Hiking with dogs

carmen

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We have taken our dogs a few times but only on short trips. A friend said he was out this past weekend and he watched as other hikers kept bagging their dog messes but left the bags on the trail. Who does this? Has anyone else had to deal with this before? We never did.
 

Refrigerator

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Okay Carmen.....I have 2 dogs...Black Lab and a Golden Retriever. I have never bagged there popoooo! I have never been Backpacking in an area where I was required to do this or in a crowded area where a high level impact was noticeable. I prolly would bag some doooo iffin I was in a congested area as to respect others. My dogs as I know them very well have never done the #2 stuff on a trail or near a camp. At home living in a rural area they do not dump in the lawn or areas of trails I have on the property. I did notice however they will claim an area to do there thang and usually at a distant area. I'd like the think my dogs don't really want to smell the stink. Now on the trail they have been spotted to do this several feet away from a trail as if they know walking grounds is for walking and that nice clump of grass, stump is a cool place to go do it. I like my dogs manners and appreciate them and combined companion-ship with me on the trail.
 

Grandpa

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Like Refrigerators dogs, Tank has his manners. At home, he travels about a quarter of a mile to a waste area of tall grass. On the trail, he leaves the trail.

As for people leaving their full doggy bags, that is about as low as you can get. The poo makes good fertilizer, the plastic bag is an eyesore for the next 50 years. If you're going to bag it, then pack it. If he dumps on the trail, then use a stick and fling it off the trail into the brush where it will do some good. This works good in our remote wilderness. Don't know what you folks that have to contend with a zillion other hikers will have to do. Tank and I stay away from the crowds.
 

Theo

eyebp's mentor
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What's the difference between leaving your dog poo on or by the trail and bagging it up and leaving on or by the trail?

I guess them there city folk just bag it out of habit.
 

Hikenhunter

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I live in a small town so when we walk in town I got to bag it. At home in the yard Copper has a corner in the back yard about 12 feet by 12 feet where I trained him to go since he was a pup. When we hike he too leaves the trail and if it ain't on the trail I figure it isn't any worse than the animals that live there full time. Once in a while he has gone right on the trail and I used a stick to fling it off the trail. What really p's me off is others who do not fling their dog doo off the trail. I never take him to campgrounds because there are usually places he is not allowed to visit, like swimming areas, and that means I can't visit them either but I have seen many people in established campgrounds allow their dog to poop and not clean up after the dog. When I see it happening you can bet your bottom dfollar I'm gonna be saying something to them about it.
 

Hikenhunter

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Read this poem in Mad magazine back when I was in high school. I think it says it all. I do not know why I remember it but I always have: It's true as we've heard wisemen say; That every dog must have his day. In cities though each day we rue; How many dogs have had their doo. The streets are spattered, all through town; With Beagle beige and Boxer brown. On ball fields where boys bat the ball, and on playgrounds where toddlers crawl; Too often what will spoil the view, are spots where Spot has stopped to doo. It's not mans best friend, that's at fault, No! it's his master we must halt; Our neighbor who expects us to, love him and love his doggie doo. Lets have them like good parents toil, At cleaning up their puppies soil; Removing every tell tale clue, or we'll go to the dogs with Doo.
 

Michael

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What's the difference between leaving your dog poo on or by the trail and bagging it up and leaving on or by the trail?

I guess them there city folk just bag it out of habit.
There's a big difference, which is the problem.

If your dog defecates on the trail and you just leave it, the feces goes away pretty quickly. Other animals eat it. Rain dissolves it. For the most part, it's not going to last more than a handful of days, and then it gets absorbed entirely by the environment.

On the other hand, bagging the feces means that it doesn't get absorbed and that it sticks around a lot longer. Because now it's in a plastic bag, and even the thin ones potentially last for decades. The thing will probably rip open long before that, but until that happens the feces sits and stews in its own gasses and juices. Bagging your dog's waste and throwing it onto the trail essentially prevents all the normal processes that would make it not a problem and instead turns it into a lingering and gross issue.

Which is to say that people need a bit of a smack in the head. Either bag the stuff up and carry it out, or leave it alone and let nature get rid of it. This bagging it up and leaving it there thing is a blight.
 

Newanderthal

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I actually witnessed this once in Louisiana. I snatched up the bag and returned it to them at the trailhead. "You left your **** on the trail." There were witnesses and I believe they thought the poo belonged to the guy, not his dog.

Call people out on it. If you see it, say something.
 
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Blueskyy

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Our dog's have never been well-behaved enough to try and take them on the trail with us, but we always clean up after them when we take them to the park.
 

mccallum

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Kansas
What's the difference between leaving your dog poo on or by the trail and bagging it up and leaving on or by the trail?

I guess them there city folk just bag it out of habit.
There's a big difference, which is the problem.

If your dog defecates on the trail and you just leave it, the feces goes away pretty quickly. Other animals eat it. Rain dissolves it. For the most part, it's not going to last more than a handful of days, and then it gets absorbed entirely by the environment.

On the other hand, bagging the feces means that it doesn't get absorbed and that it sticks around a lot longer. Because now it's in a plastic bag, and even the thin ones potentially last for decades. The thing will probably rip open long before that, but until that happens the feces sits and stews in its own gasses and juices. Bagging your dog's waste and throwing it onto the trail essentially prevents all the normal processes that would make it not a problem and instead turns it into a lingering and gross issue.

Which is to say that people need a bit of a smack in the head. Either bag the stuff up and carry it out, or leave it alone and let nature get rid of it. This bagging it up and leaving it there thing is a blight.


I think Theo meant why bag it to just leave it on/beside the trail. I think Theo may be right; folks who are required to bag at home and so they bag it on the trail then do not want to carry it with them. There was actually a discussion of this on face-books "Hiking with Dogs" group; some said leave the poo off trail and it will do what the wild animal poo do and others who said one should pack out the dog poo just like you would pack out your poo and a third group said "cat hole" the dog poo with your poo. I would do either of the last two, let it "rot" in the open or bury and let it "rot".
 
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Judy Ann

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I pick up after my dog unless she is wandering off with Refrigerator's dogs where they teach her proper trail etiquette. I carry a multitude of bags on trips, but as he mentioned....the poopoo isn't anywhere near the trail! His dogs wander way off for their morning/ afternoon constitutionals and my dog probably gets too close for my comfort on those training sessions! ;-) I personally don't want to step into crap human or animal so I am prepared.
 

basejump

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It is certainly a common courtesy to remove it off the trail if it gets left there. I am surprised that people would bag it up and leave it. That is worse than it being left in the dead center of the trail. You would think they would have enough common sense to know that plastic is bag for the environment.
 

batista45

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london
Like Refrigerators dogs, Tank has his manners. At home, he travels about a quarter of a mile to a waste area of tall grass. On the trail, he leaves the trail.

As for people leaving their full doggy bags, that is about as low as you can get. The poo makes good fertilizer, the plastic bag is an eyesore for the next 50 years. If you're going to bag it, then pack it. If he dumps on the trail, then use a stick and fling it off the trail into the brush where it will do some good. This works good in our remote wilderness. Don't know what you folks that have to contend with a zillion other hikers will have to do. Tank and I stay away from the crowds.
Hi, No need to woory about what should we take in our bags while moving to the outdoor basecamp. For this you have to take camping refrigerator and it solve your a lot problems that you might face at outside trip.
 
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ppine

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I rarely hike without dogs. I have been hiking with them for over 50 years. If there are people around they are on a leash. Usually there are loose, but herding dogs stay close and mine do not chase wildlife. My dogs will notice other hikers before I do and especially another dog or a string of horses or mules. Then I take them off the trail and make them sit. The key is that dogs must respond well to voice commands in order to go off lead.

I mostly avoid National Parks and Calif state parks because of all of their rules regarding dogs. I only visit in the off season when it is quiet.
 

Northern Dancer

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Reese, my Labrador Retriever, was fantastic. Took me a while to train him but he was superb. I used hand signals and hand claps, and when I couldn't see him as he ran along the trail I used a clicker. Reese had his own pack and life jacket. He was well-behaved in the canoe and probably one of the best companions I've ever had. My canoe colleague once remarked, "He's better behaved than my children."

He was faithful in every way and very much an outdoor enthusiast.


3937
 

ppine

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Good dogs go everywhere. I have using packs on dogs since 1974. For river trips they always wear life jackets. I have had some serious dog swims over the years. They are great companions and mine are in charge of camp security. I have brought three a few times, Mostly I just take my Border Collie Ruby Begonia on overnight trips.
 

Northern Dancer

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I think I shared on one of the posts how one time Reese and I were hiking along a trail. He had a pack on and we went through a rocky area just above the water. I got through fine and was at the river level to realize that he wasn't behind me. There on the top, he remained because he was not able to maneuver with the pack.

I gave him a hand single to come to me as a way of encouraging him. The hand signal was a slap of the hand across my chest.

Instantly he dove over my head and went into the water. I couldn't believe it. He was around the river bend in moments and I thought he was a goner. I got around in time to see him coming up onto the shore and shaking the water off with the pack still firmly in place. With his tail wagging like a flag on the 4th of July he ran to me.


3939
 

ppine

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I saw a video of a New Foundland jumping out of a helicopter today. Lots of place you can't take a dog. No dogs allowed.
But if you get lost in the woods, get caught in an avalanche or stuck in the rubble of a collapses building, a dog is going to come looking for you.

If dogs are not allowed there is a good chance I am not going. Dogs are family. I love dogs. I can barely get by with three.
 

Northern Dancer

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I guess we have to thank a lot of lousy dog owners who couldn't spend a couple of seconds training their pets for the unfriendly welcome we sometimes get. The yappers and barkers drive me nuts. It took me one empty pop can with five inserted nickles and four minutes to stop the indiscriminate barking. After that, when he did bark, I listened intently, because he just wasn't barking he was talking to me.

When I'm out and about I do everything to stay away from the "tourist sites", as I call them, and head for places where dogs are a part of the natural habitat.
 
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