[pct-l] dog

[elee at microsoft.com (Eric Lee (GAMES))]

Elizabeth wrote:
>
Mostly I was just unsatisfied with Yogi's explanation (very short) and 
wanted some other opinions.
>

Search the list archives, you'll find lots of good information there.

Briefly, the problems with thru-hiking with a dog in one season (as
opposed to shorter section trips) are as follows:

1.  The desert heat is extremely hard on dogs.  Dogs generally can't
regulate their body temperature as well as humans can, and the heat is
hard enough on humans.  Imagine what it must be like as a dog.

2.  The rocky terrain found in the desert and many other places farther
north is very hard on a dog's feet, even with booties.  Don't picture
soft, pine-needle-covered trails.  Picture sharp, abrasive rocks.  Most
thru-hikers wear out multiple pairs of shoes during their trip.  Imagine
what it must do to a dog's pads.  

3.  Having a dog along greatly complicates logistics.  Hitchhiking is
much harder.  Resupply is harder.  If your dog needs to get off the
trail, you can't just put it on a bus.  This seriously decreases your
odds of finishing in one season.

4.  Your dog can't talk.  Humans can say, "You know, I'm beat.  I need
to stay in town for an extra zero day."  Dogs can't tell you that.  Is
it fair to put your dog on a deathmarch where it has no choice but to
keep walking 20 mile days regardless of what it _wants_ to do?

I have no problem with people section-hiking with their dogs.  More
power to them.  However, I think a traditional one-season thru-hike with
a dog is a terrible idea.  The vast majority of dogs that attempt it
don't make it.  Even the ones that do arrive in Canada usually have to
skip huge sections.  (Timber, one of this year's thru-hiking dogs, would
have been in major trouble had he not been able to skip around desert
sections in Meadow Mary's RV.  Depending on who you ask, Timber wasn't
having much fun during last part of the trip, either.)

For two first-hand accounts of thru-hiking dogs on the PCT this summer,
check out these journals:
*  ERTMan and Red
(http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=2039)
*  Bradley and Banner (http://www.pctforpets.org/)

Both dogs were harshly punished by the desert sections, both dogs got
off the trail before reaching the Sierras.  Even if you think your dog
is different, at least read the journals (particularly the second one)
to understand what you'll be up against.

Eric