Here is my perspective as a dog owner, farmer, hiker and the person who was called to shoot an friend’s horse that was so mauled and hurt it had to be put down. I believe that most professional dog trainers would have the some opinion as mine.

Unless the dog has perfect recall, meaning it will always return to it's owner, the dog should always be on a leash in public spaces
. In the case of the horse incident, that particular dog did not have a history of chasing livestoc It was with the owner when the incident occurred, and to the owner's horror, they could not catch or stop the dog.

This was not a dog running unsupervised, but simply a dog that was following it’s instinct.

When a dog runs toward me, my first reaction is fear, as I have no idea what might happen. Please do not allow your dog to approach people or other dogs unless invited.

And please, without permission, do not ever bring dogs to a farm.

Let's be good neighbors!