A**HOLES W/DOGS

“If the location allows dogs on the trail, and the dog is on a leash, which I believe in, and the human leads the dog into the woods to poop, then what's the big deal. Camping is supposed to be off trail, letting a dog poop in the woods is the same difference, seems that those opposed to dogs need to get a grip. I have more animosity for the humans who don;t follow the rules than anyone. Being a dog owner I try to follow the rules and my conscience got the better of me recently, ala bacpac, If I walk into the woods 100 feet or even 100 yards and let my dog off his leash, well that's nobodies business but my own, since I'm not on the trail. I like having my dog with me...he's fun and never says "I'm tired". We both romp around in the leaves and roll on the ground and wrestle. and no, that's not strange, cause I've seen fathers treat their own children with less care and compassion. That is the crime...child abuse, Willk...do you have children? I did, they died, some a$$h0le shot them cause they pooped on the trail, and not in the woods and they weren't on a leash or well behaved.”

“So I go and deliver some merchandise to a client. They have a black lab tied to a long leash. I tentatively take a few steps toward the dog...it's wagging it's tail, so I proceed up the steps. I'm about 4 steps up and he/she starts growling, barking and snapping at me. Of course now I'm walking slower and making cat-calling sounds. I press the doorbell and sweat it out. The owner opens the door and tells me it's OK, the dog doesn't bite...while the dog is about 2 feet from my testicles and snapping. An arguement insures and he tells me he's not going to order from our place again...and I told him I'm not delivering to his place anymore. He files a complaint...I tell the boss my side of the story...I'm still working there. The End.”

“Stan. Sorry to hear about the dog incident. However, if you do lose your nuts, I'm sure that Kleetn and his squirrel can help you out.”

“Good story, the only problem is that I don't believe you. I have been around labs all of my life and cannot remember a time that I did not have several labradors around. Never have I ever seen a lab attack or even snap at a person. I wonder if "your side of the story" was just a little bit biased, considering you probably want to eradicate all canines from the earth. And please tell me what exactly your little "story" has to do with people hiking with their dogs. Nothing, that's right! I'm sorry that your job forces you to trespass on peoples property, causing their dogs to become defensive, but nobody here chose your profession for you, so go whine somewhere else. This forum is about backpacking with dogs. If you don't like dogs, go somewhwere that does not allow them to be. There are far more places for you to hike than there are for people like me who enjoy the company of my canine.”

“Dog-lover checkin' in!”

“Hi Pehota4, actually I love dogs...and never once did I say get rid of dogs, on or off trail. I used to own a mixed German Sherpard...my family don't own a dog anymore because nobody's home to keep him/her company.

And you're right, that dog was a mix...more to the Lab side...I just didn't want to get too technical.

If you read the thread title correctly...it says @ssholes w/dogs, not @ssholes w/dogs on the trail. This forum is about backpacking, but everybody talks about anything...you seem new around here...check out the other threads and see if everyone is talking about backpacking.

Btw, I don't trepass on other people's property...they ordered, and I deliver...isn't it common decency for them to keep their animals securely tied up, since they know someone is coming with their package?

In the 16 yrs that I've worked as a courrier, I've been charged by 1 Rottweiler...it ripped the package right out of my hands.
Got bitten by a German Sherpard...it jumped up from behind it's owner and draped his/her front legs on the owners forearm, and lightly bit my forearm...it put a few teeth holes in my winter jacket...I think the dog was being curious.

Got charged by a miniture collie...it came out from under a car (it was summer, I think he/she was hiding from the heat) and thought she recognized me (by it's wagging tail), when it got closer, it realized I was a stranger and charged. I had enough time to lower the package between me and it. It snapped at the package, but it's momentum carried it past the package...so when it's mouth hit my thigh...it was shut...I had teeth marks...4 top teeth and 4 bottom teeth on my thigh.

And finally, I got charged by 2 small dogs (don't know their breed) in 2 other incidents...they went for my pants legs, which was flapping in the wind...I guess they had bad vision.

In all the dog attacks, the owners said their dogs do not bite...yeah, maybe they don't bite the people they know.”

“I've been attacked by a black lab before. It all depends on breeding and training. I love animals very much, but this dog deserved getting whacked with a big stick when it jumped on me and tried to get my face. I was 15 at the time.”

“My mothers dog is a great dog, I rescued her from some evil people when she is was pup.

The Lab would never bight any one but would growl like the deman and show her teeth, but NEVER attack.”

“My dog is a Lab she is normally very friendly, but does growl if she feels she or I am threatened. I dont know if she would actually bite a person. She does sound really mean. I've seldom heard her growl at a person though, usually just someone walking up to camp at night. she will bite another dog, If she feels we're threatened but she's never jumped on a dog without provication. and always backs off if I say No!”

“Just got back from hiking with my dog on the OT. I picked up more trash that humans left behind than my dog left behind. He pooped twice and went off trail on his own accord and then came we continues hiking. I picked up gum wrappers, beer cans, t shirt, paper cups. Humans do more harm than dogs...mine just ignored the humans and stayed ON HIS LEASH. So there!!!”

“I just got back xc skiing with my sister's black Lab. He's only 9 months old, very excitable and undisciplined....I blame that on my sister's family because they never take him for walks (so he doesn't get to see more humans), they just let him out in the back yard to do his business.

I had him on a leash with a very long rope tied around my waist. We were in a park that allowed dogs to run free. Everytime we approached people or other dogs, I would rein him in (he tends to jump on people).

The first 15 minutes was hell because he would circle me, and my legs and poles would get all tied up. After awhile he got used to trot on only one side, although he would zig zag in front of me a few times. All in all, it was a good time for both of us.”

“that's great!!! If you don;t spend time with the dog, they don;t learn. I spend lots of time playing with my dog. I play more with him than my neighbors do with their own child. We chase each other, play hide n seek, run around the house, he's a blast...right now he's passes out cause of the weekend hiking...but he was great and never made a wrong turn on the trail. It's all in the working with the dog. Dog's will learn, people stay stupid.”

“When hiking yesterday I found a(nother) narrow ridgeline that descends to a streamvalley below, and almost at the end of the ridge is a downed tree from the other side that you can tightrope walk across. It's prolly only 15' up at the highest, but with boulders and cobbles below so you can't just jump off if you had to. Well, since I taught Buddur to do log crossings, now he HAS to cross all downed logs for fun. That dog got up on this log, walked halfway out and TURNED AROUND and came back with no problem. My heart was fibulating something fierce. Not that he was going to cross, but that he stopped, turned around and came back...he's got more balls than his old man.

I crossed it, and if there wasn't dusting of snow on the log, I prolly wouldn't have been as exhileratingly scared.”

“You gotta love them back country thrills! Glad you came back to report to us.”

“Sometimes I think folks are blinded by love with animals. Don't get me wrong, I do love dogs and have two that are turning into great companions. I think though that people don't realize the importance of socializing animals and the dangerous creature that they create when they deny their dog interaction with humans of all types in all situations.

We had a horrible experience with the first dog we ever owned. It was a gorgeous Australian Shepard that was ten monthes old. We got it froma family that bred Akitas and had three kids under age four. They didn't have time for it or it's energy and just wanted someone to give it a good home. We were in the process of buying our house and knew we wanted this guy. They said he was great with kids, cats (we had two) and everyone. We took him to our apartment for weekends for a month before taking him for good. Birch took him to the elementary school he worked at. The dog seemed great. He loved the kids, and everyone he met.

When we finally moved into our home we formally adopted Bailey from his family and brought him home for good. We had a friend come to stay with us for a week to help us paint the outside of the house. The dog seemed good natured, well behaved (for a 10 month old pup who hadn't had any training). One afternoon our friend was playing with the dog, they both seemed to be having fun and the dog snapped. He sunk a canine tooth into the friend's eye socket, one into his chin and bit his arm and his arse. There was no provocation or reason. Our friend has a nasty scar under his eye but wasn't damaged permanetly (vision). The dog tasted human blood. The breeder said there was no choice but to put him down. It was not a difficult choice after seeing Bailey turn vicious in a heartbeat and tear into our friend. I felt bad that such a beautiful animal had to be destroyed but we couldn't take a chance on him not doing it again. If his orriginal owners had spent just a tiny bit of time with him indoors (we found out afterwards that he'd been crated whenever he wasn't in the kennel with the Akitas) he might have been a perfect dog with a long satisfying life. The whole deal really sucked.”

“Stikmon and Sassafras, that's what I'm trying to do with my sister's dog...get him to interact with other dogs and people. They had a collie a few years back, and it was the same thing...no interaction other than the immediate family...when he was full grown, he was totally out of control. At that time, I didn't have any spare time to bring him outdoors...ended up totally undisciplined.

Buddur, after a few more outings with my sister's Lab, I'll try to bring him winter camping...maybe even make him help me pull the sled, since he's so energetic. heh heh”

“I had a Pekingese bite me once.”

“Scooby scared the heII outa JOSHMAN once. But not nearly as much as he scared her.

It really is all in the socialization as pups. (BTW, Scooby never met a human she didn't love....to lick!)”

“Poor Scooby!”

“I'll bite you Dunadan...that way you can add Chinese to your list. Lol”

“I know Buddur. I miss her. Your post about the log crossing made me cry. She used to do stuff like that all the time. That was one adrenaline-junky dog!”

“this was a thread about @ssh0les with dogs. These last few postings are really nice. Stanlee, good for you, you'll make a good dog yet...well not you you, but the dog you. I'm not calling you a dog, I'm referring to the dog your trying to make a good dog of. Wow, that was hard. anyway...great job. I treat my dog like a member of the family, he is my bestest friend and is really great. sometimes he is such a mook, really. cracks me up when he chases his tail and catches it and pulls onit and yanks himself to the ground and then jumps up bristeling, wondering who pushed him...its very funny.”

“Wow, Stikmon, I'm getting dizzy here...thanks for the encouragements.

"...it jumped on me and tried to get my face."

Treebait

That's because you're pretty Treebait.

That's just it, you never know about dogs or other animals...they can attack at any time.

There was a guy who brought his pet boa constrictor or phython to a friend's birthday party. He was showing it off...suddenly the snake bit his face(the owner's) and wouldn't let go, without any provocation. I think they had to call the SPCA to get the snake to let go. That guy had the snake for over 7 years.”

“I've trained dogs for about 11 years now and I've just about seen it all. The fact is that you cannot tell the temperment of a dog based on it's breed. Not all dogs are purely the breed they appear to be and even if they are there can still be temperment problems due to raising or even training. The only way you can be certain about an animal is if you have personally raised it since early puppyhood. For anybody with an "out of control" dog I can recomend a very benificial and farily easy solution. Find a local obedience club. For around an hour a week of training and a membership fee you can get training advice from very experienced trainers and allow the dog to socialize. Many dogs will become much more calm after a few sessions. After seeing the benifits of obedience training, I will never own a dog that I do not train. Oh yea, you need to do the training, not a professional. You form an important bond with the dog during training which is very important.”

“Deathmarch99, my stupid brother-in-law did bring the dog for obedience training (hope he's not reading this (heh heh)).

He paid $800.00 Canadian and left the dog at the school for a month...he went there 2 times a week (what a lazy slob). He could've paid $400.00, but he would need to show up 5 days a week and have to take the dog home on the weekends.

Anyways, the dog knows the commands...he only need someone to re-enforce the commands everyday. Unfortunately my sis doesn't have the time (3 kids) and her husband is just plain lazy. He's always saying, "It's gauranteed, if the dog doesn't listen, I can always bring him back to the school".”

“No, really guys, I got bit. It was scary.
You don't care.....”

“Solly, we care...

When I got charged or bitten by a dog, I'm more mad at the owner than the dog. And yes, it's pretty scary...especially the ones that growl and snap at you before they bite you.”

“I've got Buddur to bark-on-command at people from my van's window. I think it's frickin' funny...my Mom thinks it's rude.”

“Your Mom's right, it's rude. But it's funny so who cares?”

“The short tempered guy with the .44 magnum cares.

The worst is when you're riding your bicycle and a pick-up passes by you...suddenly a dog stands up and try to bite you, because you're too close to the vehicle (his territory).”

“lol stanlee. funneee.

I took my dog backpacking this past weekend... He slept with 1 eye open, out in the cold. Wouldn't come into the tent for nothin. Was waiting for a coon to come along or somethin. A couple more nights like that ought to kill em.”

“did you bite the dog back...I know I would have, I would have bit it so hard, they would have had to call the police to get me off. I had to make a house call to a customer once, aand the owner cracked the door and asked me if I was ok with dogs, I could see the dog behind her (a big one), I said yes but, but before I could finish my statement she had opened the door and the dog jumped out at me, I quickly sidestepped the dog, caught it by the scruff of the neck and had it pinned to the ground in a flash, the dog was just wimpering, I then finished my statement to the woman, but I like them when all four feet are on the ground, now what would you like to do with your dog?

Its not the dog, its the owner. she had no regard for me. I don;t let my dog do inconsiderate things to other people...I am teaching him proper manners, but how do I get him to stop tearing up kleenex and napkins, he just sniffs them out and tears them up, its really annoying, I show him the mess and he lowers his ears and just walks to his blanky and plops down, very pathetic. My mother says he needs doggy therapy.”

“Try wrapping a kleenex box with copper wire and attach it to a AA battery...when he bites it, he'll get a shock...that'll probably deter him.”

“Mooch,

One word. Leash. Scooby used to do that to me sometimes (when she was too excited to sleep I guess) and the only thing that helped was putting her on the leash and making her come in the tent. I left the leash on her in the tent. Just having it on always made her listen better.”

“I think some dogs just dont like sleeping in the tent. Mine didnt when she was younger, maybe because she wanted to always see what might be going on outside all night. now she's old been there, done that, she's happy to come in an get to sleep.”

“You can teach them to like the tent. Lots of rewards for being in there. Make it as pleasant as possible. Acclimate them to it gradually at home. Then reinforce it on the trail.”

“Buddur knows where the comfort zone is...wherever my sleeping bag is laid out!”

“I always wanted my Great Dane to sleep outside of the tent - she just took up too much space! She didn't know how to work the zipper but she sure knew how to get me to open it. Nothing like a 135 lb. dog pushing on your tent to get you to open up.”

“stayin out side in the code and rane wold be CRAZY!

I do not need but jus a leetle bit of sleepy bag cuz I roll up in a leetle ball. Some times I will lay down byside my daddy under the cubbers if it is reeeeeel code tho.”

“My solution to a dog in the tent has always been a bedsheet. I lay out everything in my tent the way I want it, then spread a bedsheet over everything. Moisture from Buddur may seep through onto my stuff, but the dirt doesn't. And I've always left my tent door open ,of course, unless there's bugs, rain, etc., and Buddur comes and goes in the night as he pleases.”

“Jezebel was cage trained. That is her place. At home I keep it cover so its cave(tent)like. She sees nothing but whats out the front.

Tenting her is no problem. When on the trail the tent is her place, well sort of. I can say "cage" and she will head for the tent. Many a nights I've totally forgotten about her when sitting by the fire only to find her curled up snoozen away on my bag. Rough life!!! She normally sleeps at my feet on a blanket or towel and sleep bag.”

“his own binky, when I get it out and roll it up and stuff it in his back, he knows he is going and get real excited. He likes sleeping in the tent and will plop down where I put his binky. and he just stays on it all night, never moves. He used to run around inside the tent and get crazy, but now he is calm and relaxed.”

“Hmm, good ideas, now I've to train my sis' Lab to sleep inside my tent before I bring him to the mountains. Right now he's too playful...he likes to bite stuff...I don't want him to put holes in my tent wall.”

“Stanlee,
Lab's are so mouthy because it's bred in them, try to make sure he has a LOT of chew toys of all textures. You cant stop him from chewing, but he can learn what's exceptable to chew. Ive bred an raised a lot of Lab's their field dogs bred to work all day, an carry birds gently. Ironically the people who own them as pets have those two complaints that their hyperactive an want to put EVERYTHING in their mouths. A friend of mine has one that ate the backseat of his car! LOL!! Your sis's is lucky to have someone who wants to spend time with him their so loyal she better lookout! He'll be your Dog before she knows it LOL!”

“Sounds to me like that would be a good thing. At least the dog would finally have an owner that appreciates it.”

“Thanks Centavo, I didn't know that...next time I'll bring some of his toys along while I'm xc skiing with him.

Heh heh, I think my brother-in-law's starting to get jealous.”

“I take a tennis ball for Buddur on every trip. A FRESH tennis ball will keep him busy for a loooong time.”

“I have a picture of Buddur getting fresh with his tennis ball.”

“I wonder if he likes tennis balls because he can't play with his own. If that is the case its what they call "Ghost balls" syndrome and there is no cure.”

“Ever go to Killfrog.com? There's an animation series on that very topic. It's hilarious.”