Where Should Dog Sleep?

PPPPPS. What a maroon! – Bugs Bunny.

I am the idiot up thread.

read any US national parks service or canadian parks service recomendations on dogs in the back country. All recomend leashing in bear areas.

I would agree that a dog who is with you at the time of the encounter may protect you. It may also agitate a bear defending its cub.

Why do you believe that Grizzlys fear dogs. If a grizzly is on a corpse not even wolves try to steal it.

So in the two most dangerous situations with bears, corpses and cubs the bear will defend therr position to the death. So will your off leash dog win the fight against the bear?

I'm not going to try to dignify the so-called "experts" above with a detailed answer!

I only want to say that it's dog owners that are the problem. Having a dog is just as much responsibility as having a child. You need to feed, groom, exercise, train and then train some more. You, not the dog, are responsible for the dog's behavior and well-being. If your dog misbehaves, it is your fault. Yes, my dog has the AKC "Canine Good Citizen" certification and is very well-mannered, but that's because I spent hours and hours training and many dollars on obedience classes. I continue to spend hours reviewing his training. Even so, most of the time he's on leash when out on the trail, as a courtesy to others as well as for his own safety.

As far as conditioning goes, take the dog with you on your conditioning walks/runs, so you and the dog will be in equally good shape.

The leash is not only to keep the dog from getting too friendly (or unfriendly) with people (many of whom, often with good reason, dislike dogs) or chasing wildlife (for which a dog can legally be shot in some states), it also keeps the dog from getting too close to the edge of a crumbly cliffside trail. Every year several dogs fall off cliffs and die in the Columbia River Gorge because their owners don't leash them. It isn't just for the sake of other people that leashes are required here!

My dog's pack contains a lightweight doggy jacket for when he's wet or when nighttime temps get below 40*.

@footeab said

"if you come in contact with a group of people with 2 dogs and you have a single dog, the best thing you can do is to let the dogs figure out who is boss ASAP and everything will be fine from there as they are yapping about who is dominant. If that poster up-thread had bothered to let his dog loose he wouldn't have had to "kick" the other dog at all. The dogs would have sorted everything themselves. Yea, your dog might have gotten humiliated, deal with it. That is how dogs work. If you don't understand how dog pack dominance works then you will post long idiotic rants like the poster up-thread."

That's absolutely the dumbest post I've ever seen on backpackinglight. Just because you speak with conviction doesn't mean you know anything about what you are saying.

Really, so I'm hiking with my dogs in a Wilderness where it's the law they have to be leashed and the mistake I made was having my dog leashed?? Riigghht.

Funny, I didn't see you around when the dogs tried to attack my dog. But you know for certain what should have been done. Amazing!

No I wasn't about to let my dog loose when I saw two dogs running to attack him and let them "sort it out". What stupid advice. Dogs passing each other are not involved in pack dynamics. And if you think that all you have to do is let dogs off leash and they'll never get hurt you're even dumber than you post.

And I wasn't worried about my Golden Retriever being humiliated. If I wanted a tough, fighting dog, I would have chosen another breed. Don't you think?

City dogs are not dumb. Lack of experience has nothing to do with intelligence or vice versa. You probably didn't watch the video but that was the first time my dog saw a moose. By your reasoning I probably should have let him off leash so he could go over and get some moose experience. If he survived, he'd then know to avoid moose, right?

BTW, I do live in the country. But I'm not a hick who lets their dogs roam, either. I respect the property of others who may not want my dogs around. And I also don't want them getting shot, which is perfectly legal, if they harass stock or wildlife. If YOU understand pack dynamics, you'll know that the nicest dogs can become killers when they are roaming and form a pack. People who raise sheep, goats, etc, will tel you they are they greatest threat. A mountain lion will kill one animal to eat. A pack of dogs will kill them all.

Thanks for the homespun advice Hoss, but I still think I'll stop dogs from attacking my dog in the future and not just see if they work it out amongst themselves when I'm many miles and hours away from veterinary help. And it would be helpful if you could wear your stupid sign on the trail so I know who I'm dealing with. Thanks in advance.

And to everyone else besides @footeab I apologize for my tone in the previous post. I've never posted anything like that on here where everyone is normally so civil and helpful. Sorry.

Good job Randy

If you can't trust your dog off leash it should not go hiking with you. If you choose to leash your dog that is one thing but you should be 100% confident that your dog can be trusted off leash.

Some people in this thread have implied that this is an impossible feat and that dogs just can't help themselves sometimes these people only have experience with poorly trained dogs.

Spend some time with well trained hunting dogs and you'll see what I mean.

"HERE!" is the only command you need.
100% of the time, no hesitation, at a full run, and happy to do it.

It is hard to appreciate until you see it.

I have had great success with Australian Shepherds. You call them, even while another dog runs up toward them…and they almost can't help but obey. They do much better off leash. Any other breed I have personally owned I could not trust as much. Aussies and Border Collies want to work and want to please and they pay very close attention to their owners.

Calling the Aussies didn't do much in the situation I described but I do know they are highly trainable dogs and that no individual dog is representative of a breed.

As for the 100% claims, I keep hearing it but have never seen it. And I've owned and been around dogs all my life. It's tossed around pretty casually but usually the dog hasn't experienced every possible distraction so how can you say 100%? 100% so far maybe. And I'm not saying your dog is not 100%. I just haven't run into one yet.

I just finished a class with my pup and the trainer was relating a story about one of his students who went on to put an OTCH title on his GSD (you'd have to admit that's a well trained dog!). He trained with the dog everywhere he could in Denver to get him used to as many distractions as possible. The dog, obviously, was rock solid. Then he moved to the mountains and his dog saw a deer passing through the yard. The dog started after the deer and the gave gave a come command. And gave it again and again. Didn't see the dog again until the next day. And he started training the dog, on leash, around deer, and eventually the dog was fine with them. I'd be curious to see how the dog does around my llamas. If anybody wants to test their dog with them and they live near Denver, let me know. But until your dog has seen a moose, bear, cougar, porcupine, etc, you don't know for sure what they will do.So the 100% thing is really an ongoing test.

But I'd sure like to run into those 100%'s for a change, that's for sure.

" the dog hasn't experienced every possible distraction so how can you say 100%? 100% so far maybe. And I'm not saying your dog is not 100%. I just haven't run into one yet."

Good point. I shoul say almost 100% or "sure"

Haha my dog is not anywhere close to 100% and I wouldn't consider taking her hiking. She is a very good dog but she is aggressive towards other dogs (worse on a leash) and while I don't think she would take off after a deer on me it would always be on my mind and I wouldn't be able to relax. Not to mention that she just can't hang. She's done after 7 miles. Less in the heat.

Let me clarify, I think undertrained dogs should stay home not to protect other hikers or wildlife. I am more concerned about the safety of the dog.

Well the gun thread has about run its course. So how about a lame dog thread? Well not really lame dogs …you know what I mean.
So lets see your hiking dog!

Here's my dog buddy- its not much fun going without him.
Hes a welsh corgi.