UKC

I'm looking at planning a wild camping trip to the northern bits of Dartmoor for the next month, having never been before, and was wondering what the sheep situation is like i.e. loads of them all over, or just a few & easy to spot?
My dog is something of a nightmare when it comes to chasing sheep (working stock collie, never managed to un-train the instinct), and I don't want to take her along if it means keeping her on the lead for 3 days.

Ta muchly.

In reply to TryfAndy:

My experience is that there are always a few but not loads on the high moor. I would expect most of the pre-Easter early lambers will probably just be coming back out onto the Moor now though!

In reply to TryfAn:

Definitely don't take your dog.

Dogs must be kept under close control or on a lead or you risk her being shot!

In reply to Steve Woollard:

Thanks, will leave her with the parents then. I hate having to keep her on the lead, but at the same time, I'll never be one of those arses who lets their dog chase livestock.

In reply to TryfAndy:
Yep, I'm on Dartmoor most weeks, you really don't know where the sheep might be. One of my GSDs chased a sheep which startled us once. They had been sheep-proof till then. Luckily nothing untoward happened.

In reply to TryfAndy:

I've found a solution. One of those 40ft long training leads clipped to my rucksack straps should combine enough room to roam happily without the risk of her getting to sheep. Result.

In reply to TryfAndy:

that should do it.

Where on dartmoor are you planning? Beware the firing ranges can get really boggy, not dangerously so, just unpleasant.

I went on a brilliant walk a couple years ago that went by blackator copse, meldon reservoir, past Okehampton castle, through the camp then up to yes tor and high willhays.

We also did a walk to yes tor from two bridges, but this came up through the ranges, and had to deal with very wet, really lumpy terrain and so was not nearly as pleasant

In reply to TryfAndy:
I understand your pain and have myself used a horse training lead for my collie too.

I hate walking him on a short lead and have taken to trying to avoid sheep areas. Not as bad as you might think up in Scotland: keep high and away from the central area (Stirlingshire & Perthshire are the worse, as are most of the Southern Uplands). Much of Glen Coe, Etive and Lochaber and the Cairngorms can be walked without encountering any, or only a few, sheep. Deer are another matter.

In reply to ledifer:

We're looking around Princetown & Fernworthy Forest, then up north from there a bit I think. I've read that conditions are somewhat boggy, so will take gaiters & spare socks!

And yeh, it is a git having to keep her on the lead. I did Y Garn via Devil's Kitchen with her on the lead, linked to the gear loops on my sac's waistbelt with a 240cm sling & krab. As much as she'd have loved bombing it up & down the rocks, I'm not risking her going off after a sheep that I don't see in time to get her back. She went off after a partridge she flushed by accident on Wednesday & ran the whole length of a 10 acre field before listening to my yells & blasts on the dog whistle & coming back looking rather ashamed with herself.

In reply to TryfAndy:

The surface is dry at the moment but not far below it is still very very sodden. Definitely take gaiters.

In reply to La Shamster:
a 40 ft lead - if your dog can accelerate like mine did he'll rip any gear loop clean off annd take you out big time!
Message me for any Dartmoor info, live nearby and go out on the moor most weeks.

In reply to TryfAndy:

There are sheep, cattle and ponies grazing all over the moor. Dogs that aren't 'stock steady' should be on a line really otherwise you are going to be chasing around all over the place.

In reply to Hounds:
And The Beast of Dartmoor!!!

In reply to marmot hunter:

As it happens I spotted the beast recently - I thought it was my Rottweiler until I realised she was stood beside me...

In reply to Hounds:
see, it is true, any photos?

In reply to marmot hunter:

It was half light in a gale of wind and rain when this 'thing' went past... photos weren't an option. I did chase after it though; which, on reflection, was probably a stooped thing to do.

In reply to marmot hunter:

That's a good point, she's small but a proper rocket! I may try something I saw someone else doing; using the waist belt bit of an old harness, with leg loops cut off, and the dog tied into the belay loop so you can walk it 'no-handed'.

And thanks, I will do once I finalise what I fancy doing there