[pct-l] Thru hiking with dog

[Dana Fuhrmann]

I understand that the topic of whether or not to bring a dog on the trail
tends to piss off veteran PCT forum readers...however that is NOT my
question.  My dog Lucy and I ARE going to attempt a thru-hike this year, I
could never leave her behind.  I've spent a fair amount of time searching
the archives, and the internet in general, and that is the only dog-related
topic I can find.  So please don't get mad at me for posting this!  But I
have some questions for anyone who has thru-hiked with a dog...



Does anyone have a favorite high-calorie dog food that is readily available
in towns off the trail? Or did you mail dog food ahead of time?



Any opinions on whether it is worth getting Lucy a rattlesnake vaccine from
my vet (a series of 3 shots) for that first dessert section?  (If I wasn't
a broke ski bum by winter, hiker by summer I would say why not...but it
costs a couple hundred).  I did it last summer and of course we never even
saw a rattlesnake but I don't know much about southern Cali hiking.  Any
other medical stuff?  In Colorado we don't need heartworm meds and fleas
and ticks aren't an issue...is it on the PCT? (I'll ask my vet about this
too...but it would be nice to have a list of issues to raise with him
before our next appointment).



Lucy currently wears the Ruffwear Palisades pack.  On long trips the fur on
her armpits gets rubbed off...she doesn't complain but it doesn't look
comfortable.  Playing around with the straps doesn't seem to do much.  Any
suggestions?  Or is there another dog pack out there that people like
better than Ruffwear?



I've carried around dog boots on so many trips as a pre-caution and she has
never needed them (and is not psyched about wearing them around the house
for practice!), including rocky trails and hot dessert/cactus sections.
Should I bring them? Would using paw wax suffice?



Any other general dog knowledge gained from experience on the PCT that you
feel like sharing would be appreciated...



(And for all you nay-sayers out there: I know the reasons not to bring a
dog and I know that there are very few dogs who can handle a thru-hike.
However my dog is a badass--she has done tons of hiking and backpacking in
Colorado (where we live) carrying her own pack, she goes backcountry skiing
in pow much deeper than she is tall, I've taken her whitewater rafting (she
jumps in and out of the raft to swim in the rapids), and when she was only
7 months old she carried her own pack for 150 miles on the Hayduke trail in
the Utah dessert (through the slot canyons section--it is awesome and
unlike any other landscape I've seen if anyone hasn't done it and wants a
springtime trip!) and she loved it.  A couple of weeks ago I even watched
her climb a ladder! I still don't know how. And getting her back down was
kind of interesting. That being said, Lucy's health and happiness is as
important to me as my own and I am of course prepared to change plans
should the trials of the trail prove too much for her--the longest trip she
has done without a break is 2 weeks.)



Thank you for reading!!

Dana (and Lucy)



P.S.  I've been reading the threads on blisters and wanted to pass on the
prevention tactic that has worked best for me: lots of climbing tape! (the
stuff that rock climbers use to wrap up their bloody fingers).  It's fairly
cheap, available at any outdoors store, breathable, and stays put.