Must read 'Gutted'.

[SparkleBee]

Dont feel too bad, the dog will probably be fine. Entirely the fault of the dog owner, i never fail to be amazed at the stupidity of many dog owners, most seem to think its funny when their untrained cur goes on the rampage. Theres no excuse, dogs are easy to train. Indeed, many seem to be far more intelligent than their owners..... Pricks.

[gramey]

By the sounds of it the owner wasn't too bothered but in the dogs defence they will attack anything moving and making a noise it's not familiar with and run miles to do it.
My GSD does although it's nitro cars over our local heath, despite there being a by law banning them, he hears them from what seems like miles off and just makes a bee line straight for them. The downside with a heli is that a dog won't have any idea what a rotor blade is or that it can hurt them until it's too late.
It doesn't matter what a prat the owner is if your any sort of caring person, which obviously you are, your going to feel bad for the dog. You just hope the owner isn't too stupid to get it veterinary attention if it does need it.
Bottom line is though I can't do anything about the kids that go where I walk my dog it's such a huge area, but I wouldn't walk him on a field that's for flying where I shouldn't be.
Think you've just got to put it behind you knowing that you did all you could to prevent it.

[chemicalbro]

what a shame... I too would have felt terrible for the dog.
but don't let it put you off... as everybody said its the owners fault....
by the sounds of it the dog didn't have any cuts or serious injury and will be back to normal in no time.dogs are very resiliant creatures.

I'm lucky. my dog is scared sh*tless of my heli, i only need to pick it up from its shelf and he's under the bed like a shot.

not that i'd ever walk him anywhere i know people fly mind you.

[Holst]

Im sure you're right but think its going to take time to get out my mind.

A few weeks ago I was driving to work and saw a dog running around in the road. As its a 60mph road I stopped the car to try and catch the dog before it got run over.
Unfortunately before I could get out of the car the dog was hit by a car coming in the other direction.
The dog got thrown down the road quite a long way and I was convinced that it would be dead.
The idiot who hit it didnt even stop.
When i got down the road the dog was still alive, it was a bit scratched up and had a broken leg but a few days at the vet and it was running around again like nothing had happened.

If a dog can take a hit from a 60mph car im sure the dog that ran into your heli will be ok.

Maybe next time you fly there you could go with a friend. At least that way your friend can warn any dog owners who are nearby about the heli, or just grab and dogs that take too much interest in the heli.

[gramey]

Dont feel too bad, the dog will probably be fine. Entirely the fault of the dog owner, i never fail to be amazed at the stupidity of many dog owners, most seem to think its funny when their untrained cur goes on the rampage. Theres no excuse, dogs are easy to train. Indeed, many seem to be far more intelligent than their owners..... Pricks.

Sadly it's hard to eradicate some traits in even the best trained dogs simply because the incidents themselves are so infrequent it may be months between them.

[Big A]

Get out flying tomorrow, not your fault 100% the owners fault, there does seem to be a significant % of dog owners who have less brains than there dogs. There is one chap who walks his dog the entire length of our strip when people are flying, despit being told about it. He's just an idiot, you can';t go feeling bad when some idiots actions lead to their dog being injured.

[SparkleBee]

Sadly it's hard to eradicate some traits in even the best trained dogs simply because the incidents themselves are so infrequent it may be months between them.

Agreed, but if a dog is properly trained, the stop whistle means stop.... Besides, if someone knows their dog is a bit wayward, why is it off the lead in a model flying field?! Total lack of concern or respect on the part of the owner.

[Mikee]

I know how you feel.. I stuffed my 450 in when a dog appeared from nowhere... the 5mins were up on the tranny.. bleeper sounding and a dog jumping up at the heli hoovering 5 feet up.. then the dog saw me and jumped at me... not in anger but enough to loose my balance and control of the heli... owner appeared from bushes .. called the dog.. shouted sorry and disappeared again

Moral is don't fly alone... use your mate as a spotter when flying in a public places

[adieuk]

hi guys,
im a dog owner and a breeder and would be gutted if anything happened to my dogs
the only person should be hurt is that stupid idiot walking his dog in a place were aircrafts fly,
soom people with no brains
get your batts charged jim and get back flying m8
its not your fault you couldnt have done any more to stop it from happening

[chemicalbro]

Agreed, but if a dog is properly trained, the stop whistle means stop.... Besides, if someone knows their dog is a bit wayward, why is it off the lead in a model flying field?! Total lack of concern or respect on the part of the owner.

the thing is the dog was a husky type.... not very far in breeding terms from a wolf..
if its natural instinct cuts in no amount of shouting or telling it to stop is gonna matter a damn.
when that hunting instinct kicks in you can forget it.
dogs can only really focus on 1 thing at a time.
if it is blindly chasing a heli intent on hunting it down chances are it wouldn't even hear your shouts.

the answer is for the owners to keep the dog on the lead until it is safe to let it off. (in this instance it obviously was not safe so 100% down to the owner)
my dog 99% of the time will stop and come back when i shout but there's still that 1% doubt, regardless of what anybody says we are NOT in total control of our animals.

[gramey]

Agreed, but if a dog is properly trained, the stop whistle means stop.... Besides, if someone knows their dog is a bit wayward, why is it off the lead in a model flying field?! Total lack of concern or respect on the part of the owner.

I agree with the second part and I wouldn't take mine near a flying field, but you can whistle till the cows come home and it won't make a blind bit of difference to mine if he see's a cat!

[tourerjim]

A few weeks ago I was driving to work and saw a dog running around in the road. As its a 60mph road I stopped the car to try and catch the dog before it got run over.
Unfortunately before I could get out of the car the dog was hit by a car coming in the other direction.
The dog got thrown down the road quite a long way and I was convinced that it would be dead.
The idiot who hit it didnt even stop.
When i got down the road the dog was still alive, it was a bit scratched up and had a broken leg but a few days at the vet and it was running around again like nothing had happened.

If a dog can take a hit from a 60mph car im sure the dog that ran into your heli will be ok.

Maybe next time you fly there you could go with a friend. At least that way your friend can warn any dog owners who are nearby about the heli, or just grab and dogs that take too much interest in the heli.

If a dog can take a hit from a 60mph car im sure the dog that ran into your heli will be ok.
That was one lucky dog alright, normally theirs aways someone else I turned up little earlier than norm, leason to be learnt next time I'll wait till someone is their.

[heliTV]

I live in fear of this happening as I sometimes fly at a local sports field. Whenever I see a dog walker, I land and wait for them to go away... my worry is like you, one runs up to the heli with no owner in sight...

Well-disciplined dogs and flying are fine - there's a chap that brings his dog flying and it has a great run around when there's nothing flying and we're all having a chat(!) He's always on the lead when anythings spinning though...

I wouldn't worry about it - the dog's probably fine and will steer well clear of helis next time!!!

[jboweruk]

Jim, don't let it get to you mate. Dog owner deserves the RSPCA's full weight brought down on him. The guy's a complete and utter D*head. You did all you could, no less. So get it fixed, get out there, and fly. I hit a dog in a car once, that too was the owner's fault, lucky dog got away with it, heck she even let me make a fuss of her after. And owner got a stern talking to from his mate for not having her on a lead.

Dogs may be tame, but underneath is still a wild animal, and it's the responsibility of the owner to make sure they don't go doing things they shouln't so he should have seen your heli or heard it, and promptly put the dog on a lead till they were safely away from you. You've seen my vid from Rainham? A couple of dogs came over to us then, thankfully to us not the heli, and between flights for which I was glad.

[AJ Jelly]

A lot of the time I have found that some dog owners think they own the land they are on and nothing else should be there.

Try to put it behind you as soon as you can and get back in the air. The longer you leave it the hard it will be