Aspen – Standing on the edge of the Rio Grande Trail last week, Albert Sanford explained how his Norwich terrier, Gus, was well-behaved.
“I’ve trained my dogs well. They follow me,” said Sanford, with the little brown dog sitting obediently at his feet.
But when a buck darted from the bushes about 20 yards down the trail, Gus took off, yapping and barking after the fleeing animal.
“That never happens,” a sheepish Sanford said.
In response to concerns raised by trail users, Pitkin County last week joined the growing list of Colorado’s mountain communities – where dogs and inviting trails are as abundant as ski racks and stunning vistas – striving to reel in errant dog owners.
Leash laws were already in place in Pitkin County, but now those walking canines on county trails must keep their animals on a leash that extends no more than 6 feet, and no more than three dogs can be walked at once.
“The thing we observed on the trail is that 20-foot leads were not serving the purpose of controlling dogs,” said Keith Berglund, one of two county trail rangers. “Sometimes they get wrapped around someone’s leg or trapped in a bike and create a hazard.”
The three-dog limit was put in place because rangers had seen situations where people lost control of large groups of dogs, causing a hazard for other trail users.
Also restricting the length of leashes is La Plata County, which limits them to 8 feet.
Director of animal control Mike Lively said his department is stepping up patrols and has just increased its fine for leash-law violators from $20 to $30.
He said the city of Durango’s dog rules are “not the norm” for Western Slope towns. Residents are not allowed to own more than three animals, and dogs can’t be hitched outside businesses.
Following the apparent killing of a rare toad by a dog, Breckenridge recently banned canines from entering the Cucumber Gulch open space.
“We removed the privilege of dogs from open space,” said trails planner Danica Rice, noting that the once- common boreal toad had dwindled from being an abundant local species to extremely scarce numbers.
“We’ve done an intensive survey this spring and only found two, and unfortunately one of those is dead. By removing the dogs, that’s one factor we don’t blame.”
Breckenridge has no limit on the number of dogs that can be walked at once, but open-space officials have been stepping up patrols to crack down on those who flout leash laws, said Heide Andersen, open space and trails planner.
Dealing with dogs was the most difficult aspect of Boulder’s attempt to rewrite its open-space master plan this year.
The city has a decades-old policy of allowing dogs to run off-leash along 90 miles of its 130-mile trail network, provided the owner sets no more than two dogs free and retains sight of the animals. The dogs also must return to the owner when summoned.
This voice-and-sight rule was reeled in to 70 miles of trails in the new master plan, and tougher limits on dogs running loose will be put in place at busier trailheads.
For those who want to keep their dogs off-leash on Boulder trails, a certification process in which dog owners will be required to watch a video and show that their dogs can respond to voice commands will be implemented. Those dogs will then be given special tags to wear while on the trail.
“It’s a high-level standard,” said city of Boulder ranger supervisor Steve Almstead, who said his crew issues some 300 tickets annually for dog violations on the trails.
Boulder’s tolerance of off-leash dogs is unusual. Boulder County prohibits off-leash canines in all but three of its parks, and its policy has spawned some passionate advocates, such as the roughly 2,000-member group Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space, or FIDOS.
Pitkin County director of open space Dale Will said that a voice-and-sight control is not something he would recommend to commissioners in Aspen.
“Let’s face it, dogs are descended from wolves,” Will said. “Your average pet cannot resist the urge to chase wildlife.”
