kermac

Why did you let him do this? Why not keep him on a leash? Ive lived in the country and theres no way id let one of my dogs go through fences onto other peoples property. A dog can be shot just for being anywhere near stock it doesnt have to kill them. Sorry for the loss of Dougal but you must have known if Ned was allowed to do it the other dog might copy. (weary sigh)...can I suggest you read my post properly? Once you've done that, here's a few more details: We spent the first year of our ownership training Dougal to walk properly on the leash (always on the leash) and then, little by little, to walk off the leash. Only ever on deserted country lanes which had good fences on either side so there was nowhere for him to go. His temperament was pretty wild, so we would first walk him up the road on the leash to make sure there was no stock or kangaroos or other wildlife anywhere within half a mile of the fenceline, then we'd let him off the leash on the way back. After a period of months we built up confidence in him and he in us. He would even come back when called (most of the time). The only times he got into a paddock were where there was a hole in the fence or a gate left open. We knew all these spots and would put him back on the leash as we drew close, then let him off again afterwards. We walked him for 1 - 2 hours per day, sometimes more and he absolutely loved being off the leash. It increased the quality of his walks and his life beyond measure. The only real risk was meeting a vehicle coming down the lane, but these were rare and all the locals got used to Dougal and loved him. While he often expressed great interest in paddocks full of sheep, goats or cattle, he never tried to get in and was content to watch them from the laneway. We even took on a poddy lamb in the hope of acclimatising Dougal but his reaction to it was always a bit threatening so we never allowed them to share the same space unwatched. He made no attempt to attack it. We are fully aware that dogs are shot without question if spotted in a paddock full of sheep, and have experience in previous homes of other dogs getting amongst the sheep. On this occasion we did not "let him do this" as you suggest. Dougal was some distance from my wife on the same country lane he walked several times per week and there had never been an issue. He showed no interest in following Ned when he found a weakness in the fence the previous week, and indeed we're not even sure this was the same spot where Ned found a way through. As usual, there was nothing to be concerned about but Dougal did something neither of us had any reason to expect.

Very sorry that this happened to poor Dougal and that he had such a bad time with Ned - I am sure that you wish you had returned Ned a lot sooner. Thank you for sharing some of the background to this story. Thank you

touche! I didn't get much a feel of remorse for poor Dougals passing either. Just because they didn't write it doesn't mean they didn't feel it. Sure, I agree. But poor Dougal was taken to be put down immediately for killing a lamb (instinctual for many a breed) when he could have been surrendered to rescue and placed in a home without small animals or livestock no? Pretty harsh sentence tbh for people who really cared for their dog. I can only assume you have never lived with a large dog in sheep country. These are the rules. Unfortunately Dougal didn't know the rules, but he had never shown any sign of infringing them in the previous two years. You can't give a dog away once he has killed. And I'll thank you not to cast aspersions on my love for my dog. Sometimes in life there is a higher duty

touche! I didn't get much a feel of remorse for poor Dougals passing either. I'm really not quite sure what either of these contributions mean. I especially don't know what you mean by 'touche!' as it is normally used in a rather different context. If you didn't get much of a feel of remorse for Dougal's passing, I can only suggest you either read my post again or brush up on your English language skills. I admit it might be a little nuanced for some

Very sorry for your loss. Since getting Ned into care we have treated him like any other dog rescued from the pound with an unknown history. There were many stories going around from his owners beforehand and we can never really find the truth. Since being in care he has been assessed by 3 experienced people and we have seen no issues whatsoever. One thing that has been obvious is that he is great with every dog he has met. But as Maree has said previously, a dog can behave differently in any different environment. Ned will be leaving today to live with a GS owner who knows all that has been written on here and as much as we know. She has appropraite facilities to seperate Ned for slow introductions and fingers crossed he can live the rest of his life there in peace. I'm delighted Ned has found a new home, and even more so that the new owner is aware of his recent past. It may be quite atypical in the context of the previous 11 years. While I don't pick up from some of the other comments responding to my post any real sense of appreciation of what I was trying to convey, it would have been irresponsible of me not to convey it. Our short experience of him was that he was not merely aggressive but vicious towards the resident dog, and that he was able to let himself out of the garden any time he chose. As I had no certain knowledge of his feelings about strangers in his new strange land, I could not rule out the possibility he would attack someone. If this had been a child, given his size and strength it could have led to a serious mauling or even death. Put your hands up all those who would have sat on this information and told no one

I guess if we weren't inclined to persist with Ned we wouldn't even have got out of the owner's driveway with him

I came across this forum by chance, and joined up so I could fill in a little background detail on Ned. I'm afraid it is likely to be rather long. My wife and I are experienced dog owners, all with medium to large dogs. We live in a lovely little village in southern NSW about an hour out of Canberra. A friend brought to our attention the ad for a Gordon Setter called Ned seeking rehoming, so although we didn't feel our 4 y.o. Gordon named Dougal needed company - he's very self-sufficient, even a little autistic - we thought we would give Ned a try so he could see out his days in happiness and comfort. We phoned the owner on the other side of Queanbeyan and quickly found out Ned was an escapologist, but took Dougie along to meet him anyway. They were pretty indifferent to each other, but not actively hostile. We saw that Ned had been chained to a run - which he hated - as he was able to easily clear the 3 ft rural fencing around the owner's property. Our fencing is 4 ft high, although still rural (hinge joint and steel posts), and had always contained Dougal with no problems. After some thought we agreed to take Ned on the understanding that if our fencing wasn't able to contain him we would bring him back within two weeks as we are close to a main road and we weren't prepared to replace the fencing right around the house. As soon as we got them into the back of the wagon, Ned began to attack Dougal who responded by clawing his way into the front seat to get away from him. We got them home, and over the next week or so on several occasions Ned monstered Dougie who was doing nothing to provoke him at all, in fact going out of his way to be submissive. It generally happened at feeding time, so we separated them when they were eating and that reduced the rate of attacks by Ned. Dougal was so terrified of Ned that he refused to go into his quarters at night (a heated outdoor laundry), preferring to sleep out in the frost than to go anywhere near Ned who by this stage had colonised all Dougie's bedding as well as his own. Then one evening there was a terrific hullabaloo outside and Dougie was lying on his back whimpering while Ned stood on top of him apparently trying to make a meal of his throat. There was surprisingly little blood. We deployed every strategy we could think of and they seemed to be coming to terms with each other (or perhaps more accurately, Ned was coming to terms with Dougie). They were going on walks quite amiably together, strolling down the country lanes like old mates. Ned spent a lot of time worming his way through the fences alongside the road, but showed no interest in the stock. Dougal as usual showed no interest in the fences. Then around the middle of the second week, Ned discovered the fence around the garden and within seconds he was out. From that point he had to be kept either in the house or tied up so we rang the previous owner and said that most regrettably we would have to bring Ned back. We had grown quite fond of him, and feel he would over time have settled Dougal down - he's very immature for 4, and still inclined to be a bit silly. He also has a habit of nipping strangers on the bum (which many don't take to very kindly), and unless kept on a very short leash around small children is inclined to lunge at them in a way that terrified them. I should have used the past tense when talking about our lovely Dougie because a few days after Ned left us, Dougal for the first time in his life found his way through a fence on his daily walk and massacred a newborn lamb before my wife was able to get to him. He was immediately taken to the vet and put down painlessly. There are no other options in sheep country apart from a bullet. I don't know if he picked up this little trick from Ned, and we don't hold Ned responsible. It may just be an appalling coincidence. We truly hope Ned finds a good home and spends his last few years in comfort and contentment, bringing joy to people like us. They will need first-class fences and probably an absence of other animals. He seemed in our short acquaintance to be good with adults and children, as well as smart and sensible. Vale Dougal. We had the best of times