# Dogs in Westwater Canyon



## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

Thanks for the heads up and welcome to mountain buzz. The dog rules there are entirely reasonable. It would be a shame for a handful of disrespectful dog owners ruin it for everyone else.

T.L.s: don't be shy about policing the dog bringing members of your party; the rangers should not have to bother with dog management.


----------



## CO.rafter (Oct 10, 2010)

bad dogs = bad owners...usually


----------



## pinemnky13 (Jun 4, 2007)

CO.rafter said:


> bad dogs = bad owners...usually


Exactly, we have 2 little ones and 1 old choclate lab and I pick up more dog poo that they put out, but hey thats the pleasure of owning dogs(or them owning us, i haven't figured that part out yet)
The old one likes to lay around so we attach the 2 small ones to her and tie her up to something. we have gone on WW trips where the person who owns(owned by) the dogs thinks its ok to let them run loose and almost made us lose our trip by not having them tied up(and other late night rambunctioness). I hate to say it about a freind but I now think twice before inviting him on a trip because of the way he handles the dog. don't get me wrong he is a great owner(ownee) but rules are rules and I would be pissed if I had to derig and pack it all up at the put in due to someone not keeping their dog leashed


----------



## gringoventures (Mar 13, 2011)

I agree, I used to hate picking up the poo, I figured what goes around comes around but now I realize the errors of my thinking. What goes around stays around. Now I make it an effort to pick up more than my dog poots out in an effort to keep the heat off of the dog owning world. Tell all your friends to carry extra bags and pick up more then seems fair to rectify the problem and give any one not taking responsibility a healthy tung lashing. And for god sake keep the critters leashed any where the rangers might be.


----------



## CO.rafter (Oct 10, 2010)

if you forget one, a leash that is, I'm sure every one has a cam strap that will get by in a pinch, or a piece of rope. Lets keep our fury well behaved friends out there with us. This doesnt apply to Westwater only, anywhere that is dog friendly all the same rules apply.


----------



## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

I am a dog owner and love my dog. I do not take my dog on river trips, even tho it would be nice to have him along.

Have been blessed to run WW many times. Have never spent the night at the Ranger station without having at least one incident of unleashed dogs running around the boater's camp site dropping poo or pee on gear stacked in camp and getting in the way of campers. Not fun to have to clean your river gear from dog pee! 

I applaud the rangers for asking people to have respect for others and leash their dogs in camp and along the river. Based on my experience, I seriously doubt the small amount of dog owners who do not care about other boaters dealing with their barking and or running around camp pets following the voluntary request to leash their dogs. 

I know it is unpopular but the only answer that works, is to totally ban dog traffic on river trips.

This is coming from a life time dog owner who loves his dog but is just totally disgusted with cleaning up after other dog owners who let their pets run free, regardless of the rules.


----------



## caseybailey (Mar 11, 2008)

Wow Okie...born under a bad sign?
I have enough WW trips to be beyond counting. I have never had a dog poo or pee on my gear. For you to have it happen everytime you camp at the put-in is unfortunate.


----------



## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

for some reason my luck with dogs at WW station camp has been bad. and, like I posted, I am a long time dog owner and love them as pets.

Yup, several times pee on the gear pile. Other wise just a poo or pee in the area or running thru camp or barking at night.

One time a few years ago, a party came in with two big playfull labs in their raft. We were camped next to the ramp area for a next day launch. First thing the dogs did was run up the bank and encountered a bud's kayak with his gear stacked in the cockpit. Up with the legs and out with the pee. We hollered at the dogs and the owners yelled back if we had a problem. Yup your dogs are peeing on our gear - no answer back. Owners finally put dogs on leashes after the Ranger came out of the trailer and the dogs were running up and down the ramp.

Not the dogs fault. They needed to pee and love to play. Don't remember ever meeting a lab that did not want to romp around and play.

Responsible dog owners could solve the problem and many do the right thing. The problem is too many dog owners for some reason think their dogs do not need to be on a leash in public areas.


----------



## glenn (May 13, 2009)

okieboater said:


> for some reason my luck with dogs at WW station camp has been bad. and, like I posted, I am a long time dog owner and love them as pets.
> 
> Yup, several times pee on the gear pile. Other wise just a poo or pee in the area or running thru camp or barking at night.
> 
> ...


There are plenty of well behaved dogs who do not need to be leashed full time, and there are plenty of appropriate public places where nearly all dogs can be off leash. Clearly the put-in camp is not one of those places, although the 1 time I was ever there, we had no problems. I don't want to setup my tent on a bunch of dog poop, nor do I want any of my river/camping gear pee'd on. For how many people there are in the campsite and potentially how many dogs, it just makes sense to leash up the dogs and let them play when you get to the wilderness campsites.


----------



## CB Rob (Feb 13, 2010)

A big part of the dog problem at the westwater put in is the dogs and owners finishing ruby horsetheif. Everyone with a dog seems to bring them on that stretch.


----------



## Ture (Apr 12, 2004)

okieboater said:


> Up with the legs and out with the pee. We hollered at the dogs and the owners yelled back if we had a problem. Yup your dogs are peeing on our gear - no answer back.


Good on you for not taking it further. I'd probably end up in prison if someone's dog pissed on my hear and the owner asked me if I had a problem.


----------



## gringoventures (Mar 13, 2011)

Well there will always be people who "love dogs" but leave them at home. Maybe traveling with dogs is not for them. But if you out law dogs then we should ban crying children as well, and then lets ban loud drunk mouth girlfriends and wives, and then lets ban smokers as well. After all its all personal when they bother us. The answer is for the responsible people to stand up to the ingrates and uneducated rafters of the world. Say "put your loud mouth bitc- on a leash" And if your dog pees on my gear I'll not let my panties get all wadded up, I'll just pee on my gear myself. I'll ask the Lab owners politely to wash off my gear please and not ruin it for me and my dog. If that doesn't work, we should follow George W.'s lead and act preemptively. Banning things is a knee-jerk reaction and we have enough of that in our country. Picking up poo is like picking up some darrlicts empty Bush Light can from a camp site. It makes you mad but you do it because its the right thing to do.


----------



## summitraftgirl (Jul 23, 2008)

gringoventures said:


> Well there will always be people who "love dogs" but leave them at home. Maybe traveling with dogs is not for them. But if you out law dogs then we should ban crying children as well, and then lets ban loud drunk mouth girlfriends and wives, and then lets ban smokers as well. After all its all personal when they bother us. The answer is for the responsible people to stand up to the ingrates and uneducated rafters of the world. Say "put your loud mouth bitc- on a leash" And if your dog pees on my gear I'll not let my panties get all wadded up, I'll just pee on my gear myself. I'll ask the Lab owners politely to wash off my gear please and not ruin it for me and my dog. If that doesn't work, we should follow George W.'s lead and act preemptively. Banning things is a knee-jerk reaction and we have enough of that in our country. Picking up poo is like picking up some darrlicts empty Bush Light can from a camp site. It makes you mad but you do it because its the right thing to do.


 
Amen. We love our dog like she's family and she goes on EVERY river trip where dogs are allowed, especially since there are quite a few already where they aren't allowed. There is no way I could leave her at home knowing that she could be on the river with us. We also have her on her leash at the put-in AND take-out (every put-in and take-out, not just WW, Cisco, etc.), and diligently search for her poo at campsites, even if we don't see where she goes, to make sure that we don't leave any trace of her being there. We often get compliments from the WW rangers for following the rules and keeping her under control. If it's super busy and hectic, we'll even leave her in the car until we're ready to launch. Often times, we'll leash her to our boat and she just lays there on the boat as happy as she can be and out of everyone's way. As for taking out at WW after Ruby/Horsethief, I grab her leash or a strap from the boat and get her ready before we even hit the bank. Granted, we've done Ruby/Horsethief and WW a LOT and know the rules, but leading by example for those who don't know is always best and seems to work. Bottom line, if you follow the rules, there's nothing to complain about and no reason for you to have to leave your pups at home.


----------



## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

summitraftgirl, you are the type of responsible dog owner that I would love to see more dog owners learn from and raft with. More like you and the dog problem on rivers and access points would go away.

Thank you for setting a great example with your dog especially at WW.

Hope to run into you and your dog later in the year as we generally run Ruby WW etc as a very late in the season float and cook season finale.


----------



## WillYates (Aug 3, 2007)

My dog saved my life when I was attacked by a bear in deso 2 years ago. She goes EVERYWHERE I do.


----------



## Big Da (Mar 8, 2006)

Very glad we are able to bring our dog on WW trips! Fully respect picking up poo(even other dogs as owners dont always see the deed happening), leashing and such. Appreciate the heads up from BLM. We'll keep it clean.


----------



## badswimmer (Jul 13, 2006)

I say ban citiots & citiotdogs, whalah, no more problems..


----------



## Ture (Apr 12, 2004)

badswimmer said:


> I say ban citiots & citiotdogs, whalah, no more problems..


Actually, city folks are the ones who keep their dogs on leashes and carry a roll of crap baggies to pick up their crap. When is the last time you saw a country boy with his dog on a leash, picking up its crap and putting it in a bag. Oh, right... never.


----------



## liquidchaos (Jul 11, 2005)

i find it highly frustrating that the BLM managment plan includes cattle grazing and burning tamarisks through westwater but the people there must practice a leave no trace attitude and use a fireblanket. but its ok for the blm staff to leave big burn piles? WTf?


----------



## cfboomas (Aug 19, 2008)

Hey Will, Good thing she was with you too! They killed that bear a few days later. Hope you had a good birthday my friend.


----------



## CB Rob (Feb 13, 2010)

Be advised, if you see some real big yellow dogs running loose, they are probably sheep dogs from the ranch next to the put in. This time last year I saw a chick get called out by the rancher for feeding his work dogs. dude was seriously pissed off.


----------

