[pct-l] Hiking with your dog

[David Thibault]

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>
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>
> 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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