Jodie shares all after her dog chased sheep on moorland

One of her dogs, Miya, chased the scent of a sheep on some moorland, and she had managed to single out one of the sheep from the flock.

As a veterinary nurse, Jodie has dealt with many farmers and she has seen the effect livestock worrying has. She ultimately decided to keep Miya on a lead until she met Jamie Penrith from Take the Lead – when Miya was around 10 years old.

READ MORE: Jamie Penrith on how to keep dogs to away from livestock

READ MORE: James shares all about e-collars and training classes

READ MORE: Take the Lead: Kate shares her livestock worrying story

“Having a lot of friends who are farmers, I have seen the effects that livestock worrying has,” said Jodie.

"I had owned Miya for about a week and visited moorland where I regularly took my labrador (who had never shown any interest in sheep). I purposely chose an area where I could not see any form of livestock and Miya bolted, chasing the scent. It was not until I had ran over the hill where I found her with a sheep that she had singled off from the flock. Luckily, this sheep got up and ran off with no injuries.

"After just the one session with Jamie, Miya chose to actively avoid not only sheep, but also cows and horses. I did the same training with my other three dogs, all of which now have a fast and reliable recall in any situation and all actively avoid chasing all animals, keeping themselves and the livestock safe.

“The images of the animals torn apart will haunt me for life, as will the images of shot dogs and distraught owners. If there is a scientifically proven way of preventing this from happening, without causing harm to any party, why would this not be pushed/recommended in the interest of all animal welfare?

Jodie's dogs. (Image: Jodie Woodward) “It is natural instinct for a dog to want to chase, with this drive being naturally higher in some breeds. It is the movement of the ‘prey’ that tends to trigger the need to chase. It is, of course, possible to teach a ‘reliable’ recall from a young age, and desensitise from a young age to improve the recall around farm animals.

“However, in my 10+ years of experience of training dogs, owning dogs and being in the veterinary industry, the only dogs who have reliably avoided livestock (even when the owner was not present) are those that have been trained to do so with the use of an e-collar.

“Most of the dog attacks on livestock or near misses etc have been dogs that have pulled the lead from owners hands, pulled owners over, snapped fastenings, escaped from gardens, jumped out of cars etc.

“These are all instances that were not and cannot be prevented by ‘keeping your dog on a lead’. Train for necessity, apply the lead out of respect.

“Don’t assume your dog will not chase livestock because it hasn’t yet.”