Dog owners experiences on natural-surface trails
michele biscoe
Please see below for specific questions that have been suggested for panelists to address.
Begin forwarded message:
<snip>This will be an opportunity for you, as representatives of major user groups, to share 5-7 minutes each, your perspective on what your users (or range of users) might be looking for in their trail experiences. Guiding questions might include:
- Who participates in your activity
- What makes a great natural surface trail experience for this user group
- What are some of your favorite DCR places or trail experiences
- What might be different about your users or experience from other users
- What are some of the barriers that your group faces
The idea will be to build some shared understanding among all trail users and managers in the room around the interests of different trail user groups.
Following the panel sharing for a few minutes, will be some group discussion and dialogue.
Jim Williams
I value a relatively sparse experience where we meet a few well
behaved dogs on the trail. We rarely go to crowded locations such as
the sheepfold. Where we go we frequently see the same dogs and owners
with whom we chat briefly. This suits my dogs because it is low
stress and we rarely encounter dogs who feel they need to prove
themselves.
We prefer a minimally maintained trail which doesn't encourage infrequent users.
We walk somewhere in the Fells.
We walk every day except when it is below 10 degrees, an active
snowstorm, or a hurricane. (And have been out in conditions
approaching these.)
While there are occasional pogroms the authorities generally leave us
alone. It would be nice if benign neglect could be made an official
policy somehow, maybe by making off-leash an secondary offense much
like some driving offenses. (You can't be sited for the offense
unless you are stopped for a more serious offense.)
Jim (Dharma and Andy)
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No essence. No permanence. No perfection. Only action.
Robert Mathews
My favorite walk is (well, used to be) through the sheepfold and up into the hills. Of course, yesterday when I went to do this, the pogram was in full force. 4 DCR rangers and a mounted unit. They were even watching to make sure that you kept your dog on-lease on the spots in the sheepfold that were slightly outside the marked area. I felt like I was in the middle of a crime scene.
So I left.
Melissa B Bennett
I am so glad this kind of panel is happening. The more the public can speak out about the experience of dog owners the better! I arrived at the Sheepfold after the patrols had left, but boy was I upset about the amount of horse poop that I had to avoid, and keep my dog from eating….
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