We are trying to view a house in Norfolk that comes with 3.5 acres including woodland. Sounds wonderful and a doggy heaven - but what problems could we encounter with the dogs having unlimited access to woodland ? We have thought of the obvious - squirrels, birds, maybe foxes.

Daisy

There is of course the ridk of injury.  There was a horrific story in Dog World in tha last few weeks of a Rideaback impaling itself while chasing squirrels.

Apart from injuries, if there are foxes there could be the risk of mange - I don't think fighting sould be in issue, foxes are rather secretive and I suspect they would run away before fighting.  but mange can be nasty - I groomed a spaniel yesterday that caught it while out on a walk.  That, and fleas and worms from rabbits (worms if they eat them).

I have to admit, if it was my dogs there is no way I would allow them free unsupervised access to woodlands, but I s'pose it depends on the dog. Mine are too manic and would end up running into a tree or something stupid. That's collies for you though, run now, think later...:rolleyes:

Thanks all for that :) I want to have some questions in my mind when we view it - would we need to fence it (if that was feasible) etc. The dogs aren't too manic - unless playing ball (which we wouldn't do in woods), but you never know what's around the corner. The dogs are used to foxes, but the mange problem would probably be more than in our current problem, where the foxes are only passing through. It's only a possibility at the moment anyway - the house needs a lot of work and as we wouldn't actually move into it for a couple of years, it may just not be feasible

Daisy

There was also a shar-pei  in the dog world that got run over and killed in the forest of dean, she was only 2 and somthing scared her and she ran off. i met the owner of the dog at a show here a few weeks after and she told me the whole story. i felt so sorry for her. I wont let my dog off the lead just incase, but i do take her to the tennis courts and shut the gate and let her off, much safer.

We had an accident in some woodland over the Easter weekend where Molly emerged (obviously having run onto something and impaled her leg) with a two inch tear at the top of her leg.  It was really quite nasty with flesh hanging off and requiring stitches (sorry to be gruesome).  However she is very manic (she's a working cocker) and runs around as if she's possessed.  The location of the house does sound idyllic and I suppose you have to weigh up the potential problems of woodland alongside other kinds of dog walking areas which you would no longer use (eg. traffic, attacks from other dogs, etc).

We have an area of woodland on our property, but we dont let the dogs have constent access to it, so far we have had no real problems (only been in the house 6months), the main factor being the sticks which they pick up in their coats - which a quick brush through usually fixes, the dogs also dont wear collars due to this. Our woodland is very wet, so when the dogs do go up there they do usually get coverd in mud, but we have so far had no problems with the wildlife which there is plenty of.

The property boarders have also been marked out with barbed wire, which does have to watch as much of it is at a low level and have had a couple injuries off this but nothing major

The dogs do love going into the woods though and as soon as your seen to be heading towards the gate they are their and waiting and get very upset if they get left behind. 

We will keep all these points in mind when we go to see it :)

Thanks

Daisy

HI sounds a great house. Id ask if there was shooting in the wood or bridle ways through it. I love woods as does Big Eck and feel the risks of  accidents worth it for the joys of being among the trees in all seasons.

If there are any footpaths or bridleways going through it, then it would be a 'No' - as the dogs would not tolerate strangers :)

Daisy

I would also worry about them going missing if they have unsupervised access, if it also has a bridle way you will have no control over who uses it.

The older one is Ok - he won't stay out in the garden if no-one is out there with him - he's part GSD :) The younger one wouldn't go far - but she might chase something tho :( They are both very vocal where strangers are concerned :) I'm glad that I mentioned this here, as it has given me a lot to think about - what might appear doggy heaven, may turn out not so :( - or am I being a bit pessimistic :)

Daisy

I think I heard on the TV the other day that the Balmoral estate is 50,000 acres - so I did wonder whether the Queen's dogs ever need to be on leads at all! However, the other aspect of course is that it would be incredibly easy to lose dogs in your own property....so I wonder what does really happen to them??? A problem most of us don't have..lol.

We have 1.5 acres of woodland with our house - it is absoloute heaven for the dogs BUT gets very muddy in the winter and all the trees do restrict the kind of free running that the dogs can do. We get Muntjac deer in our woodland as well as the usual foxes etc and the dogs can pick up ticks from them so you'll have to watch for this. We also have no fencing round the woodland which has not been a problem - I have a herding breed that naturally circles round and rarely leaves their ouwn 'patch' - occassionally my young male will dash off after rabbits but we have orchards all around us ( no roads) and he always comes back when I call him. We do not , however allow the dogs free access to the woods - we only use it to excercise them, - the rest of the time they have a large ( 70ft x 60ft) paved dog yard.

Having said all this we're currently looking to move as I want padock land rather than woodland ( I'd like to keep some Alpacas to add to my animal family !) and I'd like somewhere closer to communal dog walking areas too as my lot rarely get walked with other breeds and I miss the company of other dog walkers :).

If the place you are looking at is in North Norfolk you will love it - I live near Wisbech and it's a great place for dogs and for living 'the good life' :D.

Yvonne

Went up to view the house this afternoon. Well. we only got as far as seeing it from the outside as the location wasn't what we wanted :( It was on a main road, a long way from the nearest village/town. I definitely want a house that I can walk the dogs from, ideally to the nearest civilisation on a quiet road or a pavement :) We also saw a lovely bungalow that had a huge garden, next to a nature reserve - but again nowhere to walk to. Back to the drawing board - but we aren't in a rush and, as they say, location, location, location :)

Daisy

Shame as it sounded although it had potential ! :)

Oh keep us updated on the progress ;)

Lucy
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It did sound lovely.
I must admit, my main concern re free access to a large area (any area, not just woodland) would be the possibility these days of dog theft. That more than anything would make me keep my dog/s in a safe and watchable area.

JMHO
Lindsay
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