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dogs on trail rides?

17K views 79 replies 38 participants last post by  Celeste 
#1 ·
hello everyone,

question for all you trailriders, and i apologize because i am not sure really how to ask.

i have been taken my puppy on trail rides around the farms of leash and she is doing great, but she is still not a 100% obedience trained.(we are getting there but just not there yet)

anywho, i want to start hitting the main trail system which is public, and was wondering how much of a bad idea is it to have my dog on a leash while i ride my horse??

pros i thought this would teach puppy to follow more closely when we are going hacking and would follow the leash laws.

but a major con is i dont want the leash/rope that connects puppy to me to get tangled around my horses feet. (however puppy stays a good 4 feet either in front of or directly behind my horse)

now i would like the more experienced trail riders with dogs to shed light on possible training techinques to work both horse and dog while following the leash law. also note horse is very desentized to ropes around his feet, legs, hind, shoulder, etc and is calm when restricted by hobbles.

if this is impossible just tell me... i am trying to find one workout that will suffice for me, horse and puppy all in one shot :)

thanks in advance
 
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#73 ·
The issue of "dogs in camp" does bug me when someone lets their dog run loose to "visit" everyone. . .and it ends up peeing on other people's campsites, getting into their food, or just visiting people who don't really want to be visited by a strange, slobbering, wet, smelly dog that has manure-breath and rolled in some kind of dead animal on trail earlier that day.

Even if you bring your dogs to camp but not on trail, it's up to you to make sure they are not a nuisance to other campers. I've been on a number of trips where people brought their dogs and just tethered them to the trailer while they rode. What they didn't realize was that, from the time they rode out of camp until the time they returned, those dogs barked. At everything. At nothing. They just barked.

Then again. . .I don't really like feral children in campgrounds, either.:lol: That's a whole other issue, though.

Don't misunderstand me - I LOVE dogs. I really miss having one of my own. My old Rottie was a fantastic trail dog because I took the time to train him and socialize him BEFORE just going out on trail and hoping he "behaved" himself.

If you choose to bring your dog with you, you HAVE to accept responsibility for it and you HAVE to remember that not everyone is a dog person. Not every horse/equine you meet on trail likes dogs, either.
 
#74 ·
LOL Jolly Badger...we must be twins! I was going to post a thread here just about word for word to yours. This is something that is soooo annoying.
We take a small dog with us to camp. He is either on his long leash, on our lap or in the camper. I resent dogs running into our camp for all the reasons you stated, plus it is not safe for our little guy who is a bit territorial about "his stuff." People seem to think the leash rule does not apply to them. When we are riding he is in the camper and quiet (we have asked). He would set up a howl if someone rattled the camper door, but that's his job. I also resent walking past sites and having dogs charge out at us.
If people are going to take dogs they need to be respectful of others and stick to the rules. I also agree with you about the children thing. Dogs will do dog stuff and kids will do kid stuff, but most other campers are not interested in sharing the experience in their personal campsite.
 
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#75 ·
I remember being at a campsite where somebody was letting their large dog run loose. He did a dinner plate sized turd right at the door of my camper. I almost stepped in it. I like dogs, but I don't particularly like dog turds. Imagine how people that don't like dogs would feel.
 
#77 ·
Don't often find horse-dislikers in a horse camp...nor do most horses go around pooping right outside a camper door as they usually somehow contained in a camp. Hopefully, anyway. : )
 
#79 ·
Thankfully the trails around here have some that are hikers-only so that tends to be a non-issue. Not to mention a pile of horse poo on a trail that is known to be open to horse riders is comparing apples to oranges when compared to dog poo right in your campsite - especially if there is a leash requirement.
 
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