[pct-l] Hiking the trail with your dog

[kdpo at pacbell.net (Ken Powers)]

Sorry yogi, I have to side with the pro-dog group on this one. There
probably are a lot of dogs who cannot hike the PCT, but I feel there are a
lot of dogs who can thru-hike the PCT and enjoy it. We have seen such happy,
enjoyable dogs on each of the 3 long trails. Most of those dogs seem to have
owners who are aware of their dogs and enjoy and care for them. A couple of
the owners were even veterinarians.

We saw a few dogs who learned to handle the trail as they progressed. The
dogs learned that when the owners stopped for even a few minutes, they would
rest. The dogs would lie down as soon as the owner stopped. When the group
started again the dogs were ready to go. They exhibited the same mannerisms
Pauls dog showed, running ahead to scout, then back to see where everyone
was. All these dogs were well mannered and under voice control of their
owners.

I suppose the dogs are like people. Some enjoy the long hike, others don't.
The important part is that the owner recognize this and take the dog off the
trail if it does not enjoy the hike. We saw some dogs on the AT that we felt
would not last long. We felt much the same about their owners. And we never
saw either of them again.

Ken
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "yogi yogi" <yogilists@hotmail.com>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 10:23 AM
Subject: RE: [pct-l] Hiking the trail with your dog


> Sorry Dave, but you're not getting it.  To make a statement comparing PCT
> dogs to Iditarod dogs is laughable.  You're comparing apples to oranges.
>
> The dogs on the PCT are not the Indian dogs you saw hiking 18 miles in
> blazing heat.  The dogs on the PCT are not Iditarod dogs.  PCT dogs live
in
> people's houses.  They are pets.  They run around at the park on the
> weekends.  The dog owners think the PCT would be a fun adventure (which it
> is), and they selfishly force their dogs to come along.  It's not about
the
> dog hiking the PCT.  It's about the person who forces the dog to hike the
> PCT.  The dog doesn't have a choice.
>
> I have never seen a dog on the PCT who even slightly appeared to enjoy
> hiking with a dog pack.  Sometimes at breaks, the PCT dogs bark and wag
> their tails.  Sure, they'll chase a thrown stick, because that's what
> they've always done.  But as soon as you put that pack on, and they
> instantly adopt a stance that any fool can see as the dog saying, "come
on,
> man, don't make me do this again."
>
> Horses, burros, mules, llamas, goats???  Perhaps you could start a new
> thread.  The topic of this thread is dogs.
>
> I usually don't jump into these threads which are reborn every few months.
> The two sides to this issue will never agree.  It just seems to me that
> those of us who feel that dogs shouldn't be forced to hike the PCT care
more
> about the well-being of the dogs than the dog owners do.
>
> And that is all.
>
> yogi
>
> ----------------------------------
> Sorry Yogi, but you are being dogmatic on this. To make a blanket
statement
> that ALL dogs don't want to hike just doesn't make sense. I've seen Indian
> dogs
> GLADLY hike 18 miles in the blazing heat. No one forced them to. Some
people
> have mentioned the Iditirod dogs
> How does one know whether horses want to hike. Or burros or mules or
llamas
> or goats.
>    I don't own a dog. Some dogs are a real pain on the trail. Some aren't.
> Kind of like people. Some dogs shouldn't be on the trail because they
aren't
> trail wise when it comes to coyotes and rattle snakes. Some people
shouldn't
> be
> on the trail. I thought some people would finally "get it" when they
> suffered
> terrible blisters and decide that different footwear just might be the
> answer.
> But they don't. They just assume whatever they are suffering from is the
> norm
> and nothing can be done about it except toughing it out. A dog will refuse
> to
> hike if he has such foot ailments. Therefore I must conclude that some
dogs
> are smarter than some people. They KNOW when to let it go and say enough
is
> enough
>    David C
>
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