Back a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog about dogs and new experiences, today I had to practice what I preached.  We headed out on the trail after work and had just jumped off the main trail onto the orange trail; the dogs were racing ahead of me and I heard a strange noise behind me.  Naturally I turned, and saw two bicyclists heading down the way we had just come.  I figured we were safe. Wrong!  The bicyclists  turned onto the yellow trail and crossed directly in front of us on the orange trail! 

We’ve encountered bicyclists before on the rails to trails; which is more of a flat, well-worn trail; but it never even dawned on me that people might actually take their mountain bikes into the woods!  So I called the dogs to me and after a tense moment when I thought one or the other of them were going to take off after the bicycles; the bicyclists had passed.  I turned around and headed back the way we had come to try to make sure that we didn’t run into them again.  I diverted their attention by taking them on a new trail; where they had lots of new scents and places to explore.

I’m not really sure how I should prepare the dogs for encountering bicycles on the trail; but I need to pay attention and be aware of what goes on around me; I need to work on getting the dogs to return to me regardless of where we are or what they are doing. 

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