[QUOTE=Kristinm445;7519805]
Thanks for everyone’s comments. I’ve decided to leave my dog home. He is very good with crowds and people and I would never use one of those flex leashes with crowds of people but sounds like the best decision to leave him home…especially for my first time. Thanks again everyone![INDENT][/INDENT][/QUOTE]
I take my dogs to events with me… but not to Rolex.
[QUOTE=Arzny;8605260]
Thanks all who replied, I’m going to be calling boarding places in Lexington, any suggestions?
To those who are uncomfortable seeing a large dog in a muzzle, genuine question: When you see police dogs in muzzles, are you uncomfortable? This is very interesting to me, as often where I live you see muzzled dogs, (service dogs, working police and military dogs, etc). Thanks![/QUOTE]
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I would rather see the potential problem left at home where he is not being attacked by strange children and there is zero chance that he is going to bite someone in a crowd of thousands of people. You can’t control what others do but placing your dog in a totally unnecessary situation for your own personal enjoyment, that requires your dog to wear a muzzle for safety, is ridiculous. There’s no requirement that you go to Rolex, there’s no requirement that the dog go with you besides your own convenience. If your dog needs to be muzzled in that situation, he shouldn’t be there.
And I say this as the owner of a dog that goes absolutely nowhere except the vet and the homes of trusted friends.
In response to police dogs, etc. I am not stressed by seeing a muzzled WORKING dog being handled by his professional handler. There are three police K9s in my neighborhood.
YOU, however, I don’t know from a hole in the ground and I have no reason to trust YOUR handling or your personal liability insurance. And for the record, I would not be thrilled to have my kid around a trained working military or police dog, either. If I see a muzzle on a personal dog, that tells me that dog is either trained to do something that is dangerous to me, or is not trustworthy to not do said dangerous thing in the presence of his handler. Neither situation is appropriate for a public sporting event, IMHO.
Rolex can be overwhelming for dogs. If you go into the trade fair you are wedging your dog through crowds and somethings someone cuts in front and your dog gets stuck “in traffic” people want to pet them, people bump into them, other more inconsiderate dog owners let their flex leashes all the way out causing dog fights and tripping people.
I would also think that most of the public would assume you brought a vicious dog because of the muzzle.
Last year it was miserable and I saw so many soaking wet shivering traumatized dogs being drug around it made me angry.
I had the World’s Best Corgi. He was impeccably trained, wonderfully socialized and breathtakingly beautiful. He went with me nearly everywhere. Took him to Rolex on XC day. He absolutely detested it. Oh, he was fine when out walking around the course, but in the crowds of people? He hated every minute of it and let’s face it, they are not exactly portable. I think they truly ought to just ban dogs that day, no one picks up poop, the dogs look largely miserable. So do many of the children but that’s a whole 'nuther thread…
As I said two years ago, I wouldn’t, no matter how well trained. I would be taking Jersey Fresh’s suggestions and calling a few of those numbers, or hiring a dog sitter (I HATE leaving my dog at home, but I have traveled enough by air that I have one…and a couple of good back ups). I don’t think people who haven’t been to Rolex understand the crowds. They are massive. Not at all like what you experience at a outdoor mall or local festival. If you have never been, it is NOTHING like any other event you have ever been to…unless you’ve been to the big events in the UK.
As for a dog with a muzzle? If I see a dog outside of the vet’s office or some place it MUST be in a muzzle (excluding working LE dogs), I figure that dog has no business being out in public.
Leave the dog at home/in doggy day care.
OP - I’ve thought long and hard about this because I have a young dog who I’m very attached to. . She does not ever leave my side and goes wherever I go, except for work, and she whines and cries when I’m gone. I would LOVE to be able to bring her with me, but I’m not going to. There’s been great advice on this thread for all the reasons NOT to bring your dog. What finally decided it for me was these two things.
I agree with Chism.
What do people do? Esp with a large hairy dog, when the weather is cold and wet and I have seen deep frothy foamy mud. How do you get that into your nice motel room?
And how do you go out to eat and socialize and leave a dog in the car? I have left my dog in my car in Georgetown - while I ran into a Mac’s for the bathroom and a cup of coffee, and I parked in the shade under a tree and left my sunroof open for air. I got back to my car sat down and had a cop knocking on my window. In the 5 minutes that I took someone called me in.
And see it from the dog’s viewpoint - a sea of knees and legs in the trade fair.
But I do enjoy the dog show. Esp the Scottish Wolfhound there a few yrs ago. I felt sorry for the lady, she had to talk to ‘everyone!’
[QUOTE=enjoytheride;8605956]
Last year it was miserable and I saw so many soaking wet shivering traumatized dogs being drug around it made me angry.[/QUOTE]
Oh my gosh yes. I couldn’t not believe the number of uncaring, irresponsible owners with shivering dogs last year. :mad: It made me very unhappy to see the short coated and thin skinned pups with no rain gear just drenched to the bone. I was absolutely miserable as a person with good rain gear, and I chose to be there. They don’t have a choice. Leave them at home!
Re: the muzzle discussion: I have a Greyhound, and we go to Greyhound events, so I’m quite used to seeing dogs in basket muzzles. It wouldn’t bother me, but I’m also a vet tech. In fact, back in the day, we had a burn patient who had to wear a Gentle Leader simply because his head (other than his ears) was the only thing on the poor dog that hadn’t gone up in smoke. Whenever we took him out, people would ask “OMG, what happened to that dog?” and then “Why is he wearing a muzzle? Is he vicious?” Oy.
I used to have a Dachshund who was a great traveling dog and adored going to WIHS. But I would not have taken him to a multi-day event like Rolex. And, as a vet tech, I would never utilize a doggy day care at a place like Rolex, where people are coming from far and wide, may or may not have good vaccination records, and the personalities of the dogs are not well-known, any more than I would take my horse there and turn him out with a dozen strange horses from across the country. Seriously, that’s how accidents happen and diseases get spread.
I am about as dog-crazy as they come ( I have four after picking one up off the side of the road a few months ago) and take my dogs many places around home. Dinners on patios, into Dover with me, the barn, etc. I have even told my husband our city allows households to have up to 10, so I can still get six more (he glared).
I would never take a dog to an event like Rolex.
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