ThisistheInfiniteIs t1_ist52ab wrote on October 18, 2022 at 2:50 PM

Tourists come here imagining that the whole state is their personal dog park because they are out in the country. It is super inconsiderate to not leash your dog anywhere that is not your own personal property or an off leash area of a dog park.

Then they get on social media and tell everyone how "dog friendly" it is here and post a million pictures of their untrained pet off leash all over the place.

It is NOT ok to let your pet roam free on hiking trails people. It's also not ok to bring your dog into stores and restaurants, which I see tourists trying to do all the time.

Trajikbpm t1_ist9zt5 wrote on October 18, 2022 at 3:23 PM

Tourists? Please my whole town let's their dogs run free and constantly cry on FB when they don't come home for days in freezing weather. Dogs in the street in people's backyards and usually it's the same people over and over having the whole town looking for their lost dogs again and again.. Stop the blaming one side its so beyond rediculous at this point. Clean up your own shit in your own back yard. There's enough there like every other state.

ThisistheInfiniteIs t1_istc7b3 wrote on October 18, 2022 at 3:38 PM

Yup, it's not just tourists!

We have more than our fair share of irresponsible, selfish dog owners here already, the tourists just compound the problem.

[deleted] t1_isuav5f wrote on October 18, 2022 at 7:23 PM

It is not tourists. I am a serious hiker and the worst thing about hiking here in VT and NH is the people with loose dogs. The dogs frequently run far ahead of the owner and act very defensively once they see somebody.

I know they are not tourists when there are no out of state plates in the parking area.

ThisistheInfiniteIs t1_isudbeu wrote on October 18, 2022 at 7:39 PM

This is true, it's not just tourists, we have more than our fair share of selfish, inconsiderate dog owners here already, we don't need to be importing any more of them.

Many folks do not even comprehend the mortal dangers of letting their dog loose in the woods, especially during hunting season, let alone the fact that some folks carry pepper spray for just such an occasion.

Vermont is not a dog park, have some respect for the people and places that you visit folks, even if it is near your home and you think that you can "get away" with it.

suffragette_citizen t1_isxkwdg wrote on October 19, 2022 at 1:14 PM

Exactly -- my "favorite" encounter with a rude dog owner this year was in Groton over Labor Day weekend when a guy called us flatlanders because we asked him to leash his dogs after they ran up to us, growling with tails down, and started sniffing us down and slobbering on us. When we told him his were the only unleashed dogs we'd encountered the entire hike he said "well, they must all be flatlanders, too."

Charming.

beetroot747 OP t1_ist893c wrote on October 18, 2022 at 3:11 PM

I did ask the third dog owner to leash up. Her dog (looked like a golden retriever, just walked up to me). She just went off without a word. I looked back, and the dog was still off leash.