Best kind of crag dog?

Mike Robinsonwrote:

Oh these fkn forums...I should know better than to say Anything on here...Thank you for directly patronizing me...My mom used to do that but. Shes gone now...thank you for parenting me...I feel like my mom is alive again

Show us on the doll where the dog touched you Mike..

Mike Robinsonwrote:

Oh these fkn forums...I should know better than to say Anything on here...Thank you for directly patronizing me...My mom used to do that but. Shes gone now...I still need parenting sometimes...thank you for mothering me if just for a moment

I said "kinda"...sheesh. Need some hugs and cookies? It's been a long stretch of hard and ugly, for me, anyway, this last half year. 

Sorry kid, my apologies.

EDIT TO ADD CUZ OF F'ing POST LIMITS:

Then have her send ME some cookies, Robinson!!¡!!

Glad she's good, sir! ;-)

Old lady Hwrote:

I said "kinda"...sheesh. Need some hugs and cookies? It's been a long stretch of hard and ugly, for me, anyway, this last half year. 

Sorry kid, my apologies.

nah your good...was trying be passive agressivley funny...hard to do on here.  My mom is great! still alive and a wonderful person...btw

regarding OP's query, NOT a hunting dog.  They'll tend to run off looking for a bite to eat. My perspective is that labs and goldens might be too low energy in older age to go on a long hike with you.

An australian cattle dog /mix might be a good option, but they'd be too high energy to leave at the base of a crag for their first couple of years, esp. if there's other ppl around  - they'll just go batshit when you dip out of sight.  My current 1.5 year old blue heeler/ border collie is just starting to let me go out of sight without freaking out. He is at ATTENTION from the moment my feet leave the ground until I'm back in his paws - not running around trying to herd me/others, as others have said, but that's because that's what I've trained him to do.  He's an excellent scrambling dog (up to 5th class), has an amazing ability to sniff out approach trails, can stand 90 degree and 10 degree weather no problem, and his number 1 priority in life is to please me - all great qualities for a crag dog. Caveat: I've heard that my ACD is more even-tempered than any other my vet has seen - I can take partial responsibility (ie. constant positive reinforcement when I poke him, put my fingers in his mouth, just generally expose him to annoyances) but I know that I'm lucky that he's just chill AF for his breed.

I also have a mutt - probably a Tennessee Treeing hound or a pit/lab/rhodesian/pointer mix.  You tell him to lie down and he'll nap there till someone else comes by. Then he'll lick their faces and walk home with them.  He's a super social dog, but not the best attention span nor the best endurance, and he tends to overheat (is this a big dog thing?) - otherwise great for cragging.

FWIW, both were rescues, I had no idea whether they'd be great crag dogs or nightmares. I got lucky.

Whatever dog you get, spend all the time you can training them every day for a year or more, make sure they're you're priority (not whatever proj you've got your eyes on) for the first half dozen times you go to the crag, and then most any dog you get will be a good crag dog.

*edited after reading the other 8 pages* I would only recommend taking a dog to a crag where there aren't any other people. I prefer bouldering with my pups so I can keep an eye on them. Train the shit out of your dog. ACD's are great dogs when trained and exercised. Good luck out there. Sheesh people, not all dogs, not all owners!

I had to bring my cattle dog to the gunks today and I need to apologise to anyone near me. Even with my non climbing wife in full attendance I was still embarrassed by my dog's absolute determination to be near me, annoying anyone within earshot.

Strangely we saw 3 other cattle dogs today, non by climbers. Absolutely wonderful companions, terrible crag dogs. 

The best? I was a dog owner and I like dogs,  but I’d have to say that the best dog is the one you leave at home. There are far too many dogs at the crags these days. 

Mark Hudonwrote:

The best? I was a dog owner and I like dogs,  but I’d have to say that the best dog is the one you leave at home. There are far too many dogs at the crags these days. 

So it’s okay 10 pitches up to have a dog as long as you are not cragging?

I was a mailman for 32 years.  Breed doesn't matter much.  Dogs come in two types - friendly, mellow, laid back or yappy, aggressive, high strung little assholes.  Avoid the latter

Detrick Swrote:

I would only recommend taking a dog to a crag where there aren't any other people.

The best crag dog to have is the one you leave home.

Kevinmurraywrote:

The best crag dog is the one you bring with you to the crag.

I fixed it for you

Nope, all dogs should be fixed and left at home. Actually I think the world would be a better place without dogs, cat too.

I don't get why these seem to degrade into pro- vs anti-dog nonsense. If you brought your non-climber friend, or your non-climber spouse, or non-climber child to the crag, you'd kinda be an asshole. They'll miss you, they won't enjoy it, they won't be participating, they'll be making noises and messing with things at the cliff base out of boredom. Why would it be different with a dog? 

If your dog can climb, or you're climbing things easy enough to belay a dog up, then great. Otherwise, suck it up and find someone they can hang with while you climb. Same as anyone else you love who doesn't go vertical. 

Some crag dogs are great, just probably not yours

JonasMRwrote:

I don't get why these seem to degrade into pro- vs anti-dog nonsense. If you brought your non-climber friend, or your non-climber spouse, or non-climber child to the crag, you'd kinda be an asshole. They'll miss you, they won't enjoy it, they won't be participating, they'll be making noises and messing with things at the cliff base out of boredom. Why would it be different with a dog? 

If your dog can climb, or you're climbing things easy enough to belay a dog up, then great. Otherwise, suck it up and find someone they can hang with while you climb. Same as anyone else you love who doesn't go vertical. 

This is super narrow minded.  Yesterday I went to a cliff with zero other people and brought my dog. The approach and walk back to the car were really enjoyable for him. (able to roam and sniff off leash across wide open terrain to his heart’s content) There weren’t other people for him to annoy, (I was rope soloing) but if there had been, he was fine the whole day and sat there quietly leashed to the base waiting for me to finish climbing.  Between burns I’d throw sticks for him or walk him around the crag and he was stoked the whole day.  

If your dog is consistently terrible when you bring it to the crag, you probably shouldn’t keep bringing it climbing with you.  If you’re training it to be good at the crag, (this isn’t typically an intrinsic skill-it requires training) don’t go to mega popular cliffs during peak hours to do so. 

Wow that looks just like the dog that I thought was cool and we hung out for an hour or two no problem and then it fucking bit me because I pulled out a bag of beef jerky

"Omg I'm so sorry he never does that, it must have been because you had food" ugh 

To preface, I bring my two dogs with me 90% of the time that I go climbing. I’ve spent a lot of time training both of them to be off leash outside and to behave accordingly. When I’m actively climbing or belaying, I lay down a blanket or a coat on the ground and give them both what I call the “place” command. This means they lay in that spot and don’t move until I tell them to “break.” A young couple with their off leash blue heeler came up the trail and this dog starts sprinting circles around my two dogs and nipping at their legs trying to get them to play. I’m not super interested in letting my dogs be a part of that kind of chaos at a crowded crag. So I asked these folks to put their dog on a leash and give my dogs some space because they’ve been told to stay in their spots. Meanwhile this lil ankle biter is in one of my dog’s faces and my dog of course growled at it. This woman completely lost her cool on me about it. And I was just very confused because her dog was the one being a problem.

TLDR: Humans make bad dogs. The dogs don’t make themselves bad. 

Argue all you want, but objectively there's really no situation in which it is BETTER to have your dog at the crag - it's just more convenient for you.  Your dog is just another safety consideration at best, and a horrible nuisance at worst.  

I hardly feel the need to say this, but I've really fallen in love with dogs lately.  My parents have a new dog that I let sleep in my bed, something I thought I would never do.  My brother and his wife have a goofy little dog that I spend more with than them when I go to visit.  But I don't have a dog myself...largely due to the fact that I travel a lot and climb outside 100+ days each year.  

People will continue to bring their dogs to the crag though, and I'll continue to climb with people who bring their dogs...and this silly thread won't change anything.