Tale of a dog.........

[Mrs Baggins]

Today the Maryland Trail Dames hiked from Gathland State Park to South Mountain Inn on the AT. While we were in the parking lot at the park a friendly dog trotted up and wanted to meet everyone. He then took off across the lawns toward the picnic pavilion. We started off to hike and a lady in a minivan drove in and yelled at us to wait. We thought it was a late arriving hiker. But she jumped out of the van in shorts, t-shirt and barefooted. She was the dog's owner and wanted to know if we'd seen him. We told he'd already been by and since taken off, and then we set off. A couple of miles down the trail there's the dog. He had tags with his name and phone# so one of the ladies called to tell the owner we had come across him again. The reaction? She was demanding we turn around and bring the dog back. Sorry, no way. It was explained to her that if he stayed with us we'd call again from the South Mountain Inn. This time the owner was insisting we take the dog to her house. Nope. She tried to insist that she had no idea where Alt Hwy 40 or the Inn were.....and she lives in Middletown, which is ON Alt 40! And everybody there knows the Inn! We held our ground and said no, that we'd call from the Inn when we got there. This dog LOVED hiking! He stayed with us the entire time, followed us down to Rocky Run shelter, laid down for a nap while we ate our lunches, and then hopped up and continued on with us. In the meantime the owner called 6 MORE times. When we got to the Inn the grandparents were there waiting for the dog. They told us that he gets out all the time and he always heads for the AT. They themselves had picked him up from the trail 4 times.

So dog owners......what is your reaction? We absolutely believed that the dog was not our responsibility, that if he stayed with us that was great and he'd be returned to the owners at the Inn but if he took off into the woods we were not going after him. The rude owner's insistence on us either bringing him back to the park or taking him to her home at the end of the hike was absurd. We had no way to leash him.

[Dances with Mice]

Seems to me that the major problem is that someone left their cellphone on during the hike.

[Mrs Baggins]

Seems to me that the major problem is that someone left their cellphone on during the hike.

She had to wait on a call from a family member so she had to leave it on. She didn't answer it every time the owner called - only a couple of times. She'd just check the caller ID and put the phone away if it was the dog owner.

[trailangelbronco]

You did the right thing for the Dog and the owner, whether she knew this or not.

You should have brought the trail loving dog home with you and made it your hiking partner.

[Mrs Baggins]

You did the right thing for the Dog and the owner, whether she knew this or not.

You should have brought the trail loving dog home with you and made it your hiking partner.

We did all agree that someday the dog will find a hiker who is not going to return him.

[wirerat123]

You should have brought the trail loving dog home with you and made it your hiking partner.

/agree

If the owner can't find a way to keep her dog off the trail, or doesn't take the dog out to do what it loves and burn off some energy then that dog deserves a better owner.

Some people may argue that "It's not your dog". Well I feel like this. If we force someone to stay with us even when it's not a good fit it's considered an abusive relationship. That dogs out there on the trail just begging for a new owner.

[Wise Old Owl]

In my current profession (pest control) I see a lot of dogs and cats without tags on trails... Sad really Mrs. Baggins - you did the right thing. The dog needs a HIKER!

[Roche]

Hey WOO, you're in the pest control business, the owner of the dog is a pest, you do the math.

[SassyWindsor]

If its hurt or sick looking, I'd probably call the local pound the next chance. If a phone number is on a collar I'd probably call it, then the pound if no answer. I will NOT waste time with an irresponsible owner and dog, I see plenty of LOST DOG posters at trail heads because an owner refused to leash their pet. Pet owners hiking with their dogs seem to never learn.

[Slo-go'en]

I was hiking the LT a few years ago and saw a dog laying next to a car at the trail head parking lot. I thought to myself "thats strange" and keept going. A mile or so up the trail, I meet a lady calling out for a dog. She stoped me and asked if I had see a dog? " A Husky?" I asked.
Yes.
Oh, he's down at your car wondering where the heck you are!

[Doctari]

Hey WOO, you're in the pest control business, the owner of the dog is a pest, you do the math.

Yea, I have this daughter in law, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , OH nevermind.

Mrs B, you guys did the right thing!!!!
A phrase I like to use when somebody wants me for go out of my way to fix a problem they created: "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part!"
ie: "You screwed up, don't order / expect me to (go out of my way, hurry, stop what I'm doing, etc) to fix it for you."

[Harley&Me]

You definitely did the right thing. Glad the dog got a nice long walk!