View Full Version : Dogs following you
Saw an interesting sign at the Devil's Fork Gap trailhead. It went something like this:
Hikers! Please don't let dogs follow you. These are people's pets! A little boy lost his dog because a hiker let it follow him to Sam's Gap and it got run over crossing the road.
Now maybe it's just me but I think that's a pretty unreasonable request with the obvious right answer being: Keep your dog at home.
Have you ever had a dog follow you? How did you handle it?
Finally... I volunteer with the local humane society and this year I brought 3 lost hounds and 1 dumped pig off the trail to the shelter.
Sarcasm the elf
06-17-2015, 19:41
Saw an interesting sign at the Devil's Fork Gap trailhead. It went something like this:
Hikers! Please don't let dogs follow you. These are people's pets! A little boy lost his dog because a hiker let it follow him to Sam's Gap and it got run over crossing the road.
Now maybe it's just me but I think that's a pretty unreasonable request with the obvious right answer being: Keep your dog under control.
Have you ever had a dog follow you? How did you handle it?
Finally... I volunteer with the local humane society and this year I brought 3 lost hounds and 1 dumped pig off the trail to the shelter.
Fixed that for you.
MuddyWaters
06-17-2015, 19:44
I dont let dogs follow me, i figure its not in their best intetest to do so.
Sound Defense K9 Warning Device (http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Defense-K9-Warning-Device/dp/B00CO8ACIG/ref=sr_1_38?ie=UTF8&qid=1434584847&sr=8-38&keywords=dog+deterrent) works on curious dogs. Dogs in groups or aggressive dogs may not be as deterred.
Sarcasm the elf
06-17-2015, 19:54
Sound Defense K9 Warning Device (http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Defense-K9-Warning-Device/dp/B00CO8ACIG/ref=sr_1_38?ie=UTF8&qid=1434584847&sr=8-38&keywords=dog+deterrent) works on curious dogs. Dogs in groups or aggressive dogs may not be as deterred.
A standard disposable air horn (think the type you buy for a boat or sporting event) will probably work better and cost a lot less. I've seen one used to break up dog fights.
...then again I don't foresee hikers bothering to carry either.
Mr. Bumpy
06-17-2015, 19:59
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow8WCkWWPo8
Thorfinn
06-17-2015, 21:39
I also saw that and intended to write at the time. People in the country let their dogs run. Another part of that notice said the hiker put a rope on the dog and took in to Sam's Gap. It had rope burn. It got loose at Sam's Gap and was killed by a car. I am completely sympathetic with the locals. No hiker should haul a dog away. A couple of weeks later a hiker came into Uncle Johnny's hostel near Erwin with a hound that followed her. She was at a loss for what to do. My wife helped her. We had some experience with this as our dog was lost in VA the year before with, fortunately, a happy ending. The first thing she did was post on White Blaze. Within hours the dog was in a no-kill shelter and scheduled for transfer to a hound rescue place. Please do all you can to discourage a dog from following you - be aggressive. I could go on but am tired after a long day on the trail.
Tipi Walter
06-17-2015, 21:40
There are two main types of dogs that follow me in the woods---non-hunting strays and hunting dogs. The hunting dogs are by far the worse as they will jump into your tent, steal your food, claw your gear and stay with you for 3 or 4 days without interruption.
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2006/The-Hilleberg-Staika-in-the/i-MNhFvQX/0/M/55-16%20%20Landon%20Dog%20on%20Four%20Mile%20Ridge%20 %20d5-M.jpg
This poor fellow stayed with me for 9 full days before I took a turn in a trail and he did not follow. He was not a hunting dog and hooked up with me at a trailhead and by the time I realized what was happening I was too far to go back to where we started.
http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2008/Jeffrey-Hunter-and-the/i-X2tZMGX/0/M/TRIP%2081%20053-M.jpg
Hunting dogs are the worst as mentioned. What's amazing is that if a pet owner abandoned his dog in the forest he'd be cited for abuse, but if a hunter abandons his dogs and lets them run lose unsupervised for days on end nobody says anything. It's a grand southern tradition etc etc. And yes, they are abandoned when they hook up with me for 3 or 4 days. Where are the owners? No clue. Sitting in a truck eating donuts? Probably.
I also saw that and intended to write at the time. People in the country let their dogs run. Another part of that notice said the hiker put a rope on the dog and took in to Sam's Gap. It had rope burn. It got loose at Sam's Gap and was killed by a car. I am completely sympathetic with the locals. No hiker should haul a dog away. A couple of weeks later a hiker came into Uncle Johnny's hostel near Erwin with a hound that followed her. She was at a loss for what to do. My wife helped her. We had some experience with this as our dog was lost in VA the year before with, fortunately, a happy ending. The first thing she did was post on White Blaze. Within hours the dog was in a no-kill shelter and scheduled for transfer to a hound rescue place. Please do all you can to discourage a dog from following you - be aggressive. I could go on but am tired after a long day on the trail.
I'm the person who picked up the dog and took it to the shelter. That was one of the 3 hounds I referenced in my first post. I also brought a pig someone dumped on Unaka Mountain and it's on a farm rescue right now.
I did not see the part about the rope burn, etc.
Spirit Walker
06-17-2015, 21:49
Years ago I passed a group of hikers who had a dog trailing behind them. He followed me. At the top of the climb, I waited for the group to hand back their dog. They said it wasn't their dog, he had just followed them for a couple of miles. Fortunately, the dog had a tag, so when we reached a road, I flagged down a car and asked them to call the owner and return it. (No phones back then and I had gotten to the trail by bus.)
On the AT many years ago there was a dog that followed some hikers. When they contacted the owner he said, "Oh that dog just loves to hike. He always comes home."
I've returned several strayed dogs over the past few years. Some owners were grateful, some not so much.
Tipi Walter
06-17-2015, 21:56
Years ago I passed a group of hikers who had a dog trailing behind them. He followed me. At the top of the climb, I waited for the group to hand back their dog. They said it wasn't their dog, he had just followed them for a couple of miles.
I'm always relieved to find someone like you who will hike by and take stray mutts off my hands. All it takes is one innocent dayhiker or other backpacker and the abandoned dog gets new hope and leaves me to follow someone new. Yippee.
Studlintsean
06-17-2015, 22:02
There is a dog named Snoopy at the US 60 road road crossing in Buena Vista that is notorious for following hikers. I saw him last June at the Priest Shelter about 20 miles away (estimated distance) and then 2 days later at the road again.
I had a bear dog follow and stay a night with us in the GWNF in the Masanutten area a few years ago. We were able to get ahold of the owner who eventually came and got him.
31029
Please explain to me how I avoid having a dog follow me as a hiker without actually attempting to harm it when I've done all I could to shoo it away, not befriend it, send it back to its owner, or escape its company? I'm serious. Please no replies like, "avoid hiking while gnoshing beef jerky."
Rain Man
06-18-2015, 07:32
Interesting how anyone who lets their dog run wild and loose would stoop to blame the victim who has those dogs latch onto them. If dogs are judges of character, it seems the dogs have made their judgment about who is a good owner and who was a bad, neglectful owner.
We had a puppy follow us on a back road road walk on May 1st of this year on the Sheltowee Trace in Kentucky. Couldn't get rid of him. We stopped locals as they drove by. Every one said that was a place where people "dump" dogs to get rid of them. He had ticks, fleas, and mange. What he did not have was a collar nor was he "chipped."
Today he's a happy, smart, new member of our family back in Tennessee, getting adjusted to our two old dogs and two old cats. That's after three trips to the vet and counting.
Piss on people who let their dogs run wild and without ID, then whine if they get hit by cars, lost, ... or latch onto more caring humans.
earlyriser26
06-18-2015, 08:15
About 7 years ago I had a small dog follow me for over 10 miles. It was raining and about 40 degrees out. Our shuttle driver agreed to take the dog to a local shelter. My dog never goes out without me. Plus the dog that followed me had no collar.
ChrisJackson
06-18-2015, 08:23
Today he's a happy, smart, new member of our family... :-) Good deal Rain Man! That was good of ya'll. Haven't had a dog follow me while hiking yet. Just a pup a couple of years ago while out walking down in south Georgia. Cute little guy. We knocked on doors but couldn't find the owner. That evening, as we were happily coming to the conclusion that we just got a new member of the family...the owners knocked on our door. Word got around. Bittersweet.
ChefATLTCT
06-18-2015, 08:45
In 2000 two beagles followed three hikers to a shelter in the same area, they played with the dogs and then went into their tent leaving the dogs to roam. That night it rained hard so I took one of them into my tent, the next morning the three hikers wanted nothing to do with these dogs. I took one and hiked carried it to sams gap, before the new road. Still raining I decided to hitch into Erwin, got a hotel room and called Sheriffs office. Later that evening a man showed up at hotel to claim his dog and all was well
The Solemates
06-18-2015, 09:18
I've been on both ends of this situation. I've always owned hounds, and right now have 3 of them. Most notably, a few years ago I brought home a walker after trying for weeks to get in touch with its owner (it did have a collar but followed me for days). It was a 4 hour drive from my house to my hiking location, but I decided to bring him home anyways. It jumped right in the truck with me. Like 2 months later I get a call and turns out the guy was on an oil rig off the coast of LA and couldn't exactly be reached easily. It was his teenage son's fault for losing his $10,000 dog (or so he said). I was glad to take another trip to return him, mainly because I hoped someone would do the same for me.
I guess I have a little different perspective than most who have so vehemently spoke out on this thread....so I will keep quiet. But suffice it to say I grew up with dogs roaming the woods and don't see it as a major issue as so many have opined. Then again....I think the original posted note is ridiculous. If an owner lets its dog wander a bit, it shouldn't expect it to not follow people.
http://amongnature.blogspot.com/2012/05/interesting-creatures.html
While on my thru in 2001 I stopped at Maupin Field shelter for lunch. At the shelter was a Beagle about 6 months old. It was very friendly and I figured his owner would soon come along. After about a 1/2 hour I was ready to move along. The dog insisted on following me. All my efforts to have him not follow me were a failure.
I continued to my destination at Rusty's. Rusty had signs posted on his driveway that dog's were not welcome and when he saw the dog behind me he told me so. I assured him that it wasn't my dog and he had just followed me down from the road.
Rusty called someone from the NPS and they came and took the dog away. I hoped that it's owner had reported it missing and they would link them up.
Seatbelt
06-18-2015, 10:00
Please explain to me how I avoid having a dog follow me as a hiker without actually attempting to harm it when I've done all I could to shoo it away, not befriend it, send it back to its owner, or escape its company? I'm serious. Please no replies like, "avoid hiking while gnoshing beef jerky."
This is exactly what 1st came to my mind when reading the "request"
Tipi Walter
06-18-2015, 10:27
There's no way I'd allow a hunting dog to stay with me for an entire 15 or 20 day backpacking trip AND THEN let it get in my car for a ride home and keep him for two months while waiting for the owner to contact me. In those 2 months I'm gonna pull another two backpacking trips with about 36 nights out and what do I do, take the stray hunting dog and all of his food with me for those trips? Do I also have to buy a good set of dog packs so he can carry his own food for 18 days?
saltysack
06-18-2015, 10:37
Interesting how anyone who lets their dog run wild and loose would stoop to blame the victim who has those dogs latch onto them. If dogs are judges of character, it seems the dogs have made their judgment about who is a good owner and who was a bad, neglectful owner.
We had a puppy follow us on a back road road walk on May 1st of this year on the Sheltowee Trace in Kentucky. Couldn't get rid of him. We stopped locals as they drove by. Every one said that was a place where people "dump" dogs to get rid of them. He had ticks, fleas, and mange. What he did not have was a collar nor was he "chipped."
Today he's a happy, smart, new member of our family back in Tennessee, getting adjusted to our two old dogs and two old cats. That's after three trips to the vet and counting.
Piss on people who let their dogs run wild and without ID, then whine if they get hit by cars, lost, ... or latch onto more caring humans.
+1!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
saltysack
06-18-2015, 10:45
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/18/0eac71a442a3b8655f6274c8eedd23d2.jpg
Here's a pic of a bear dog that followed me from wayah bald to tellico gap where it's fat arse owners sat in the truck drinking beer...what a sport...
Only benefit of a bear dog is they eat [emoji90]...paper and all..good advocates for LNT[emoji16]..
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Many people with dogs are like many people with young children. They think that everyone else's universe should revolve around their dog or child. Guess what, it doesn't. I have a wonderful Shih-poo who is either in the house, within the confines of our yard or on a leash. It's called responsible pet management and it isn't my job or obligation to compensate for other people's irresponsibility.
FlyFishNut
06-18-2015, 11:13
I had a 3 legged Bluetick that would follow golfers at the club near my house. She just enjoyed watching and never got in the way, chased balls and was quite welcome by the golfers who called her "lucky".
Traveler
06-18-2015, 13:23
We had a dog follow us up Ingalls Creek trail into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in WA on a four day trip. We did everything short of eating that damned dog, scolded it to return to the trail head, asked people that passed us or we saw coming downstream if they knew of anyone looking for a dog. It had a collar and a tag with info on it, so we asked one of those heading out to make a call to let people know we had found it (apparently never made the call). So the damn thing became our responsibility. We had to portion out food for it, which eventually forced us to turn around a day early.
The rewarding part of this tale is the reaction of the owner once we managed to get to an area cell coverage and we could call the number. I was cussed out for about 20 minutes for "taking his dog" out into the wilderness for a few days and caring for it. Apparently the owner lived somewhere in Idaho and had returned home from a family vacation figuring the dog was lost forever.
To top it off, he literally demanded we haul it to Spokane so he could pick it up. He didn't want to understand I had a 2 hour drive west to Seattle that wasn't compatible with a 3 hour and change drive east to Spokane. Best I could muster was to tell him I would see what we could do, thanked him for his input and left the dog with the police in Cle Elum with 5 days for the dog to be picked up or it went to car chasing heaven. I presume he had a nice trip to get fido, and the police bill for caring for his dog would've been icing on that cake.
Moral of this story is, "no good deed ever goes unpunished".
If I see a dog out there that is 1) Running free, 2) Without ID indicating its from a nearby property, and 3) Without owner supervision -- I will not only let it follow me but I will go out of my way to make sure that it does and then take it to the nearest shelter/rescue. The life of the animal is of more concern than possibly inconveniencing the animal's owner. A responsible owner would not let a dog run free, unsupervised, and without identification.
If that offends anyone -- too bad. The truth hurts sometimes.
peakbagger
06-18-2015, 14:14
More than a few lost dogs get lost while running wildlife. More than few old timers who see a dog running a deer will drop the dog on the spot.
On occasion wardens will catch dogs running deer and will confront the owner, the standard reply is the warden must be wrong as their dog would never run deer
squeezebox
06-18-2015, 16:58
Are there many dog shelters along the AT to place a dog that has followed you. Never heard of dropping a dog off at the police.
That's the attitude of "takers", and our culture has created lots of them. Some folks want you to fix their problems for them. If it's not your dog, how could it be your problem?
Traveler
06-19-2015, 08:58
Are there many dog shelters along the AT to place a dog that has followed you. Never heard of dropping a dog off at the police.
Asking folks as you come into a town where the pound is would probably work. In our case we went directly to the Police station because it was handy and they would absolutely know where the pound and the dog warden was. In our case the dog warden was in the same office as the police, which is not unusual for small towns, and took the animal.
MuddyWaters
06-19-2015, 09:44
"Dog shelter" is virtually synonymous with sentencing the animal to be destroyed.
I find it ironic so many people care enough about the dog to do that to it.
On its own, it often finds a new home. It has a better chance to leave it alone.
saltysack
06-19-2015, 10:43
"Dog shelter" is virtually synonymous with sentencing the animal to be destroyed.
I find it ironic so many people care enough about the dog to do that to it.
On its own, it often finds a new home. It has a better chance to leave it alone.
Sad but true....fortunately many cities are going to no kill!!!! People who abandon animals need to be euthanized!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
peakbagger
06-19-2015, 10:44
Actually the shelters up in the Northeast are mostly filled with dogs brought up from the south, they are always shipping them up.
Traveler
06-19-2015, 11:03
"Dog shelter" is virtually synonymous with sentencing the animal to be destroyed.
I find it ironic so many people care enough about the dog to do that to it.
On its own, it often finds a new home. It has a better chance to leave it alone.
Virtually, but not always. In this instance the owner could be identified via collar tags and the animal shouldn't have stayed there more than a day before the owner showed up to pay the bill and get the dog.
I do, however, use the "leave it alone" policy as a result of that. Starvation or predation will take the animal if no one else does though, so absent someone coming along, the end is pretty much the same.
This happened every other day in Tennessee last fall. Mostly hunting dogs with radio collars.
NOT a good development.
JumpMaster Blaster
06-19-2015, 16:04
I also saw that and intended to write at the time. People in the country let their dogs run. Another part of that notice said the hiker put a rope on the dog and took in to Sam's Gap. It had rope burn. It got loose at Sam's Gap and was killed by a car. I am completely sympathetic with the locals. No hiker should haul a dog away. A couple of weeks later a hiker came into Uncle Johnny's hostel near Erwin with a hound that followed her. She was at a loss for what to do. My wife helped her. We had some experience with this as our dog was lost in VA the year before with, fortunately, a happy ending. The first thing she did was post on White Blaze. Within hours the dog was in a no-kill shelter and scheduled for transfer to a hound rescue place. Please do all you can to discourage a dog from following you - be aggressive. I could go on but am tired after a long day on the trail.
Someone please tell me how it's MY responsibility as a hiker to help others care for and maintain their pets? Did I miss something? If you let your dog run wild/free/loose, you should accept the consequences of YOUR decision to do that. I'm a dog owner, and if I lived somewhere she may get loose, then by all means she'd have a collar/chip and I'd want someone to take her to a trailhead so I could get her. Like someone else said, maybe the dog is following the hiker because it feels the hiker may be a better owner.
It's insane how the "responsibility" is put on total strangers and NOT the actual owners...
"Dog shelter" is virtually synonymous with sentencing the animal to be destroyed.
I find it ironic so many people care enough about the dog to do that to it.
On its own, it often finds a new home. It has a better chance to leave it alone.
More likely a domesticated dog would become the victim of a predator or die of starvation. I think that the people who take these animals to shelters know that the animal will probably be destroyed rather than adopted but view it as a more humane way of handling the situation than leaving the dog in the woods to die a possibly worse death.
ChefATLTCT
06-19-2015, 16:25
"Dog shelter" is virtually synonymous with sentencing the animal to be destroyed.
I find it ironic so many people care enough about the dog to do that to it.
On its own, it often finds a new home. It has a better chance to leave it alone.
I didnt mention that when I called the the sheriffs office the officer did tell me that they would take the dog, but if no one collected him in five days he would be put down. Luckily the owner called the same station i did.
Shooting Star
06-19-2015, 20:57
Interesting that you post this - I had a Husky mix follow me northbound out of Devil's Fork Gap
on a hike in 2009. I tried to shoo him off but he would not leave. He was bounding around and
having a good time following me. At the top of Sugarloaf Mtn I got pretty stern with him and he
just looked at me and turned around and trotted off back down the mountain. I think that whole
mountain was his playground. That's the only time I have ever been trailed by a dog on a trip.
A link to my TJ post is: here (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=287015).
- SS
Offshore
06-21-2015, 07:44
Someone please tell me how it's MY responsibility as a hiker to help others care for and maintain their pets? Did I miss something? If you let your dog run wild/free/loose, you should accept the consequences of YOUR decision to do that. I'm a dog owner, and if I lived somewhere she may get loose, then by all means she'd have a collar/chip and I'd want someone to take her to a trailhead so I could get her. Like someone else said, maybe the dog is following the hiker because it feels the hiker may be a better owner.
It's insane how the "responsibility" is put on total strangers and NOT the actual owners...
Very true, but it gets a more complicated in that these situations involve a innocent third party - the dog - so some people are inclined to go out of their way. The unfortunate reality is that there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners out there. My own dog owner pet peeve is the locals who walk their dogs on Pochuck Boardwalk in NJ. The dogs defecate on the boardwalk and the owners just leave it there.
Thorfinn
06-21-2015, 19:16
I'm the person who picked up the dog and took it to the shelter. That was one of the 3 hounds I referenced in my first post. I also brought a pig someone dumped on Unaka Mountain and it's on a farm rescue right now.
I did not see the part about the rope burn, etc.
Just for the record, the hound I referred to was not one of your three hounds. This one was healthy, friendly and obviously well cared for and the woman he followed, was lead by, was about 20 yo. I hope the result was as happy as we hoped for.
I just had this happen. I was on the BMT this weekend and two dogs followed me and my friend for 20 miles! When I noticed them following me, I told them to go home. I yelled at them. I even hiked back to what I thought may have been their home. I kept telling them to go home. My friend even threw a stick at their general direction making sure not to hit them. That seemed to do the trick until about 15 minutes later we hear something off in the woods. My friend thought it may have been a bear, but it turned out to be the dogs.
We did everything we could think of short of kicking them. Luckily, one of them had the owner's number on the collar. We didn't have service for a long time. They were 15 miles into our hike before we got out a voice mail. We told them we would be at Dally Gap around 1 pm. Luckily, as we were driving down we saw the owner's daughter driving up. A good ending to the story.
So the original request of "don't let dogs follow" you is asinine. Short of kicking these dogs, I have no clue what else we could have done.
BTW, they were great trail dogs. Kept up with us like a champ.
Sarcasm the elf
06-21-2015, 21:05
Very true, but it gets a more complicated in that these situations involve a innocent third party - the dog - so some people are inclined to go out of their way. The unfortunate reality is that there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners out there.
Excellent answer and better than I could have said it myself. Thank you for posting that.
kayak karl
06-21-2015, 21:53
Interesting that you post this - I had a Husky mix follow me northbound out of Devil's Fork Gap
on a hike in 2009. I tried to shoo him off but he would not leave. He was bounding around and
having a good time following me. At the top of Sugarloaf Mtn I got pretty stern with him and he
just looked at me and turned around and trotted off back down the mountain. I think that whole
mountain was his playground. That's the only time I have ever been trailed by a dog on a trip.
A link to my TJ post is: here (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=287015).
- SS
same thing, different dog in '09 http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=260875 followed 4 days. number was good on tag. owners dis not want him back.
I had a radio collared hunting dog follow me in Maine many years ago. I tried to keep him with me as far as the road but he took off on a scent. I called the owner but he didn't want him back because he was useless as a hunting dog if he wouldn't mind the collar. I guess that is what you call a dispensable dog.
saltysack
06-23-2015, 10:30
same thing, different dog in '09 http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=260875 followed 4 days. number was good on tag. owners dis not want him back.
Owners like that should be euthanized!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk