[Closed] Trail centres and dogs.

Well known dog hater here. However its really very clear on this one. A well trained dog that is kept under control is no bother to anyone so whats the problem?

Thats the key - well trained

I don't believe it. We are onto page three of a dog thread and this is your first post on it TJ, your slipping 😀

If people don't want to see dogs, they'll moan (on tinternet, not in real life).

Well known dog hater here. However its really very clear on this one. A well trained dog that is kept under control is no bother to anyone so whats the problem?

but most importantly there are more badly skilled mtbers at trail centres who cause alot more issues.

Thats one way of skirting your responsibilities..blaming it on someone else.. 🙄

Seriously the problem is dogs & bikes do not mix well. If I come round the corner & I come across a human on the trail I can be pretty damn sure they will do something sensible like try to get out of the way, make enough space for me to pass etc..however if its dog..I dont know what that dog is going to do? Is he going to get out of the way? Try & bite me? Leap up & lick me to death? Bottom line is dogs add a dangerously unpredictable factor into the equation ergo logic suggests they should be kept out of the picture..

BTW Ive loved & buried 5 dogs so before anyone accuses me of being a "dog-hater" they could not be further from the truth..

 

I'm strongly against dogs at trail centres, and also, I'm sad to say, dogs off the leash pretty much anywhere there's likely to be small children.
I used to like dogs til my eldest daughter, who was three at the time, got knocked to the ground and then 'played with' by a collie as she lay on the ground screaming, til I could get the thing off her. That happened on an FC path in the woods, and involved a dog which was 'just playful, wouldn't harm a fly' according to its completely unapologetic owner. I have never wanted to kick someone (or some animal) as much in my life. A few years on and my daughter is still scared of dogs, and trail centre rides with her are regularly spoiled by selfish dog owners, whose animals are running around usually nowhere near them.
Most trail centre dog 'walkers' don't seem to give a hoot that their dogs are running in front of other riders all the time. At least that's what it looks like to me.
If you want to exercise your dog off its leash, be responsible - don't go where there's lots of people. And definitely don't take it to a trail centre - your selfishness spoils it for too many others

My god, is this still going on (of course it is, this is STW!)

It's starting to take a similar line to the riding on footpaths argument now - ie:

- you shouldn't go there coz you're not supposed to and it will ruin other peoples enjoyment
- And signs say you can't
- but I'm a great rider and won't harm anyone/my dog is well trained and won't harm anyone.
FWIW, I don't recal any signs saying no dogs at any of the trail centres 😈

I have to say that I'm somewhat surprised that you consider the potentional of Toxicariasis as not being a problem though.

Thank god, someone's thinking of the children 🙄

If you want to exercise your dog off its leash, be responsible - don't go where there's lots of people. And definitely don't take it to a trail centre - your selfishness spoils it for too many others

Or just train it properly.

Or just train it properly.

Elfin, where are you? It's wunundred time!!

One........oh you bugger!

What? Who? 😛

It's a very specific kind of training though, and only a few specific breeds of dogs make good trail centre hounds (Yes! I've coined a new phrase. Trail-centre-hounds).

My dog is very well trained and will heel to the back wheel of my bike, but he doesn't come riding with me at all, purely because he's too slow. He [i]can[/i] keep up, but he doesn't enjoy it and I don't want to make him miserable. He doesn't come with me on rides - I go on a bike with him on his slow perambulations of the local park and wait whenever he wants to sniff stuff.

Conversely, I've seen a border collie at GT, on a busy Saturday, heeling in exactly the same way my dog does, but with far greater speed and agility. If I had that dog, I'd take him out riding every day with me, no matter where I was. But I don't, so I don't.

Sadly, not all dog owners recognise their dogs' failings (for want of a better word*) and thus friction ensues...

* Skillset?!

I still think the poo problem is going to be predominantly with just plain dog walkers tho. And maybe most won't give a toss about cyclists issues with it. There may be signs up to say no walkers, but not much can be done if they choose to ignore, join the bike trail at another point, walk the opposite direction (Gisburn, for example, doesn't always have 'no entry' signs at the opposite ends, to my knowledge). I'd like to think bikers with trail centre hounds are a bit more considerate, but I'm not sure.

I'd like to think bikers with [b]trail centre hounds[/b] are a bit more considerate, but I'm not sure.

See? It's caught on already. 8)

trail centre hounds

What tyre for trial centre hounds??? PMSL! Ok I laugh at my own jokes but this place invents niches like you wouldnt believe... 😆

They now need to become TCHs to satify true niche requirements. 😀

Try riding through dog crap with a fatfront, that's nearly enough to make me want to give up riding all together. And just for the record my dog used to attend some trail centres but only on quiet weekdays after a good turnout 🙂

Anyone with a fatfront should like the improved aesthetics afforded by adding dog sh1t.

how come dog owners always think their dog is the exception to the rule? It's an animal, no matter how well trained it will still be to an extent unpredictable. so dont take them to trail centres.

there, now we can all get on with some work

Lol@ scruff.

Dogs are unpredictable and shouldn't be off the leash where they could cause accident or injury, no matter how well trained they are. You wouldnt take your mutt on a road ride so why take it to a trail centre FFS.

how come dog owners always think their dog is the exception to the rule? It's an animal, no matter how well trained it will still be to an extent unpredictable. so dont take them to trail centres.

This.

I have seen 3 or 4 dogs at trail centres running the trails - No problem at all. One collie was getting air and railing berms better than most of the bikes and was asbsolutley no issue to anyone.

It's an animal, no matter how well trained it will still be to an extent unpredictable. so dont take them to [u]trail centres[/u].

I'm not a dog owner.. or a regular trail centre user, but yesterday I was up at the local Forestry Commission owned forest having a mooch about with my baby son and neice and my sister and their dog..

We've been using the forest for this purpose for well over 30 years along with 1000s of others.. I've a feeling that if I asked my grandparents they would say that they went up there with their grandparents too..

Purpose built MTB trails have appeared up there in the last decade or so.. err.. should we all bugger off somewhere else instead now to keep these newcomers happy..?

(we bagged the dog poo and carried it out with us BTW..)

Purpose built MTB trails have appeared up there in the last decade or so.. err.. should we all bugger off somewhere else instead now to keep these newcomers happy..?

(we bagged the dog poo and carried it out with us BTW..)

We all have to share the land, it's a shame that some think that they have a greater right than others

My point exactly.. 😀

I come round the corner & I come across a human on the trail I can be pretty damn sure they will do something sensible like try to get out of the way, make enough space for me to pass etc..

Really, I find human responses vary about as much as those of dogs - I've not noticed much difference between a pair of toddlers or a pair of labs in terms of their ability to wander about erratically. There should really be a requirement for people to keep their kids on reins on a shared use path to avoid them getting in the way of adult users.

There should really be a requirement for people to keep their childish adults in check on a shared use path to avoid them getting in the way of grown-ups out with their kids.

FTFY

There should really be a requirement for people to keep their childish, selfish adults in check on a shared use path to avoid them getting in the way of grown-ups out with their kids.

We've been using the forest for this purpose for well over 30 years along with 1000s of others.. I've a feeling that if I asked my grandparents they would say that they went up there with their grandparents too..

Purpose built MTB trails have appeared up there in the last decade or so.. err.. should we all bugger off somewhere else instead now to keep these newcomers happy..?

Umm no-one's saying you can't go in the forest are they?

ummmm.. I don't know..

I lost interest in this thread after the first page.. I'm not entirely sure why I keep re-opening it..
I should probably post about it on the 'wierd things I keep doing' thread.. 😳

Dogs are allowed on the peaks pootles. Well trained ones.

I still don't have a dog.

Dunno what's worse having a dog take a crap or the c,,, bagging it up and leaving it on a dry stone wall just behind the sign that's says no dogs.