# Why don't mules come with a warning?



## ManicDaisy (Dec 13, 2018)

So, looking back, it was probably never a good idea to bring dogs with me into the pasture. But someone recently added a mule to the field, without warning anyone that mules are homicidal towards dogs.

Stupid mule tried to kill my little chihuhua/shih Tzu mix. As it is, she might still lose an eye!

It's just so frustrating, because everyone KNOWS people bring their dogs to the ranch. One lady brings a miniature goat--which I found out the mule also tried to kill.

This is a rant. No question here.

Just a warning to anyone who, like me, didn't know anything about mules: they are VERY aggressive.

Where a horse would run away, a mule will attack.

Wish I had known. It would have saved me the vet ER bill.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

My horses won't run away from a dog. If angry, they'd attack.


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## ManicDaisy (Dec 13, 2018)

bsms said:


> My horses won't run away from a dog. If angry, they'd attack.


I think it depends on the horse, as well as the dog. There's one horse at the ranch who is more aggressive and has been known to chase dogs, though not trample them to death.


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## ManicDaisy (Dec 13, 2018)

Also, it wasn't like my dog chased the mule or barked. She was just following at my heels, and the mule ran from the other side of the pasture to attack her.

Now, having read the internet, I know that mules are territorial, and are often used to protect herds from coyotes, wolves and other predators.

I just wish I had known this before. (We have no predators here in hawaii, so this is an issue that just never comes up. Even the ranch owner didn't know this about mules.)


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

Well, donkeys are known for their aggressive behavior towards dogs and coyotes so I suppose mules got it from them. We have one horse at our yard which will go after dogs and kill them if she catches them.

Sorry about your dog, I hope everything turns out ok.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

My very first horse, an Arabian gelding who was very gentle and a perfect first-horse, tried to stomp a dog at a place I boarded. I don't know how the dog was unscathed. ANY equine could stomp a dog. It would be a good idea to keep the dogs away from the horses.


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## AragoASB (Jul 12, 2020)

Donkeys and mules are used as guardian animals to protect sheep from coyotes in pastures. Lllamas are also used for this.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

My Pony will go after dogs, too.

I agree it's better not to bring dogs if you don't have to. In addition to some horses (and other equines) going after them, some horses are really scared of them, possibly to the point of hurting themselves and others.

We almost had a bad incident the other day. There was a pony in crossties getting his feet done, and the barn owner's dogs were just running around all over the place. The pony almost hurt himself trying to get away from them as they were running around him.


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

A few years ago I saw a you tube video of a mule killing a cougar in the mountains. It was very efficient at it too. It amazed me how quickly a pack mule moved on the cat and after the first strike it showed no mercy.


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## LilyandPistol (Dec 2, 2014)

In general it is a good idea to keep dogs away from any equine you don’t know, or any dog you don’t know for that matter, because some animals are more tolerant of them than others on an individual basis. But yeah, mules are half donkey and donkeys are used as guardian animals often so... that doesn’t surprise me. Hope the pup is ok.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Wow, that's amazing about the mountain lion. Maybe I should get a mule, for when we move to mountain lion territory.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

Hope your dog will be OK. My sweet Arab mare kicked my little dog and put him in the ICU a few years ago. Cost me $3,000. He's been fine ever since. 

The vet said it's strange but most horse people don't seem to realize that vets see dogs all the time for horse-related injuries. She said many die from head trauma.

I don't bring dogs around horses anymore. I would if I had a larger, well-trained dog and a horse I knew was good with horses. Not with other people's horses.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I saw that episode of the mule and cougar, wow, I have often wondered what it would be like to have a mule and ride it; After that I thought I would stick to horses. Can you imagine walking up to the mule and saying ok boy back to work now totin' that load.
I would have been saying "you don't want to tote the load? Here I'll carry it for you."
I don't think I would want to get into a battle of wills with a mule.

I did read after that the cougar was already dead, I don't know if this is true or not but the mule still did a number on the critter.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I forget to add that I am sorry about what happened to the little dog and hope she recovers ok


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

@Woodhaven , I've never ridden a mule but, have been on overnight trips with a guy that rode one. We were in rough country and that mule never balked or misplaced a foot. At night we put the horses and the mule on a mid-height picket line. There were Hedge trees where they were picketed. The mule would look back over his shoulder and locate a hedge apple. Then reach out with a back foot and roll an apple forward until he could reach it with his front foot, passing it to the front until he could bend down and pick it up and eat it. Then he would repeat that over and over. He had the ability to reason how to get the hedge apples. None of the horses would/could do that. I felt he was showing pretty good problem solving on his own.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Yeah, donkeys, mules, llama & alpacas are all known to be good 'livestock guardians', known to be _potentially_ aggressive towards other animals. I have related the story before of my donkey's first meeting with my puppies - they were playing, obliviously together, when I brought my donkey home to live with us. He took one look at the dogs & charged! I thought they were going to be very short lived puppies! He barrelled towards them, reared over them & stomped down.... either side of the terrified pups! Then just stepped away & walked off, never to show aggression towards them again. He'd established who was boss cocky.

But then, my current dog has a wonky skull from being kicked by a horse, and my pony, I think he views it as a great game, to sneak up on the dogs when they're otherwise occupied & then snort & chase them a few steps when they startle & run! And my sheep... one of the ewes bowled over my dog when she thought he looked interested in her baby. And I used to have geese, who had my neighbour's rottweiler running scared!


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## AragoASB (Jul 12, 2020)

Another animal that will kill dogs are mama cows. People don't realize it and pastured cows with little calves are a lot more common than mules or donkeys. My rancher husband once had someone dump a puppy on the road. DH went into the cow pasture on a tractor and the puppy came running to him. But a black Angus cow saw the puppy, chased it down and crushed it to death with her head, What a horrible thing but it is their instinct.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I'm sorry about your dog. 

Bison also kill dogs. And we just don't take dogs with us when checking calving cows or cows with very young calves. 

I've had two horses that killed dogs if the horses were loose. If they were saddled, or even tied, they didn't even look at dogs.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

I had a percheron who didn't like dogs. He stomped on our dog and after that wasn't allowed near them. Our dog was bruised but okay.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Neighbors down the road have a donkey. Will chase kill any dog that gets in it's pasture. 

My gelding ice will kill any dog that gets in pasture or corral with him. Have to keep my own dog out of pasture or corral ice will kill her...I know that so make sure, dog doesn't get in with horses.

I warn anyone who comes over with there dog. Don't let dog get in with horses or it will get killed or seriously injured. More than likely killed ice hates dogs . 

Won't mess with them when haltered or under saddle. But it i give him a loose rein an tell him get that dog he'll go after it. Had a dog on dirt road that liked to come out barking an nip at horses heels. 
I let ice go after him dog got some hair taken off back an stepped on. Dog took off up his driveway yelping an tail tucked. 

That same dog won't come anywhere near our horses,he won't even bark.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

The mare we bought as a green 3yr for my young sister to ride was the most even tempered and sensible horse I ever knew. Dogs could run around her and she paid absolutely no attention to them. there was a dog where we had her and they got along just fine ..; until.. she had a foal and we took her and the foal out to the field, the dog was with us and when we turned the mare and baby out, the dog wanted to see the foal and went up to it, in a flash that mare was at him. picked him up and threw him, he was a big dog, just lucky for him that he landed on the outside of the fence. Then she went back to her usual quiet self as if nothing had happened. After that if we lead the mare out of the barn, you could just see the tail of the dog disappearing around the corner.
For the most part our horses have gotten along with our dogs but I have supervised them carefully until they all knew what was expected of them. If I told the dog to come away from the horse, they did, or if the horse laid it's ears back at a dog I spoke sharply to them and put a stop to it.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I have another story of the same mare, many years later, She was for my sister to learn to ride on but through the years she went to different family members as the need or space decreed and I often had her with me.
I got a little puppy an Alaskan Malamute and he would come around with me when I did chores. As I have said this mare ignored the dogs and paid no attention to them. He loved to race about in the horse's stall when I spread the straw he would even grab her tail and pull on it. The mare ignored him. I went out of the stall and about to shut the door and realized he was still in there. Just about that time puppy was running for his life to the door with the mare's big front feet landing on either side of him; She wouldn't have hurt him but was telling him TIME TO GET OUT!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I have to say that one of my pet peeves is horse people bringing their dogs to the barn. I have two dogs, and they don't come to the barn. They're mini dachshunds, so not the best idea around horses. I get that the OP wasn't expecting a mule, but dogs and horses don't mix unless it's your own and they know each other well. I just don't understand why boarders insist on bringing their dogs to barns.


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## AJ Yammie (Dec 20, 2020)

bsms said:


> My horses won't run away from a dog. If angry, they'd attack.


Yeah, my Arab has thrown my hunting dog in the air and trampled her. He tries to chase the sheep and calves too


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

ManicDaisy said:


> So, looking back, it was probably never a good idea to bring dogs with me into the pasture. But someone recently added a mule to the field, without warning anyone that mules are homicidal towards dogs.
> 
> Stupid mule tried to kill my little chihuhua/shih Tzu mix. As it is, she might still lose an eye!
> 
> ...


In my opinion, I HATE it when people bring their dogs and other pets with them into the pasture where people board. I say _it's your own fault_ if your animal almost dies. Seriously. Other pet animals have no place in the pasture at a public boarding place.

So .... there's my rant for the day.

Horses can attack dogs too. So you would be wise to stop bringing your dog with you into the pasture.

Many years ago, back when the hubby was my fiance, we were at my parents place (where my horse, and my mother's horses were). We were going to walk through the pasture to a treerow to try to kick up some pheasants to shoot. The horses happened to be nearby and my horse who had NEVER done anything like this before, came on other, huffing and puffing at my fiance's black lab dog. And tried to trample him. Of course, dumb dog didn't back down and came within inches of my horse successfully killing him, before I was able to get over there, yelling and waving my arms to get my horse to go away. 

Loose horses/mules/cows/etc are loose animals in a pasture. They can choose to chase/charge at any time even if they have never done so in the past. It is always best to think smart and prepare for that.


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