Being a 'responsible dog owner'

There are of course several ways that the title 'responsible dog owner' can be interpreted. This note focuses on how to be responsible with your dog/s when out and about in the countryside. During the summer months, land managers experience an increase in the range of 'issues' with dog walkers and all of them can be avoided. With some simple steps, we could all be out there enjoying the wonders of the British countryside without any conflict or safety/welfare implications for our dogs and local wildlife or livestock.

Livestock
Dog attacks on livestock can be extremely expensive to deal with and very stressful for the animals involved. Taylor (1999) reports 30,000sheep per annum being victims of dog attacks in the UK at a cost of£1.7 million². Whilst dog attacks are distressing, there is also the ‘hidden’ impact of dogs amongst livestock. Although grazing animals may have no physical wounds, the regular presence of dogs can cause a change in behaviour and health problems. MacArthur (1982) approached partially habituated sheep and the strongest negative reaction from the sheep was towards a person walking with a dog. The sheep’s heart rates increased successively when in the company of a dog on a lead, but did not increase for passing vehicles or aircraft². There is also evidence to show that livestock can be affected by the presence of dogs via parasites⁵.

If you are likely to walk in areas with grazing animals, it is vital that you expose your dog to them at an early age. Most problems with wildlife or livestock chasing can be easily prevented by keeping your dog on the lead or on a long line with a body harness if you want to give your dog a little more freedom on their walk. If you are not sure about how your dog will react around horses/cattle/deer always be cautious and keep them on a lead or long line until you have done enough training around them to be 100% sure your dog will not chase or that you can reliably recall if they show some interest. Employ the services of a force-free trainer or behaviourist to find out more about how you can reduce your dogs tendency to chase and keep him/her safe on walks. There are numerous horror stories about dogs setting off after something in woodland and becoming impaled or wounded during the chase.

Fouling
The issue of dog fouling receives a high level of resource from local councils and governments and it is clearly an emotive issue as226,000 complain about dog fouling each year to their local council². It ². Studies show that defecation largely occurs in the first 10 minutes of a walk and that most faeces are deposited within 1m of a path or about 400m of an access point².

is estimated that 1,000 tonnes of dog faeces are deposited in the UK everyday and faeces can take up to 2 months to break down

There is a general misconception among dog walkers that fouling only causes a problem for other visitors and that if the dog fouls off a main path or in a patch of nettles there is no need to pick up. On naturere serves with a delicate nutrient balance, the additional nutrients that dog faeces put into the soil can have detrimental effects to the local flora and fauna. Gilbert (2000) demonstrated that soils in semi-natural grassland generally have levels of phosphorus below 8mg/kg. Bonner and Agnew(1983) showed that areas with high dog usage had a phosphorus level almost 10 times higher than this².

Dog walkers may feel that if there are cattle/sheep/rabbits/foxes defecating on a site, it is no different for their dogs to do the same. However, this is not the case. Dog faeces represent an importation of nutrients onto a site (given that the dog’s food is grown elsewhere) whereas the extensive grazing of livestock results in a net export of nutrients (the nutrient value in their faeces is derived from nutrients grown on the site and nutrients are removed inthe form of meat). Another common complaint is that there aren't enough bins but do we really want red bins blighting our countryside? Bins cost money to empty and must be accessible by car to be emptied - is it really that hard to pick up and carry the bagged waste back to your car for safe disposal at home? Dog waste can be disposed of in your wheely bin or most litter bins, or even better you can get a dog waste composter for your garden.

Wildlife
This tendency to chase wildlife is accentuated in certain breeds such as gun dogs, scenthounds and ² terriers but all dog breeds can possess the drive to chase. This is worrying for conservationists when coupled with the fact that disturbed animals respond to dogs as if they were predators².Nesting birds show a greater behavioural response when disturbed by dogs, than when disturbed by walkers and, for some species, also byjoggers².Flushing distance (i.e. the distance from the disturbance at which the birds re-settle) has been shown to be greater when a visitor has a dog, than for an unaccompanied walker².

Research suggests fewer pairs of breeding birds settle in areas with high disturbance levels where dogs are present².Timing of the disturbance also has significance as it has been proven that the further birds are into the breeding season, the less likely they are to desert their eggs or young².Fernandez and Azkona (1993) also found that marsh harrier fledglings were less fit due to disturbance from people and dogs. This is presumably due to less food being provided by the adults due todisturbance².However, disturbance by dogs is not only a concern during the bird nesting season as energetic costs of disturbance are a key concern for wintering birds². The term ‘sphere of influence’ is often used to describe the area that a dog will roam in when off lead on a walk. In the open moorland of the Peak District, the ‘sphere of influence’ could be as wide as 300-400m across a footpath².The findings of Mallord show that reducing the sphere of influence and asking visitors to keep to paths can have a positive effect on nesting bird populations. Disturbance by dogs is not limited to bird species and probably deer are the most commonly 'chased'.

Below is an extract from the Countryside Code, produced by Natural England. Whilst the Countryside Code isn't legislation in it's own right, it does set out the legal responsibilities of people (with or without dogs) when visiting the countryside in England and Wales.

When you take your dog into the outdoors,always ensure it does not disturb wildlife, farm animals, horses or other people by keeping it under effective control. This means that you:

• keep your dog on a lead, or
• keep it in sight at all times, be aware of what it’s doing and be confident it will return to you promptly on command
• ensure it does not stray off the path or area where you have a right of access

Special dog rules may apply in particular situations, so always look out for local signs – for example:

• Dogs may be banned from certain areas that people use, or there may be restrictions, byelaws or control orders limiting where they can go in
• The access rights that normally apply to open country and registered common land (known as‘open access’ land) require dogs to be kept on
  a short lead between 1 March and 31 July, to help protect ground nesting birds, and all year round near farm animals.
  
• At the coast, there may also be some local restrictions to require dogs to be kept on a short lead during the bird breeding season, and to prevent disturbance to flocks of resting and feeding birds during other times of year.
  

It’s always good practice (and a legal requirement on ‘open access’ land) to keep your dog on a lead around farm animals and horses, for your own safety and for the welfare of the animals. A farmer may shoot a dog which is attacking or chasing farm animals without being liable to compensate the dog’s owner. However, if cattle or horses chase you and your dog,it is safer to let your dog off the lead – don’t risk getting hurt by trying to protect it. Your dog will be much safer if you let it run away from a farm animal in these circumstances and so will you. Everyone knows how unpleasant dog mess is and it can cause infections, so always clean up after your dog and get rid of the mess responsibly –‘ bag it and bin it’. Make sure your dog is wormed regularly to protect it, other animals and people.

References and recommended reading links

1. Managing Dogs in the Wood, Forestry Commission - http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fce-managing-dogs.pdf/$FILE/fce-managing-dogs.pdf
2. Dogs, Access and Nature Conservation, Natural England - http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/65013
   
3. Understanding the Psychology of Dog Walkers - http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/eng-dogs-understanding-psychology-dog-walkers-06.pdf/$FILE/eng-dogs-understanding-psychology-dog-walkers-06.pdf
4. The Countryside Code - http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/eng-dogs-understanding-psychology-dog-walkers-06.pdf/$FILE/eng-dogs-understanding-psychology-dog-walkers-06.pdf
5. Dogs, livestock & parasites - http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/livestock/livestock-features/sheep-worm-dogs-to-avoid-abattoir-rejections/63902.article