Poop continues to demonstrate how little of an idea he has about how the countryside works.

Rule 1. Control your dog. If you're not skilled enough to train it, then keep it on a lead or inside.
Let's just get one thing clear. We're not talking about lapdogs. A shih tzu is not going to attack a sheep. We're talking about rottweilers and dobermans... big, fuck off guard dogs. These kind of dogs don't simply go inside, they live in the yard because their job is to guard. They should be kept in a yard that is secure, and 99% of the time that is the case. Sometimes the owner is indeed a twat and does not secure the yard properly, other times the owner is not a twat and simply underestimates the strength and will of the dog.

I've looked after a guard dog for six months, a rottweiler. The property was not secure, it was actually impossible to secure because there was a stream going through the land, which means the dog had a way off the land that you couldn't secure with a simple fence. So I had no choice but to have him on a chain when he was unsupervised. I didn't like it, but I knew it was necessary because he'd get shot by a farmer if left to roam. But the fuck is a big strong rottie. If he tried hard enough, he could break the chain. On a few occasions, he got free, and I had to go and look for him, dreading the sound of gunfire. Luckily, each time he was in the field by the river causing no problems. But the guy whose dog I know that did get shot... it was the same guy's dog that I was looking after, and this very dog was present when the other one got shot. Maybe he learned that he can't attack sheep. Maybe.

Rule 2. If you can't control your dog, don't have a dog.
Dogs are the premium method of deterring burglars in the countryside. Without a guard dog, you are making yourself vulnerable.

Quote Originally Posted by oskar
I don't think it's weird for dogs to run around unsupervised in the country.
oskar obviously has spent time in the country. I see unsupervised dogs all the time... they're nearly always sheepdogs, like collies. They are smart, and they harass sheep but don't attack them. A farmer is not as likely to shoot a collie as he is a rottie.

It's really not as simple as "keep your dog under control". This isn't the town where you have a nice rectangular garden with nice new fences, where you have secure parks to let them run and do their thing. It's the country, where properties have streams, where they're not flat, where there's woods, where hedges might not be as secure as the owner thought.

Controlling guard dogs is not easy. That said, most succeed in doing so most of the time. But occasionally, inevitably, dogs get free, and when they do, there's a serious risk of them upsetting a farmer. This is nothing new, it's been like this for centuries.

And might I remind you, we're talking about this because PEOPLE are attacking sheep. I have no idea how you figured it was an appropriate analogy, like the subject of dogs attacking sheep is relevant to the discussion. You seem to be arguing that dogs attack sheep, so let's talk about that instead of more difficult subjects such as immigrants taking animals from fields, and the potential problems that can cause. Do you really think that the owner is in the same kind of world as a rustler with wire nooses?

If a dog gets shot, the owner doesn't round up his community and turn up at the farmer's with pitchforks. What do you think happens when a person gets shot? Do you think the family takes responsibility like the dog owner? Do you think they fight back the tears and apologise to the farmer?