Dogs on Quandary?

[mtn_hound]

Lol, never could've seen this rant coming...

Okay, back on the soap box.

Nit picking? I was hiking in the Lost Creek Wilderness summer before last and suddenly from around a corner comes what appeared to be a wolf/shepherd mix, which immediately started barking and baring it's teeth. Not another human in sight. Finally, as I was about to pepper spray the animal, a human comes running up and actually had the audacity to become angry with me, saying I had provoked the animal by pulling out the pepper spray. At that point, I almost sprayed the owner. Maybe I should have.

Maybe your animal is friendly, maybe not. How is anyone else, or anyone else's dog, supposed to know? Keep it on a leash: Problem Solved.

[Wish I lived in CO]

While bringing your dog along, be sure also to carry your gun, make sure all parties in your group are smoking, wear all cotton, play loud music from your backpack, make your political views known to all, swear profusely, and don't bother with LNT. If you can manage also bring a hot tub.

[pmeadco]

I was on Quandary a few years back and watched a dog take off, dead sprint, after some goats. The owners were trying to recall it. It did not listen. It kept going and going...went over some cliff-looking things, but kept popping up further and further down. I don't know if the dog came back or not, but, being Quandary, I'd never unleash my (hypothetical as of yet) dog on it (5 times up, 5 times I've seen goats. And once stalked by a male who was watching over a momma and baby...fun to see the baby and a little scary to be stalked!), just for safety of the dog.

Ditto on that -- I observed the exact same thing on Quandary. The goats were in a panic sprinting over the edge. One of them easily could have gotten injured, and surely a lot of stress hormones were released in the animals.

Keeping the dog on a leash is a good idea.

[LURE]

While bringing your dog along, be sure also to carry your gun ... play loud music from your backpack,

As we recently have learned, loud music will cause a sleuth of angry rabid grizzlies to descend upon you. It would certainly be wise to bring your gun if you want to go the music route.

[kaiman]

While bringing your dog along, be sure also to carry your gun, make sure all parties in your group are smoking, wear all cotton, play loud music from your backpack, make your political views known to all, swear profusely, and don't bother with LNT. If you can manage also bring a hot tub.

And don't forget the kettle ball to leave on the summit for someone else to carry down. Also hitting golf balls from the top of the mountain in the general direction of hikers below you is a good idea too... because after they bounce off someone's head and land somewhere it only takes them a couple hundred years to decompose.

[rpdawes]

LOL

[Jon Frohlich]

Somebody want to tell us the good reasons for letting the dog off the leash? Convenience of the owner is the only one I can think of.

Ever tried to use an ice axe and crampons with your dog on a leash?

27554510811_563691a28a_h.jpg

(I hope the disclaimer is not needed but under no cirumstances do this with your dog unless they are very well trained, etc)

[TallGrass]

Agree with Prick every dog owner thinks their dog is under voice command. My all time favorite is when the dog owner says, after the dog violently charges and snarls at me while the owner is shouting STOP!, "I don't know what happened he's NEVER done that before."

I think dogs are better behaved off leash as they're less protective and more relaxed

I like and grew up with dogs. Some dogs run ahead and "defend their pack" out of site of the owner. Those of you who've encountered an unleashed dog be aggressive toward hikers on the trail only to turn all friendly and obedient once the owner is in sight and calls to it know what I mean.

Saw one dog run up and attack a totally docile Great Dane who was with its owner at a dog park. The Dane had to go to the vet afterwards. The attacking dog's owner, once it got on scene, said "Sorry. We didn't think he'd do that again." Again?!

Met two leashed Rhodesian Ridgebacks (litter mates?) on the Maroon-Snowmass trail. One was friendly, and the other growled and then got a rebuke from the owner who apologized saying he was trying to get them used to hikers as they weren't used to seeing trekking poles.

I've also had to quasi-punt a couple dogs (which I'd REALLY prefer not to have to), "quasi" because I couldn't swing my foot first because they were already biting it.

What's the voice command for "Ignore that squirrel/rabbit/marmot?" and how do you train and test a dog for that?

Even if you're confident how your offleash dog will behave around hikers, can you say the same about hikers? Same for wildlife?

[Ptglhs]

The voice command I've used with dogs is "leave it." The ones that listen get to stay off leash. The ones that don't go back on the leash and don't get invited back. Dogs are better behaved off leash, but there has to be a threshold of obedience. If the dog doesn't listen to its handler off leash, it doesn't listen on leash either. The human is just using their size to physically control the dog.

[rpdawes]

. Dogs are better behaved off leash, but there has to be a threshold of obedience. If the dog doesn't listen to its handler off leash, it doesn't listen on leash either. The human is just using their size to physically control the dog.

Your reasoning sounds faulty.

Some people would be scared of dogs on the loose. How in the world can they know in advance whether those dogs are aggressive or not. Dogs are different like people. Human size does not matter when pit bulls are not well trained.

Will your voice command work when your dog meets a mountain lion?

In any case, be considerate of others and put your dog on a leash whenever you are out hiking.

[Timothy]

Lol, never could've seen this rant coming...

and your point is?

[Scott P]

https://youtu.be/TiQvDAK0FS8