Trekking with Canines

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Backpacking can be a challenging endeavor in itself – At times in our effort to get back to basics and simplify life by hitting the trail we find ourselves pouring over gear checklists, rushing to make the trailhead at a decent hour, or planning trips that just push the mileage a bit too far. With all this in mind, adding another component to the equation might not be the best idea. But once you find your rhythm, adding man’s best friend can be a great addition to any trip – And there aren’t many places where they could be a better friend than on the trail.

If you're interested in taking your dog with you while hiking and backpacking, or already do - Check out our article on page 53 of the current issue. Does anyone have any additional tips, techniques, or thoughts on the subject?

Trekking with Canines

Issue 1 Page 1

[tmountainnut]

My girlfriend has two dogs that she likes to take hiking and insists that they carry thier own water and food, so she's been experimenting with different packs. i like the price and features of the REI classic dog pack, which is pretty simple and cheap if you use one of their 20% off coupons on it. REI also makes some nice booties too which look nice but i haven't gotten a chance to test them out yet, although that site dogbooties.com is interesting and i might have to see if those will work too.

lastly, i never thought about the pad with the dogs since they just lay on top of me and her. i think if i started to pack a small thermarest ridgerest solight, that might do the trick to give them a comfy spot to sleep with a high R value.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Before I came to the conclusion that carrying all of the weight myself was the best solution at least in my situation, we experimented with various packs including REI's version - But it appears they've now changed their model around a bit. We settled on the Ruff Wear Approach, which seemed to offer the best fit. They're all a bit on the heavy side though - Still waiting for someone to come out with an ultralight silnylon or cuben version...

The booties from www.dogbooties.com work great - They're just Cordura fabric with a stretchy velcro closure. They are seriously light and still allow for natural movement of your dog's toes & feet. For a sleeping pad, I actually have the dog on a cut down Ridge Rest SOLite now, which works great. Once this wears out I may switch to the Z Lite SOL for better packability however.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Aaron

[tmountainnut]

Which booties do you use from that site? i would want something that will withstand some use while hiking on granite.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

We're using the 330 denier Cordura booties with the velstretch closure option. I pretty much only put them on for the really rough sections of trail - Sharp rocks, ice, etc...Or when it's really cold. So far they've held up great.

[grizzled]

I know this is an ancient thread, but we backpack with the canines all the time. When it comes to dog food, the standard issue stuff gets heavy for multi-day trips so a couple years ago we switched to the Sojo freeze dried stuff. The girls love it and it doesn't weigh much. Only downside is heating a bit more water to mix it.

[Gary M]

I know this is an ancient thread, but we backpack with the canines all the time. When it comes to dog food, the standard issue stuff gets heavy for multi-day trips so a couple years ago we switched to the Sojo freeze dried stuff. The girls love it and it doesn't weigh much. Only downside is heating a bit more water to mix it.

grizzled;

I've seen Sojo freeze dried products before, but I've never tried it as I didn't think my dogs would eat it. Just out of curiosity, what do you feed "the girls" at home? Some dogs don't like having their diets changed.

My wife and I (both being a tad dog crazy) make our own dog food, and feed them a natural diet. They get a mixture of brown rice, lentils, and misc. vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage,etc. We supplement their diet with chicken, and use the broth to cook the rice and other ingredients. It's a lot of work, but the results are fantastic. Our Newfoundlands have bright shiny coats, look great, and have plenty of energy for the outdoors.

Gary M

Olathe, Kansas

Katie and Maximus on the trail!

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

I know this is an ancient thread, but we backpack with the canines all the time. When it comes to dog food, the standard issue stuff gets heavy for multi-day trips so a couple years ago we switched to the Sojo freeze dried stuff. The girls love it and it doesn't weigh much. Only downside is heating a bit more water to mix it.

I use dry food at home and have always packed the same on the trail - Have it at about 8-10 ounces of high quality food per full day for my 50lb heeler. It hasn't been too bad even for longer trips but I can definitely see the weight becoming a factor with 2 or more dogs on the trail and even in my situation saving weight is always appealing. Any idea regarding how much weight-wise you're taking in your case? Interesting that nothing is cooked...Are you heating the water just to speed up the rehydration process?

[Gary M]

Aaron,

When backpacking (vs hiking) I've put any dry dog food in the dogs pack.

I recall from your article (or was it a blog?), you aren't into dog packs. My Newfies are bigger, and were breed for carting along with their original job;water rescue. Dry dog food isn't too heavy and doesn't shift around too much, so it works well in a dog pack. I would always then supplement the dry food with something I fixed for myself.

On a day hike, I just carry a snack for the dogs. as well as their water of course.

Gary M

Olathe, Kansas

Katie and Max on the trail!

Gary M

[Bobo Uzala]

grizzled ~ thanks for revisiting this thread. Yo Gary M, those are AWESOME Newfies!!! More Pics please!

I always wanted a trail dog but it just never worked out. My wife always wanted dogs as well, but being fulltime professionals we just don't have enough time to take care of them properly, so I had to veto her. A traildawg would be great for long multiday trail systems, however most of my shorter day hike areas don't allow dogs (which is a bummer).

I "borrowed" my buddy's dog for a weekender and we had a blast. Too bad there isn't somewhere I could rent a traildawg from time to time?