[pct-l] Hiking with your dog

[aslive at charter.net]

Now that's funny!  Although a good thing.  Shepherd


On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 3:26 PM, David Thibault wrote:

> Whenever I hike with my dog (local trails) my dog is trained to sit
> whenever another hiker approches.    Most people are comfortable with 
> a dog
> that is sitting as it is very unthreatening.
>
> A funny aside, on one hike I came across a fresh pile of bear scat and 
> was
> wondering how my dog would react if we encountered a bear.  About 10
> minutes later we rounded a bend in the trail and there in the middle 
> of the
> trail, about 20 feet away, was a large black bear.  My dog promptly 
> sat
> down.  The bear ran off.
>
> Day-Late
>
>>
>> Message: 35
>> Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:34:42 -0700
>> From: Rebecca Mezoff <rebecca.mezoff at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [pct-l] Hiking with your dog
>> To: Pct-L at backcountry.net
>> Message-ID: <34AE1FE4-1E1F-4152-B82A-9B9FF2E62455 at gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>>
>> I understand the desire to take your dog with you on the trail. I 
>> took
>> my lab on the Colorado Trail when she was three years old. She was a
>> trooper. She did the whole 500 mile trail, but I would never try to
>> take a dog on a long hike again (and I met many other dogs at the
>> start of the trail none of which made it to the end except Cassy as
>> far as I know). She has walked miles every day since the day she came
>> to live with me as a puppy. I trained with her extensively, toughened
>> her feet, brought booties, many days had to wait out the heat when 
>> the
>> trail was too hot, carried liters of extra water for her on waterless
>> stretches, etc etc. Hiking with a dog long distance adds another 
>> large
>> level of challenge. There were coyotes she took off chasing and lost
>> her pack in the bushes (I had to wade through mud to get it), there
>> was the time she went swimming with her pack and her food wasn't well
>> enough protected and I had to pack out soggy rotten dog food for 3
>> days and feed her some of mine. I constantly had to worry about her
>> getting hit by a mountain biker roaring around a corner (and myself
>> too!). But mostly, after about mile 300, she didn't want to do it any
>> more. I had to bribe her every morning to put the pack back on, and
>> her heart wasn't in it. She was healthy and usually warmed up to the
>> hike after an hour or so, but she doesn't have the cognitive ability
>> to talk herself into continuing something that is difficult day after
>> day like a human can. Perhaps another dog could.
>> I love my dog and will always go hiking with dogs.  But I limit the
>> length to a couple weeks. My next thru will not include a dog. (Also,
>> I do believe that dog owners are extremely inconsiderate of other
>> people. I always leash my dog when other people approach and
>> frequently hike with her on leash when the trail is busy whether or
>> not the law requires. I never take her to national parks -- except 
>> the
>> few that allow dogs and then she is leashed and only on backcountry
>> trails. I understand that many people do not like dogs and don't want
>> an unknown dog coming up to them in any capacity, even with tail
>> wagging and a big grin on. Unfortunately many dog owners are not so
>> considerate.)
>> Yogi's thoughts about dogs on the PCT are good ones. Maybe a thru of
>> the Colorado trail with Lucy if she is such a great trail dog would 
>> be
>> a better idea than the PCT. The CT is much shorter, has fairly
>> consistent water, and no national parks. Of course the above
>> challenges still apply!
>> Rebecca
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>>
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