Tara Hill Woods (Guard dogs)

n.d.os

I just moved to the Tara Hill area in Gorey and decided to bring my dog for a walk today in what looked like a nice woodland walk in Tara Hill woods. The area is very quiet and does not appear to be common with dog walkers but the woods had a graveled area for parking your car, signage and a walking track so needless to say off I went up the track with my dog.

When I got about 5 minutes up the track I noticed a springer spaniel just above me when the track turns back on itself and brings you further up the hill. The springer was watching us but did not move. A second later a Border Collie appeared and started growling at me. My dog was a few metres back as he had retreated when he saw the first dog. The two dogs then litterally escorted us back out of the woods, keeping their distance the whole way until I got back into the car with my dog, no owners in sight. Once I started to drive off they ran back into the woods.

There are no signs stating this is private woodland. There are signs for walkers on the way in and a track through the woods. Is anybody familiar with this place? Am I missing something, or were they perhaps just local country dogs who are allowed out to roam and have instinctively just taken ownership of the woods?

St Senan

I walk every-night with my 2 Llewellyn setters and my springer spaniel in woods close to where i live and the majority of the time i meet people with all sorts of dogs walking in the same woods. There are times when 1st you see the dogs and way behind you will see their owners walking along.
I wouldn't class either a springer or a border collie as guard dogs, The likes of german shepherds, rottweilers and dobermans fall into that category. Maybe these dogs were out in the woods with there owner/s and happened on you the same way you happened on them. The springer would be a placid type of dog and maybe the collie was/is his/her companion and growled at you in a protective way. Is there any houses close to the area of where you were. If so maybe them dogs belong to the houses. The only way to find out is to go back again someday to the same spot this time with another person just in case. If the dogs are still there then try and find where they are coming from. If you think that these 2 dogs are stray or just living wild then contact the dog warden or the NWSPCA in Gorey.

n.d.os

Thanks for the reply. There is always the possibility that they had run ahead of their owner, but that would of meant that the owners were at least 10 minutes behind them. My partner suggested that they may have belonged to poachers in the woods but I think that might be a bit far fetched. There are plenty of houses in the area, but not within access to the woods where a dog might wander across for a sniff about. The whole experience was very unusual. The car park was empty and there wasn't a sole about. I don't think it a common walking spot taking into consideration its nestled into a very quiet area of Tara Hill. Who knows what the dogs were doing there? I doubt they were stray. They both looked healthy and fit.

thedarkroom

Tara Hill would be a very popular spot for walkers with their dogs, and on occasions horse riders. Most likely the owners were somewhere in the vicinity and could have been parked in one of the other car parks around the hill. There are about 5 or 6 spots that people use and once they get on to one of the Hill paths people would unleash their dogs. The dog owners could be anywhere. There are also several houses in the area that would be backing on to (and even located within) the forest.
I very much doubt that the dogs belong to any poachers as there would not be anything in the forest of any worth. No deer, the odd hare, some rabbits, pheasants, pigeons, and that's about it. If anyone in the area was looking to do a bit of hunting in the area there are plenty of other more attractive places to go.
The forest is all owned by Coillte and the paths are all open for public use.

n.d.os

Thanks for the reply. You are probably right. I reckon their owners had just let them loose. I'm not sure how aggressive the border collie would have been in reality but I sure wasn't crossing him once he started growling at me. Next time I'm up I might go in a group with more dogs.