The story has little fact or substance to it for me.

If the dogs are getting free and running amok though, scaring kids and killing chickens, obviously the owners need to be made responsible for ensuring it doesn't happen again and pay compensation for the loss of the chickens.

On the other question posed, I agree with Lozzie that for a dog, chasing sheep/chickens etc is all down to instinct and prey drive. It doesn't make the dog a *bad* dog, although dogs can be trained not to chase livestock and therefore, in that case, should the dog be held responsible for doing something it *knows* is wrong? Interesting.

i dont think the dog should be held responsible at all, even if it 'knows' it is wrong. dogs are the responsibility of their owners and if their owners allow them to get into a position where they could face that situation, then the owners are the ones who should be held responsible.

im not sure though, if dogs do understand what is 'wrong', i think for some things they do, but other things they just learn not to do them but dont necessarily see it as being wrong, therefore when the owners are not present, they do it coz they know there wont get in trouble.

there are things im sure jake knows are wrong. such as, if he is playing as gets to excited he can mouth or accident scratch, and he can see this is wrong coz he can see my reaction, which is an 'ouch', 'argh' or just a wee painful scream. and without me even saying anything, he comes up snuggling into me, as if to say 'im sorry'. coz he realises what he has done...

whereas some things, he doesnt do coz i have told him not to, but he doesnt understand why it is wrong. so, he wont do it when i am there, but when i am go and no one is around, he will. such as stealing food off the counter... he has never stole food in front of us coz whenever he jumps up on the counter he gets told to get down. but the few times he has stole food, no one is around... so i dont think he necessarily sees it as 'wrong', he just sees it as something he shouldnt do coz i tell him not to...

am i making any sense?? i really hope so maybe he does know and is just a wee chancer, but its not something we can explain as to why it is wrong...

so a dog who has been taught to not chase sheep/chickens, may do it when the owners arent around coz its natural to them and not seen as wrong... ach, i dunno lol.