We have had a lot of new members join and it is so exciting to see HikeABull keep growing. With that  we have received a few emails and messages asking similar questions about the structure of our hikes. So I thought an email to the entire group would be a good idea.

 HikeABull is not a breed specific group. We love and welcome all breeds. Socializing and exercising our dogs has nothing to do with what breed they are. You will often hear me say “It’s a dog thing, not a breed thing”. There are several pit bull dogs in the group and many of our members are advocates for any dog that gets prejudge because of the way it looks. Pit bull owners have found their dogs not welcome in many places. It would be shameful if they did the same thing to another. HikeABull is a wonderful diverse mixture of dogs and people, we are a community. 

Being a group that welcomes dogs with varying personalities, quirks, manners, behaviors, or whatever you want to call it is something we take earnestly and with great pride. If you were to take a moment and read your fellow group members profile question when asked “ What would you like the group to know about your dog(s)?” you are going to find things like ~ is a social puppy ~ anxiety issues ~ plays well off leash & currently working on her on leash behavior ~ shy and protective ~ needs a fair amount of personal space ~ happy playful dog ~ loves walking and is friendly, gets hyped up around other dogs because he wants to meet them and play ~

Each of these are a different dog and breed with varying needs. By taking the social pressure of the dogs greeting out of our group activity, it makes a relaxed fun environment for all of the dogs from social to shy and so on. If you were to walk up to my husband and be overly familiar with him he would give you a very different reaction than I would if you were to do that with me. He doesn’t like it and will let you know, me it doesn’t bother. The same type of thing happens with our dogs. Sometimes we don’t realize what can make another dog uncomfortable because our dog doesn’t mind that particular thing. 

Our dogs need us to let others know what their boundaries are. HikeABull is a group where we respect each other's boundaries and encourage each other to let them be known. For those very social dogs that don’t mind a greeting, it is a great place for them to practice not greeting every dog they see. I promise it is a fun environment for all.

While we are waiting for a hike/walk to start we want to make sure we give each other plenty of space. Please do not walk your dog up to another. We do a short people introduction and let each other know what our dog's social needs are if any. We want to start with a nice calm pack, waiting for the hike to start (before hike or at a water break) the dogs can get a little excited, so even if your dog walks side by side in the pack during the hike please remember we all need a comfortable space while stopped. There at no time is dog to dog greetings. This applies for the scheduled HikeABull hikes/walks. We by no means imply that your dog should never greet another dog. We just believe that practicing leash manners and providing an environment where all of our dogs with such different personalities can have a successful experience in a group  pack makes us a community of incredible dog owners. 

Any questions please feel free to email any of the HikeABull organizers.

This has been said to me more than once in the last few weeks about HikeABull. We've had a quite a few border collies, shepherds, retrievers and Labradors join the group lately. It has been wonderful to see HikeABull grow and expand.

The majority of our group dogs are pit bulls, all of the HikeABull organizers happen to own a pit bull dog. We have dedicated group members that regularly come to hikes, most of them also own a pit bull. I personally am an advocate for pit bulls and any dog that gets prejudged because of the way it looks. I encourage everyone to educate themselves about any breed or mix breeds before making a judgment. I also believe that dogs are individuals and you just don’t know what quirks yours will come with. Before I adopted Lola I had a negative mindset when I heard the words pit bull. I didn’t even realize I felt this way until my husband suggested adopting one. Automatically I thought he was crazy. Why, because I had only heard about them from the media reports and subconsciously that had sunk in. I researched for myself and was shocked at what I learned. We adopted Lola and from there, I like so many people have felt compelled to fight the bad rap these dogs get.

The other day some of our group went on a private hike and ran into a couple of ladies that were fearful of the dogs. One claimed her husband had been attacked the week before by a dog just like one in this group, pointing at a dog that is clearly a Doberman Pincher and calling the him a Rottweiler. People mistake breeds all the time and by doing so help spread the negative stigma and fear. It is sad to me when people are automatically afraid because they have been told to be. None of the dogs on that hike would have hurt either of those ladies, the thought wouldn’t have even occurred to them. These dogs were unfairly pre-judged because of the way they looked.

A dog needing positive socialization is not about their breed. Dogs working on training or behaviors also is not about their breed. People being responsible owners is not about what breed you own. That we are becoming a group of not only proud and responsible pit bull owners but also proud and responsible dog owners is amazing beyond words. HikeABull with all of our dogs and all of our breeds will not only be a wonderful positive place for socialization, it will also help show that pit bull dogs are just another great dog. So when someone tells me “I didn’t know this was a pit bull group” I smile and think here is another person that I get to talk to and by being part of HikeABull they will see through the myths and truly get to see the dog. When people pass by and see our group with it’s amazing mixture of pit bulls, border collies, shepherds, retrievers, Labradors, Boxers and yes, a Finnish Lapphund that will be a positive statement for us all.


Lark mcIntosh

The majority of hikes organized by HikeABull are limited to 19 dogs, this limitation is imposed by the national park, as many have a limitation on the size of a group before permits are required.

Even though there is a limit to the size of the group, keeping a group together even when hiking on flat ground can be difficult. Dogs and humans have different fitness levels, and that doesn't even take in to account the fact that dogs will always choose the most inappropriate moment to want to go and use the facilities.

A couple of months ago, as an aid to ensure the group is kept on the same track and all participants safe, HikeABull organizers started to carry 2-way radios. On most hikes two organizers are present, one organizer will lead the hike while the other stays at the rear and ensures no one attending gets left behind.

Radio's similar to the ones below have been a great success.

The 2-way radio's not only ensure that everyone who starts the hike finishes (or is accounted for) but they also allow the leading group to alert the group at the rear about oncoming traffic, be it a mountain biker or runner. 

All in all for a small price, utilizing 2-way radio's on the HikeABull hikes has made managing a large group easier and has made the hikes more enjoyable as the whole group is in constant communication. For the organizers it adds an extra bit of fun as who doesn't like to pretend their in special op's for a couple of hours!

Summer came late to California this year, April, May and June were among the wettest on record. When Summer did arrive, HikeABull was out in force scheduling hikes for both the weekend and mid week. Due to the popularity of the mid week hike's, some weeks two evening hikes were scheduled. 

We're now coming towards the end of August, and although the days are still warm and sunny (we've had temperatures in the eighties for the last week or so) sunset is coming earlier and earlier. This last week we barely had ten minutes to spare before darkness came. We're currently losing one minute of daylight each day and so we may be lucky and get one more hike in before we'll only have the weekends.
The majority of the mid week hikes have been scheduled at the Almaden Quick Silver park, the following link should give you an idea of where Quick Silver is located. 

At night Quick Silver has a completely different feel to early morning, the colors are much warmer. The hike's have also been a great way to de-stress mid week. 

Stopping for a well deserved rest at the halfway point

The mid week hikes have also been a great way to get the local HikeABull members. Towards the end of the hike is a great place where we can just hang with our dogs and just catch up with each other's news.

So as summer slowly winds down for another year, I'd like to thank all those HikeABull members who came out and enjoyed many sunny evenings with Alzbeta and myself, it has been a great summer and we look forward to doing it all again next year.

Although, summer may be coming to an end, HikeABull will continue to hike at the weekends, as always weather permitting. It's not that we're soft (well some of us maybe), but I'll use the excuse that our dogs melt if a single drop of rain falls on them.