[pct-l] Re: pertaining to dogs

[hhloth@neworld.net (Larry Hillberg)]

I agree with Karen about a dog getting lots of conditioning, or a horse or
goat for that matter.  Not for the trail but for their health.
My dogs walk and run miles every day and often are so tired they have
trouble climbing the stairs.  They wouldn't have it any other way.  They
love the outdoors and are ready to go at the drop of a hat.
It's not necessary for a dog to posthole, the owner can create a path for
the dog.  The dog gets lots of rest and the owner gets exhausted.
The dog should be kept on a leash and if the owner is expressly told that
they may not bring their dog on a section of trail then they don't go on it.
When faced with a blizzard at Whitney we reversed course and got out of
there.  I couldn't face the thought of  compacting a trail for my dog if the
snow got deep.  So we missed Forester Pass and got back on at Kearsage.  We
missed the section from Woods Creek to Muir Ranch and again from Tuolumne to
Sonora Pass.  After initially getting permission to proceed from Tuolumne to
Sonora it was rescinded when an off leash dog ran up to and growled at the
ranger
My dog was allowed off leash for a day going into Ebbets Pass (this was her
home turf and I'd made her a promise).  The result was a sprained knee from
running around leaping over boulders and downed trees while wearing her
pack.  The vet said she could continue, kind of like a person with a mildly
sprained ankle, but we took five days off anyway.
She got a thorn in her foot going into Seid Valley and it took a while to
find it.  She was foot tender for the two days we spent there waiting for it
to heal.  I carried her pack for the next three days until I was sure she
was completely better.
Your dog, just like you, will have days when she's tired, or hot, or stiff
and sore.  She'll have days when she's exhilarated and raring to go.  If
she's like my
dog she won't have a day when she doesn't want to go.  She will probably
hate town stops, my dog did.
One mistake I made was to keep her on leash at a stream crossing.  Except
for help from Homebrew, my dog and I would have been swept over the fatal
cascade just past VVR.  I had her tied to me with two separate ropes and was
leading her across.  I was stopping fearfully with every step and my dog,
who could have got across quickly, was forced to stop and started to go over
the side.  Homebrew put himself at considerable risk to give her a push to
hold her up.  After that near disaster I made it a point to never attempt
anything that I didn't know I could handle completely alone.  I'm a cautious
person and we weren't going to come to any harm if we did things completely
alone. Turned out not to be true; thank you Jonathan for help at Packwood
Glacier when I got hit by the rockslide and was stupidly not carrying an ice
axe.
Helen