[Closed] RANT: People who ride trails with dogs

A mountain biker weighing only 80kg's at a trail centre? Really?

Couple of guys at Mabie yesterday with the dog running alongside, must admit I dont see a problem, not as if your riding alongside them all day..does'nt bother me in the slightest 🙄

If there was an accident involving a dog on a trail and a biker what would the situation be if the rider was injured/bike damaged?

I will just say "Screw you, it's not illegal so I'll take my dog riding if I want to." xxx

So if your well trained dog is following behind you and you have your eyes on the trail ahead, how do you know when your mut has left a "present" for those following?

They don't care, at least one poster probably accounts for the dog sh1t problem at Lee Quarry, if he misses all the tree at the bottom how is he supposed to spot his dog having a dump

Before I let my dog anywhere near a bike I spent a lot of time and effort in whistle training him. Now I have no problems taking him to Gisburn with me. HOWEVER due to the fact some people are uneasy about dogs at trail centres I only take him in the morning midweek when it's nice and quiet.

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try a moustache they often help 😆

So it's ok for none dog owners to be selfish pricks but not dog owners then?
Whatever, sweetheart. If we get in your way, which strangely has never happened in 4 yers of riding with him at Swinley, QECP, FOD, Penmachno or Coed y Brenin do make your displeasure known to me, I'm sure we can have an adult conversation when you're not being all whiny on your iPad.

I struggle to understand the mindset of people who take their dogs to places like Ladybower or Clumber Park and let their dogs wander about without leads when there are cyclists EVERYWHERE. Even a child will move out of the way of a bike but your dog, regardless of how well behaved you [i]think[/i] it is WILL, at some point, do something you don't expect. Because it is an animal. With a brain.

Get the funking thing on a lead.

My woman is American and she says that over there you NEVER let your dog off the lead except in your back yard or maybe in some areas of some parks. Which is a lot more responsible.

The usual [s]dog owner [/s] [b]STWer[/b] attitude to anyone who doesn't agree with their POV

that's better,

Also its often the same people who don't like dogs on trails that think its funny to chase sheep on the moors. 🙄

It's when the damn things cut a switchback corner and come out across the trail in front of you. That's really irresponsible. Having them dart around makes an already dangerous sport that much more dangerous.

Can't they be attached to the owner's bike with a leash? Maybe I'm just bitter after scraping dog crap off my tyres again today. I like dogs, but don't like some dog owners. Same with children come to think about it.

GB

Wow, we're well in the running for Rio with the Olympic Conclusion Jumping event aren't we, should be a shoe in...

But anyway is there a massive dog on trail problem in other parts of the country then? Can't have seen more than 5 at trail centres myself... ever.

think its funny to chase sheep on the moor

That's one there's no excuse for selfishness nothing more, so sheep stop you getting that perfect run. Deal with it. move on. (rather than panicking them to jump over fences and risk injury, unnecessary suffering for the animal, costing a farmer part of his pitiful likelihood.

Totally agree with OP. I had a moment a few weeks ago on Caddonbank at Innerleithen when a dog was running back up the trail towards me while I was heading down. The owner was a good bit further on and couldn't understand why I was so upset when I pointed out that he should keep his dog with him and under control.

Ok

I will bite ( pardon the pun) - dogs are superb fun to ride with and bring a lot of fun to a ride - plus our collie is faster than most trail centre riders ( FACT ) and will go for up to 10 hours in the hills and still want to play on the beach after.... at trail centres the dog is in front of me and I am not particularly slow.... its been atop snowdon / helvellyn / cadair idris and runs better than i can ride....

the difference is this dog is super trained - my parents springers arent and I wouldnt take them to a scalextric track etc - however to the dog haters on here - a well controlled dog - no problem - a poorly controlled dog is I agree and the owners shouldnt take them - but come on - save the attitude - ride within your limits - it may be a dog / a child / a slower rider or a fallen tree on the trail blocking ' your ' trail - public land = public access etc

I bet you get upset when walkers dare walk the same ROWs as you ride too....

paul

If there was an accident involving a dog on a trail and a biker what would the situation be if the rider was injured/bike damaged?

The dog owner would be negligent and responsible.

Edit: they would bear less responsibility if it was a shared trail, but at a trail centre it would be 100% their fault.

I often take my dog to GT, only problem is that the little bugger knows the trails so well he often takes a short cut then waits, laughing at me...

tbh Irrelevent of whether its a trail centre or BW, if you can't stop when faced with a hazard its you that's the 'problem'...

I think the OP has a bit of a point, if trail centres are designed as MTB specific trail venues where you will obviously find a mixture or riding abilities and reactions to unexpected new furry obsticles why would you take your dog there for a run?

A riders reactions to your mutt can't be predicted. You might know your "well trained dog" (whatever one of those looks like) and how it behaves around bikes but how are the rest of us supposed to?

If you take on the responsibility of owning a dog part of that has to be setting aside the time to walk it choosing to combine exercising your dog with riding is just your laziness impinging on the safety of other trail users and puts your dog at greater risk...

If you can't be arsed or don't have time to walk the thing properly and go riding without it, either get rid of the dog or jack in the bikes.

I ride with our jack Russell/ fox terrier cross on a loop.

It's all about him having fun, I spend most of it looking out for him, on the brakes letting him run ahead, he barks when we set off, turns round and craps looking at me on a big uphill, does a victory loop when we finish.

Dogs need to run in a pack, it's natural, but need looking out for all the time, he runs then looks round to see where i am and the brakes gon on. paws and spokes do not mix, especially if they don't belong to you.

This is two of us riding with trigger

What about when the 'hazard' jumps out in the trail about a meter in front of you as you exit a berm?

Until you've nearly crashed in that situation, I don't think you realise how dangerous it can be....

I've also had a stag jump out on me nearly causing a big crash, I was annoyed but it's not like some plonker was leading it deliberately down a popular trail centre run at one of the busiest times of the week.

No issues with riders taking dogs out on 'normal' loops like my local woods but on fast descents at trail centres it is asking for a serious accident.

That's insane on the face of it. People, including small children generally behave predictably and sensibly. Dogs are random and unpredictable. When does another human trail user run at you the wrong way up the trail, or run under your wheels ? I got taken out by a dog running under my wheels back when I was a Newbie, I didn't know any better so never said anything to the owner.

What tyres for squishing puppies?

OP - don't worry, videoing yourself riding with a 'trail dog' is just this year's must-have / in-thing. Most of those pets will be chewing animal charity cage doors by the festive season. Me, I'm ahead of the game training my trail giraffe. He's called Twenty Niner.

bridleways = open to all. learn to love the diversity.

trail centres = people travelling and paying good money for cycle dedicated facilities. exercise your dog somewhere else

Not a fan myself, nothing to do with speed, it's the unpredictability. A rider, however fat or slow is very unlikely to charge ahead, then either stop suddenly or turn around and ride back towards you at full bore.

I went on a group ride and someone brought their dog, very well trained, so much so it would regularly turn around to check owner wasn't far away. If you happened to be behind/adjacent at this point there was a good chance that dog would collide with you. It also precluded doing [i]anything[/i] on the road, because no lead was present.

Your dog's welfare is not my responsibility, I have precisely zero interest in putting myself at risk so your mutt can have fun.

hmmm, poignant thread this today, narrowly missed a huge pile of Doggy doos just off the best line ( i'm rarely on the best line you see :D)a few hundred yards from the finish at cannock.
Slow or fat they may be, but my biffer mates & young kids rarely shit on the trails!

****ing disgusting!

A riders reactions to your mutt can't be predicted. You might know your "well trained dog" (whatever one of those looks like) and how it behaves around bikes but how are the rest of us supposed to?

Like I said on my prev post that's why I go midweek when it's nice and quiet.

If you take on the responsibility of owning a dog part of that has to be setting aside the time to walk it choosing to combine exercising your dog with riding is just your laziness impinging on the safety of other trail users and puts your dog at greater risk...

I walk my dog before I take him to Gisburn. That way he has his " number 2's" before we get to the trail. Can't be bothered hanging poo bags on the trees in the Forrest, I've got stava segments worry about. 😀

It might be worth bearing in mind that if you are at a Scottish trail centre with your dog running about all over then you are actually breaking the law. This would have obvious implications for liability if anyone was injured as a result.

Why is it every single dog thread that has a negative tone descends into shit throwing from both sides?
Some people are stupid, selfish and idiots. Accept that, then kill them slowly. 🙂

I'm with the OP on this one.

What is quite worrying is that some of the dog types on here don't actually realise that the key difficulty when faced with a dog compared to a rock, tree, rider lying injured on the trail etc is the unpredictability of their movements. Rocks, trees and injured people tend not to move quite as erratically and quickly as dogs. That's why they're dangerous and shouldn't be on the trails.

mattbee - Member
"Screw you, it's not illegal so I'll take my dog riding if I want to."

Not to single you out mattbee, but seeing as its been raised by other posters, [url= http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/section/3 ]Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991[/url] might be of interest.

Although, AFAIK, not tested in court, would it be reasonable to consider if an out of control dog at a trail center (which is a public place) injured someone, that it would exceed the standard defined by Section 10(3)?

For the purposes of this Act a dog shall be regarded as dangerously out of control on any occasion on which there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person

Furthermore could this classify ANY dog at a trail center where there is "reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person" as being dangerously out of control? Remember, we're not specifically talking about a dog biting someone, but the - arguably - equally dangerous situation where dogs are sharing the same space which was specifically designed for bikes to go as fast as they can.

The dog owner / keeper could therefore be liable for any associated injuries / costs, assuming of course that they stayed and left their (real) name and address; and every responsible dog owner / keeper would do this, wouldn't they?

p.s. in the time its taken to write this, liability has been covered briefly above, but my point still stands

p.p.s. liability would probably have to be settled through civil court, helped with any successful conviction (if any!) under the above Act

orange crush what law makes it illegal in Scotland?

Interesting reading. What about in the uk?

However, to put reality into it, whilst you've taken evasive action to avoid said furry pooch, crashed badly, broken bike and body, the chances of getting the ID of the dog or owner involved is next to none.

People would take dogs to trail centres and go riding with them are selfish and lazy people, always an accident waiting to happen whether dog injure themselves keeping up with their master or other cyclists to avoid them either injure dog or themselves.

Not good.

Groundskeeperwilly - Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Para 9(d). In fact I would go further and say that para 6(1)(e)(ii) makes it illegal to have a dog on a specific mountain bike trail at all.

DT78, it may be beyond your ken but Scotland is actually part of the UK.

As there are so few places where you cannot take your dog I don't see why it's so much to ask for dog owners not to take their dogs to man-made mountain bike specific centres. Can't they just be left for mountain bikers to use?

I wouldn' t go ripping up the terrain on my bike at the local village cricket ground or go tearing my bike around the kiddies playground so it's nice to go to a trail centre supposedly safe in the knowledge that I am only really going to come across other cyclists on the trails. Not dogs, cats, motocross bikes, go karts, jet ski's, hang gliders, ramblers etc.

Too much Strava......

Caught some guy up on Whinlatter last week and his dog was far better then he was in getting out of the way.

try a moustache they often help

+1

this seems to be the most holistic solution to the problem of user conflict on shared trails..

However, to put reality into it, whilst you've taken evasive action to avoid said furry pooch, crashed badly, broken bike and body, the chances of getting the ID of the dog or owner involved is next to none.

That's better than what I would estimate. I imagine they would get Strava KOM all the way home/ to the car

I love how the defence from dog owners is about Strava! FFS, I don't want to crash (nor injure your dog really) totally irrespective of whether it's a Strava segment, a road, a trail, a climb or a descent! If your dog suddenly appears 6" infront of me it's largely irrelevant exactly how I'm riding, and that's why it's selfish! IMO of course.

Do folk take the mutt with you on the road bike too? Serious question. I assume folk don't because of the risk of the dog getting squashed by cars? So it's ok to risk other cyclists, but not Fido? 🙄

[i]It might be worth bearing in mind that if you are at a Scottish trail centre with your dog running about all over then you are actually breaking the law. This would have obvious implications for liability if anyone was injured as a result. [/i]

Eh?

ok, I meant England/Wales rather than uk.... does the same law apply?

Some people (Hels) have not experienced the excitement of riding TNF Trail with pedestrians coming up the downhill sections. It does happen so riding within your braking limits would not be an unreasonable expectation. Mid week trail dog action for me though. My pooch would likely bite someone crashing into him as he's a rescue. ( as far as is practicable I don't allow him the chance of misbehaving or he's in a muzzle). I'm anti-social too so I prefer solitude for us.
Remember share and play nicely people.

I was on an uplift day at the FOD last year and a mate hit a big dog and went OTB only to receive a barrage of abuse from the owner who said he was a local so had every right to be there.

Thankfully no harm done to the bike or rider.

Almost caught it on my gopro but sadly my legs had gone and I couldn't keep up!!

I'm not an anti dog person. Honest. But the sh!t I wash out of my tyres really hacks me off. Mud washes off easy, why is dog dung so sticky?

Also, nice ride out with Seadog The Younger. Somebodies mutt appeared out of nowhere, no owner in sight of course. Scared the poor lad witless with its growling, snapping and chasing. Needed a swift boot from me to make it go away.

personally, i'd like to see someone's pet cat blasting down the trail after them.

personally, i'd like to see someone's pet cat blasting down the trail after them.

Dog - you goin ridin???? I gonna chase!!!!

Cat - You going riding??? Wake me when you return. [i]If you dare.[/i]

Well trained trail dogs are no problem - often quicker and taking better/more predictable lines than half the other people you encounter. People who take family pets out for a ride now and again... hmmmm.

As a dog fan I must agree to a great extent. Why spoil a dogs day with tossers who feel that is acceptable ANYWHERE to ride faster than their stopping distance.
Seriously, it may not be a good idea for the above reason. Not everyone has the sense and courtesy to consider others. A good reason to avoid taking kids out as well I am afraid.