Raising a Dog to Be a Trail Dog

[Harmless]

Where's a good source to read on raising a dog to be a good trail dog?

There are obvious behaviors to train such as sit, stay, heel, come-when-called, and he/she needs to be clear that the human is alpha. That's all just plain good dog behavior. Clearly you want to put a dog pack on him/her (often) when he/she is still a pup.

There's got to be more to it than that. I've seen some OK trail dogs. I've seen some great trail dogs. I want to raise a great trail dog.

Thanks!

[Another Kevin]

Check out this thread: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...ility-Training

[Kookork]

Check out this thread: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...ility-Training

man,I wish all of us were as helpful and positive as you and just Bill.

[Spirit Walker]

You want to be careful about putting weight on or expecting big miles of a young dog. Some breeds don't fully mature until they are a year and a half old. You risk permanent bone and other damage by doing too much too soon.

[Ladytrekker]

You want a dog that wants to spend every minute with you, loves the outdoors and is adaptable. I got a dog from the pound at 8'weeks old she loves the outdoors took her on an overnight at 5 months went 5 miles in and 5 miles out she was exhausted on 2nd day. Now over a year she sees that pack and she knows she has a job. I walk her with weight in the pack and add mileage. When we camp she loves the tent and at 30 lbs full grown she likes to sleep in the toe box of my sleeping bag, so I adapt. Set up,your tent in the backyard have your dog go in and out with you sleep out there with your dog so when You hit the trail the tent is familiar.


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[Busky2]

This can be a slippery slope kind of thing, so this is what happened with me and Wilber the Dog. You take the pup on trails and he loves it, pulling faster and faster and sniffing everything, he is in heaven and that all sounds good so far and in the beginning it was. Until you teach you dog to sit off to the side as a hiker approaches this went well and he picked it quickly and then he learns that we stop for faster hikers coming from behind since he is little and slow, good job Wilber. Now even after five years you go for a walk on any street, sidewalk or path no matter how wide and he stops for all oncoming foot traffic, he just slams on the brakes and pulls over and waits, they could be 200 ft away and the same goes if he sees someone coming from the rear. It could be a divided highway and he still stops for walkers and joggers but not cars, trucks, bikes or motorcycles, they just don't rate i guess. Now year after year I have to explain that he is not tired he is just a politely trained hiker and then I get to look at the puzzled look on their face. This makes going out for a quick call of nature walk on the weekends very time consuming. It's a dogs life.
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[Mountain Dog]

My dog is obedient (sit, stay, come etc). One of the best things he does is "follows" or "leads", depending on what I say. If there is a possibility I'll cross paths with others, I tell him to follow and he stays a couple of yards behind me. That way he does not round a curve and scare someone. When on a primitive trails or when hiking where others will probably not be encountered, he leads on command. He stays about 5 yards in front and entertains me with his actions and company. Also, if I say "no" he freezes. He might not know what he is doing wrong but he knows to freeze. That keeps him from chasing wildlife, stepping on a snake I might see, or even trying to sight see too near a rock ledge.

[saltysack]

My dog is obedient (sit, stay, come etc). One of the best things he does is "follows" or "leads", depending on what I say. If there is a possibility I'll cross paths with others, I tell him to follow and he stays a couple of yards behind me. That way he does not round a curve and scare someone. When on a primitive trails or when hiking where others will probably not be encountered, he leads on command. He stays about 5 yards in front and entertains me with his actions and company. Also, if I say "no" he freezes. He might not know what he is doing wrong but he knows to freeze. That keeps him from chasing wildlife, stepping on a snake I might see, or even trying to sight see too near a rock ledge.

I used to let mine lead but after about stepping on this guy he now stays a few steps behind me.


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[saltysack]

Pic was taken after I moved him out of the middle of the trail with my trekking pole and changed my undies!


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[saltysack]

Pic was taken after I moved him out of the middle of the trail with my trekking pole and changed my undies!


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[Sibe]

Best way to raise a trail dog is to take them onto the trails frequently and from a young age...

Your own habits and conditions will form the bases for what you consider necessary and/or desirable in your dog. You of course have the basics as you've listed them that are for all dogs, not simply trail dogs, but you also have simple behaviors that are trail specific like- following a few paces behind, always remaining on the trail, not drinking ground water without permission, sleeping in a tent, calmly handling rocks, getting handled frequently to check paws and fur for damage and pests like ticks and chiggers, being carried up ladders, getting lowered down rock faces, not chasing wildlife, freezing in place at the sound of a rattlesnake, responding to a recall by whistle, etc...

And of course the biggest component of any good trail dog... trust in the dog and trust in the handler- something gained purely through shared experiences.

[Puddlefish]

My old dog recently bought the farm. She was a shelter dog, and was only trainable to a point, since she had an insane hatred for all other animals.

That's a good list in the link above. I managed to teach heel/sit/retrieve/around left/around right/recall/potty... unless another animal came along, at which point she would wag her little tail and ninja bite it in the neck. Thus, I couldn't take her on the trail.

After my 2016 hike, I'm planning on getting some sort of cattle dog (or mix thereof) as a puppy and training it from day one.