see also ‘there’s a cycle path next to this road, cyclists using the road had better watch out for me, it was built for cars, they should be on the path where they belong’

DGAF. There are LOADS of trails that horses and walkers can use in the forests. There is no excuse for them going on trail centre MTB trails.

I like to ride in a way which allows me to stop in the distance I can see to be please. Some call be shit at riding for this. Im pretty risk averse however.

Now Ive known first hand of people that have had dogs run under their wheels. The carnage (for the rider) was horrible. Months off work, pain traction operations etc etc. Now if you ran over the dog then tough titty its your fault and you should face the consequences. If they darted under your wheels then im afraid id be getting the police involved as your dog clearly isn’t under control.

If I came across one at a trail centre id like to say id run it over landing the owner with thousands in vet bills. unfortunately id probably end up missing it and riding over a cliff to certain death.

Id like to suggest a vigilante type group where anyone found with a dog at a trail centre gets the crap kicked out of them (the owner not the dog) and their bike stripped for parts.

If your dog causes an accident its you that will get sued and be criminally liable.

FIFY [/quote]

if your dog is out of control then you you can be punished by the courts by fine or jail term. pretty sure you end up with a criminal record when you go to jail.

I regularly ride with my dog at Hamsterley but stick to evenings or weekdays when it’s quiet and spend most of the time on either shared or off piste trails.

Never had any complaints from people i ride with and response from other trail users is generally positive.

Don’t really see what the problem is so long as common sense is applied.

Yes, Room 101 IMO. I’m not a regular user of our local trail centre (Sherwood Pines) at weekends, because of the crowds, but went yesterday and ended up with a dogs face in my back wheel! Group of dog walkers with about half a dozen dogs (on leads) had gone to look at the wooden start ramp at the start of the ‘Mini DH’ runs. I was just pedalling back up for another run, and slowed to walking pace to give em chance to get dogs under control – as I passed one of the big mutts went for me and the owner lost grip of its lead, which ended up around my brake rotor, reeling in the dogs head into the wheel (at least it couldn’t then bite me!) I’m not into deliberately causing pain and injury to animals, but I was a lot more concerned about the state of my nice new back wheel!

As one of the fellas on the ramp said – if you’ve got a dog that cant be trusted around other people, and you cant keep control of it – don’t take it to a crowded place with loads of kids and people on bikes!! (Selfish owners are the main problem IMO)

Never had any complaints from people i ride

You should hear what they say when you’re not around

I’m worried by the argument that bike trails are only for bikes and that you can “nail it” at all times on them. My local trains at Haldon, and many others in the UK, are on FC land. There is absolutely no legal restriction on who uses the trails. If you “nail it” into a dog walker on a bike trail it is your fault for going too fast, not the dog walkers (even if they are being stupid by walking on a trail intended for bikes!). I’ve had this conversation with the Rangers who have confirmed to me that they cannot legally stop walkers going down the bike trails, only ask/ advise them not to. We all need to exercise some caution on that basis.

Why, what have they been saying?

hora – Member
Another reason why I avoid trail centres.

This.

There’s a very good chance you’ll meet some of the worst of what the human race has to offer. And unfortunately they might have a dog aswell.

Stick to the hills. Or go out on the roads; at least then you’re already prepared to meet some of the worst of what the human race has to offer….

There’s a very good chance you’ll meet some of the worst of what the human race has to offer.

At a trail centre? As opposed to in outside Yates’s on a Friday night or Butlins in Skegness or A&E on a hot bank holiday? Which trail centres do you go to?

Just when you thought STW couldn’t sink any further…….

Some of the comments on this thread I though were the preserve of our ‘Red Socks’ friends.
Yes lets make more laws prohibiting this or that.

Common Sense – that’s whats needed.
Saturdays/ Sundays – NO

Somewhere remote like Brechfa on a mid week day with just a couple of cars in the car park; is it really a problem?

no chance I’m slowing down for horses or walkers on a dedicated MTB trail.

Saw an idiot do this close to a horse on a shared trail, not sure what he was expecting really!?….he obviously thought of himself as ‘billy big bo##ocks’ but he looked a right tit when the horse spooked and stepped sideways into him and half a ton of equine muscle sent him flying….made everyone else laugh though.

I’ve also had a guy on a MTB at QECP come towards me at speed shouting to get out of the way, as a fellow MTBer I might have sympathized if he’d been on the signed MTB trails there….but he wasn’t….it was in the carpark and there were kids about, me with my dogs etc….he came off far worse, I’m at a loss as to what people in this situation think they’re riding!?….it’s a bicycle that is unstable if you hit something/someone and it’s dead easy to fall off….it’s not a tank and yet (some) people seem to adopt an air of invincibility when they strap on a helmet and go for a ride.

There are idiots in every sport, cycling does unfortunately seem to have some particularly militant and obnoxious ones though.
If you really can’t handle having to share a trail with a walker, a dog or a horse go somewhere on private land like BPW, the 417-project etc….if you’re going into forestry commission land accept that you’ll have to rein it in a bit.

I’m very much a “stop in the distance you (or a myopic mole) can see” train of thought and practice, as has been said, lots of things could be round the corner but, and it’s a big but, dogs can and often do head for cyclists, to be sociable, aggressive, inquisitive or just blasé. A dog at full tilt towards you will rapidly change “the distance you can see” into not very far at all.

Rocks, trees, fallen riders and a million other things tend to be fairly sedentary.

Horses can be erratic but will IME not respond to your approach by running at you.

Children and slower riders will should be moving away from you at a trail centre.

Walkers maybe heading towards/across you but aren’t generally moving towards you so quick as to give neither of you chance to stop if you’re travelling at a speed suitable to the distance you can see.

Wildlife on the whole will bolt away from you as fast as it’s limbs will carry it. (obvious exceptions being sheep and pheasants which will insist on high speed dither and cows, which can be quite inquisitive and run towards you but are a rare sight at trail centres)

Dogs shouldn’t be at trail centers at peak times, simply too unpredictable. It’s bad enough having to elbow yourself past slow riders, without a blooming random dog to worry about or dog sh*t to ride through.

Saw an idiot do this close to a horse on a shared trail, not sure what he was expecting really!?….he obviously thought of himself as ‘billy big bo##ocks’ but he looked a right tit when the horse spooked and stepped sideways into him and half a ton of equine muscle sent him flying….made everyone else laugh though.

Don’t want that! I’d best stop short and just shout really loud then?
Seriously though, climbing on a huge mentally unstable creature and then taking it on a trail built purposefully for MTBers to razz around is not just incredibly selfish, it damn stupid too.
I’m all for being respectful on the forest roads, I’ll always stop or ask horseriders nicely if it’s OK to pass, very slow past walkers etc.

Dogs are mental. You can’t trust them. Anyone who says they can just hasn’t seen the right combination of rodent/discarded food to distract their dog from keeping out from under other people’s wheels.

Riding on shared trails and forests etc. is fine and, TBH, riders have to look out for other people’s dogs, kids, horses etc. etc. in any case, but at a trail centre, unless it’s very quiet, it’s a risk to both dog and riders.

When I’ve been with mine, I can never quite predict which corners they will decide to short cut (“Do dogs do Strava” is a whole other thread we can start) and often they will switch from following to leading without much warning. If they see a squirrel then forget it – that becomes the #1 job in hand.

I have a few friends who sometimes ride with their dogs. It’s fun riding with them out in the woods in a small group but I can’t imagine the owners or the other riders enjoying it in a large group or at a trail centre, there’s just too much risk of an accident.

As much as I love the idea of dogs & bikes – it sounds like a great combination….

The reality is that the majority of mutts & I mean 99.9% are utterly unpredictable. You can have a fairly good idea of what your 4 legged friend might do next but be honest would you stake your life on it?

I think they are fine when its quiet but common sense must be exercised if you’re on busy trails & your furry best mate left at home.

I work with dogs & I’m studying canine behaviour at university. Experience tells me that at the best of times theres a lot of risk & at the worst your better off not bothering…

See, common sense and an expert respond. So, no dogs on trail centre trails………..end of thread 🙂

(I’m off to Korea to see how they deal with dogs on trails)

At a trail centre? As opposed to in outside Yates’s on a Friday night or Butlins in Skegness or A&E on a hot bank holiday? Which trail centres do you go to?

Getting pissed is what you’re supposed to do on a Friday night.

Risking the life of your dog and other people because you’re a **** chump is not what you’re supposed to do.

Just when you thought STW couldn’t sink any further…….

Round these parts we fit false bottoms to our barrels.

As a dog owner I’m hoping to take our Border out with me in the future – they were bred for running with a pack and we will both enjoy it.

But there is no way I’d take him to a trail centre when it’s even lightly used. Certainly not when I can’t trust him and other riders. Maybe at 6am like cubist but I value his health too much to risk him being run over or to cause an accident.

Trail centres, for me, are about 100% focus on the trail and you can’t keep half an eye on the dog and ride. So I’ll be taking him on more natural rides or on some deserted Scottish trails. It’s all about being considerate and when it’s busy you are unlikely to have enough control over the dog for it not to be a potential problem.

“Border” as in Border Terrier? A beater dog that’s bred to go out front and zigzag? That’ll be grand 😉

I have a dog and he loves coming with me on the bike. Goes mental as soon as he sees me putting my riding shoes on.

I think its very important to protect a dog from its own enthusiasm. Dogs will run through brick walls to stick with their owners out on an mtb blast, but ultimately you run the serious risk of doing a lot of damage to your dog. Later years will see the onset of arthritis from such hard running. I loved taking my lab/springer cross out on rides, but soon realised it wasn’t good for him despite the rests.

Once met a trail hound charging at high speed up the Innerleithen Red. It having lost its owner. It is all very well saying you should ride at a speed to let you stop in the distance you can see. But if you had to allow for the dog doing 20-odd mph around a steep corner then it would be pretty pointless ridng the trail. I just think riding with a dog at a TC is just hugely selfish, but clearly that doesn’t bother some on here.

You’d think common sense would prevail without having to debate the law: keep dogs and walkers off designated MTB trails for the same reason we don’t stroll around (with or without dogs) in the middle of a busy road when there’s a footpath.

Late to this one but I have two “trail dogs”, two labs who can happily run along all day, very obedient, well mannered and great when running alongside me on my bike.

However, dogs like humans can be a bit thick at times and even though I trust mine 99%, that 1% chance that they will just stop dead in the middle of a trail and cause a nuisance is reason enough that they should not be at trail centres.

Amazing how every thread on here with the word dog or cat always degenerates to a verbal brawl.

Not really,lhs above seems pretty sensible.

As a whippet owner I find the thought of taking my dog on any ride hilarious.

I don’t really mind if other people take their dogs to trail centres though, as long as it’s not really busy and they’ve packed their poo bags.

If the owners are making sure that they are the only ones enjoying the experience of their TH frolicking around their wheels then what’s the problem?

In practice though that rarely seems to be the case, and you get to share them, same as most places you encounter dogs. If you’re lucky you might get the owner shouting “he’s OK!”, which is apparently the most important thing.

A beater dog that’s bred to go out front and zigzag?

Yes a Border Terrier

A dog that’s bred to follow the horses and hounds and flush out a fox if it goes underground

The border terrier was bred to have long enough legs to keep up with the horses and other foxhounds, which traveled with them, and small enough bodies to crawl in the burrows of foxes and chase them out so the hunters had a blank shot. The foxhounds that traveled with them were not small enough to do the Border terrier’s job.

They weren’t bred as a beaters dog.

Any dog off the lead that comes near me will be treated to a lovely bit of mars bar (or other chocolate snack), Go on eat as much as you can 🙂

I wouldn’t give two hoots if dog’s became extinct tomorrow, they generally don’t engender any feeling in me at all. In fairness it’s generally irresponsible owners I dislike, and owners who think you should like their dogs.

If a dog owner is considerate about taking one to a trail centre fair dues, you can have at it for me, they have the dogs welfare and that of themselves and other riders to consider. But this is no different to us all, it’s sad that showing some consideration for others seems to exercise some on here so much.

Trail centres are busy enough with actual riders.

Even as the owner of a collie and a spaniel with whom I’ve spent 1090394092034,908923049023 hours riding, it’s a firm no from me.
The hard pack aggregate is not terribly good for your dogs paws, either.

andybrad – you ever tried to pull that trick with mine or any other dog and it won’t be the vets bill you’re worrying about trust me.

“what forceps for removing …….”

it’ll be fine as your dog is under control isn’t it?

I’d be more worried about the dog getting run over than from eating a mars bar.

I was at Cannock on Sunday, some nob was riding around with a smug smile on his face like “yo check me y’all, I got a trail dawg” …. it was a Pug … about the size of one of the nobbles of tread on my tyre !
I saw it nearly get run over by a couple of people before it came wandering infront of me and that dufus didn’t give a monkeys about it getting in peoples way.

There’s a time and a place …. trail centres are not this place, especially at a weekend.