Dogs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hookncook]

I'm a dog lover, and have had a few over the course of my lifetime. But one thing that I don't understand is why do people have to bring their dogs ice fishing with them!

It never fails that at the community fishing hole, there is always someone that brings their dog. One dog that is under control is all right and an asset to the fishing community. Especially if the dog becomes a community hound.

But there's the dog owner that needs to think that the ice is for their dogs to go [PoorWordUsage] on, run around for his heart contends, or even plays fetch with the dog around everyone's tip ups and gear. Then someone else brings their dog now you got 2 or even 3 dogs fighting and crapping all over the place.

point being made: If you can't handle or control your dog- leave them at home or run them on shore.

[Twins 57 Fan]

I for one do not mind when dogs are out and about. I like the visits from some furry friends especially when times are slow.

[dfv87]

If you bring your dog, that is fine but I agree they should stay near you and your stuff. Some of us like the solitude or spending the time with our kids, dogs running all over is a bit of a pain. I usually set up away from everybody else specifically to enjoy the quiet, or so my kids won't bother other people, I guess I would expect the same respect.

[BartmanMN]

I was fishing late ice a couple years back and there was only a couple people out. A couple guys and their teenagers come walking out with their dogs and the dog bee lines it straight for me. Proceeds to come right over like he wants me to pet him, lifts his leg and pees on my jacket sitting in my sled. I wasn't to happy and the guys didn't even apologize when I told them their dog just [PoorWordUsage] on my stuff.

[B-man715]

I bring my three beagles out all of the time. To keep them contained I bring my wireless containment from petsafe with. It adjusts from a circle the size of my shack, to a circle a 1/2 acre big!

This let's my dogs run, but keeps them away from other fisherman too. It's nice letting the dogs out knowing they aren't going to end up on the other side of the lake

[JimBuck]

I've ran into it many times as well. I love dogs but can't stand irresponsible owners who bring them on the ice and let them run wild without supervision. I swear some people train dogs to retrieve fish from other houses and I will never keep fish outside on the ice anymore because of it. Another thing to keep in mind is a dog leg can snap like a twig in holes that haven't froze over yet. If I bring my hound he's leashed up and hanging out in the shack and not running around like a wildman. I owe it to the people around me to be respectful of space and I don't want to deal with a hefty vet bill if/when the hound gets a leg caught in a hole.

[BrandonJ]

I dont mind the dogs, but yes an owner that doesn't know when to tell his dog when to stop can be annoying. There is a farm dog on big marine that will visit ice houses on the lake once in a while. He's very nice and will run off if ya tell him. Last year he came out to visit and took my bag of open chips I had sitting next to the truck, didn't spill one chip. All I can remember is him looking back at me with that bag of chips hanging from his mouth running back to land. Dill pickle chips too, darn dog.

[muskE]

I bring my pooch on almost every trip. The keywords are control and courtesy. If you can't control your dog within reason or you shouldn't bring them. It's also a saftey thing for the dog that they are not eating whatever someone littered on the ice.

Also, I've never seen a dog swim and drop a brownie and the lakes are only blessed with this activity durin the ice season so please be courteous and pick up after your dog.

OK now that I typed this the parallels to the previous threads about ice garbage (and other things) is unsetteling. Bottom line, pick up after yourself and for those whom you are responsible.

[TylerS]

I brought my dog with me this weekend. Granted, he's pretty well trained, so I was not too concerned. The one thing I learned is ice fishing is a GREAT attention getter. After we iced that first sunny, his eyes were glued to the hole for two straight hours. It was great!

But dog owners who can't handle their pet ought to keep them home. Once out on Devils Lake, there was a dog that would come by and steal our fish. We caught him in mid act and chased him back to his owner, who had a giant pile of fish outside his house. He apologized profusely and we actually got a pretty good chuckle. Now THAT'S a well trained dog if you ask me!

[amateurfishing]

im a true dog lover first, even for undiscipline ones and public lake is public property for all to use. However, that does not mean an owner can/should allow undisciplined dog to do just anything on ice. someone had couple black labs on ice by us playing fetch sat pm, they had stopped by to talk to a friend fishing and never bothers us. however, last year after catching couple eater crappies someone brought there dog out for playtime and dog made a bee line for me, i acknowleged him as not to be rude and i luv dogs but once he started sniffin my fish, tryin to lick me, & slober on my stuff, that was it. My right foot went up just to scare & it worked. owner did not blink an eye. its one thing for all to enjoy together but if they intude on you space or personal belongings, i do draw the line there.

you can check depending where u r, there may be city or park ordinances that pets must be leashed at all times, use your mobile phone & tell owner u will call cops if owner will not cooperate.

....as any pet trainer will tell you, there are no bad pets, just bad pet owners

[seasock]

I have two dogs that I wouldn't live without that live in the house, and pretty much do as they please, they go with me on every bird hunting trip. They don't, however, go to anyone else's house with me, go to church with me, go to the movie theater with me, go to the grocery store with me, go to the whorehouse with me, go to work with me, go to the bar with me, and NEVER go ice fishing with me. How could a dog enjoy sitting on the ice while you are in a house fishing? They don't, they get bored, and then they look to others for attention, food, stimulation, whatever. Most others are there to fish, not entertain some bufoons dog that should be at home. If you are fishing in a house or shelter that will house your dog as well, thats ok, but to just leave it on the ice to entertain itself, or let it out to do it's business without a leash or under your control is not ok as well as selfish to other people fishing. Understand that as much as we love our dogs, not everyone shares that love. I would hate to see a leash law on lakes come to be.

[tsande00]

I bring my dog with regularly. As soon as he sees me grab my ice fishing gear inside the house he starts going crazy. My dog stays in the portable with me at all times. He lays down in the plastic tub and relaxes until it's time to go home, occasionally sticking his head up for some attention/petting.

Personally I don't mind other people letting their dogs roam around but I would agree that it's poor etiquette.

[wahoo]

Have seen plenty of dogs, and never a problem.

However, funny story. A few years ago a portable had been set about about 30 feet from our permanent on N. long Lake. When they left they also left a bag (plain brown wrapper) on the ice. A dog with some kids fishing a 100 yards away ran up and pawed at the bag opening it. From where we were, looking through our windows we soon saw he was eating the "contents"--some "[PoorWordUsage]" and toilet paper. He than ran happily back to his owners and proceeded to give everyone a nice "kiss".

We still remember that one and laugh!

[nofishfisherman]

I haven't had any trouble with dogs on the ice. I don't mind if a friendly dog stops by for a visit. This is of course as long as the owner cleans up after the dog. The worst I've had a dog do on the ice is steal a drink from the hole I'm fishing.

I've actually had more issues while open water fishing. I was fishing from shore on the Mississippi where the Minnehaha Creek flows in and I was maybe 1 of 10 guys down there that day. We had the area pretty much covered with lines and some jerkbait comes down the trail with his dog off leash running everywhere. The guy starts throwing a tennis ball out into the water right in the middle of where we all had our lines. Now this is a pretty small little area and had at at least 10 different lines all criss crossing the area. He was standing between 2 fisherman not more than 10 feet apart.

I don't know how that dog didn't get hooked or tangled in all the lines that were out. We asked him nicely to move down the shore but he refused saying he has the right to play with his dog here. He kept on throwing the ball and the dog kept on retrieving it. After asking nicely didn't work he had all 10 guys about ready to throw him into the river for his dog to fetch. After a maybe 5-10 mintes and plenty of choice words from the group he finally stormed off all mad like we were the ones with the problem.

I've never seen such complete disregard for other people in my life. He didn't care who he ticked off, he wasn't going to be told what to do and that was that. I actually told my friend who I was with that it must suck to be that guy, I can't imagine going through life with that kind of attitude, must make for a miserable existence.

[ItsaCrappieLife]

Does sound annoying but what was even worse was taking my son deer hunting for the first time this year when a german short hair pointer from a neighboring farm decides to tag along for the hunt. Yelled and threw clumps of dirt in his direction but the dog just would not leave. Figured the dog would get bored once we got to the stand but the dog hung around for a good hour. Probably should have turned the guy in but don't own the land and really didn't want to get on the wrong side of politics.