[pct-l] Re: Hiking the trail with your dog

[mardav at charter.net (Marion Davison)]

This is another impassioned plea for those who hike with dogs.
I always hike with several llamas.  Every time we meet a loose dog on 
the trail, it is an event of some kind.  The typical behavior of a loose 
dog who encounters a llama is to rush up furiously to the llama and bark 
threateningly.  Our llamas are all studs and don't back down easily, but 
we always have some anxious moments waiting for the dog owner to appear 
and control the animal, while wondering if it will bite us or the llamas.
Sometimes I hike with my dog and llamas.  My dog heels and wears a short 
loop leash I can grab if we sight a loose dog.  When I have my dog along 
I fear the loose dog will attack my dog.  I am fully prepared to defend 
all of my animals with the hiking sticks I always carry.  But I never 
want to have to do that.
Once I was hiking without llamas or dogs.  I passed a party camped 
beside the trail.  They had a loose dog in camp.  The dog rushed up to 
me and bit me on the leg.  The owner was shocked that his dog would do 
such a thing. 
My plea:
While it is fun for the dog to let him run loose ahead of you on the 
trail, it is very unnerving for the people who encounter him.  They may 
have livestock, children or their own dogs.  Chaos can ensue before you 
are close enough to intervene.  Please keep your dog in sight and under 
control. 
If you decide to turn your dog loose in camp, camp far from the trail, 
so that the dog doesn't consider the trail to be part of the territory 
he should defend.
I am undoubtedly preaching to the choir here.  I doubt if many of the 
hundreds of loose dogs we encounter every year are owned by readers of 
this list.
Marion Davison