Dogs loose in the woods-your opinion?

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

kycolonel

Joined
Dec 17, 2006
Messages
695
I was hiking in SMNP with a friend in late October and about 3 miles up a trail when I looked up to see large black dog charging down the hill at me and barking. On the top of the hill were three young backpackers watching the dog and me. I immediately moved my hand to my knife with the full intent of using it if the dog was agressive. When they see me do this, one of the guys yells that the dog is friendly, and at the same time I see his friend drawing a camp hatchet from his pack. Now I'm a dog lover, and I see it is a black lab so let it pull up a foot from me as I'm telling it to sit.

It turns out the dog is friendly, so I pet it while talking down the hikers. It seems their long weekend backpacking trip was ruined when they were ticketed by a park ranger on morning 1, as there are no dogs permitted on the trails. As they tried to decide a course of action and pissed and moaned about how stupid a rule this was, I reminded them about the potentially dangerous confrontation (with both dogs and humans) that could have occured had I been less familiar with canine behavior.

So, I see people letting their dogs loose ALL the time on woods trails and many can't control them with voice commands. What are they thinking? Is it me, or are these people just incredibly stupid about what might happen to their dog, or if someone were to get bitten in the backcountry? How do you handle the situation when someones dog charges you in the woods?
 
I've never come upon a pooch that was unfriendly to humans that the owner didn't keep on leash.

I have to leash my dog when we pass small dogs on the trail, because she has some sort of need to bully around small dogs, and gets pretty aggressive, or at least she used to, but I don't chance leaving her off leash anymore. She also doesn't really like being approached by more than one bigger dog, but she rarely fights with dogs bigger than mid-size or so, usually she'll either ignore them or start playing.
:EDIT: My dog is about mid-large size. Not sure what breed, we got her from her last owners because they couldn't keep her. I'm pretty sure she's a boxer/greyhound mix, maybe with some other stuff in there.

She's absolutely fine with humans, and you can tell it though. She'll be ears back, tail wagging with people on the trail, and other than that generally doesn't pay much attention to them.

As far as what I'd do with an aggressive dog, I'm not really sure. I've been around dogs my whole life. The dog would have to be clearly agressive, IE: baring it's teeth, neck hairs standing and growling for me to even think twice about it.
 
I like to let my lab run in the woods. It is certainly her favourite thing to do. I keep her close with voice commands and the promise of kibble for good behaviour (a plastic bag of dog kibble really gives you an edge over unfamiliar dogs, too). She loves people, and always wants to say 'hello' to other hikers - especially kids. I usually put her leash on when I see other people on the trails, and then ask them if it's ok for me to let her off to say 'hi'. She responds to the verbal command 'Bike!' by moving off the trail in order to let mountain bikers pass.

I would say that 99% of the dogs we encounter in the woods are friendly and happy to see people, and I do not perceive them as sources of threat, even when they surprise me. I suppose that this might be naive on my part - which is perhaps surprising, as I was badly mauled by a dog when I was a kid. But I love dogs, and I find that it is extremely rare for them to be openly aggressive towards hikers. As far as I'm concerned, woodland (non-urban) trails ought to be off-leash areas. I know that this doesn't help in those situations where one is unexpectedly approached by an aggressive dog, but I don't want to structure my outdoors time around the unlikely possibility of threatening encounters.

Just my $0.02 CDN.

- Mike
 
Personally? If I knew my dog weren't a threat to people, and it wouldn't run off, I would have no qualms about letting it walk off leash. I would pray nobody like you guys would sink a battle mistress into my dogs spine ;)

Seems funny that they never bothered to tie a piece of rope around their dogs neck after the ranger already ticketed them.
 
hehe, this is something I see all the time also, I'm also one of those ppl that lets his dog roam free. My only problem is with ppl letting their dogs out of sight, asides from that I say enjoy the walk, the dog sure loves being loose for a change.

When I had my staffie I would also hit up public trails with my dog, he would be off a leash but but never out of sight, very obediant but none the less we always kept an eye out for ppl, and would call him back when we spotted ppl so we can leash him untill they had passed by.

There's a lot of debate on this, but in my opinion poorly obedient animals are a sign of careless Masters and to me those are the ppl that present a problem on the trail.

I try to put myself in ppls shoes as much as possible so this is why my dog never comes into contact with ppl except when on a leash by my side.

When I go out on my own, I have had many dogs run up to me, perhaps because of my natural ways with them beasts but never really feel intimidated until I notice the owner is unable to control it. and yes.. I hold my knife too or my axe, you just never know.
 
The dog should not have been allowed to get that close to you...

I take my German Shepherd hiking all the time--but he is ALWAYS under my control.

I would never allow him to go running and barking at anyone.

That would be the sign of a piss poor owner

Going for your knife was a understandable choice.

Picture038.jpg
 
Ok dog lovers, don't get angry with me, but I am fed up with having to fend off packs of dogs. I stopped walking down my own pivate road because there is a pack of aggressive dogs, some of them pitbulls, at the end of my road. The owner has even been taken to court for her wild dogs after they bit a neighor's boy, but the behavior continues. So I must drive over to the other side of this island to walk the nature trails at the local regional park. I have on occasion been harrassed by dogs that other walkers brought with them. Just yesterday, a woman was riding in a golf cart on the hiking trail and her poodle was yapping at me as she passed. But I can take that. At least she kept the dog under control. Please, dog lovers, control your animals. Keep them on a leash in public areas. That's what I do when I walk my daughter's dog. It's just common courtesy.
 
Most of the time, the dogs are not really dangerous. But I don't know that unless I know the dog. I know the little hell hounds at the end of my road will attack me, and on several occasions they have felt the wrath of my walking stick. I just don't care to be bitten again. One of these days, my .38 may settle this problem, but I am trying to keep peace as best I can. I don't hate dogs. I don't even hate the lady who owns them. She just doesn't get it. I just want to be able to walk in peace.
 
ppl are afraid of things they don't understand. so what the hell are ppl afraid of dogs doing in the woods to begin with if you can encounter coyotes, bobcats, bears etc..

no offense, but I think hikers should understand that when they are leaving the security of their homes, they should be prepared for anything and not bitch and moan at every opportunity that presents itself. You'll run into hikers that will even make you feel like shit for letting your dog loose, I say to hell with them they shouldn't be there to start with.
 
Mine is on a leash. Not because I am worried about her hurting anyone( she won't), mostly because she is more interested in deer trails than treats or my whistle.
 
cuphead said:
ppl are afraid of things they don't understand. so what the hell are ppl afraid of dogs doing in the woods to begin with if you can encounter coyotes, bobcats, bears etc..

no offense, but I think hikers should understand that when they are leaving the security of their homes, they should be prepared for anything and not bitch and moan at every opportunity that presents itself. You'll run into hikers that will even make you feel like shit for letting your dog loose, I say to hell with them they shouldn't be there to start with.
Click to expand...

I guess you're right. It's a jungle out there and we should all be prepared to defend ourselves against your dog.
 
Horn Dog said:
I guess you're right. It's a jungle out there and we should all be prepared to defend ourselves against your dog.
Click to expand...

wouldn't be a problem my dog is on a leash before anyone is even close to him as mentioned above, the statement was for ppl that give you that pissy look when your dog is on a leash as they walk by you as if you shouldn't even have a dog with you in the woods. I'm just saying Your in the freaking woods, who are you going to bitch too when you come face to face with a bear, or other animals.

I sympathize for ppl who are afraid of dogs, I really do, I've been scarred by a rottweiler when I was young and it took time to get use being around bully dogs, the fact remains I don't bark up every tree every time I'm faced with a problem. thats life and life goes on.
 
My 110 lb golden is about as passive as a dog can get, but he's still a big dog and is bound to intimidate some people, so while I don't always have him on a leash in the woods, he's on one anywhere I'm likely to encounter people. I have a buddy whose daughter was bitten by a dog and is now very nervous around all dogs. As result, my bud is fairly distrustful of unleashed dogs and sees it as disrespectful of owners' whom dismiss his right to be out on trails without having to fend off dogs, friendly or otherwise, and I certainly see his point. Most people are pretty good about encountering unleashed dogs, but it wouldn't hurt the owners to at be somewhat apologetic.
 
cuphead said:
ppl are afraid of things they don't understand. so what the hell are ppl afraid of dogs doing in the woods to begin with if you can encounter coyotes, bobcats, bears etc..

no offense, but I think hikers should understand that when they are leaving the security of their homes, they should be prepared for anything and not bitch and moan at every opportunity that presents itself. You'll run into hikers that will even make you feel like shit for letting your dog loose, I say to hell with them they shouldn't be there to start with.
Click to expand...

If a hiker treats your charging dog the same as a charging coyote (as you yourself suggest) and cuts its throat, are you prepared to accept that? I wonder.
 
If your dog is under control, it's cool with me. Dogs like the woods, too. Where I usually walk, there are no bears or cougars. Rattlesnakes, an occasional alligator, and drunks from Ohio at the local campgroud are the main threats.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top