Backpacking with dogs

Backpacking with dogshttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/Backpacking+with+dogs.aspxThings that I learned about backpacking with dogs.en-usCopyright (c) 2007-2008 Sawtooth Gear LLCThu, 05 Apr 2007 02:18:00 GMTsupport@hikingideas.comhikingideas/1.0Some advantages with having a dog with you on a hikehttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/4/5/Some+advantages+with+having+a+dog+with+you+on+a+hike.aspxThu, 05 Apr 2007 02:18:00 GMTCaptain_K_mandogshttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/4/5/Some+advantages+with+having+a+dog+with+you+on+a+hike.aspx

In the past, my dog Fritz, has saved me many uncomfortable nights. Fritz was a small 20 lb.dog that loved to sleep in the foot of my sleeping bag, this was nice to add extra heat to my bag. Duff, my new 30 lb dog, is too big to sleep in my bag, but he is a walking space heater. I can feel a big change in my tent's heat when Duff is in it. My neighbor, an avid backpacker, has a Newfoundland that sleeps in the tent with him and on cold nights he has his dog sleep on his legs for heat. I think the outcome of the lost hikers on Mt. Hood would have been tragic if they didn't have Velvet a Black Lab with them to share heat.

Photo of Velvet taken by Dove Lewiskgw

On one short overnight trip with a friend new to sleeping in the woods, Fritz saved us again. My hiking companion was scared and at midnight woke me up telling me that she wanted to go home. After trying to talk her out of a night hike with only one light, we packed up and headed back to my truck. About 3 miles from the truck, my light died. I had Fritz go first to show us the trail. I'm glad I did, as we were going along I walked onto what I thought was the trail and didn't see Fritz, I looked around for him and saw him, on the reel trail, stopped, looking at us. He looked at us like "hay dummy you're going the wrong way". If we didn't have Fritz we would have been stuck in the woods until the next day. I use my eyes to get down the trail my dog smells his way down the trail.

When my neighbor's daughter goes hiking by herself she brings her dad's Newfoundland for protection, not too many people are going to bug a girl with a 130 lb dog by her side.

My dog is small, so it can only carry his own things at the start of the hike, as he eats his food, he there is more room in his pack. I use the spare room in Duffs pack for any trash that I collect on the trail. So, Duff is a walking garbage truck.

At camp a trail dog is there for companionship and entertainment but, my dog has camp chores just like any other backpacker has. Fritz was the best at camp chores, Duff still has to learn how to do chores. Some of the chores that Fritz was good at were getting fire wood, finding where the mice at the shelters and cleaning our cooking pots. When we got to a shelter the first thing I would say is "where's the mouse" Fritz would sniff all around the shelter and show me the mouse's nest. After we found the mice Fritz would go out and bring sticks back for the fire. After dinner Fritz's last chore was to clean the cooking pots. He would get every but of food off the pots and all I would have to do is rinse his spit off the pots. He is a walking dish washer.

My neighbor's Newfoundland, being a huge dog, is a good pack animal. That dog carries the 2 person tent when its two of them and has carried a 4 person tent for a group of 3 plus the dog. When my neighbor's daughter was small, the dog would carry all his own stuff, a tent for all, a pad for himself and a pad for the little girl, and all the baby things needed.

My favorite thing to use my dog for is as a pillow to rest my head on at rest stops.

This is just some advantages with having a dog with you on a hike. I'm sure I left out a lot of things that a trail dog could be used for, so please tell me in the comments what you use your dog for on the trail.

]]>Dog care and First Aid on the Trailhttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/3/22/Dog+care+and+First+Aid+on+the+Trail.aspxThu, 22 Mar 2007 00:04:00 GMTCaptain_K_manhttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/3/22/Dog+care+and+First+Aid+on+the+Trail.aspx

Let me start this next paragraph by telling you about by medical background, I have been an EMT for 17 years and have tough first aid and CPR classes, I also took a dog first aid class.

Before you go out on the trail get some dog first aid training. The Red Cross has a very good course in dog first aid. One of the volunteer fire departments offered this course and I found it to be very similar to a human first aid class. It covered every thing that you'll need to know to keep your dog healthy and well cared for. If you have any first aid training, you might be able to get by with a dog first aid book. I like and use Dog First Aid, A Field Guide to Emergency Care for the Outdoor Dog by Randy Acker, DVM. This book is small enough to carry with you at all times. It covers any emergency you could think of.

You should know how the dog acts when it is not feeling well, hurt or tired. You should also know your dogs resting pulse. To check your dog's pulse; Feel the chest behind the left elbow, count the beats in 15 seconds and multiply by four. My old dog Fritz had short hair and it was easy to find his pulse, with Duff''s long wired hair this winter I'm having a hard time finding his pulse. It takes a little practice. Taking a pulse is good to tell if your dog is stressed for some reason or is going into shock.

Being from Connecticut and living not far from Lyme CT, a town that got a distinct pleasure of having a disease named after it, Lyme disease is of concern. For my dog I use Frontline plus, this works for me. Whatever you do use some kind of flea and tick control.

Porcupines are my other concern. My veterinarian told me that porcupine quills have little barbs on the end and can pull at the tissue and let the other quills get slip under the skin more if just pulled out. He said that skin had to be held down and pulled tight to open up the hole that the quill is in, so it could be pulled out. This is very painful for the dog and should be tried only if you are far from a veterinarian. The one time I had to do it I used my thumb and forefinger to pull the skin tight and a small key chain pliers to pull the quills. From that point on I don't let my dog out of the tent or shelter without me going with him.

Snakebite is a very real hazard that you should be ready for. The first thing to do is try to slow the venom from getting into the dog's system, calm the dog down, immobilize and apply a loose tourniquet between the snakebite and the heart. Then get the dog to a veterinarian as fast as you can. A lot of Thru-hiker hand books have a list of veterinarians that are near the trail, if not, research what veterinarians are in area that you're going to be hiking.

I just added some things to my first aid kit, any well stocked backpacking first aid kit will do. The things that I added are; blunt nose scissors and comb for the fur. I also added Bagbalm to rub dogs pads, it also helps soothe cuts, scratches, skin irritations, and paw abrasions. Walking in snow and some kinds of rocks can tear your dog's feet apart, you might want to thing about getting booties for the dog if it's feet are getting hurt. Some of the medications that carry can also be given to dogs, a real good list of medications and dosage chart is in the back of the Dog First Aid book.

As for food, snacks and drink, on the trail I want to give my dog the best food I can find. I use Eukanuba Premium Performance it provides higher protein and fat to provide more fuel for your dog food stored the same way you store your own. Make sure the dog drinks lots of water. A cool thing that I tried a few times and my dog seems to like is

K9-Quencher, it's like Gatorade for dogs. For snacks you can get dog energy bars, I use the same snacks my dog eats at home. I like the store bought snacks that come in the zip-top bags. When I'm backpacking I have a training food bag that I clip to my pack's waist belt, I fill it and feed my dog all day.

To leash or not to leash is up to you. I leash at trail heads, road crossings, and road walks / towns. On the Appalachian trail and Long trail in Vermont there are spots that require the dog be on a leash, like Shenandoah National Park. If the dog runs off, stay put and wait for him / her to come back. My dog came with a micro chip in him to identify him if he is found.

On the Appalachian trail there are places that don't allow dogs and a lot of national parks are off limits to dogs. On the Appalachian trail you can not take a dog through the Smokies or in Baxter State Park. Also you can not take a dog through Bear Mt. Zoo you have to go around. It adds a degree of difficulty in terms of planning. There are kennels near both the Smokies and Baxter that will shuttle your dog for you, but they are not cheep. I don't know the rules for any other trails.

Basically dogs have plenty of ways of telling you whats going on with them. When your dog starts to trail you all the time, constantly look for shade and lay down, its telling you its time to take a break. When hiking with dogs you need to be flexible, because your dog may need to rest more than you do. The dog should control the pace of the hike, but pace your dog. don't let it go all out in the morning only to dragging in the afternoon. Above all make sure your dog drinks lots of fresh water and eats lots of food.

I could just keep going on and on talking about dog care and first aid but, I wanted to keep this short and basic. After a few trips you'll find what works for you and your dog.

]]>What makes a good trail doghttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/3/18/What+makes+a+good+trail+dog.aspxSun, 18 Mar 2007 01:14:00 GMTCaptain_K_manhttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/3/18/What+makes+a+good+trail+dog.aspx The best trail dogs I have come in contact with have been sport or working dogs. The breeds that stand out are; Black & Brown labs, Golden Retrievers, Huskies, German Sheppards, Beagles, Terriers and Mutts (I'm not PC again). Lap dogs might not be your best option.

My old dog Fritz, as I said earlier, was a Beagle, Jack Russell mix and he took to backpacking like a fish takes to water. He weighed 25 pounds and carried his own gear. I don't know if it was the terrier or the beagle that helped him take to the trail so easily.

When I asked myself the above questions for my new dog I came up with; I wanted a sporting dog. I hike on the Appalachian and Long trails, so I wanted a smaller dog that weighed 20-30 pounds. With that weight I could help the dog over or around obstacles easier than a 60 pound or heaver dog. 20-30 pound dogs can still carry their own gear. I wanted a dog that historically had endurance. I had experience with Terriers and like the temperament and energy of them, so I started to look at different breeds of terriers. Terriers come in small and medium sizes, so I could get to the weight I wanted. I originally thought I wanted a purebred Jack Russell Terrier, but after thinking about it, they are small and wanted a dog that weighed a little more .

A friend of mine called me and told me about a Wire Hair Fox Terrier that was at the shelter he volunteered at. I went and meet the dog and knew he was for me. He was in the weight range I wanted, 32 pounds and had long legs for ease of movement on the trail. After taking him for a short walk I knew he would be a good trail dog. Living with him for a few months I found him to be a loyal and smart dog. Some problems with him are with his fur, it attracts and holds every thing on the trail. The wire hair also holds onto water a lot longer than normal fur does. Fur was one thing that I didn't even think of when I was looking for a new dog.

Now that you have a dog the dog needs to be trained. There are many different training techniques out there. I believe that Cesar Millan's (The Dog Whisperer) technique is the best for a trail dog. He uses pack leader training. With that training you are the pack leader and your dog is a member of the pack. This technique lends itself very well with backpacking. What ever training you do with your dog certain commands need to be perfected. Your dog needs to know recall, stay, leave it, and heal at a minimum. The dog also needs to be a friendly dog and be well socialized to people and other animals.

Almost any dog can be a good trail dog as long as your dog is healthy, well trained and has a good temperament.

Trail dogs are true companions, sharing your love of the outdoors on the level of an equal. They will be the best hiking partner you'll ever have.

]]>Backpacking with dogshttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/3/17/Backpacking+with+dogs.aspxSat, 17 Mar 2007 21:26:00 GMTCaptain_K_manhttp://www.hikingideas.com/blogs/2007/3/17/Backpacking+with+dogs.aspx
I am not an expert by any means. I've had dogs all my life. I have almost 600 miles of Appalachian trail hiking experience with my old dog Fritz. He was a Beagle / Jack Russel Terrier mix. I'm in the process of training a new dog name of Duff. He is a 2 year old Wire Hair Fox Terrier that I adopted 9 months ago. I will be referring to these two dogs as I babble on this subject. I also have a great veterinarian that gave me some good advice that I'll pass on.

Over the next week or so, I'm going to give my ideas on what makes a good hiking dog, including training. I'll discuss dog care, first aid and first aid kits. Some advantages with having a dog with you on a hike. And finally some equipment for man and beast.

I would also like to take this time to thank Russ, Tim and Ilona for starting this site and letting me and others voice our opinions. Keep up the good work.]]>