[Cara]

My dog has no respect for horses, he’s always in their space, and making them angry. I’m not always paying attention to him (because I’m paying attention to my horse), so he goes off and bothers some other horses. I’ve been waiting for some horse to gently kick or bite him, just so he learns to keep his distance, but all the horses are too (for lack of better word) sweet. I would really like for my dog to have a healthy fear of horses, so he stays away. So I was wondering if you guys had any ideas for my dog. Thanks so much

~ Cara

[Superheroduck]

lock him in a stall(while your riding or whenever ur doing something that bothers u for him 2 b around) or leave him in your house

[Cara]

I could do that, but he loves coming to the stables, and it's his only good form of exercise. I mean, I guess he's not that big of a pain, I just want him to keep away.

~ Cara

[MelissaH]

Well, I can only share my experience. I just brought my horses home yesterday. I have two dogs that have never even seen a horse. I was concerned about that. I thought they would go after them. Fortunately, we had the dogs trained 4 years ago when we got them from the shelter. He was a great trainer and our dogs know what the word NO means.

After the horses were here, we let the dogs out of the house. They ran down to the horses, my little cattle dog was barking ready to kill. Before they even got to the gates we gave them the firm command NO! It took a couple of times and now they don't go near. The cattle dog did go up close to the horse while he was eating and licked his nose then sat down. When the horse came up to him the dog started violently shaking. That was yesterday. Today they run all around the outside of the pasture and corral area but don't go in it. They are the best dogs we ever had. That was the only time we ever had dogs that we had a professional trainer come to us to train. It took about two months, twice a week and was well worth it. They are the two most well behaved dogs we have ever had in our life.

My brother has a german shepard that got to close to a neighbors horse & got kicked. He never went near it again.

Good luck.

[equineluver14]

hey you should ask wyldterv, the dog expert lol!

I don't have a problem with that because my dog is absolutly TERRIFIED of horses.

[SunBun]

My personal experience:

The german shepard that the owners at our barn have is still young, and can get quite annoying at times, lol. One day he went gallumphing up to the fence where the horses were with intentions to go play with them, I assumed. He got zapped by the fence and now he thinks it's the HORSES that hurt him!! LOL!

Really terrible, but really funny haha. Now he won't go NEAR either of them. He'll just stay a decent distance away and bark a few times.

I wouldn't exactly suggest doing this, lol. Hmmm...I wonder what you could do?? Let me think...i'll get back to you lol

[wyldterv]

My advice... do NOT let your dog run loose with the horses!!!!!!! Hoping a horse will 'gently' kick your dog is not a good solution... A 'gentle' kick can easily kill or maime your dog.

I have 5 dogs that live with me... of those 5 only TWO (both of my girls) are able to be around the horses off lead. They will just ignore the horses. The boys would be CONSTANTLY trying to herd or nip at the heels of the horses... Plus, my Mustang thinks dogs are trying to kill HIM so he'll go to kill them first.

I love my dogs and I love my horses, the two don't need to interact.

Put your dog on a leash and work on some commands around the horses... Teach him DOWN, STAY, LEAVE IT and GET OUT OF IT... Teach the dog to leave the horses alone, period. A horse can easily kill a dog and a dog can easily maime a horse. The two don't always mix really well.

I have a HUGE pet peeve about going out to a public venue like on public trails, and having to deal with other rider's loose dogs coming up on my horses butt... if my horse kicks the dogs head in I'm going to feel horrid but NOT responsible! If I was at a boarding facility and someone's dog was harassing my horse, even if it wasn't biting my horse, I'd have words with the owner of the barn AND the owner of the dog...it just isn't acceptable IMO.

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but I hate to see dogs OR horses get injured or killed when it can be easily prevented by leaving the dog confined unless you're able to fully control it off lead at all times. If you're too busy with your horse, you shouldn't have your dog running about.

[Paint_luver]

I agree 100% with Karyn (Wyldterv). From what your dog sounds like right now, it just seems like a disaster waiting to happen to me. Your dog is either going to get really hurt by getting kicked etc. by a horse, or your horses will start to become more afraid of the dog. Both scenarios I'm sure you do not want.

[Appylvr]

When I moved and brought my horses home (I had boarded before) my three dogs had never seen a horse before!!! My two biggest ran out, took one look and took off again the other way!! Quite the chickens They are fine with the horses now, but they keep their distance from them.

My new dog, ever since she got here has been in love with the horses!!!! I sometimes think she believes she is one!!! She is very good with them, has never tried to hurt them, but she can be a little too trusting. She will run right under them, she likes to stand and let them bite her (my neighbors and one of my horses like to groom her). My horses are very understanding, if a little annoyed by her. My QH mare hates dogs, though, and Shiloh knows to stay away from her. Yesterday I was up on my mare ready to go for a ride and Shiloh jumped and put her paws on my mares shoulder and stood against her. My mare didn't like that too much, but I don't think she would really do anything about it.

[Back43]

I would do what Wyldterv suggested. We have a lab mix here and he truly thinks it's his job to round the horses up and chase them to the barn when it's feeding time. Well our foal is 10 months old now and the lab terrifies her. To make a long story short, he did get kicked in the head by the foal. And it was no gentle kick! He gets by with one eye now...as the other one was destroyed by the kick. The vet did try to save his eye but too much damage had occurred. And it didn't teach him a thing other than the horses will kick. He will still bark and bother the horses if I allowed it. Meaning during feeding time...he is not allowed out of the house - or he's on a cable in the yard. I just try to keep the dogs and horses separate. It works and everyone is alot safer! Don't learn the hard way like we did...not worth taking the chance! And really, we were fortunate that our lab is still alive!