Hiking with Dogs

Welcome to The Original Hiking with Dogs. 
Hiking With Dogs is free and open to every dog-lover, but it runs on donations. You are required to read this page from here thru to the Disclaimer. This group is for anyone who wants to be outdoors in the company of friendly dogs Hiking and Camping even if you do not have one. Hikes will be setup in the Eastern part of CT. It's a fun group, like anything it is what You Make Of It. If you do not agree with the disclaimer, please leave the group or you will be stating full agreement. 
*Required - Post a Picture of you and/or your dog. Please put You and Your Hikers Name in Your Description. -Bringing a Leash is required also-
We hike every Sunday at 9:45, if you do not receive an invite in your mail. Check the site. 
Hiking with Dawgs is about the betterment of dawgs. Like Minded People and Dawgs, Socializing, Your Dawg having Friends and Training Your Dawg To Become Great Off-Leash. Picnics and refreshments from beer to tea to ice cream after some functions. If you Are All About The Miles, you will be thoroughly disappointed, we are not interested in wearing a canine out of its life. Hiking as a group start to finish. Letting puppies be puppies, to a point. Hikes are usually 4 - 6 miles long at 2 1/2 hrs. None of them are flat! Hikes are Hikes and Not - dawg walks and you will live thru your first one to make it to another lol
*Hike Description's: As some guy used to say “HWD - it ain't shopping with dogs". All the hikes have hills, most have stream crossings without - bridges - its CT not VT, but peoples interpretations vary with all the variables. The Hikes have a stated start and stop time, and different trail characteristics. So To Help You, we've got a very vague system that tells you what the ‘Hikers’ (the dawgs) will be doing after the hike, so you can compare and measure it all:) Most hikes are 2-2.5 hrs long. Here is the Vague ‘Hike Description’ in ‘Nappers’....
Half Napper-Full Napper- Definite Sleeper! Respectively - 1/2 the hikers will be napping, all the hikers will be napping and everybody will be sleeping!
*If you have a medical condition and you need a better description - definitely contact any organizer and we will tell you our interpretation. But we are all in agreement that we don't want to scare anybody away by saying a hike is hard. This is CT and all Hikes are all basically the same easy deal just different in length or scenery which is reflected in the time allotted. 
*Operating Principles - please read. We really want to keep this group loose and fun and lightly structured. Most dogs know what to do after there first hike, and that is to stick around Hike/Swim and Carry On as a Friendly Bunch. We ask that you just keep them leashed up in the parking area, keep an eye on your buddy thru out the hike, do not let him/her get too far ahead of the Hike Leader, and its best that people stay behind the Hike Leader. Show your buddy acceptable behavior your first few hikes and he/she will most likely figure it all out quickly. We hike as a group from start to stop so people in the front keep it slow, people in the back please keep up! Get your dogs attention every time he/she comes back looking for you, or you may have to go looking for your buddy. Keep your dawgs 30 feet at most in front of you hiking day 1 thru day 6 and under control, because we Hike on day 7! 
Camping: You usually have to Hike with us to get an invite. Maybe we notice your a camper when you join and add you to the ‘invite list’... Campgrounds/Trails are hard to locate - sorry not everyone gets an invite but all are welcome to go... we just don’t blab our stuff on the internet. 
Cape Cod: HWD is the kinda group to put on a Cape Cod bumper sticker and then run in the opposite direction. If you get a crazy invite, pay deeper attention. 
Donations: HWD is free. But the web site is not free and to put on functions is not free either. All members are asked to make a yearly suggested donation of $20 per household, organizers included, to keep the group running. This will cover the expense of the site, plus money for chips dips and bones, no alcohol (byob) at a few small picnics. After operating expenses ALL remaining monies when accumulated do get donated. HWD is not for profit.
***Disclaimer: "Hiking with Dogs" is not for everyone. Please use your discretion. Hills/uneven terrain/dogs on/off leash/trip and slip hazards/snakes/broken glass etc. Orgr's and attendees are not trained in any way, though we may carry bandages and some things to help with problems. Meetup regards us all solely as a number, we cannot vet anyone. HWD's has no control over who attends, may not even know persons real names, has dogs from puppies to old timers as hazards. Guests Are More Than Welcome to Attend - but it is the responsibility of the member who brings them to inform guests of this disclaimer before attending! By being a member you agree to this disclaimer and to have your guests read, that "all injuries to them, you, your dog are all accidental and the injured's responsibility and applies to all functions. All of the above is just the nature of a person and pet Meetup, which exists for the betterment of our canine friends. This disclaimer works to protect us all, Participate at your own risk. 
*Tuning Your Own Dawg:
There are basically ‘no’ bad dawgs, just ‘faulty owners’ is usually how it works. Figure out what you own - and what his/her needs are, buy a book and learn how your buddy is programed - and physically work with him/her.
It is 100% wrong to establish the preferred positive canine training - without first establishing NO! using Negative Dawg Training. Every puppy/dawg personality is very different in many varied degrees... You ‘may need’ to loudly/harshly instill NO! There is no harm chasing your beloved dawg around swinging a noisy scary newspaper and screaming No! in the air. Do not think that you are an idiot. Earn the respect your dawg craves, hold up the chow line for an hour as you outwardly fume.... Then start with the Good Puppy happy praise and treats when you get what you want. Canines thrive for Love, Guidance and Boundaries. 
-Canines understand - Voice Tone first, understand Words/meanings second- 
Guidance: Never assume that your new buddy speaks English. Show him exactly what you want - go take a leak with him, feather lite touch petting - saying ‘Go Gentle’, use a 30feet clothesline as a leash and call him back when they reach the end if it, Showing is the key to a quick understanding and it sure cuts out the guesswork. If you need ideas for training, please ask. 
Boundaries: Enforce boundaries and use the words NO! Bad Dawg! In a negative tone. Using the ‘canine submissive position’ helps very quickly to get ‘themguys’ to understand. 
Be Aware of what you are training out of - or into your friend and if that is what you want or really need. Happy fun loving Dawgs who respect their Boundaries is the goal. 
Love: Nothing Like Showing Your Buddy a good time and all that he/she means to you - After You Establish NO! Dawgnabit!!! I said No!
What Dawgs Do 6 Days a Week, they will repeat on the 7th. We Hike on the Seventh!!!
Arthritis Awareness: It is much better to work to prevent this horrible disease, than to deal with it solely if it arrives. ‘Think Joint Care, Everyday, In Every Way’ - from the day that you bring your puppy home.
Good Reading: Learning what your dawg ‘is’ and getting a book on how he/she thinks. 
Advice for the Trail: Things to look out for:
* Dogs run ahead to the front and then come back looking for their master.- Always acknowledge your hiker when they come back looking for you or they will get nervous and really go looking for their master! - NEVER ASSUME THAT HE/SHE SAW YOU!  Pet them on their head. That seals the deal. Or your dog will go hiking the trail in reverse and both you and them will be upset, including the host!!! lol :)
*Anybody New To The Area: Take The Ticks and Lyme Disease Seriously.