Have you ever noticed that when you pass a walkerist with a dog very often they’ll speak to the dog after they pass you?
Whether you stop or slow down, you might nod or say ‘morning’ they’ll pass you and then they’ll sort of chivvy the dog along and say somthing like ‘come on you’ and then probably carry on with the rest of their walk and not address the pooch again.

positive reinforcement

‘well done for not biting/chasing the cyclist?’

Walking around behind a creature picking up its feces, or not in the majority of cases, is a very odd hobby indeed.

then probably carry on with the rest of their walk and not address the pooch again

How would you know if you don’t hang around after passing?

FWIW, most owners talk to theirs all the time, communication is important for control and training. If your dog is spooked by passing runners/cyclists then you’ll be wanting to reassure and reward for correct behaviour, and if you’ve trained/training your dog to stop and wait when people pass rather than running around all over the place then you’ll need to be communicating to them to move on again.

Walking around behind a creature picking up its feces, or not in the majority minority of cases

Lets not turn this into an anti-dog rant based on your own dislikes.

Walking behind each other on double tracks. Why do couples walk at the same pace but with the male 5 yards ahead? Weird.

positive reinforcement

‘well done for not biting/chasing the cyclist?’

When I’m out with my dog very much this ^

is a very odd hobby indeed.

And

Spending several thousand £ on a bicycle
Getting into several hundred £ worth of cycling gear
Starting an app on your phone that tracks wherever you go
Riding around in circles
Trying not to fall off
Getting muddy

Isn’t an odd hobby? 😉

They’ve probably called the dog to them (so you could pass) and need to tell it when it can go again. A gesture to the dog in the direction it should be going (not chasing after you) also doesn’t appear strange to me.

Why do couples walk at the same pace but with the male 5 yards ahead?

It is not a couple, they are having an affair and pretending not to be together until they can get out of sight in the woods 🙂

Whenever I pass a walker with a dog, I always greet them individually.

It seems to go down pretty well.

Walking behind each other on double tracks. Why do couples walk at the same pace but with the male 5 yards ahead? Weird.

She thinks my pert bum is lovely… 8)

You lost me at “walkerists”.

🙄

Back when I had dogs I would have an almost constant conversation with them when out and about. You are only hearing a very small proportion of it!

Never mind the walking five paces behind each other on double tracks.

Its the ones who space themselves evenly to entirely cover even the widest track, then appear to have absolutely no ability to notice a guy on a bike bimbling along towards them… 1km in front of them…. 500m in front… 100m in front… 50m to go… 20m left…. 10m… 5m… 2m… err…1m???!

Oh! They exclaim…

..as if a guy on a bike suddenly appearing in front f them were the weirdest thing in the world that could ever happen on a shared use path.

Just part of reassuring and controlling/rewarding the dog.

I say hello to dogs when I pass them on my bike for much the same reasons.

Works on many pedestrians too.

Because dogs actually understand a lot of human communication?

http://www.livescience.com/48920-dogs-hear-words-and-emotions.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/dog-grammar-chaser-border-collie-video_n_3328097.html

Cyclist and dog owner here. I do exactly this. Having had a number of near misses and one collision with dogs while riding I refuse to let my dog be a nuisance when bikes pass. I also adore him, and don’t fancy the vets bill if he gets run over. So if i see a bike coming, I talk to him, make him sit if I have time and give him a friendly chivvy along afterwards to acknowledge that he’s done the right thing, and encourage him to come with me, not follow the bike.

+1 would always talk to Badger on walks.

Quite often when passing a dog and his walker, I find I say hello to the dog not the human. But I’m always worried that I get the gender wrong. Not the human’s gender, the dog.

I’m pretty sure my Mum had full blown conversations with our dog…she was probably known as the Crazy Dog Lady.

Much like Margaret ‘The Goat Lady’ in the village where I grew up who used to go down the shops with her pet goat.

Works on many pedestrians too

I never did get the hang of stopping them from biting me 😐

Sometimes when walking my dog (often doing trail maintenance / scouting for new stuff) I am surprised by how many cyclists really are sour faced tossers.

Quite often when passing a dog and his walker, I find I say hello to the dog not the human.

I do this as well. Probably because my attention is on the dog, not its owner (who can normally be relied on not to jump in front of me).

Have you ever noticed that when you pass a walkerist with a dog very often they’ll speak to the dog after they pass you?

very occasionally they will also speak to their female companion as well

Funny things Walkerists do?

I’ve had a few groups shout/say thing like “hello Bradley” or “nice Bum” or “going far” or “can I have a backie” or “nice bike” or “my your fit” or “Beryl, theres a cyclist coming”.
Generally these are groups of oldies on local trials, most of the young un’s don’t say anything and just generally swap to the same side of the path I’m trying to pass on.
I too talk to the Dog first. Always feel the Dog will hear me long before the “walkerist” will.

I popped out of the woods and got asked by two walkers “is this the right way?”, i couldn’t resist and had to reply with “well, that depends where you want to go…”. Turns out they were following the Cotswold way, when i then pointed out the prominent Cotswold Way signpost they were standing beside, and me giving them verbal instruction, they then proceeded to consult their map. I left em to it!

lol@bikebouy &

Beryl, theres a cyclist coming”.

& you get them massive groups of oldies that shout up the line ‘CYCLIST’ and you ride through them parting the group like moses and the wrinkly red sock sea.

Have you ever noticed that when you pass a walkerist with a dog very often they’ll speak to the dog after they pass you?

😀
I generally do this when I’ve clearly been caught out having a one way conversation with the dog. People think you’re strange talking to fido about rugby, next bike, current affairs so “Good boy” or “come on then” is an attempt to give it thin veneer of non-insanity.

I’ve had oiks ask “Can I have a go on your bike mate?”

I always say no, and sometimes they get all uppity.

I’m fairly convinced that saying yes would result in me running after said oik as he rides off on my bike.

The variety of responses and opinions tells me that the way we observe says as at least as much about us as what we observe.

Being politely English and slightly awkward when in the presence of other humans I tend to look back and do the ‘come on Fido’ thing after we’ve passed. Also agree that it’s reassuring for the dog. I do continue to give verbal signals to the dog along the way though.

Well, best get on…

I do this all the time when out with the dog. He usually replies with something like “Bloody hell, did you see those bar ends?” or “A bit too much sag there, and I’m not talking about the forks”.

we had one shouting “this side!” “this side!” “this side!” to a dog that wasn’t even looking at him 🙂

As I was just commenting to the squirrels at lunchtime, I always talk to any animal I see while I’m on a walk. Much prefer it to the humans.

Chats with muttley are the most sensible conversations I have most days…..

annebr – Member

As I was just commenting to the squirrels at lunchtime, I always talk to any animal I see while I’m on a walk.

Talking to animals is fine, it’s only a problem if you’re holding a conversation. So I say a cheery good morning to the squirrels and rabbits I usually see walking from the car park, but I don’t ask them how their weekend was. That’d be mad.

(for clarity, I don’t call them Mr Squirrel either, just “mornin’, squirrel” is perfectly good manners when talking to rodents. They are non-heirarchical and dislike formality, as a rule, considering it effete)

I do find it really strange that they spend most of the time looking at their feet and fail to notice any other trail user if they’re on any sort of bike, even after a good ‘Heads up’ shout

no_eyed_deer – Member
Its the ones who space themselves evenly to entirely cover even the widest track, then appear to have absolutely no ability to notice a guy on a bike bimbling along towards them… 1km in front of them…. 500m in front… 100m in front… 50m to go… 20m left…. 10m… 5m… 2m… err…1m???!

Oh! They exclaim…

..as if a guy on a bike suddenly appearing in front f them were the weirdest thing in the world that could ever happen on a shared use path.

Exactlly. I had this in the lakes on the double track heading towards Skiddaw house on Sat. Thing is even with slowing down they nearly have a heart attack when they finally do notice you.

chakaping – Member
You lost me at “walkerists”

Well naturally. He’s on a bike, you’ll never keep up.

Exactlly. I had this in the lakes on the double track heading towards Skiddaw house on Sat. Thing is even with slowing down they nearly have a heart attack when they finally do notice you.

When did you go through there? I was struggling up that way on Saturday.

Lots of friendly walkers out and about. One said “You finally made it then?” as I struggled over the top of Whitewater Dash, and I got a cheer for descending through the water splash at the bottom of the Lonscale Fell descent, then realising I had it in too big a gear to get up the steep bit immediately afterwards. 😀

I was hauling myself up the climb from Rylstone onto Barden Moor, saying “keep going, you can stop when you get to the gate”. At which point a pair of bloody walkers appeared and politely held the gate open for me. Bastards!

My mate thought I was odd for just talking to horses like I would talk to a child. Seemed about the right thing to do to me. They had come over for a chat and a knee lick (them licking my knees).