ambulatory!

my heel doesn't hurt! i can walk! we got back on the trails today with an early hike on corrals.

it was dry today, but signs of it having been wet remain. we never look to see what we've left behind. next time you're out & it's a little wet, turn around and see how the trail looks. you might be surprised at what you find.

beautiful morning! chilly at 9 am. caralea with molly, who is on leash because she has no recall........ yet. didn't seem to hurt her enjoyment of the walk, though- she was houndishly checking out all sorts of smells (molly, that is).

not too busy, but we did see a few groups of runners & one mt. bike. mt biker was the only one without a dog in the group.

things were looking pretty hazy & grungy over the valley.

love the colors of the shrubs when you come over the hill & look down. nice contrast to the tan hills.

and the beautiful blue sky.

we all had a great hike! great way to start the day-

thoughts about wed evening

here are my editorial remarks on wednesday evening's meeting:

• i have spoken with several people who were apalled, as i was, at tom baskin scolding anne hausrath for looking for an off leash alternative trail in lower hulls. it is clear that mr. baskin is passionate about the resource and i respect that, but it was entirely inappropriate to talk to a peer that way in open session.
  
• it appeared that several members of the committee, mr. baskin being one of them, had their minds made up about this issue long ago and no public testimony was going to make a difference.
  
• suki molina talked about having dog owners come up to her and talk about their right to let their dogs "run free" in the foothills because they've been doing it for years. the whole "running free" thing implies to me that the dog is not under control, the owner has no recall & doesn't really care if the dog is chasing wildlife or pooping off the trail or jumping on other trail users. that is just not acceptable. this attitude really annoys me, and it hurts us as a user group. it is a privilege to use the trails, and we have lost access because the privilege is abused.
  
• probably due to conversations like the one described above, some of the committee seem to think that off leash trail use means letting dogs run all over, disturbing wildlife, harassing other trail users, trampling vegetation, etc. i resent the implication that because i want to run with my dogs off leash it inherently means that i'm all for destroying the resource. not so. this is why it makes sense to have some sort of test for dog owners to be approved to have their dogs off leash. it would be an opportunity to educate both about the resource and about responsible behavior on the trails.
  
• when suki molina was talking about liking to use the lower trails because there are so many people on them that it's a big community and how it was like a party over thanksgiving tracy and i were shuddering. we use the trails early in the morning or at odd hours just to avoid that entire scenario. this leads me to wonder if it isn't possible to put off leash trail use on a time frame, allowing the activity when the trails are less congested.
  
• bill eastlake mentioned that the committee has been dealing with dog issues for years and that the community has been given ample opportunity to address issues, so he felt no need to compromise. if we had known that this was this big a problem years ago, we would have organized years ago. there have been articles in the paper off and on mostly focused on poop. it took the working group recommendations and the realization that we could really lose access to make the point of how serious the committee understands the problem to be.
  
• sue chelstrom said that she would like to ban dogs and mountain bikes from the lower trails so that everyone could enjoy them (except people with dogs and mountain bikes). she may have meant on leash dogs to be ok, it was unclear.
  
• the discussion centered around conservation and protecting the resource. chairman mcdevitt said that the role of the committee is conservation. it is appropriate that recommendations then go to city council, who can balance the needs of the community with the need to conserve the resource.

i would like to thank suki molina, milt gillespie, annie black, anne hausrath and betsy roberts for being open minded enough to listen to the public testimony and give thought to alternative solutions. i would like to note that anne is the only one of this group who said anything about our proposal of waiting a year. these folks are the ones who appear to be actively looking for the balance between preservation of and community use of the resource.

with any luck at all, i will be able to walk again next week and we can get back to photo opps!

last night's meeting

the fcac made a motion to accept the ridge to rivers staff proposal of June, adding elephant rock loop in military reserve and red fox trail in hull's gulch as off leash options. they will ask staff to find a loop option for lower hull's gulch. leashes will be required 1/8 to 1/4 mile from parking lots & trailheads at staff discretion depending on what makes sense for the particular trail.

the proposal will be written up and voted on in January (regular meetings are the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 a.m. in the foothills learning center) and then passed on to Boise City Council.

we heard that compliance with both pick up and leash laws is slipping.

i cannot stress enough how important it is to be model citizens.

a large part of the debate was centered on the degradation caused by off leash dog use. much of the committee seems to think that off leash dogs are out of control dogs. while that is certainly true in some cases, it is equally true that off leash dogs can (and should be) kept on trails, not allowed to chase wildlife or harrass other users.

boise trail dog was commended by several committee members for the progress we have made. responsible dog owners are to be commended for stepping up. we have made a difference, and will continue to do so.

maybe we'll be back to pics tomorrow...... i'm hobbling along a little better now-

fcac meeting tonight

hope to see many of you at the meeting tonight!

if you have a chance, visit the ridge to rivers website (www.ridgetorivers.org ) and take a look at the public comments through November 29. thanks to all of you who took the time to write.

it's instructive to read the comments from those who wrote in favor of stricter leash laws as well. though many of us don't have issues with off leash dogs, there are people who do, and we still have work to do educating our fellow dog owners on etiquette & behaving responsibly.

if we can get people to keep dogs leashed in on leash areas such as polecat & on the greenbelt, we provide people who don't want to meet off leash dogs with an option. obviously enforcement is a big part of this, but if anyone has any other ideas around education i'd love to hear them.

look forward to continuing to work together to keep making things better-

pain!

i can't put any weight on my right foot- probably the result of standing much of the weekend after a 5 mile hike..... anyway- if anyone knows a good podiatrist let me know- we'll probably be trails pic-less for a while (i suspect it's the plantar fascitis & heel spurs acting up) unless someone sends me something to post.....poor pups!

weekend dog complaints

we asked r2r to keep us in the loop on dog complaints so that we can understand where we need to get better. here's what they got this weekend. this information has been forwarded to the fcac.

it's important to understand that although most of us don't encounter problems, some people do. and it isn't only one user group complaining. the reason for posting these is to inform dog owners of the types of complaints received by r2r. this is what becomes part of the record, regardless of what the other person involved in a situation thinks happened.

friday, the 28th, Lower Hull's Gulch- mt biker chased by 2 boxers approximately 300 feet up the trail, before stopping to confront the dogs and ask the owner to control them. The owner yelled at the rider and was apparently not at all concerned about the dogs chasing him.

saturday the 29th- Ranger reports being told by a mt biker who uses Polecat that he saw three dog owners with unleashed dogs up on Polecat Friday. (Polecat is an on leash only trail. It's one of the places that the woman below should be able to go and walk her dogs without worrying. We need to have trails like that for people who do not want to encounter off leash dogs, just like we have pedestrian only trails. It's just common courtesy to respect the rules.)

and on harrison hollow (which is not an r2r trail, but private property. there is a movement to get the area added to the trail system, and the owner is concerned about dog issues and has contacted r2r about same) this is the email as sent, eliminating names

Hello Again

Im following all the trail dog etiquette. it does not seem to work for me.

MY dogs are voice command and clicker trained. They may perhaps meet and greet other dogs, I love that. I want them to be social. SOCAIL AND SAFE. ME TOO.
But they do not want to be humped, jumped on and dominated. AND I DO NOT WANT TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF DOGS WITHOUT THERE OWNERS HUNDREDS OF FEET AWAY.....

....... I .....had yet another experience on Sun. November 23rd. From in fact a person who claims to be a pillar in the dog community. Walking the trails for her 50 years, as well as Stuffing bags for see spot walk, Volunteering, Scooping poop and more. thats great.. HOWEVER:

Her three dogs approached US and OUR dogs. Two of them Proceeded to JUMP ON, HUMP and DOMINATE our dogs, ....... When I asked her, after quite a while to contain the more dominant dog, PLEASE GET HIM OFFFFFF MY DOG, PLEASE....... as it was seriously agitating him i was affraid it could turn into a fight, she said AND I QUOTE "I WANT HIM TO DO THAT, IT WILL TEACH HIM TO KNOW BETTER".

THAT STATEMENT IS LUDICROUS.
THIS IS WHAT I RUN INTO ALL TOO OFTEN ON THE TRAILS.
MORE OFTEN I RUB IT OFF.
IT'S OBVIOUS THAT EDUCATION IS OUR BEST DEFENSE. MY PLEA IS TOO LET THE VERY PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE ALL THAT, BEG FOR OUR RIGHTS, BUT INFACT BE THE PROBLEM ITSELF, "SAY WHAT THEY MEAN AND DO WHAT THEY SAY". MORE IMPORTANTLY, I WORRY, YOUR DOGS, MY DOGS, OUR DOGS WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENSES OF IGNORANCE...

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28TH.
At arround 2pm. I was walking my dogs on the Highlands Hollow Trail. Ran into lots of folks and there dogs off leash. GREAT. I luv it.
Way up ahead I see a person and 2 two dogs, walking very close to the person. I assume they are leashed and or very close. I see a leash.

Being curtious I leash my dogs AS WELL. Then all the sudden, one of them, FROM AT LEAST 200 FEET AWAY COME RUNNING TOWARDS US.

"I make the mistake, at this point, not being quick enough, NOT unleashing my dogs". The ON COMING dog turns out to be a GIANT GREAT DANE, WITH GREAT STRIDE, HE CAME AT US IN SECONDS.

My dogs being on leash of course are intimidated and start circleing me to avoid this giant dog, There fore wrapping me in there leashes so I am pretty much imobile. The Great Dane circles all 3 of us, jumps on .... and me. This went on for at least 30 seconds which seemed like eternity while the owner was trying to call the dog off from quite a distance. Now I cant be sure, but this dog was probably really sweet and just wanted to say hello. GREAT. However, he was HUGE and jumping on me and my dogs was very frightening. By tis time I am yelling "GET HIM OFF ME, GET HIM OFF ME. As she approached, She did try yelling at her dog with no luck, and she could not let go of the one dog she did have on leash. The Great Dane had no collar to grab on and she had no other leash to restrain him with. Eventually, I stood still, she managed to get the dog OFF ME. She had no leash and the dog was coming back at me, by this time, I jumped out of my dogs leashes and told her I would spray the dog if IT jumped on me again, SHE SAID, THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY, SHE CALLED ME EVERY NAME IN THE BOOK. SHE SAID "I DO NOT HAVE TO LEASH MY DOG". AGAIN, AS I TRYED TO TALK TO HER, SHE CALLED ME EVERY NAME IN THE BOOK AND THREATENED TO GO HER CAR, GET HER GUN, HUNT ME DOWN AND BLOW MY F --K-N- BRAINS OUT IF SHE SEES ME AGAIN... ALL I DID WAS ASK HER TO RESTRAIN HER DOG WHO HAD NO COLLAR, NO LEASH AND TOO GET OFF ME AND MY DOGS........

THATS HOW I SPENT MY THANKGIVING WEEKEND.

december 1

halle and i will get out later- probably after my 2 hr conference call this afternoon, when fresh air & exercise ALWAYS sounds like a good plan!

hope everyone had a good weekend.

i've been thinking about wednesday's meeting, and in the course of that the whole situation quite a bit, here are some of my thoughts:

for dog owners:

• an attitude of entitlement puts everyone off. we do not have a God given right to let our dogs run off leash in the foothills, even if it has essentially been a free for all until now
  
• we need to stay focused. this will never go away. we need to keep the trails clean, continue educating other dog owners and training our dogs.
  
• under control off leash means that a dog stays on the trail, does not approach another person or dog without their permission, that the dog is in sight, does not chase or otherwise harass wildlife, comes when called and no poop is left unscooped.
  
• some people are afraid of dogs, or just don't like them. it's our responsibility to make sure that our dogs don't bother those people, or we will lose access.

for the city:

• enforcement was one of the things that the original dog off leash task force called out as necessary for the recomendations to work. the city bears some responsibility for the current situation because there was little or no enforcement until the i.hs officers came on in september.
  
• heavy use on the lower trails is for exercise. most of the daily users run, walk or bike. although we choose that setting for recreation because we enjoy its beauty, we are not there primarily to see wildlife (although it is not uncommon to see deer, fox, coyotes & a variety of birds). while it is important to maintain the integrity of the resource, different areas do and should have different uses. if the overriding concern is protecting the resource in pristine condition, we need to lock everyone out now, because every use has an impact.
  
• dog owners comprise a large portion of the tax base. we voted in large number for the foothills levy. we have a valid right to use resources purchased and maintained with our tax dollars. this includes parks as well as trails. we need to use the resources responsibly, but locking us out completely is unfair. there must be a middle ground.
  
• dog parks, off leash trails and city parks for obedience or agility training all serve different purposes.
  
• although the Working Group had 8 or so dog owners, there was only one person placed on the group as an advocate for off leash trail use. as it turned out, the swimba representative also enjoys recreating with her dogs off leash. paula and margie were the dissenting opinion to the working group proposal.
  
• in our original proposal, Boise Trail DOG requested information regarding wildlife habitat, vegetation location, etc. we were told that more research wasn't necessary and accused of stalling. lately, i have received information that has been passed along to the fcac (at their request) regarding dog impacts on wildlife and a map of native vegetation. i would like to understand what has changed, and to know whether we will have an opportunity for discussion.
  

i look forward to the meeting wednesday evening, and to seeing what recommendation the fcac comes up with.

Boise Trail DOG hopes that the committee recognizes the work dog owners have done to retain access and understands that working together to solve issues is the answer. We also hope that dog owners continue the good work we have done so far, and that we continue to make a difference.

we'd also like to thank the city, especially david gordon, julia grant and amy stahl for answering loads of emails, providing information and supporting our efforts. ditto to jeff rosenthal and the idaho humane society.

marianne