next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
2nd try for this responce Hi All I've been a dog owner most of my life with working hunting dogs and I am a dog owner now with a dog that does listen on and off lead. Being a large dog (Lab/Rotty mix) he can be intimidating to people along the streets and walk ways of our town. All too often you see people crossing the road to avoid the contact with our large strong looking dog. I have the greatest respect for other people's fears, phobias and concerns and don't intend to impose my love of dogs on them. In the rural and urban settings along our roads and though fairs everyone has the choice to cross the road or take an alternate route/street. Along trails there's most often no option. I know dog owners that only take their dogs on trails because there are fewer people for them to encounter, because the owner can't control its cross dog that refuses to be socialized. (may I add that I don't believe in bad dogs just bad owners). Due to this quite a few people refused to use the trails because of this dog problem. Those that did travel for years found themselves caring walking sticks (weapons). Now the locals know what vehicle to watch out for, but what about the new or infrequent visitor to these trails! Is it fair for them to be forced into a close encounter they may not appreciate and have little control over? What will be their feeling after such an encounter? Will they return or recommend the trail or area to others or possibly spread fear? As for the back end of this problem goes there are lots of dog walkers that don't respect the stoop and scoop in the rural setting with people watching their activity. I hardly believe they'd become better stewards on a trail. On our own local trails we use to have Deer seen regularly along the trail that were quite tame. That is until the natural predators (dogs) were brought along for the walk by a few good intentioned people. The local deer can and will get desensitized to human traffic but to the dogs it's almost imposable. There use to be lots of relatively tame Squirrels along the trails at feeders set up for them and the birds. Now the birds and squirrels are gone at the least disturbance (sound or movement). I probably don't need to go into detail about baby rabbits, cubbies of Grouse, and ground nesting birds. We need many more people to use and adopt these trails as their own special places and become stewards. This is the only way that some/most can thrive and survive. So in my view the use the trail by only a couple of dog walkers can and will negatively effected the experience for all! I know the tar may be thick but I feel it should be for "All" wilderness trails. Tom K Canso ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike McCall" <frogmore@xcountry.tv> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 4:23 PM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Dogs on walks > Not much. > > MMc > > > On 2011-04-18, at 3:37 PM, Doug Linzey wrote: > >> I'm looking for a bit of a straw poll: >> >> What do you think of taking dogs on walks such as the Cape Split Trail? >> >> Thanks, >> Doug Linzey >
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects