DOGS!

I love my dog, but I would never bring him cragging unless I was relatively certain i would be the only party there. That said i do bring him bouldering all the time where we can wander around In between goes in my sick proj..!

The decline in climbing etiquette goes beyond let issues though.. good luck!!  

my dog is perfect, clearly you are talking about other peoples dogs.

Mark Pilatewrote:

I’ve thought outside the box and kill two birds with one stone.   The crag skunk not only solves the annoying dog and dog owner problem, but tends to also thin out the line on popular routes.

Outside the box? Really? Your playing checkers while we're playing Spock level N-dimentional chess.

It's about hearts and minds.

Ed "your bases are ours..." E

I like bringing my well-behaved dog climbing, and she loves coming climbing, 'cause she likes a short hike followed by hours of lounging and smelling the air/sleeping--she's quite lazy, as dogs can be. BUT, I don't bring her to busy crags during busy times. (I climb at Rumney a lot, and will bring her on weekdays but not weekends, for instance.) Mostly because there's enough of a shit-show going on without us there. I feel like that's a pretty fair approach to this issue.

I also always at least have a leash handy and put her on a leash if people are around and she's not actually sound asleep.

Last summer I had to beat three dogs off with my trekking poles when they came after me. I would’ve beat their human as well, but she was too far away.

Bruno Schullwrote:

What else?  Any realistic ideas???

For the last few years, I've carried really, really spicy hot dogs to the crags and I put it openly on my pack within easy reach of any misbehaving dogs I see. When their owners go ballistic, I just politely point out that maybe he should keep the dog under control at all times and not let them steal my lunch. The dogs (and owners) disappear real quick after this. If we all do this as a community, I think the dog owners will "get it".

Just remember you are all part of the same shit show. You get what you pay for.

Sweet the “poison dogs with spicy wieners” part of the thread is early

spend this energy elsewhere you loons

I like to qayaq through the ice floes and boulder offshore with ice tools at this time of year. No problem with dogs on the Chukchi Sea, but I do carry a flare gun for the occasional nanuq like this one I saw on Saturday:

Why do all narcissists name their dogs Luna

Skyler Scruggswrote:

spend this energy elsewhere you loons

I've trained mine to go straight for the nutsack of any sport climber. no apologies

Jake Joneswrote:

I'm with you Mark, but you're shouting into the void.  If these people gave a shit, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing in the first place.

The Truth

Hmm.  I dunno.  Unleashed dog can be very annoying.  I love my dogs.  I’m a better owner now. But. Let’s be fair.  I’m tired of you Bluetooth speaker, drone, pot odor, screaming while frustrated or falling, kids throwing rocks, hammocks, people who don’t follow instructions when meeting my dogs and associated nonsense, bad behavior.  
but.
your frustration is justified and heard.
I agree.

The real problem is too many people at the crags.  Quit having babies and introducing everyone you meet to climbing

I tell dog owners at the crag the truth: I am allergic to dogs. This seems to help somewhat with them being more careful to keep their dog away from me and my stuff

I'm psychologically allergic to dogs at the crags. 

Buff Johnsonwrote:

I've trained mine to go straight for the nutsack of any sport climber. no apologies

That’s cute

Hey Bruno. About that trough your dog is soaking its asshole in. Who or what was it actually built for?

WF WF51wrote:

Complaining on an internet forum is screaming into the void, and accomplishes nothing.  You have to publicly chastise these people bringing their unleashed or obnoxious dogs to the crag.  If enough of us start doing this, we can change the culture and put an end to this madness.  

It might be bad luck, but this never worked for me, even with a very mild-mannered, polite approach: The owner ignores you or responds pretty aggressively. 

Keep at it. Determination and persistence are omnipotent.

J Lindwrote:

Hmm.  I dunno.  Unleashed dog can be very annoying.  I love my dogs.  I’m a better owner now. But. Let’s be fair.  I’m tired of you Bluetooth speaker, drone, pot odor, screaming while frustrated or falling, kids throwing rocks, hammocks, people who don’t follow instructions when meeting my dogs and associated nonsense, bad behavior.  
but.
your frustration is justified and heard.
I agree.

If people require instruction about your dogs, there is no way in hell that you should be bringing your dogs.