[pct-l] thru dogs dates?/ Poison Oak

[Edward Anderson]

Chuck,

You are certainly right. A common way to get poison oak is from dogs, cats, and 
horses. It is wise to avoid touching them if you are passing through an area 
where there might be P.O. We had lots of poison oak on our ranch in Comptche (15 
miles east of Mendocino). Dogs, cats and horses seem to be immune to P.O. The 
horses would not only walk through it - they would also sometimes eat it. I 
would get P.O. every year until from the fir of animals. I finally decided to 
immunize myself.  That was well over 20 years ago. I haven't had a case of P.O. 
since I became immune. 

MendoRider




________________________________
From: CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net>
To: Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Fri, January 7, 2011 6:21:04 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] thru dogs dates?

Good evening, all,



I’ve hiked many thousands of PCT miles and have only had a couple of
cautionary encounters with dogs, and those were not what you may
think.  Example:
once at low altitude near a trailhead I saw two medium-size dogs bounding up
the trail ahead of a young day-hiking couple.  I immediately got off the
trail and extended my poles to deflect the pooches.  The couple repeatedly
assured me that the dogs were friendly – which was readily apparent – but I
had a different motive:  Dogs are just the right height to collect poison
oak toxin on their fir as they zig-zag along the trail sticking their nose
into anything/everything, whether on or off a leash.



I had seen them running through the abundant trailside poison oak
infestations, and when I tried to explain my concern to the young couple I
got the, “What poison oak?” treatment.  They were totally clueless.



I hike with bare legs, and I don’t any urushiol-coated puppies rubbing
against me.  Similarly, I resist any inclination to pat a head, scratch an
ear, or stroke a back



Pack and saddle animals can be just as bad.  The worse case of poison oak
rash I ever had came from one of my horses who walked through poison oak
with impunity.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 3:03 PM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> If it makes you feel any better, I've had similar experiences with
> dogs. There are few people who thru-hike the trail with a dog so I
> don't think you have to worry about it much. I haven't heard of
> anyone planning to bring their dog yet on this list anyway. You may
> have to worry about dogs in the sections that are more popular with
> weekenders, in which case, this discussion list can't really help you
> with your scheduling.
>
> Get some trekking poles. They are very useful for keeping dogs away.
> I cross them in front of me when I see potentially threatening dogs
> and they don't seem go come any closer to me. If they do, (and they
> haven't yet) I have two sharp sticks to hit them with.
>
> Diane
> On Jan 7, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> >
> > heres my story. years back i was setting up camp in the
> > cascades,when out of
> > nowhere a german shepard attacked me from behind.anyone who has
> > seen videos
> > of "cops" knows what kind of damage these dogs can do.i had to wrap
> > myself
> > up the best i could, hike out 5 miles to the trailhead. then go to the
> > hospital for 18 stiches.i still carry the scars.
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