by EllyM » Mon Jan 22, 2018 12:59 pm
Ooof. I think this is a really tricky one. I'm quite lucky in that both of the dogs I walk with alone are terriers, and thus small enough and light enough to chuck in a backpack if necessary. However, a number of dogs sometimes come out with my walking group, all the way up to a massive husky! Something of that size, I couldn't move on my own - I think I would probably struggle even with a collie.
I think my dividing line would be whether I was going to put myself or anyone else in danger. If I could carry the dog as far as the nearest road, or bivvy for the night with the dog, and manage to walk it out in the morning, I would choose to stay with it. If it was likely to result in mountain rescue being sent out because I was reported missing, or became exhausted, my inclination would be to leave the dog with as much shelter as possible, mark the point, and return the next morning with a sledge or similar.
I would obviously not 'abandon' a human under any circumstances, even one I didn't like, but although I love my dogs, I think it's disingenuous to suggest that the two circumstances are analogous. At the end of the day, if I was out with a person and a dog and had to choose between them, I would choose to save my worst enemy over my own dog. I would, however, leave a human I had made comfortable in a marked location to fetch help - which as a brief skim of any book on Scottish mountain rescue will make clear, can result in the death of the injured party. There is no sense in injuring or killing yourself trying to save your walking companion, whether they are dog or human.