I have a two and a half year old German Shepherd neutered male dog. He is a wonderful companion and besides the occasional protectiveness at home, just barking and intimidating, he has excellent manners. We recently purchased a small horse farm to fullfill my wife's dream of owning a horse. In preparation for the arrival of the horse and pony I borrowed a blanket from the horse which lived with Luke, the GSD, for a week prior to day the horses arrived. After a period of time to get the horses acclimated to the new surroundings I took Luke to meet them. After the shock of seeing such a big animal and some sniffing, etc. he started to bark at them. I had him on a choker and asked him to stop the barking with a gentle tug and the command to stop barking which he did. The horses are seperated by the dogs in the pasture by the use of dog fencing with the exception of the paddock area just outside the barn. He can't get to them, but seems to be infatuated and just sits and watches them. If they come close to the fencing, especially the pony, he'll bark his commanding bark and try to threaten them. When I tell him to stop he complies, but after a few minutes he will go back to it. I think he will eventually stop this behavior but I'd like to know if there are folks out there who have had similar experiences with dogs and horses. Are there specific things that I should not do, or should do to make this process less painful and more effecient. Fortunately these equines are on the older side and are not ruffled by the barking, I don't know what would happen if they somehow got into the pasture with them though. Something I'd like to figure out before the inevitable happens.

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

Devsol

Hi Devsol

Welcome to Champdogs :) I'm afraid I can't help with your query. Hopefully someone like ChloeH, who has horses and dogs will be along with some advice for you.

liberty

I wish I could help. Willis, my Dane, is obsessed with my horses. He is even obsessed with their rugs! He goes bananas to get to them, and goes beserk to get out while I am with the horses. Last time he got kicked - does it stop him, no.

He also got chased out the field, at speed, by my mares. Does it stop him? NO!! He's infatuated. Mad dog.

ChloeH,

I can easily see that type of behavior happening in this situation as well. That's why I'm trying to get a heads up on the situation. I'd eventually like to be able to take the dog and horses out together without trauma. I know that this is possible. Don't we see it in the cowboy movies all the time?

Thanks for getting back to me. Just knowing that the dogs have enough sense to run away from the horses helps me out somewhat. I don't want a dead German Shepherd or a horse with lacerated tendons.

Devsol

Well, Willis is not the sharpest pencil in the box...and now, to be fair, if they are in the field he ignores them... but they do come right up to my garden and peer over the fence at him, and he bites at the fence trying to get out to them. He doesn't want to hurt them, he wants to play with them. They sniff back at him, but are smart enough to know he can't get out!

The time he was in the field - he was just coming back from a walk and for the first time ever he ran up to them - they legged it and he gave chase. They then turned round and galloped him flat out back to the gate - he was petrified. A couple of months later I was leading the older pony out and he opened the front door and ran up to her...she freaked and pulled the lead rope through my hands, she cantered around me in the yard with willis at her heels and she kicked him. She didn't give a serious kick, but it stopped him in his tracks. Had she been shod it would have been a different story.

He now goes in his run when I get the horses out - I have a big 16.2 ID who is docile, but shod, and if Willis pulled the same trick and Josh kicked him it would be curtains :(

Although I've never had to teach a dog how to accept horses, I think I'd go about it the same way I'd try to teach anything else - distract from the behaviour I didn't want (give him a command which means he can't do whatever it is I don't like - for barking a good solid 'down' often works - not many dogs feel comfortable barking when lying down as they are conflicting messages.....) and plenty of rewards for the tiniest bit of behaviour which may be a step in the right direction........

HTH

I have had dogs here on several occassions, to get them used to horses. I would suggest putting dog on a lead and walking it around the horses ALL day until its so bored with the sight/smell of horse it loses interest. If it attempts to lunge at the horses, or bark at them, admonish it in whatever way you see best. Do not pat/comfort the dog around the horses as this is likely to make its behaviour worse. Only praise it when it is ignoring the horses....the moment it show interest, admonish it. Put a couple of whole days to it, when you have time to do so without distraction.
its not difficult to do, it just requires time.
A horse will easily kill a dog (believe me the front legs are more dangerous than the back legs) so its something you need to get on top of at once.

You definately need to do something about this, like sam says, front legs are dangerous too, my lurcher was stamped on by a horse, fortunately he got away with NO injuries at all (really dont know how).....

Massive over exposure to horses might do it, specially to horses taht do not react to dogs. That is how my dog Rocky learned to leave them alone, however if he meets horses that will run/chase him, he will play silly buggers, but leaves if i call (and sound cross).

Be careful though, some dogs will associate punishment with their behaviour, and cease the behaviour, some dogs however will associate punishment with the horse (dog, sheep, cat wotever) and will learn that horses are a bad thing, behaving when you are there, but should they get out and you are NOT there, then there may be a disaster.

My advice is to take your dog and train him near horses for hours on end, with plenty of treats and make sure he associates horses with pleasant experiences.
also, get lots of items really horsey smelling.

Em

Just want to add, many many dogs are scared of horses (not surprising given the size of them!)
Dogs and horses can get along, but I don't think the way to achieve it is to use punishment.
Study his body language to see why he is barking, if it is fear his ears will be pulled back against his head, the whites of his eyes will be showing and he will have most of his weight on his back legs (unless he's lunging at the time of course)
If he is acting through fear, and gsd's are sensitive and prone to fear aggression when not socialised with scary things, then the approach you need to take would be systematic desensitisation.
You will probably have to start off from a distance, watch to see how near you can get before his body tenses up, and stop there, and wait for him to relax. The minute he looks at you, reward him with something he loves, and take a few more steps towards the horse. You will need to go only at a pace he's comfortable with, if he barks, don't do anything because it's your fault for rushing things, just take it back a few stages and try again.
It will take time, but if you punish him for displaying fear (by barking in his case) all he will learn is to inhibit his responses when you are around, meaning he will probably get quite close to the horse before his instincts take over and he bites, possibly ending up very seriously injured in the process.
If you don't rush it, and treat the dog with compassion and empathy you will be able to get around the problem.
Just remember to be careful, when you get to the point when he's happy to be around horses, it's still possible for something to scare him and for the fight or flight instinct to kick in.

You also need to make sure that the horse is happy around dogs, it's a two way street!

If you are in any doubt at all, seek help from a professional trainer or behaviourist.
have a look at www.apbc.org.uk and www.apdt.co.uk for someone in your area.

good luck,

Jo

We have a 6yr german shepherd that is used to everything ( sheep, cows, horses, goats)no sure how we done it though. It is only on holiday that she sees the animals as will live in a town. But when every we are in a field and have to go past them we put her on a lead for saftey but they come up to us inspecting Ice as she is white i think they think she is a sheep, and nothing happens she has a sniff and carrys on about her buisness. We took her to the Isle of Lewis and we had to walk through a fiel of sheep to get to where we want to go, this farmer cam up to and said is your dog alright with sheep , we both said yes, so he said leave her off the lead then (talk about a big test for her)well she was excellent and the farmer was most impressed with her.
I think for you it may take time, and i think as another poster said distract with treats whilst walking past, that way he should get used to the horse being there.

Cordelia

Thanks to everyone for their tips and advise. This is really a great site and I'm so happy that I found it. I've read many of the other topics and its just wonderful how everyone seems ready to help and honestly care about the situation described. I feel much more confident now about the eventual outcome of this new adventure. Luke, the GSD, is very sensitive and as several folks mentioned time, patience and sensitivity on my part should make this a very successful project.

I live in Atlanta, Ga. USA and think its ironic that I had to contact folks in the UK to get some advise on this subject. Many of my Brit friends give it a "what did you expect". So many folks in the USA focus on their specific forte and almost refuse to get involved in this type of challenge. I suppose I could get somebody to come along for $50.00 per hour to try to communicate with Luke but I simply don't trust the theoretical solutions. I love talking to somebody who has walked the walk. Thanks again for all your kind words.

Dick Anke
Roswell, Ga.