Date: 2008-05-07
To: Trail Note: About a Dog
Miles today: 0.0

About a DogWhen we first began planning our hike I did a lot of research on hiking with dogs. What I found was that there are some people out there who have strong feelings about dogs on the trail. Some very angry and loudly opinionated people. I posted one prep entry about River that got me a nasty Guest Book entry. So before I say anything more about River let me say... If you don't like trail dogs, or you have something unkind to say about me or my dog, please feel free to keep it to yourself. The term 'Guest' Book in itself implies the use of good manners. If you have an overpowering need to say something ugly about trail dogs go over to Whiteblaze.net. They've got lots of places you can dog bash all you want. If you do it here you will be deleted. Again.Now on to business. Several people have asked me to keep them up to date on how River (Roo) is doing, so here you go...One piece of advice I read was if you are going to hike with a dog you need to hike your dog's hike. I can't possibly do this. If River had her way we would go twice as far twice as fast each day. By the end of the day she has all this pent up energy from having to walk slow with me all day. I try to find a safe place where she can run off some energy before bed without being a nuisance to others. I think, though, that the spirit of walking your dog's walk just means to pay attention to their needs as much as your own. That would be why after a miserable day yesterday River and I rested today.I think one of the best things I did to prepare her for the hike was to begin about three weeks before the hike spraying her feet with a product called Pad Tough. Honestly I didn't think it was doing anything at the time. But since being on the trail and meeting other dogs hiking north, I'm thinking maybe it did some good. I'm hearing from other dog owners about their dog's paws cracking, but River has had no problems... and we began our hike on the rocky Virginia Roller Coaster.I read about Pad Tough in an article called "Hiking With Fido," I believe I found on the ATC website. The same article recommended only feeding your dog once at night after hiking is finished. This did not work for River. She was starving all day long. In the first few weeks I had a hard time keeping enough food for her. Before leaving home I bought Science Diet Active Dog Food. I divided it into portions for the hike and put them in our drop boxes. She was eating way more than I had planned for, so I've had to supplement with whatever I can find at the local stores. She is eating well and looks strong and healthy. I've also put her favorite bones and pigs ears in the drop boxes for special treats.In our bounce box (the box we mail ahead to ourselves at each rest stop) I have put in her heartworm meds and Advantix. This is the first time we've used Advantix instead of Frontline 2 and I'm a little disappointed in it. Granted her favorite game is leaf rolling, but we find ticks on her all the time. I thought that would not be a concern with Advantix, but unfortunately it's still a big problem.River's gear... the pack. River hates her pack. Someone pointed out to me that we all hate our packs. It's embarrassing when I put it on her, she trembles all over. But after its on she forgets its there, takes off hiking and has a wonderful time. The pack we are using is a Ruff Gear Palisades 2 (I think). It has a harness that goes around her body and detachable saddle bags. So we can take her weight off during breaks but still keep her harness on for control. The harness has a nice handle on top that allows us to grab her quick if needed.The leash. I really struggled with the right leash... how to hike with a leash... how to hold it... I started out with a Buddy System leash. It has a belt that clips to the leash and the other end clips to the dog. Good idea, we started with that. I soon realized I didn't need the belt. I could just attach the leash to my pack waist belt.Then when we were in Front Royal at the outfitter I saw a Granite Gear leash made of the same webbing as the Buddy System, but it had elastic running through it making it stretchable. That would be a big help. My biggest concern about being attached to River while hiking is the possibility of being yanked off a rocky step by her. The stretchy leash would help, but how to make it work like the Buddy System?Here's how we do it... I clip the granite Gear stretchy leash to the back of River's pack.   Then I took a light weight S shaped carabiner, clip one side to the handle of the leash, and the other end clips somewhere on my pack. When she is walking off leash we tuck the leash into the top pocket of her pack and leave it clipped to her. That way we can grab it quickly if we need to.Now, to leash or not to leash. I went into this assuming I would always keep River leashed. I've found that its not been necessary. Initially we were training her to heel behind the lead hiker and we kept her on leash. But she learned this so quickly, within the first week she was walking in the heel position with or without the leash.What we have found is that River is so pack oriented that she has no desire to get out of our sight. Or for that matter to let us get out of sight. At the beginning of the hike she would try to step in front of the lead hiker and block their path if they got too far ahead of the rest. As we've moved along and have started spreading out on the trail she has accepted that she can't keep us together, but she will always be close at heel to one of us... usually me or Owl.I'd planned to have her always on leash for two reasons. The first is other hikers. Because of the route we took we saw so few north bound hikers in the first two weeks, it became unnecessary to leash her for that reason. By the time we did start seeing hikers she was very good about staying in heel. Usually her only interest in other hikers is to lick the salt off their legs, but mostly she ignores them unless they reach to pet her...which she loves!The other reason to keep her on leash is the animals. Deer of course are the first concern and we got plenty of exposure to them in Shenandoah. The deer in Shenandoah are very cocky. She and Tigger had an up close encounter with a deer they thought was going to charge at them. Now... deer are boring. She alerts when they are near, but stays close at our side.(cont)Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9