Dog Thread

[Sick Bird Rider]

The two-headed deerbeast made an appearance last week but fortunately, Moira stood guard to protect us (snow gone now).

This event demanded her full attention:

 

[MC2]

Ticks are brutal right now. Just pulled 8 off my dog, hit him with the hose, dried him off, then pulled 6 more off of him.

 

[Tjf1967]

Ticks are brutal right now. Just pulled 8 off my dog, hit him with the hose, dried him off, then pulled 6 more off of him.

Where were you?

 

[MC2]

Where were you?

Clifton Park

 

[Tjf1967]

Clifton Park

Not to many places you can go around here without those f'ing ticks. Grafton is my go to spot. Not many ticks.

 

[Sick Bird Rider]

Where have you all been with your dogs? Moira has graduated to off-leash in carefully controlled situations, and has her eyes on the prize:

 

[Peter Minde]

Clifton Park

Banner year for ticks. I've pulled 7 of them off me in 6 weeks. Usually it's 1 every 3 years.

 

[MC2]

Where have you all been with your dogs? Moira has graduated to off-leash in carefully controlled situations, and has her eyes on the prize:

View attachment 20323

I think you gotta get dogs off leash. There are places where you have to leash them up, but I try to choose hikes & mountain bikes where I can let him run. This usually means I have to go to less popular, more out-of-the-way places (or just places where people are cool & not people who are insane dog scolders).

When hiking, my dog knows enough to stop when he sees someone on the trail ahead, allowing me to yell “do you want me to leash him up?” to the people before moving on. When mountain biking, he stays pretty close to me the whole time because he doesn’t want to miss out on the fun. I still stop when I see old people, kids, or other dogs, just in case.

 

[Campgottagopee]

We've been swimming and chasing frogs

 

[Sick Bird Rider]

I think you gotta get dogs off leash. There are places where you have to leash them up, but I try to choose hikes & mountain bikes where I can let him run. This usually means I have to go to less popular, more out-of-the-way places (or just places where people are cool & not people who are insane dog scolders).

When hiking, my dog knows enough to stop when he sees someone on the trail ahead, allowing me to yell “do you want me to leash him up?” to the people before moving on. When mountain biking, he stays pretty close to me the whole time because he doesn’t want to miss out on the fun. I still stop when I see old people, kids, or other dogs, just in case.

I don't disagree with your approach but it is worth pointing out that every dog is different. Moira, for example, has super-high prey drive. Tonight on our local dog walk, despite scanning the area for deer on the approach, one apparently appeared on the way back when we were playing "fetch the ball" off-leash. She dropped the ball and was gone like a shot, despite my calling. I trekked after her, calling and clapping, then went back to the house for better footwear than Crocs, a bug jacket and the squeeker. An hour later, with me deep in the bush on an ATV trail, she found me, which was great. Returned to the house soaking wet and muddy, and been barfing up pond scum for the last three hours. Good times. The squeeker is key.