Irresponsible Dog Owners Ruin Forest Tranquility and Cause Dog to Suffer
Irresponsible pet owners do a lot to ruin things for the rest of us. People who don’t pick up their dog’s feces give ammunition to dog haters who would like to see canine companions barred from certain public areas. Improperly socialized dogs may engage in aggression that leads to front page news stories and ordinances outlawing certain breeds. People who abuse liberal dog policies contribute to the elimination of those policies.
Denise (that’s Buster’s mom) and I recently took our pal Buster camping in the Tahoe National Forest. The Tahoe National Forest is a paradise for people who love dogs and the outdoors. It has a remarkably liberal dog policy. Dogs are allowed, on leash, almost everywhere (there are a very small number of exceptions). Buster had the time of his life.
Sadly, some irresponsible people in one of the campgrounds where we stayed seemed determined to do everything in their power to undermine the National Forest’s dog policy.
We first encountered these people at a lake. Signs were posted clearly stating that no dogs were allowed within 100 feet of the lake. Their dog was swimming in the lake.
After they finished flaunting that rule, the couple tied their dog to a tree in their camp site and left for the rest of the day. Their dog evidently had severe separation anxiety. It barked incessantly for hours.
This bothered me on several levels. First, I knew that the neglected dog was suffering. Separation anxiety is not pleasant for the pet. Simply being tied to a tree and abandoned is not appropriate for any dog; a dog with separation anxiety will find this situation especially miserable.
Second, the barking was annoying. We had gone to the woods to enjoy tranquility. Instead we were serenaded with shrill, distraught barking for hours.
Finally, there is a high probability that someone else in the campground complained to the forest service about that dog. If the forest service receives enough complaints, dogs may one day be barred from the forest.
That would be truly unfortunate for responsible dog owners who follow the rules and properly care for their pets. My pal Buster enjoys camping. I’d hate to see that taken away.
Photo: Buster had fun even though we made him wear his hiking boots for part of the day.
You have questions. 
There’s always one bad apple in the bunch, isn’t there? Hopefully the forest service is understanding enough to know that the majority of dog owners are responsible and considerate. I was just wondering, do you think it would have done any good for you to have a chat with the dog’s owners, in case they were just ignorant and stupid, rather than malicious, inconsiderate and arrogant? You just never know.
I run across a lot of people flaunting the dog-friendly hiking around Seattle. Once, while hiking with my dog on-leash we encountered a dog off-leash, with the owners a few paces behind. Before we got close to the dog the owners shouted that I needed to keep my dog away from theirs, as their dog is unfriendly.
Why on earth would you allow your unfriendly dog to run off-leash (against the rules) on a popular hiking trail? It boggles the mind.
There are no problem woofies, only problem hoomans… at least that is what my hooman says.
Ugh, I can’t imagine! I had a dog with severe separation anxiety at one time, which we were unaware of when she was given to us. I know what a nightmare it was for our neighbors, as we both worked at the time, and couldn’t even leave her in the yard, as she was tunneling under the fence. We ended up finding a nice home with an elderly, house-bound woman for her, somewhere where she didn’t need to worry about being alone anymore. But for a dog like that to simply be tied up, out-of-doors in a forest like that, with all the stimulation around him and no respite … ugh!