Leashes for Labs - On the Trail

Are you one of those people who hate rules? Well, if it was a rule not to drink poison, would you do it?

Of course not and regulations about dogs off leash while hiking are kind of like that. They are there to protect your dog, not hamper his “wilderness experience” or yours.

Here are 4 questions I would like to ask you about your dog:

1. Do you care about your dog?
2. Do you want your dog to be healthy and live a long, happy life?
3. Do you take care of your dog, feed it, give it water, take it to the vet, etc.?
4. The dog can’t take care of itself, you have to take care of it, right?

Leashing your dog while you hike is part of taking care of your dog.

Here are just some of the things that can harm your dog by having them roam free off leash:

• Your dog can contract diseases like rabies, tapeworms, and salmonella by coming into contact or eating dead animals in the wild.

• Your dog can contract Guardia by drinking from the streams. Yes dogs and humans can get sick from drinking water that other animals have used as their toilets.

• Your dog can become dinner for a mountain lion...other large hoofed animals may just try and stomp them to death...and you may not even know your dog was bitten by a rattlesnake until it is too late.

• Your dog is much more likely to get ticks and bee stings off trail off leash.

• Hidden off trail hazards including rusty barbed wire and broken glass can injure your dog and lead to nasty infections.

• Confrontations with other dogs also off leash can lead to injury or worse.

The chances of your dog being hit in the parking lot or crossing the street, or coming in contact with mountain bikers or horseback riders on the trail, well all of these possible tragedies can be avoided if you take the simple precaution of leashing your dog when you go for a hike. And if you go for a hike to relax and enjoy the outdoors, why not increase your chances of doing so by leashing your dog when you take him or her with you?

Happy Trails begins with a leash for your dog and ends with Happy Tails of safe hiking adventures you took with your dog for years to come.