Unusual story: Man, dog hurt in fall

[bandana4me]

I found this story to be a little different.

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=4edd105b-0b86-4ce8-a88a-60986ce78159

I wonder at what point would I (personally) put my neck out for my dog? I have never had my dog in a precarious situation (knocking on wood) other than treeing bears!

 

[dug]

The closest I came in deciding "me or the dog" was one morning when a Brutus the black bear wandered into our camp one Pemi trip. With two tents of still eminating snores from it's occupants, I had taken my dog's collar off to keep the noise of her chain down.

When Brutus wandered in, she was barking at him. Brutus was eyeing our food (lazily we had left some out the night before). I was holding my dog back by the chest. She was barking. Brutus got agitated enough to make a kinda bluff charge (basically, it shifted it's weight from it's back to front legs)....that was my decision time. If Brutus took one more step, I was letting the dog go and was going to let them sort it out.

Instead, other campers woke up, Brutus didn't like the numbers, and he wandered off. I tied my dog up. All was good.

 

[MichaelJ]

I saw the fire & police at the Champney trailhead late yesterday afternoon and wondered what had happened. Given there were probably over a hundred summiters of Chocorua yesterday, I'm relieved this was only a relatively simple and short rescue.

 

[Maddy]

Speaking only for myself I think it's instinct. The adrenaline surges and I respond.
I once risked myself in a fast moving river in VT to save an older dog who had followed us on our hike. He was a local and had a habit of following hikers. He was quite lame but still hiking. Nice black lab.
It was late winter and there had been substantial rain that week. He was really struggling but making no headway. I cast aside all my fears of water and managed to save him. ( I had almost drowned once so water is not my favorite thing.)

I would not throw myself off some 1500 foot ledge to save my dog but I would make a valiant effort if we encountered a situation and I believed there was even a slim chance I could save h/her life.

I can recall living in Holden and there was someone in the neighborhood who hated dogs.
I was starting to cross the street and my sheepdog went ahead. He accelerated, looked right at her, and had full intent of running her down. I ran and stood directly in the middle of the road. He had to slam on his brakes. He was very pissed off but my Martha got to live another day. It takes all kinds I guess.


"The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous... is his dog.

.... the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies..."
Senator Vest
If "dogs" can do all this for me, I would not hesitate to give them all the help I could.

http://dogpage.mcf.com/misc/TributeToTheDog.html

 

[jniehof]

A similar thing happened, with a much less happy ending, on Oct. 17 2003. The dog jumped into the stream above Franconia Falls after it had been raining for several days; the owner jumped in after and both were swept over the falls and killed.

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Just curious, does anyone have a pic of the area in which it happened?

 

[--M.]

Two of our kids and I were on this trail yesterday; there were LOTS of dogs and owners on the mountain. Many were fine, but others seemed distressed by the environment, needing carries over the difficult parts and generally wondering what they'd gotten into. Most were off-leash, and some were lost and looking for their owners.

We did go through the falls area and up the other side (up and around the top); it was challenging, steep and slick..., and very beautiful.

We saw the first vehicle when we exited and others soon arrived. There were between dozens and hundreds of cars in the area, so we boogied out of there and wisely took the Bear Mountain road to avoid the crowd. We wondered what had happened..., and I knew we'd find the answer here (thanks!). I'm glad everyone survived; it's another cautionary tale.

Our Henry, a 4-year-old yellow Lab with lame-o knees, does not hike. If I really invested in getting him trail-fit, he could probably do okay, but there's no way I could carry him over the summit slabs. Of all the many dogs I've seen on the trails over the years, I'd guess that more than half weren't too happy to be out there. Chocorua on Columbus Day weekend is probably 80% casual hikers (vs. the 20% avid [prepared]); I guess the dogs fit the same profile.

The rescue crews didn't really look too pleased, but maybe I'm over-thinking. Thanks for the update.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

Seems like every winter there are one or two stories of dogs who run out onto the ice, fall through, and are followed by their owners intent on rescuing them only to fall throught the ice themselves. Often enough, it ends sadly.

 

[MichaelJ]

Just curious, does anyone have a pic of the area in which it happened?

This is Champney Falls:
http://www.saletnik.org/gallery2/v/hiking/nh/chocorua-2003/img_0525.jpg.html

To give you an idea of scale, I'm standing just behind that big rock in the next photo in the album. So in other words, not an overly huge cascade, but if you came over it and slammed into that big rock, you would be seriously hurting.

 

[The Unstrung Harp]

Thanks for the pic. Looks more fun to stare at than to, ehm, fully experience.

 

[The Hikers]

I know when I hiked in the past with my dog and young children They always scared the *** out of me when they got near the edge of a cliff or river. Dogs, at least, are more sure-footed than us, and not as stupid as they look, so I learned to put aside my fear and trust that she would NOT leap off that cliff to get that bird flying by.

 

[Hikes4fun]

I'm glad they weren't hurt any worse....I trust Shiloh to a certain extent..he has hiking sense....but that being said the leash comes out when when approaching cliffs, ledges, and knowing that he LOVES water...waterfalls

 

[griffin]

I'm not convinced having Augs on a leash makes either one of us safer around ledges, etc. He's a lot more agile than I am (a low bar, to be sure ). I do leash him when we hear/see other hikers, or if I"m approaching an area where we're likely to run into them (summits and major trail junctions for example) and honestly that's when I feel most concerned about his balance and footing, as well as my own.

I'm glad neither man nor his best friend weren't more seriously injured, too.

 

[BobC]

Well here's another view of the falls, from the bottom: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2981651850097623285cDtegI

That drop could really hurt...

 

[DougPaul]

Well here's another view of the falls, from the bottom: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2981651850097623285cDtegI

That's Pitcher Falls.

Champney Falls is the one close to the trail. MichaelJ's picture is Champney. (Pitcher Falls is just out of sight at the left edge of the picture.)

Doug

 

[BobC]

That's Pitcher Falls.

Champney Falls is the one close to the trail. MichaelJ's picture is Champney. (Pitcher Falls is just out of sight at the left edge of the picture.)

Doug

Oops. And there I was thinking I was looking at Champney Falls the whole time. I did realize Pitcher Falls was right nearby but it was hard to tell the difference, especially in March. Thanks for the info!

 

[The-Green-Man]

I ran into a situation yesterday where I honestly thought I was going to lose my dog to a fall so it's strange that I this subject came up only last week on VFTT!

We made it through okay with a combination of team work and patience. A leash was key in maintaining control over Trooper while we navigated some of the icy sections of trail.

 

[sardog1]

My wife maintained that my second SAR/avalanche dog (in the avatar at left) was far more likely to cause an avalanche than to save someone.

Actually, he was pretty good about staying safe on ledges and cliffs. And my first dog saved me from walking into a twelve foot deep construction trench one night in Tacoma.

Those who hike regularly with their dogs usually know when it's time to turn around or find an alternate route (e.g., bushwhacking alongside Beaver Brook Trail to descend one icy April day.) But it's an all-too-common headache for SAR agencies to get calls about dogs that need rescue.

 

[The-Green-Man]

Those who hike regularly with their dogs usually know when it's time to turn around or find an alternate route (e.g., bushwhacking alongside Beaver Brook Trail to descend one icy April day.) But it's an all-too-common headache for SAR agencies to get calls about dogs that need rescue.

Duly noted. Looking back, I wonder if I made the right decision about continuing on because there were a couple moments where things got pretty hairy. Had I NOT had the dog with me I wouldn’t have thought twice about the conditions (other than being careful) bit with the dog it was an entirely different story.

 

[hikes-with-him]

We got a dog with the hope of hiking with her...not sure if that's going to happen (it may not be in her personality)...

I would NEVER hike with a dog unless I knew that he/she was under complete verbal command. I have seen so many dogs on the trail that, basically, ignore me. They are hiking...with their owner and they have been WELL taught to pay attention to the trail and their owner. If master says come...they come, period. If master says "say hi" they will, otherwise, nothing.

As for leashing them? I wonder if that is more of a hazard to the dog and hiker? you are tethered together...not sure that's a good thing should there be an issue.

It's all very thought provoking and all these considerations are why Roxie is not a hiker (yet?)