I've done a couple of 1-2 weeks hikes with my dog and tent. Now I plan on doing the GR11 with him, a 900km trail across the Pyrenees in Europe.
Welcoming tips and lessons learned on doing longer hikes with your furry friend :)
I'll also share mine as I go.
Enjoy it while you can my two Aussies have slowed down in their old age and it’s sad but I try to remember all the fun times. 10 miles used to be easy before breakfast but now they prefer to sleep in till 10 AM !
I do!! I grew up in an Aussie household, we had 3 including a blue ribbon show and CO SaR certified. I always knew an Aussie was the breed for me. So I soak up every minute with my wiggle butt knowing that one day she will have to slow down and will eventually break my heart.
I have 2 large dogs. My lab/pit will go until he drops. If I’m willing to go, so is he. My pittie, on the other hand, will absolutely tell you when he is done. He drinks from my pack and will tell you when he is thirsty. He will lay down when he is tired. He will boop you when he wants a snack.
Some dogs will absolutely tell you when they are tired, sore, hungry, thirsty, etc.
I'll be honest, I agree that dogs do give non-verbal cues on needs/wants. OP and his dog have already done multi-day trips and have a system for non-verbal communication. My own Aussie does very similar things as you described. Yet I always make a point of checking her and making sure her needs and comforts are met. That's all I was on about.
I'm just curious, do you hike with a dog? My dog can absolutely tell me when it's sore, tired, hot, hungry, thirsty.
It probably depends on the breed/age. My lab/rot mix was a beast when he was in his prime and could out hike me like crazy. He pushed me farther than I thought I could go. Now that he is getting older he just doesn't have that energy and it makes me kind of sad but that's life.
Hahaha
So helpful. Thanks. I took my dog on a four day trip and will be going on a much longer one in July. Really helpful info
I’ve been wondering: are catholes acceptable for dog waste in LNT? I’ve been packing my girls’ out until now, but we’ve been limited to short trips until recently cos she wasn’t a good eater and would lose weight on anything longer than 2 nights. She’s better at keeping on weight now, so longer trips are finally an option… and carrying 4+ days of shit does NOT sound fun. Catholes occurred to me, but I’ve struggled to find good LNT resources on it! So your advice is appreciated!
I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail with and have over 5000mi with my one dog and preparing for about ~4500mi by the end of next year with him and my new dog.
If you've already done a couple 1-2 week trips, it's pretty much just that on repeat. After a couple of weeks, you just get in a groove. Doing resupplies is usually the most complicated part.
Make sure you're keeping an eye on their paws. Mushers wax is great, but make sure you use it as directed. You only need it a couple times a week. People tend to over use it and it's counterproductive. You need to be prepared to stop and have a way to transport them too. Some use the slings. I've trained mine to ride my shoulders and learned how to make a travois
Make sure you are offering lots of water. For food, I don't like the freeze-dried stuff. It's incredibly expensive, bulky, and usually pretty low in fat. Fat is what your dogs need for endurance. A high-quality kibble or puppy chow is a great option as well for extra nutrients. I add olive oil or some other source of fat as needed.
Just remember, it's your dogs hike. Not yours.
Yup, and I learned I had to feed her earlier in the day cause she was too sleepy to eat as much at the end of the day.
I think this is somehow something I subconsciously picked up on and was doing without even noticing it. Just wanted to foot stop this comment in case it wasn’t something others were checking for with their pups.
I don't have that problem, but both my dogs are extremely well conditioned and do ultramarathon distances. It really depends on the dog.
Generally, you want to feed 3 hours before exercise to give time to digest and 1 hour after to let them get sufficient water.
My hound only eats once a day. I offer twice, but he always turns his nose up at breakfast. My malinios will eat a little bit in the morning, but the majority of her food intake is at the end of the day too. When I feed them, I just have big ziploc bags and they can eat as much as they want. My hound actually gained weight on the AT like that.
Yeah, my girl just isn't very food motivated. Belly rubs yes, food meh. Especially when hiker leftovers might be on offer. I guess it just cones down to paying attention to your dog.
In case anyone here feeds their dogs pumpkin for stool regulation: you can buy dried and powdered pumpkin to add to their food! You can get a massive jar for $10 at ChewyZ
I fed my dog 2x his normal volume of food. Also he decided it was nap time in the middle of a long day and I was forced to carry him after 2 hours of break while he snoozed. I think the lesson is take lots of breaks!
Good dog backpacking/long hiking begins at home months in advance. It starts with high-quality nutrition, ultra high-quality joint supplements, real whole food in addition to kibble, like berries, carrots, eggs.
Next is conditioning to train endurance and paw pad durability. I like to use a dog bike harness and take them out periodically. The harnress is attatched to a metal bar extender that keeps them away from the tires. This toughens up pads and improves heart function. Better heart function helps them deal with heat better.
Also, if your dogs are going to drink water from natural sources, get the dogs vaccines up to date and include Guardia/tic. Call a vet in the area you're going to be traveling in. Ask for vaccine recomendations, local dangers like wild life (snakes, mountain lions, tics, etc)
The best water practice is to carry a water filter, next best is high mountain moving water in some areas. Know that you take a small risk when you let them drink. Chance of death or disease is not zero ever. Mitigate that risk by being choosy and knowing the water quality in the area.
If you are traveling in areas with rattle snakes, try and find a local dog trainer that does rattle snake aversion classes. It will teach the dog to pick up on that scent and retreat. It's a lesson they will keep with them for the rest of their lives
On the trail, paw wax is awesome. Sometimes I'll use well fitted booties if the trail is very rocky or hot. Booties should not be the go to however (they'll loose them and it hurts their coordination for some dogs).
Bring sticky medical wrap tape (1inch). You can wrap paws when they get torn. It's likey to happen, so monitor it. They probably won't let you know because they're excited.
Take breaks/food. Rest and snacks to keep their blood sugar stable.
I use a shock collar and a bear bell in most situations. The bell let's me know where they are if they go out of sight and the collar gives them freedom to range and be a dog. It also allows for quick recall when they put themselves in danger. I rarely have to buzz them, but when I do, a low setting is typically enough.
Assume other dogs on the trail are dangerous. If you are allowing your dog to run up to other dogs, I guarantee you the owner isn't thrilled. You just have to be wrong once with one of these interactions.
Work on heeling/recall/obedience frequently. I took a class and recommend doing that to fast track this process.
I bring a dog down jacket for sleeping at night. And bring their own pad. They need recovery from the trail just like us.
I prefer to have dogs in the 30-50 pound range for backpacking/long hikes. If something happens to them on the trail, I need to be able to carry them out on a sling. I also prefer going with a friend so that we can take turns carrying the dog. This happened to me in the southern Utah desert where the sand got too hot to walk on and the dog needed extraction. I now always have booties on hand just in case.
Hope this helps. Enjoy the trail!
My lesson was: never wait for them to be tired, mine would drag me for 35km+, MAKE THEM TAKE A BREAK
Dog pack. Try and see if there are places near the trail that can receive and hold packages for you. Mail food and supplies ahead.
Always be aware of the condition of their pads and make sure they are comfortable in boots when they need them.
Some types of terrain kill my dogs feet and back when I would take her on week long trips I would let her hike without boots 8 or 10 miles at the start of the day and then the boots go on to mitigate any injury risk.
Meet with your vet and ask them to walk you though basic range-of-motion tests. I do them + some stretches with my dog every night on the trail and at lunch breaks, just to make sure she isn’t hiding any injuries. It lets me check for anything that might be tender or need a rest.
I also highly suggest having your vet prescribe you a small amount of a sedative, a dog-friendly NSAID, and an opioid in case of injury. I haven’t had to evac my dog yet, but if I ever do the trazadone will make carrying her much easier for both of us.
Great tips! Thank you!!
My GSD bitch has excellent recall and stays pretty close and is able to carry her own food for a 7 day trip without difficulty. Federal and state wild lands outside of national and state parks are chill with well behaved unleashed dogs. In the high country snow or surface water is easy to find and in dry lands I avoid routes that might take more than 5 hrs. between water sources. If fishing and small game as permitted is in a rich and predictable region I reduce food pack weight for both of us. I do carry booties for her but only deploy them on jagged icy snow and flinty rock surfaces as she has pretty tough pads. I did the high Pyrenees hut to hut a few years back and was never far from water of some sort for long but didn't fly my sweet girl to Europe as my hiking buddy so don't freight a lot of water.
Ticks. They'll be on you, too.
Barking can be disruptive to others on the trail.
Pick up your waste. I have a waterproof external garbage bag roll top.
Learn doggy first aid.
Be an excellent listener.
Bring extra food, they're burning more calories than usual. Trail dogs benefit from snacks just like you.
In Colorado, big hiker here. I have a 2 year old small corgi (22 pounds) and an Australian cattle dog / blue heeler (50 ish pounds) who’s about 6-8 years old. My heeler can go for miles and miles, although she’s more of a couch potato than anything else and is incredibly calm. But she loves a long distance hike with lots of rest stops. My corgi is super hyper, loves the beginning of the hike but lacks stamina, so he gets worn down easily in longer distances / higher elevations. (Sometimes this requires backpacking him out, but he’s tiny so it’s doable).
I usually do day hiking. So most of my tips are going to be related to that. Usually at my peak, it’s about 5-10 miles at the most over 3 hours or so. Lots of rest, lots of water, lots of snacks (including post hike snacks for dogs like peanut butter kongs or chewy bones for ride home) and if there are clean running steams, dips for the pups. But we have to work up to that.
Since it’s early in the hiking season, I’ve started with 1-3 mile hikes, smaller elevations if any, and usually 1-2 hours or so. For so example, this weekend we will go to a state park for a couple of hours and walk around, probably with no elevation gains.
Basic Gear: 8 feet leashes, harnesses, carabiner to clip dog leash to my backpack, first aid kit (just in case), collapsing dog bowl, little dog training treats. Extra plastic bag for used poop bags, in a separate backpack section. My corgi has a kong harness that holds his roll of doggie bags. I also carry extras in my backpack, along with extra water.
My biggest tip: teach your dog hiking commands and keep them on leash. I have 8 foot leashes for hikes. I clip my heeler to my backpack cause she’s better trained and I don’t need to hold on to her the whole time. But my corgi is in my hand always cause he’s still very puppyish and excitable.
I find that a lot of day or weekend hikers bring their kids / pups who are not well trained or just very excited to be on trail … and that can be difficult to handle with two dogs going up a steep incline with elevation gains and struggled breathing, lol. And sometimes I will take a shelter dog with me, who can be very excitable and reactive, so I’ve been on the other side of that as well.
My dogs are trained to sit off trail and let people pass, either from behind us or coming onwards. I put my body between them and anything oncoming. They are trained to not react to passing dogs or people and “look at me”. This is because it is easier for me to control their reactions is if they are sitting calmly and waiting for my next command. Especially if kids try to pet them or grab at them, which happens. Or if a dog lunges at them, which happens. So it’s better for me to be safe with them slightly off trail and sitting calmly. Most adults we can pass without issue, so it’s very situational. I really watch the dogs to see what I need to do - keep going or sit. Usually we sit.
If I have a shelter dog, I’m usually with a friend or only with my heeler. My heeler is incredibly well behaved and very calm. But shelter dogs can be unpredictable, so I always pull them slightly off trail and let people / dogs pass, just to keep everyone safe.
For hiking / trail commands, I have the following:
“easy” - for when I need dogs to slow down, specially when climbing rocks or going downhill. It means I want slack in the leash.
“wait” or “stay” - for when I need the pups to stop moving and stand still. Very helpful.
“anchor” - this is for when I want my blue heeler to walk behind me. This is for loose rock areas where if I fall, her weight can counter mine. In fact, this has saved my knees on several occasions. It also is helpful on sharp declines because I need her to go at my pace and not pull me down faster with her weight. With a heeler, this was super easy to train, because her natural instinct is to walk behind me anyways.
“heel” - this brings my heeler to my right hip, regardless of whether she’s walking in front or behind me. It’s also a warning to her that I may be going to grab her leash and pull her in. Used in situations where I see oncoming kids or dogs or we may have sit slightly off trail. Or if she’s spacing out or deep in a sniff spot, which definitely happens.
And obviously “sit” and “stay” and “look at me” are used when I want them to wait for people to pass.
Generally, we don’t have any issues. The beginning of hikes are always a little bit of a struggle cause everyone’s so excited but once we get in a grove, everyone calms down and settles into the pace and the commands. And we stop a lot. It’s just the way it goes with dogs.
If I am hiking with a friend, it’s much easier to be more relaxed and pass people, cause I have two other hands to help with the pups. But I usually let my friend know that we tend to sit and wait and let people pass, cause it’s safer for the pups.
My biggest and worst mistake was a few years ago: 17 miles in 6 hours, with about 3K elevation gain.
My heeler was fine. She was a little sore the next day, but we just vegged out and I set up her plastic pool outside for lounging. And I did some slow stretches of her legs and back to make sure she wasn’t hurting.
I, however, was not fine. I was incredibly sore and no amount of ice baths or heat fixed it. I clearly didn’t stretch enough on trail or take enough resting breaks. It was too fast of a pace for us. So my advice from this one - take breaks and don’t rush the pace. Enjoy the stops!
And always always always check paws, legs, etc., before packing up pups in car to make sure everyone made it down okay without any scratches or cuts!
That’s a lot of dog food and fresh water to carry.. I don’t have anything helpful to contribute, just my inner thoughts. How did you go about that for that 1-2 weeks out?
That’s my question! Less so about the water, if you’re carrying a filter and have guaranteed sources of fresh water. But wrt food, I’ve found 6 days without resupply is my personal max, and that’s not even considering dog food!
Have you ever noticed how some dog owners even bring water in the car when they take the pooch to the store or a stroll around the local dog park. Water is heavy and route plans should consider their availability and frequency for both human and canine hikers. Humans need a gallon (8 lbs) daily to cook drink and brush their teeth. Rosie needs a couple quarts minimum. Were both capable of being a bit thirsty we have sucked down the quart a piece we carry before reaching a water source of some sort. I run my water thru a filter but Rosies a dog and drinks from the creek or puddles which is normal for dogs. Never far from water in high country that still has any snowpack above you and always creeks flowing somewhere a bit down slope usually. Only really hard deserts can require dry camping and toting lost of water and I wouldn't do that for more than an overnighter hiking with a dog.
I’m not here to argue with you, but it isn’t safe for them to drink water in the wild. They’re not wolves, foxes, coyotes or any wild animal for that matter. They’re domesticated. It doesn’t matter if their vaccines are up to date or not.. I have 3 dogs, and they’ve drank from ponds and such.. although they haven’t been sick from it yet, I still don’t condone it. There’s a guy on the internet who ate raw chicken and eggs for a month.. allegedly has not been sick from it. You think that is the case for everybody who tries that? Idk about you, but I wouldn’t risk it for my dogs. You’re welcome to google it, all the maps lead to NO. Your vet will tell you the same.
So all the village street dogs of Asia, Africa and Latin America have died recently I guess. Working dogs and retrievers every were vanished too Definitely no dogs living with the third of humanity that drink surface water themselves. See I'm not arguing back and agreeing with your profound dog wisdom. Do you sell lots of expensive dog supplants and accessories for a living? Will spreading nonsense and fear boost sales?
Please forgive me, I didn’t realize you’re stupid.
The hike I'll do has towns on the way for resupply and lots of streams and rivers. But yeah, food will be heavy for a few days. I rather don't have him carry it. I'll go ultralight as much as I can. Also, I arrange for a friend in the zone who can take over my campervan and that'll be a back-up plan and resupply base.
It is not your hike, it's the dogs.
The dog can't tell you when it's tired, sore, hungry, thirsty, hurting, etc. so you have to find that extra energy and time throughout the day, everyday to make sure the dog is content/ happy/ healthy. Make sure to brush, check paws, teeth, clean, check for ticks or other bugs/bites. Paw protection is key!!! If you can train to wear boots that can help but I swear by "Mushers Secret". A little can go a long way. Always have an out for the worst case scenario. Better to end a trip early and be able to plan another than it is to seriously hurt your dog.
Look into freeze dried kibble for weight savings but make sure the dog has plenty of water. Learn what human foods are healthy for your pup and you can add variety to the trail diet. For example, on the VT Long Trail I would always resupply apples and share with my pup but when we did the CO Trail it was all about the carrots!
Would definitely recommend a dog harness with bag. Let the dog carry what he can but keep it to around 10-15% of total body weight. You'll see a lot of recommended brands for this but it really is trial and error to find one for your specific dog.
Last thing, and this is more of an ask. Please be a responsible hiker and dog owner. Keep the dog on leash when appropriate, it's for the dogs protection as much as for other trail users. Also, pick up your dogs crap or dig an appropriate cat hole and toss it in there.
I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of things I would want to share but if you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask. My Australian Shepherd and I have done 100s if not 1000s of trail miles and she gets more excited than me when the backpacking gear comes out of the garage.