Dogs on leashes?

[Ladytrekker]

Yea you should have got their names and file a civil suit against them to recoup medical bills, etc. I don't normally go for suing people but this is totally unacceptable. I know alone in the woods with 4 against 1 but I agree with one of the remarks above about making my blood boil. I do believe if you are hurt on public land you can file a claim.

[3_dogs]

I day hike with my dogs often, always on leash. I always had trouble with them when I stopped, so I created my own "Muttlie Retention System". Bought a 60" sling and a locking carabiner from the climbing section at REI. When I stop for a break on the trail I find an out of the way tree, wrap the sling around the tree, clip both ends of the sling and the ends of the leashes in the carabiner, and lock.

I know this is drifting off topic, but just wanted to pass on the idea to others that hike with dogs.

[Trailweaver]

I can't believe this! I've encountered a number of friendly dogs on the trail (some leashed, some not), and don't really mind as long as they don't jump on me or threaten me. All dogs should be leashed, for their safety as well as that of others. A lost dog in that big an area is awfully hard to find, and often isn't found by the owner.

As for "shooting the dog" - it isn't the dog's fault that he hasn't been trained to behave. Shoot the owner.

I'm sure you realize (now that it's too late, sadly) that you should have gotten their name, the dog's vet's name, phone numbers, etc., and that those folks should have paid for your medical bills!!! Like others here. . . this makes me mad enough to spit!

Guess I'm going to be more wary of all the dogs I meet on the trail now. Wish I didn't have to be.

[Trailweaver]

P.S. I just thought of something that might help if something like this happens again. When I was biking a lot, I encountered dogs who would chase my bike. I found out that if you take your water bottle and spray the dog in the face with water, they will back off. It might not always work, but it did for me. If nothing else, it buys you a little bit of time.

[darkage]

Never hesitate too kick a dog in the face or use any means of protecting yourself ... screw what the owner has to say ... short story - .... I was walking my dog around my areas dog walk one day, and my dog wouldn't stop standing on his back legs wanting to go play with another dog ... normal dog behavior, he's still a puppy of sorts ... so i smacked him in the back of the head and said NO, well ... when i did that the leash poped off his harness and guess what ... he BOLTED .... guess what the owner of the dog did when my dog approached him and his dog ... he got kicked by the owner of the dog ... did i get pissed? .. Hell no, why? ... Cause i lost control of MY dog ... Which brings me too my next point, If i get bite, attacked or threatened .... I will stab, shoot, slice, Kick and punch whatever animal it is that is coming in my direction .... then if the owner has a problem with that, he's NEXT ... you can't control what someone else's dog, or owner of that animal is gonna do or follow rules or laws ... you always have to be prepared to defend yourself, weather its a dog or human ... pepper spray, hiking pole ... I've personally have had great encounter's with dogs on the trail, and i've had my share of not so pleasent ... but those not so pleasent were dogs leashes and held off trail till i passed ... I also personally like to make it known when someone walks by without a lease about some smartass comments, like "Nice leash you got on him there" ... I love dogs, and i love seeing um on the trail ... but if you own one that doesn't like people or is too territorial about his "area" .... keep him home, or someone like me WILL hurt your dog, and hold you responsible. P.S most real hiker's i know train there dogs well, 9 times outta 10 its these city folk who are out for a day hike with no packs and think them are there dog is the only one on the trail and are not very well in tune with the behaviorial of that animal .... the point, defend yourself ... that bite on the shin could of been worse and from the sound of it ... it will happen again because the OP took no actions too correct the owner and he'll be out there again ... maybe next time chasing a 10 year old and mauling the child ... STAND UP FOR YOURSELF, dog eat dog world ... if ya get my drift.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Dude...darkage... Step away from the computer and take a deep breath...

[darkage]

heheh, I'm cool ... its just the way i express myself sometimes i can seem hostile ... i'm good ... "deeeeep breath" ... I'm just saying encounter's like this won't stop, you have to be ready for any type of scenario in the woods ... bear/dog or crazy people. =)

[10-K]

If you watch TV, or in airports or anywhere there are highly trained dogs you will notice that 95% of the time these dogs are on leads. Why? Because even the smartest, best trained dog is subject to "go off" under the right conditions. Or so I have been told by more than one trainer over the past few weeks. It makes sense to me. 2 of the trainers I've talked to have both mentioned something along the lines of being careful not to think I have some kind of magical control over Drake because he walks beside me most of the time.

Me and Drake are interviewing trainers now. I don't want any shock collars or any negative reinforcement because my dog has had enough of that. We're going positive training.

What I'm looking for are: down, stay, wait and never-fail recall.

[vamelungeon]

I'm always armed, and in my world a biting dog=dead dog. I love dogs, have one sitting here right now but if my dog bit someone I'd kill him in a heartbeat. If I'm hiking and your dog bites me, your dog will die as rapidly as I can kill it. A dog that is aggressive towards humans is a real danger. Lots of hikers here on WB seem to be terrified of black bears. I'm more worried about these uncontrolled dogs and I'm pretty sure the statistics say you're in much more danger of death/injury from a dog than a bear. My sister has twin boys that are 6, and she wants us to do a day hike on the AT. What if that Rott attacked one of them? Dog should be on leashes in all public areas. Period.

[10-K]

I'm always armed, and in my world a biting dog=dead dog. I love dogs, have one sitting here right now but if my dog bit someone I'd kill him in a heartbeat. If I'm hiking and your dog bites me, your dog will die as rapidly as I can kill it. A dog that is aggressive towards humans is a real danger. Lots of hikers here on WB seem to be terrified of black bears. I'm more worried about these uncontrolled dogs and I'm pretty sure the statistics say you're in much more danger of death/injury from a dog than a bear. My sister has twin boys that are 6, and she wants us to do a day hike on the AT. What if that Rott attacked one of them? Dog should be on leashes in all public areas. Period.

Just a bit of perspective - you're probably thousands of times more likely to be bitten by a venomous snake that attacked by a dog and bit.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Just a bit of perspective - you're probably thousands of times more likely to be bitten by a venomous snake that attacked by a dog and bit.

Just curious, does Drake also suffer from Ophidiophobia?

[10-K]

Just curious, does Drake also suffer from Ophidiophobia?

I haven't had a chance to find out yet. I hope so, at least in a healthy way.

[WingedMonkey]

I haven't had a chance to find out yet. I hope so, at least in a healthy way.

Did you expect me to keep quite?
Why do you think that dog makes you walk in front?

[moytoy]

Just a bit of perspective - you're probably thousands of times more likely to be bitten by a venomous snake that attacked by a dog and bit.

I've been biting my fingers during this whole dog leash thread but I can't buy that stat. When I was 12 I had 14 shots in my tummy because of a dog bite. Last year my 3 year old grandson got 28 stitches in his head when an adult, well trained border collie bit him in the head. I've had to fend off several pit bulls with a walking stick. But I've never even known anyone who was bit by a venomous snake.

[vamelungeon]

Just a bit of perspective - you're probably thousands of times more likely to be bitten by a venomous snake that attacked by a dog and bit.

BS. I've been bitten by a dog. I've never been bitten by a snake. I've been attacked by a dog while hiking, I was attacked by a dog when I was a kid selling gretting cards door to door, I was bitten by a dog in a trailer park once while looking for a murder suspect. You're wrong.

[LBJ]

Wow, the testosterone really starts flowing when we start talking about dogs and what we are going to do to an agressive one.

[vamelungeon]

Wow, the testosterone really starts flowing when we start talking about dogs and what we are going to do to an agressive one.

Doesn't take any testosterone to pull a trigger. My grandmother could shoot the heads off chickens. And did almost every Sunday. She also shot a burglar. She would have shot a biting dog, and probably did, I just haven't heard the story.

[GoldenBear]

It's called "the facts."

First off, world-wide statistics are meaningless for this discussion. While it is true that ABOUT 100,000 people die each year, worldwide from snake bites, this high number is due to the extremely deadly venom of the snakes of South Asia, where almost all such fatalities occur. For a proper comparison, we should look at U.S. numbers. Doing so also makes helps because record keeping can be so much exact.

Secondly, it's impossible to count the number of "bites" of either snakes or dogs, even in the U.S. That's because nobody keep tracks of such events even on a county level. Someone picks up a snake, it bites that person, no venom is injected into the person, the wound is sterilized and dressed, no swelling occurs and the small wound heals itself -- it might not even end up in a doctor's office. Same with a small bite from a dog with proven rabies vaccination.

So the best comparison achievable is fatalities by attacks from these animals. Again, there is no central record keeping of fatalities from either, but agencies do make semi-official estimates. This will at least allow us to the BEST apples to apples view of the threat posed by each animal.

In the last decade there have been seven fatalities in the United States due to snake bites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...d_States#2000s

On the other hand, there were 34 fatalities from dog bites just in 2010.
http://dogbitelaw.com/dog-bite-stati...tatistics.html

Just for the sake of argument, let's say half of those 34 reported deaths were not really due to the dogs.

If snake bites really WERE "thousands" of time more dangerous more likely than dog bites, then there would have to be at least 15,000 snake bite fatalities in the U.S. each year -- a number comparable to the number of people who die from drunk driving. Obviously, such a number is nonsense.


Okay, if you want to discuss bites and ONLY bites, then note that, according to the CDC, about 4.5 MILLION people were bitten by dogs in the U.S. each year
http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreation...revention.html
Again, let's say the number is actually half that amount. Even if snakes were a simple hundred times more likely (instead of "thousands") to bite, that would mean 200,000,000 Americans were bitten by snakes in a typical year. Again, that is simple lunacy.

Plain and simple, dogs are FAR more dangerous to Americans than are snakes.

[Wise Old Owl]

P.S. I just thought of something that might help if something like this happens again. When I was biking a lot, I encountered dogs who would chase my bike. I found out that if you take your water bottle and spray the dog in the face with water, they will back off. It might not always work, but it did for me. If nothing else, it buys you a little bit of time.

actually it works really really well... When I brought Rugby from the pound we practiced pulling in the driveway with my wifes help and a water pistol so they learn to avoid cars....

[WingedMonkey]

In the last decade there have been seven fatalities in the United States due to snake bites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...d_States#2000s

Not that it matters but you miss read the stats from Wiki.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

About 7-12 people per year are killed in the United States by snake bites^[1]