This morning, I woke up and saw a post in a local hiking forum about a dog owner bragging about how he doesn't always pick up after his dog or follow leash laws on the trail. The forum moderator had locked the commenting after reminding the group to support Leave No Trace principles, but the comments were already full of people actually supporting this clown.
I love hiking with my dog. I always pick up after him, because it's the right thing to do.
Do you hike with a dog and think it's okay to leave your dog's leavings by the side of the road? Well it's not. Sit down and I'm about to teach you why.
First and foremost, it's a violation of Leave No Trace.
Leave No Trace (LNT) is the most sacred set of guiding principles in the hiking community. Every hiker should follow the principles of LNT, whether they have a dog or not, whether they're a day-hiker or a backpacker. It's the Holy Commandments of hiking and exploring the backcountry.
A lot of people think it just means don't litter (pack it in, pack it out), but LNT is much, much more than that. Did you set up your tent in a meadow instead of on firm-packed ground and crush a bunch of grass and flowers? That's a violation of LNT. Did you find a nifty artifact by the trail and decide to pick it up and keep it as a souvenir? That's a violation of LNT. Do you have a Bluetooth speaker hanging off your pack listening to music others can audibly hear while you hike? That's a violation of LNT.
LNT is all about finding nature and the trail exactly as you found it. It's about minimizing human impact in natural areas in order to preserve them for future generations.
What if I just bag it and pick it up on my way out?
In addition to violating LNT, you're still leaving dog shit behind that other trail users have to look at. Plus, I regularly see bagged poo that's obviously days old, so I'm going to call you out and say that's bullshit. You know it. I know it. Don't even go there and give me that fake excuse. You're a liar.
Part of dog ownership is properly cleaning up after your animal. If you aren't willing to do that, don't hike with a dog. Period.
Wild animals poop in the woods all the time. Why can't my dog?
Because your dog is not a wild animal, does not eat like a wild animal, and the stuff in your dog's poop can actually harm the environment. For one, most dog poop does not decompose as quickly as wildlife scat. Our dogs are (probably) eating commercial dog food, not out hunting their own raw meat, and the fillers and preservatives in that food can make that scat last a while. That non-decomposing poop leaches out nasty stuff like E. coli and giardia into natural water sources. In urban watersheds, dog waste is often sited as the 3rd or 4th largest contributor of bacterial pollution! Dog feces also tend to be high in phosphorus, which can mess up plant life and in high-contamination areas lead to algae blooms.
Leaving dog shit out is just plain rude.
It's ugly. It's stinky. No one wants to step in it. It's rude to the other trail users. It's disrespectful to the staff and volunteers who put in hard labor to build and maintain the trails you're hiking on. It's rude to the agencies that are monitoring the land. It's also disrespectful to nature itself. Pack it up and pack it out.
You might end up having dogs banned from the trail.
My dog is my hiking buddy. I love signing him up for WTA's Hike-a-Thon in August (when we get letters from WTA, they're even addressed to both me and him). If he can't go on the trail, I have to leave him behind. It's less fun for me, and less fun and needed exercise for him.
Some trails have good reasons to ban dogs, such as they are a nature preserve, or they are simply too hazardous for four-legged friends to roam. But when I see a trail closed to dogs for the sole reason that irresponsible dog owners, that pisses me off. It means people were too lazy and rude to respect the trail, and they ruined it for everyone else.
Please don't get dogs banned from trails. Pick up after your pooch. It's the right thing to do.
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