Dog owners responsibilities...

[bwd]

From the messageboard:

Dog Lover But . . . : On the long weekend at Nitinaht we had some small dogs running loose near our campsite. They were friendly and harmless with the exception of one thing - they, being dogs, needed to mark their territory. I witnessed one of them peeing on someone's gear bag and smelled pee on my cooler. Another sailor tells me one of them peed on her booties. Both of the dogs have owners who are very nice people. I doubt they even considered that this might be a problem. So - to every dog owner out there - even if a dog is good-natured it still needs to be leashed or at least supervised when not on a leash when in the campground (please). - Aug 09 7:59PM

W247: Dog Lover - couldn't agree more. We had dog s--t all over our trailer as it got tracked in our shoes. Totally disgusting. It's becoming a major problem up there. - Aug 09 10:08PM

Poo: ......nice of you to just sit and watch them pee on everyone's stuff! - Aug 10 12:03AM

Dog Lover But: In reply to "Poo" I wasn't close enough to kick the dog if that's what you were suggesting - nor would I ever do that since the dog was doing what comes naturally to it. It is the dog owners who need to be responsible which is the reason this post is being made. - Aug 10 6:30AM

Dog Owner Who Enjoys Board Sports: Hi all. I regularly bring my pooch to windsurfing areas, and it is both disturbing and frustrating to see people letting fido run free/unattended while sailing, sleeping etc. Not only are there $hi##y problems, but a dog will eat almost anything, including the garbage, chicken bones and other crap left in peoples campsites. If you care about your pet, clean up and please don't let it die from your negligence. - Aug 10 9:42AM

Mattd0G: Warning: dog owners think their pets can do no wrong. Yes there is an emotional bond and they will get very defensive if you critizize thier shit hounds. We bypass that with the guerilla approach and toss them raw meat balls embedded with trazadone pills. Knocks em out cold for hours. - Aug 10 9:52AM

Mattd0G: By the way, kudos to Dog Owner who Enjoys ... Apparently he keeps his dog leashed and supervised. - Aug 10 9:56AM

Mattd0G: Point proven. Some defensive-ass dog owner has stolen my identity (too bad you can't spell)and tried to misrepresent me. Dogs are fine except when spreading disease and foul odour. - Aug 10 10:58AM

Mattd0G: ... and chasing threatened wildlife on the beach. - Aug 10 11:02AM

:: Personal favorite is walking on kites and taking a crap in the launch area. - Aug 10 11:03AM

What Wildlife?: chasing threatened wildlife on the beach - Aug 10 11:18AM

Thelaw: I have a dog and she crapped last night off the trail in the woods and I didn't clean it up. It feels so much better to get that off my chest. - Aug 10 11:25AM

[Mattdog]

Every other time I go kiting, I seem to step it dog shit or get it on my kite.

Dog poo is unhygenic - lots of parasites.

[mortontoemike]

Sorry BWD.

re: Wildlife on the beach. Last week there was a mink running around the beach near the BIG LOG. Don't know if it's feeling threatened though.

[Mattdog]

Dog owners "sick 'em" on flocks of gulls, ducks, herons etc at low tide and they have been known to kill seal pups. This at Jericho beach just for example.

[jump'njibe'njim]

Dogs hate windsurfing. They only come because their owners force them to. To be taken to a strange place and abandonded amoungst strangers and their dogs is a terrible experience for a dog. Add to that being yelled at by those strangers and then by you when you return to what your dog has done make it nothing but a humiliating (dogs hate humiliation) and fearful experience for your "pal". Show a little consideration for your "best friend" and leave him at home. He'll be very happy to see you return.
Once, years ago, I took my dog "Pokey" out on my longboard. I thought it was cool in some ignorant way until I realized that the particular bark he was making was equivalent to a human being screaming in fear. The poor little bugger was terrified but came along because he was genetically programmed to be totally dedicated and to follow me, the Alpha male, to the ends of the earth, which he had surely discovered while perched upon my board. I realized that my jack-ass ignorance had put my buddy in a bad state. It was some kind of stupid fun for me but a total bummer for my dog. Taking your dog windsurfing is the same thing. Despite your mistaken "kindness", your dog, if you care for him/her, it would be much happier and better off some where else.

[KUS]

Ever consider that Dog (Pet) owners are actually the pets

Last Wired event (some years ago) I met up with Sailworks Bruce Petersen after he asked me point blank: "So, what's for dinner Kus? I'm having what you are...." Seems my shepherd ate his whole chicked right out of his van

Yeah, used to love shelling out for the "better" dogfood, the vet - usually for the other useless too-yappy dog- (seems I can feed several families for a year in foreign countries with the dough I spent on this alone) Scooping the poop, picking hair off my suits and all over the vehicle, the wonderful aroma of wet dog that never went away, the scratched woodfloors & doors from Halloween/Canada Day fireworks, had to drag the frickin' dog everywhere I went or I couldn't go the sail he went through ("I told you, don't throw sticks on the beach!!")

Yeah, really miss that He did keep the f@$#ing deer away tho and probably the odd lowlife burglar, gotta give'm that

[JL]

My dogs loved Nitinat. We had many happy hours walking , playing & hanging out. When I was on the water the dogs were in my van or being watched by my family...There are no bad dogs only bad owners. I once again am lucky enough to have a dog. She too loves trips to the beach. I clean up after her & if you see me miss a mess she makes please let me know so I can clean up...Oh & sorry about the barking ! I guess that's how dogs make up for not having boom boxes.

[wade]

Agree with Jimmy, there are only bad owners. My dog loves Nitinaht as well but I always keep an eye on her and never let her run free. Before the wind comes up in the morning I take her on a good 1 1/2 hour walk/swim up the creek from the bike trail so she is a bit tired and then she goes into the vehicle while I kite. As soon as I am off the water she gets another walk and then I never let her just 'cruise' around on her own. If you see one pissing or shitting and the owners aren't doing anything about it then say something. Personally I think this thread should be accompanied by a thread titled 'child owners responsibilities' where we can discuss how great it is to have kids that just cruise around the site on their own wandering through sites stepping on gear and camping stuff. Or when they are on the beach hucking rocks just missing windsurf or kiting gear that is on the beach or my favorite when at 5 in the morning the peace and quiet is shattered by some 3 year old screaming his lungs out and you can hear the parents saying 'shhh, go to sleep' (repeat that about 10 times with no result). How about getting up and taking your kid somewhere to cry so everyone else doesn't have to be affected by it. No bad kids, just bad parents. Lets face it, dogs aren't for everyone, neither are kids, but if you see either one of them doing something and the owner/parent isn't doing anything about it then speak up. We all have to get along and tolerate a certain amount, that's life.

[foilboy]

Hi Wade,
you obviously don't have any kids as revealed by your simplistic attitude in dealing with them. Let me assure you, that nobody else is more disturbed by a screaming kid than the parents and that the occurence, timing , frequency or duration of the screaming is hardly a reflection of parenting skills. Taking the screaming kid into the bushes away from other annoyed campers would certainly result in annoying many more for longer times. So here is better advice (similar to what had been proposed in dealing with loud music): if you cannot handle a screaming kid, keep your camp at a good distance from the kid's camp! Certainly stay away from mine.
I agree with your point on not letting kids with destructive behaviour unsupervised, but unlike a dog, it should be pretty simple to tell the kid to stop it even when not being the "owner".

Chris

[mortontoemike]

I arrived for Windfest on Friday am, parked my car, and immediately stepped in a fresh pile of dogs--t. When I got back in the car I noticed a bad smell. After I ground it into the carpet a little I discovered the mass attached to the bottom of my shoe.

I'll take 100,000 crying babies, screaming children, at any hour of the day or night, over having to clean the unrighteous, disgusting, bile smelling mess I had to scrape offa my car mat and shoe the first thing in the morning.

Remember gae-ttong-nyue ...

[wade]

Hey foilboy, yeah, no kids here but don't have anything against them, got a few nephews who I love to death. Simplistic attitude? Nice one, didn't know we had met or did you pick that one up from reading one post? Take the kid into the bushes?? Never suggested that but how about down the beach or for a walk? As far as staying at the other end of the campsite away from the 'family area', that's were I stay but guess what, kids show up there also and that is where the experiences happened. Unlike some I don't propose segregating the campsite, just do your best to handle a situation when it arises so as not to affect all those around you. I agree that 'occurence, timing , frequency or duration of the screaming' is not necessarily a reflection of bad parenting however not dealing with the situation when other people are affected by it is. In the grand scheme of things is it a big deal?? No. When groups of people gather in small areas, stuff happens. I don't condone poor dog ownership but I also don't condone parents who just let their kids do whatever with no thought about how their action (or lack of action) affects other people. It is always funny to me when people complain about one thing (in this case dogs being a nuisance) and then turn around and pass off another nuisance (kids) as being alright because they are into one and not the other. As I said, we all have to get along and sometimes compromises are needed.

[foilboy]

Hi Wade,
we haven't met and judging your attitude from a single post was certainly premature. But suggesting to take the screaming kid in the middle of the night "somewhere" else, is somewhat simplistic. And "somwhere" at Nitinat does not leave much but the bushes including the beach unless you take a drive. Either way, it would not help much to stop the screaming quickly and by the time one is far enough away from other campers half the campsite will be awake. The only realistic approach I see is to calm the kid in the tent/camper. I whished I had solution to offer that would not require some tolerance for night time screaming. At least the roaming kids won't come to your campsite in the middle of the night and start screaming. I certainly hope not.
Cheers,

Chris

[bricktop]

Does loud snoring count too?

[foilboy]

Does loud snoring count too?

That's the worst!

[Russian Dood]

Does loud snoring count too?

That's the worst!

Especially with subwoofer