[pct-l] Dog hiking

[ECPG at peoplepc.com (ECPG)]

A couple of things:
I''m glad to see that not everyone on this list dismisses dogs as long
distance hiking partners. Hiking with an animal is a partnership and as such
is fraught with the same problems any other partner would bring to the mix.
Not all dogs are suitable for a venture such as this, not all humans are
either.
Knowing your partner's limits are necessary to the success of any venture.

As for the wildlife chasing/ coyote baiting problems, these can be cured by
training, and I also advocate a flexi-lead at all times and have trained my
dog to hike on a flexi without pulling on me and to either stay behind me or
out in front on command.

Coyotes will try to lure a dog out of camp. And then the dog is toast. It's
happened to me several times, in fact the scariest night I ever had was in
grizzly country when a coyote tried to get Bob out of camp, Fortunately he
was tied up right next to me. The Indians slept with their favorite horses
tied to their wrist. I can't imagine how much fun that must have been to do.

Yes, some dogs are annoying, mine even annoys me sometimes. So does my
hiking partner who is human, and tends to whine. I can tell the dog to
straighten up with no hard feelings.

Sometimes I wish I could just hike along with no menagerie but if I didn't
have the dog to carry my daypack, or the goats for longer trips, I wouldn't
get to go at all. I can't even carry a fanny pack due to major arthritic
problems so I wouldn't get to go at all.
With the animals I can go as far and as long as I want. I have goats with
over a thousand miles on them. I had horses and dogs with way more than that
when I rode.

Carolyn Eddy
Goattracks Magazine
www.goattracksmagazine.com


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