[pct-l] Dog Help

Fri Nov 16 19:47:35 CST 2007

Mags- 

  I've already confessed to wanting my dog with me and I know certainly he wants to be with me as well......he wants to go EVERYWHERE I go, like most dogs and their owners......

  I was hiking in OR last month and gone for 10 days, and when I got back home in the pitch dark at 9 o'clock at night, there he was in the front window, watching for me!!!!
  10 days later!!!!!  What kind of loyalty is that????!!!!  Amazing......I would have thought he'd have given me up for dead by then......no wonder we love our dogs!

Paul Magnanti <pmags at yahoo.com> wrote:
        Underneath my links, I mentioned how the desert is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

Should be repeated twice, though. Donna has probably seen many dogs who frankly looked very worse for wear after the SoCal desert.

My advice: If you are really set on taking your dog with you, I'd wait until after SoCal and the High Sierra.  After these sections are much more friendly to dogs not only in terrain, but also in terms of logistics. (e.g. not NPS lands).  There are some exceptions of course, but you'll have to check with each area for dog regs.

And though I hinted, I'll say it right out: I think it is the dog OWNERS who can't live without their dogs more so than the other way around. ;-)

I am not saying don't take a dog..but remember, your dog does not have a choice to be on the trail or not. Think long and hard about your dogs health, the terrain, the logistics, regulations, etc. You have the choice to take a long hike. A dog does not.

************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.pmags.com  

  ----- Original Message ----
From: Donna Saufley <dsaufley at sprynet.com>
To: g l <gailpl2003 at yahoo.com>; Paul Magnanti <pmags at yahoo.com>; PCT <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2007 3:26:07 PM
Subject: RE: [pct-l] Dog Help

            I apologize because I haven¢t read the references Mags provided, but wanted to comment on your response because it sounds like your dog¢s trail experience has been on the AT.  Please keep in mind that the PCT and AT are similar only in that they are both long trails.  The weather and terrain you¢ll find on the southern PCT are for the most part quite dissimilar to anything you¢ll find on the AT.  In some sections, you¢ll experience 110 degree plus days, single digit humidity, long waterless stretches without shade, and soil like sandpaper.  The dry, harsh, extreme desert conditions found in Southern California can be very hard on people and on animals who aren¢t adapted to them.  

  Lover of dogs (current count:  seven)

  L-Rod

---------------------------------

  From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On Behalf Of g l
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 3:38 PM
To: Paul Magnanti ; PCT
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Dog Help

  Thanks Mags.....both are excellent references.  And you are right of course.  I couldn't bear to part with my best pal.  However, it is also true that every time I get my backpack out he gets soooooo excited.  He's smaill, but he loves to hike and camp!  He has hiked as much as 12 miles a day for 2 days in a row, in the mountains thru pouring rain both days.  And still he loves it.  The only time I saw him freak was when lightening struck very near......but I freaked too, having been struck by lightening in the Shenandoahs, when I did a thru on the AT!  Yikes!!

Wheeew
Paul Magnanti <pmags at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Though meant for the Appalachian Trail , the general concepts should apply for the PCT:

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH/b.795337/k.9784/Hiking_with_Dogs.htm

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/cf/%7BD25B4747-42A3-4302-8D48-EF35C0B0D9F1%7D/fido.pdf

(Written by a veterinarian!)

Obviously the desert hiking is another ball of wax from the AT. Most of the snow fields a hiker typically crossed are in NPS lands where Fido is not allowed, so that is one less
physical hurdle for Fido. But a possible logistic issue for you.

Good luck!

ps. "He would be far happier on the trail than without his master for several months."

Or maybe it is the reverse ;-)

************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.pmags.com

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