean a fine of up to £1,000 for its owner. If animals are damaged in an attack, the farmer can claim compensation. And if there is “no other reasonable means” of ending an attack, a dog can be shot.

No-one, including most sheep farmers, wants to use that last resort. But a few shot “pets” might concentrate the minds of those with dogs heading for the countryside this spring and Easter among several million lambing ewes.