http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TruRCmEU3b4
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We've had this on here before. i hope the owner never lets his dog off lead again

I did not even know they had introduced apes into Richmond, yet.

i would be so upset and embarassed if this happened to me my dogs would never be allwoed off lead anywhere near livestock again. OH drives past a field of sheep on the way to work. A few weeks a go there was a dog chasing the sheep around the field owner was there too. Why oh why would you let your dog off the lead in this situation

i would be so upset and embarassed if this happened to me my dogs would never be allwoed off lead anywhere near livestock again. OH drives past a field of sheep on the way to work. A few weeks a go there was a dog chasing the sheep around the field owner was there too. Why oh why would you let your dog off the lead in this situation

It isn't a case of why let them off lead in that situation, deer are a predictable everyday animal in Richmond and I hardly ever see a dog on lead there (I don't go often though). That sort of  thing can happen anywhere at any time outside a small local park situation, in which case other dogs, cyclists, joggers or kids screaming can and do attract some dogs, which might be anything from a nuisance upwards.

No matter which kind of environment there are these risks but if you train the dog as routine to recall from emergency situations there simply is not a problem, the dog goes, owner recalls, simple as that, no problem. Dogs chase 'cause they have these needs & they are needs, they don't go window shopping, they don't look at trees as if they want to paint or photograph them or look at the countryside as if its an aesthetic thing, they are evolved from hunters & when out they have varying degrees of the need to express that trait, all that is needed is train recall from chases to be on the same side & owner and dog can walking in any countryside for most of the day in safety & above all the dog will have been in its own natural habitat as a dog.

Thats not the only dog-deer vid on there, try this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYsduZjPGck
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Yes I am aware of that what I meant was unless my dog was secure in its recall either I would choose a safe location or keep dog on long line.  For example I have no idea what my gsd would do if presented with live stock so I wouldnt risk it allthough is recall is good. I just would rather assess the risk and avoid, I do know how he is with dogs and people so he runs free in most situations.  I wouldnt let him off with live stock.  My fcr however is not yet secure with recall so stays on a line regardless.

I would choose a safe location or keep dog on long line

I suspect Fentons owner has been in there before & probably more than once or twice, he was seen on Wimbledon common, thats on one side of the A3 & Richmond is on the other, Wimbledon common & Richmond are what's easier (for those outside London) to understand as 'local parks'.

The Dobermann in the second video is a prime example of 'always expect the unexpected', she was trained from a pup never to bother deer in Richmond & she never did until that day (she was 5 then) & she will probably never do it again, but, that is typical of every dog & most human beings, once in while both species will do something unpredictable, at random & completely against their normal habit, sometimes, though not always, the unexpected thing is seriously dangerous (a lapse in an otherwise careful drivers concentration for example), in the case of dogs the only safeguard possible is a reliable recall, in the case of a driver, the brakes & maybe steering, one and the same thing analogy really.

better safe than sorry as you can't take back a bullet, and dogs are shot for worrying livestock.

agreed Brainless thats what I meant. I wish I could boast a perfect recall satifactory to good depending on which dog but not perfect hence why I take precautions. Just how I feel.
btw I understand about richmond park and the common being from around that area. Never felt completly happy taking my dogs to sheep covered parts of the country for the same reason I cant imagine how you guys manage in those areas.

I regularly walk in Richmond Park & have a Vizsla bitch (although one with a fairly low prey drive).  I've put quite a bit of training into her & feel pretty sure I can stop her going after deer - and have done it on more than one occasion - both when I have been walking her and also when mountain biking.  The wretched things popped up right next door to us out of the bracken!!   It's actually quite useful to have Richmond Park for deer training as they aren't very skittish.  However, they can be pretty feisty - esp. when rutting or with babies, and a local gundog trainer had her GWP injured by one.  Apparently it came right out the herd & attacked her well trained dog.

Sooo - whilst I would trust my dog (& my recall) around deer, I would give them a wide berth.  Sheep are different I think as they just run and those little bobbing tails are very tempting.  Having said that, I have had her off lead in a field with sheep at a friend's farm.

Obviously as the dog gets further from you your sphere of influence becomes less strong.  So I tend to make my dog heel when around something I think she might be interested in.  So she gets some exposure whilst listening to me.  I don't want to always put her on a lead as you never know when you might come across these sorts of animals and I want to know how much control I have when under a semi-controlled situation.

I guess it's like children a bit - you have to give them enough rope gradually - but not enough to hang themselves.

There is no video comes up at that first link? I live near Richmond park but deer dont attack in general, its the red deer in the breeding season which can be really dangerous, local walkers and their dogs are brought up with them so know to stay well clear of red deer in breeding and rutting seasons but visitors think they are little bambies thats a big problem.
Stay well away from fern areas where deer are grazing in breeding season, they often have young just resting up in the bracken and they will hoof people badly, best way to tel is if two does start heading towards you from any distance, just go the opposite way but if they do decide to attack nothing much anyone can do about it and you dont need to have a dog, they go for humans.I never heard of the small deer attacking anyone but maybe they do or will.

I cant imagine how you guys manage in those areas.

I don't go there very often not because of my dog going after them but I hear to many stories about attacks by deer there

However, they can be pretty feisty - esp. when rutting or with babies, and a local gundog trainer had her GWP injured by one

I think that sort of sums up my opinion of Richmond, if regular people like that, especially a gundog trainer who knows those situations beyond Richmond as a part of their way of life, gets caught out it just makes me to wary, I like countryside better anyway.

There is no video comes up at that first link?

This is the correct link, I think the Buddy vid is much more interesting than Fenton, Fenton just seemed to bolt from somewhere unseen & by the voice there seemed no issues that day except sudden bolting, but Buddy, he's a different, detailed, situation entirley.

Fenton The Opera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edE_UOOeRgA
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