Dog Hikers of New Jersey

DOG HIKERS OF NEW JERSEY
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The purpose of this group is to provide dog lovers the opportunity to hike with other dog lovers and their dogs on trails in public parks in NJ.  
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Explore and enjoy the outdoors, and make new, local friends, human and canine!

Our main activity will be hiking throughout central and northern New Jersey and Rockland and Orange County in New York. This is a laid back group with easy going outings.

All walks are free. All breeds of dogs are welcome. Leashes required. Social dogs only. (No aggressive dogs.) Dogs must have up to date rabies and distemper vaccinations. The safety and care of the animals and their owners cannot be guaranteed but a spay/neuter requirement will reduce the likelihood of any unwanted issues. All dogs must be spayed/neutered.

Dogs must be under the owner's control at all times and be handled in compliance with all park, state, and local laws & regulations. Owners are 100% responsible for their dog's care and behavior and for complying with all regulations governing all meet-up venues. Hiking is always at your own risk.

You are responsible for understanding and following all laws within the park including leash laws. You accept responsibility for the safety of yourself, your pets and any guests and their pets you invite from outside the group. Attending our hikes signifies you understand the physical challenges and agree that you, your pet and any guests and their pets are physically capable and that you will be responsible for your own and their safety.
Our pace is generally about 2 miles per hour.  Some trails are hilly, some have steep slopes, some have very rocky terrain and some have difficult stream crossings. And some have various combinations of these conditions.  Do not attend, if you are not physically ready for these conditions.

Children under 12 years of age are not allowed.

Please be advised that the Organizer/Co-Organizer reserve the right to remove any members who do not abide by these or any other policies.
The size of the group for a meetup is generally limited to 16 people. The reason for this is that it becomes increasingly difficult to handle the dogs with larger groups, increasing the risk of people getting knocked over and negative encounters with other hikers on the trail (imagine a horde of dogs swooping down on an unsuspecting hiker). If a meetup is full you can put your name on the waitlist and if a spot frees up due to a cancellation, you will be moved to the attending list. If you have 3 “no-shows” you will be dropped from the group. A “no-show” means that you reserved to attend but then don’t and you do not cancel your reserved spot beforehand.

To allow people on the waitlist sufficient time to change plans if a spot opens up, please cancel the evening before the hike. Understandably there will be unforeseen circumstances that will prevent you from attending but this shouldn’t include waking up that morning and deciding you don’t want to go because you are too tired/hungover or you have something better to do. If you consistently cancel at the last minute, you automatically will be put on the waitlist.

The courtesy of keeping your RSVP current is expected.  3 "No Shows" will result in pack membership termination.  Canceling an RSVP after the RSVP cut-off time will be treated as a "No Show".  We don't want to lose anyone so just be considerate to the other pack members hanging around waiting for you, for naught.

No solicitations, please. This website is for organizing meet-ups only.
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