[pct-l] Thru-hiking PCT w/ dog question

[djgpct at aol.com (djgpct@aol.com)]

25% is too much, even when the dog is in shape.
 
My husband took our dog for 270 miles on the PCT last year, also going lite himself.  The dog carried 20% of his own weight.  It was too much.  We consulted with many people, vets, trainers, etc.  We now realize the more conservative opinions we'd received were closer to the truth. Of course it can depend on breed, but if Nanook is a husky, he/she will also be challenged by heat even with no pack at all.
 
I am planning a cross country horsepacking trip (just a week) this year.  I plan to bring my dog and I will not put more than 10% on him, if anything at all.  Let the horse(s) carry the rest...
 
Also, if you plan to use dog booties, buy a set now and let your dog wear them A LOT.  We found that even though they protected his foot pads very well, he got blisters on the top of his feet from the booties.  We never thought of that.  Consider booty design and food and pack design carefully.
 
Another thought. We made an ID card for our dog.  Two copies actually.  Had 'em laminated.  One was in our dog's pack and one in my husband's pack.  Just in case they got separated, we wanted him to be easily identifiable.  We also had him tatooed.  He has a micro chip, but we feared that if he got lost in some place really remote, anybody who found him might not have easy availability to a vet scanner.  We used the microchip ID number in the tatoo, too.  The tatooing process was easy, once we found a good professional.  Took only 15 minutes and our dog was snoring by the last 5 minutes.  In my process of researching this last year, I found that it is illegal for any animal testing facility to accept a "found" animal if it is cleary marked with an ID or chipped.  It must be turned over to an agency that can follow up on it's ID chip or tatoo.
 
Especially consider if your dog is in physical shape and mental attitude ready for this.  We conditioned our dog for many months ahead of time, but it wasn't enough for what he was asked to carry day after day, week after week.
 
Good luck, but consider all details that pertain to your dog very very carefully.
 
Betsy (and Darrell and Sitka, the wonder lab)
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Schaffer <scotts451@yahoo.com>
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Sent: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:40:08 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [pct-l] Thru-hiking PCT w/ dog question



My name is Jim Scotts and I plan on hiking the PCT this year with my dog Nanook.  
I plan on going really ultralight and have found tons of good info for me, but 
have not been able to find much info for long distance hiking for dogs.  
My question is what?s a good ?rule of thumb? for the weight dogs can carry?  I 
feel that 25 Lbs would be a conservative start for a Husky of her size (< 25% of 
her body weight), but wonder what would be expected once she gets back in shape.

        
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