Hiking in Vermont, I never really put much thought into the whole dog thing. We've had our dog for about 2 years and done quite a bit of hiking with him. Thankfully we have a nice trail near us that is a "no leash required" park with 7 or so miles of trails.
I've always followed the whole "leash your dog at the summit" rule to keep them off the alpine vegetation and out of fellow hikers' lunches. Pick up your dog's poop. Don't hike with your dog if s/he is aggressive. Every piece of literature I've ever read from the trusty GMC had this advice. Never had an issue--seems like a pretty common sense rule to me. Until we got to the LOJ for a hike up Phelps this winter and saw the sign. Total bummer for me. I'm usually a pretty steadfast rule follower and hated that I had to decide whether or not to follow a rule that seemed pretty stupid to me.
To top it off, there aren't feasible trail options for Sawteeth, Dial/Nippletop/ Colvin/Blake that doesn't go through AMR property. Guess Ollie is staying home for those. He's summited Macomb, Phelps and Big Slide- all of which with some leash time.
Not much to add to the issue. It's just kind of disappointing.
...however friend in question works for DEC as a field biologist in the Southern Daks and her dog goes to work with her, so I'm certain she will follow the rules as they apply 
