Dog attack on trail

[saltysack]

Depends on what stats you want to use. As a percentage, I'd say 14 out of 20 dogs I saw in 600 miles were poorly behaved. I'd say 10 out of 300 people were poorly behaved; of course that number rises to 24 out of 300 when I include the rude dog owners.

Not sure what your classification of a poorly behaved dog is but I've never had any issues. Although I mainly hike from October to April and avoid staying at the rat boxes and around others.......only time I recall spending any real time around another dog was last August on top of Max patch my pup chased another dog around the summit for hours playing....there were others there and I suppose it could have been you?.....would dogs running free not messing with anyone bother you?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FreeGoldRush]

Not sure what your classification of a poorly behaved dog is but I've never had any issues. Although I mainly hike from October to April and avoid staying at the rat boxes and around others.......only time I recall spending any real time around another dog was last August on top of Max patch my pup chased another dog around the summit for hours playing....there were others there and I suppose it could have been you?.....would dogs running free not messing with anyone bother you?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The scenario you describe is obviously not the problem. I've seen aggressive dogs running loose before (not on the trail) and they can indeed be a problem and even a danger to kids.

[Puddlefish]

Not sure what your classification of a poorly behaved dog is but I've never had any issues. Although I mainly hike from October to April and avoid staying at the rat boxes and around others.......only time I recall spending any real time around another dog was last August on top of Max patch my pup chased another dog around the summit for hours playing....there were others there and I suppose it could have been you?.....would dogs running free not messing with anyone bother you?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No. How about:

- one dog walking around the shelter on a rainy day tracking mud over everyone's gear while the owner taking a zero day mumbled "no, bad dog, get down", while the dog jumped up and down from the mud to the sleep floor. I kept on hiking in the rain after I ate my lunch.
- About 8 dogs running 100 or so yards ahead of the owners, blocking the trail and barking/snarling at me. Forcing me to stop dead in my tracks, while the owner caught up a minute or so later stating some variation of "Don't worry, he/she's harmless/loves people."
- About 10 dogs attempting to nose into my food while the owner was off chatting and ignoring their dog entirely.
- One dog pissing on some guys tent, while the owner was who knows where.
- One dog lunged and nipped at me twice, when I attempted to knock my shoes together, while the owner made zero attempt to grab her dog, and just expressed how baffled she was how that might happen. (Thanks for your prompt bafflement!)
- Maybe 6 dogs that would defend tents with ceaseless barking all evening into the night.
- I had to drag one dog out of my tent. I have no idea what it was attempting. (No food in my tent)
- A few dogs ran across my tent as I was setting it up. I was fortunate there were no holes, as these were fairly large dogs.

I slept at two shelters during the two months I was on the trail. Once in the Smokies where no dogs were allowed. Once when rain was forecast and there were only two hikers in the area, neither with a dog. Whenever possible I camped away from crowds.

[Singto]

Dogs should not be taken to a place, unleashed, where contact and interaction with strangers is assured. Period. People who think otherwise are stoooopid.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Dogs should not be taken to a place, unleashed, where contact and interaction with strangers is assured unless they have had appropriate prior training. Period. People who think otherwise are stoooopid.

Fixed that for you, but otherwise agree.

[firesign]

Dogs should not be taken to a place, unleashed, where contact and interaction with strangers is assured. Period. People who think otherwise are stoooopid.

Or all unleashed dogs on the AT should be muzzled. If the dog needs to licks its own arse, the owner can do it!

[Engine]

Or all unleashed dogs on the AT should be muzzled. If the dog needs to licks its own arse, the owner can do it!

That would make for a great trailname.

[T-Rx]

Saltysack sounds like you are an arsehole. I simply stated my opinion based on my experiences.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Saltysack sounds like you are an arsehole. I simply stated my opinion based on my experiences.

This sub forum was specifically set up for dog owners to discuss how to hike with their dogs. The constant Anti-dog comments (which are against forum rules) get frustrating to those of us who use the forum correctly, so we take turns being arseholes about it. Thursday was my day, Saltysack's day was yesterday, I forget who's covering Saturday this week.

[T-Rx]

Elf,
i love your sarcasm! You truly live up to your moniker. I really am a dog lover and have owned dogs my entire life except for the past 3 years. If an owner is truly responsible and controls their pet (on trail and in & around shelters) I have no issues. But my experiences are that these owners are the EXCEPTION! I have experienced aggressive, unleashed animals both on the trail and in & around shelters and have seen my share of dog poop on the trail. I know you can't label an entire group by the "bad apples" but my experiences thus far have shown me that this tends to be the norm among dog owners on the trail. I hope my future experiences will serve to modify this opinion because I do really love dogs! It's the irresponsible owners that I take issue with.

[Slo-go'en]

This sub forum was specifically set up for dog owners to discuss how to hike with their dogs. The constant Anti-dog comments (which are against forum rules) get frustrating to those of us who use the forum correctly, so we take turns being arseholes about it. Thursday was my day, Saltysack's day was yesterday, I forget who's covering Saturday this week.

Discussing how and why your dog maybe a nuisance and not appreciated by other hikers is, I believe, a valid topic to discuss here. They are after all "dogs on the Appalachian Trail".

[adamkrz]

Or all unleashed dogs on the AT should be muzzled. If the dog needs to licks its own arse, the owner can do it!

This is pretty nasty , I hope others in the U.K. are not like you. As far as the original complaint why not go after the owners of the dog... And Firesign you can do the same with your Queen.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Discussing how and why your dog maybe a nuisance and not appreciated by other hikers is, I believe, a valid topic to discuss here. They are after all "dogs on the Appalachian Trail".

I actually agree with you on this as long as it is done in a constructive manner.

My comment that you quoted was in response to T-Rex's earlier post about how he thinks dog's don't belong on the A.T. at all. It was also an attempt to poke a bit of fun at myself since I was a bit of a jackass on here earlier this week.

[TexasBob]

Dogs should not be taken to a place, unleashed, where contact and interaction with strangers is assured. unless they have had appropriate prior training.Period. People who think otherwise are stoooopid.

Fixed that for you, but otherwise agree.

I am a retired veterinarian. Once every month or two while I was still practicing one of my clients would bring in their dog either DOA or almost dead after being hit by a car. When I would ask them what happened they would tell me that the dog ran out into the street while on a walk WITHOUT a leash. The next words out of their mouth would be "He/She never did that before, I trained them not to." I always felt terrible for the dog but it was hard to muster up much sympathy for an owner who let their ego prevent them from keeping their dog safe. It is like a parent saying they don't need to put their kids in car seats because they are such a good driver that there is no way there will be a accident. Unexpected things happen that you can't control, use a leash and don't let your dog pay the price for your ego. Now go ahead and tell me how great your dog is trained and blah blah blah. I promise not post again here and you can flame me all you want.

[gpburdelljr]

Whiteblaze should add an option to put a thread like this in "poll" format, where you can vote once. On hot button topics like this, people tend to be either "for" something or "against" it , and can get quite nasty expressing which side they are on. With a poll you could vote and move on without insulting anyone.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Whiteblaze should add an option to put a thread like this in "poll" format, where you can vote once. On hot button topics like this, people tend to be either "for" something or "against" it , and can get quite nasty expressing which side they are on. With a poll you could vote and move on without insulting anyone.

There is also a "forum ignore" option that members can use. If you select it for a specific forum that you don't have an interests in then no posts from that forum will appear in your feed.

[gpburdelljr]

There is also a "forum ignore" option that members can use. If you select it for a specific forum that you don't have an interests in then no posts from that forum will appear in your feed.

"ignore" wouldn't work and f you were interested in getting a rough idea of how many people are "for" or "against" something like this.

In a poll type format he following three items to select from would pretty much cover all the opinions expressed here.


1). Unleashed dogs should never be allowed on the trail, but leashed dogs are OK.


2). No dogs, leashed or unleashed, should be allowed on the trail


3). Only highly obedience trained dogs should be allowed off leash on the trail.


If you wanted you could expand it to six potential selections by repeating the first three, and adding the words "and if you believe otherwise, you are a horses a**".

[Sarcasm the elf]

"ignore" wouldn't work and f you were interested in getting a rough idea of how many people are "for" or "against" something like this.

In a poll type format he following three items to select from would pretty much cover all the opinions expressed here.


1). Unleashed dogs should never be allowed on the trail, but leashed dogs are OK.


2). No dogs, leashed or unleashed, should be allowed on the trail


3). Only highly obedience trained dogs should be allowed off leash on the trail.


If you wanted you could expand it to six potential selections by repeating the first three, and adding the words "and if you believe otherwise, you are a horses a**".

Ah, gotcha. We have actually tried those polls in the past, the problem is that nearly everyone on both sides chooses the "horse's a**" option. The problem with internet forums in general is that they tend to attract blowhards (I'm one of them) so polls about any hotbutton topic is usually rarely give an accurate picture of anything.

I like to joke that compared to hikers I meet on the internet, the average hiker I meet on the trail has a pack that is 10lbs heavier, hikes 5 less miles a say, is ten times more likely to like dogs, is much more likely to stay in a shelter, and is much less interested in what kind of gear you have.

[saltysack]

Saltysack sounds like you are an arsehole. I simply stated my opinion based on my experiences.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[saltysack]

No. How about:

- one dog walking around the shelter on a rainy day tracking mud over everyone's gear while the owner taking a zero day mumbled "no, bad dog, get down", while the dog jumped up and down from the mud to the sleep floor. I kept on hiking in the rain after I ate my lunch.
- About 8 dogs running 100 or so yards ahead of the owners, blocking the trail and barking/snarling at me. Forcing me to stop dead in my tracks, while the owner caught up a minute or so later stating some variation of "Don't worry, he/she's harmless/loves people."
- About 10 dogs attempting to nose into my food while the owner was off chatting and ignoring their dog entirely.
- One dog pissing on some guys tent, while the owner was who knows where.
- One dog lunged and nipped at me twice, when I attempted to knock my shoes together, while the owner made zero attempt to grab her dog, and just expressed how baffled she was how that might happen. (Thanks for your prompt bafflement!)
- Maybe 6 dogs that would defend tents with ceaseless barking all evening into the night.
- I had to drag one dog out of my tent. I have no idea what it was attempting. (No food in my tent)
- A few dogs ran across my tent as I was setting it up. I was fortunate there were no holes, as these were fairly large dogs.

I slept at two shelters during the two months I was on the trail. Once in the Smokies where no dogs were allowed. Once when rain was forecast and there were only two hikers in the area, neither with a dog. Whenever possible I camped away from crowds.

Your hiker stench must be at tracking them.....seriously...I understand your resentment...given your experiences I'd feel the same way....I'm just glad I've yet to encounter it.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk