Torn about taking my dog.

[D2maine]

Wrong on all counts. We're finishing our thru in the next couple of weeks, and as far as I can tell, Scout is loving every minute of it! First rule about taking your dog hiking? Don't come on WhiteBlaze and ask if you should...

full disclosure its fair to put it out there that you obviously have some advantages over a traditional thru if you are vehicle/camper supported...

I'm in the process of finishing up a thru hike with my wife and dog. We used an RV and second vehicle the whole way, mostly to avoid hitching/road walks/hotels with the dog. We drive one north, and hike back to the one we left. Anywhere from one day slack-packs to one week 100 miles. It's worked great for us! Provisioning, alternate gear storage, ability to dodge weather, and you get to see not only the trail with everybody else, but all the small towns along the way. Like two trips in one. If your wife would like the trip, but not the hike, this might be the ticket?

[Tipi Walter]

My old backpacking dog went on all my trips for 15 years with no complaints. He never used a leash except in camp to keep him from investigating new arrivals. He had a dog pack and could carry 17 days of his own food at one time. He always fashioned a nest in dead leaves on -10F nights and hated being inside the tent. He pulled some tough nutbuster hills and crossed some raging creeks.

Everywhere I went my dog went. We lived outside together. If you want to live outside and go backpacking, and own a dog---what are you gonna do? Abandoned him or give him up for adoption? Gotta take the cur.

[Speakeasy TN]

Well, I appreciate the thoughtful responses.

It's hard to argue with the math behind having to beat the completion odds twice to make a thru happen. The doom and gloom porcupine, cut pad stories aren't really the decision makers because he/ we could get a copperhead tomorrow. I got tickled at the comment about the dog laying in the creek that hikers drink from. Here's the thing EVERYTHING that lives in the woods, chits in the woods. A dog laying in the water is the least of your problems!
I had several options including skipping GSMNP because it's my least favorite section and I could hit it when I get home and see the Fall colors, but I'm kind of leaning toward leaving the big dope with someone. Kind of a unique situation because he really is my closest family. Oh well, 6 months and lots of short trips between now and then. Thanks again for the thoughtful responses.

[saltysack]

Well, I appreciate the thoughtful responses.

It's hard to argue with the math behind having to beat the completion odds twice to make a thru happen. The doom and gloom porcupine, cut pad stories aren't really the decision makers because he/ we could get a copperhead tomorrow. I got tickled at the comment about the dog laying in the creek that hikers drink from. Here's the thing EVERYTHING that lives in the woods, chits in the woods. A dog laying in the water is the least of your problems!
I had several options including skipping GSMNP because it's my least favorite section and I could hit it when I get home and see the Fall colors, but I'm kind of leaning toward leaving the big dope with someone. Kind of a unique situation because he really is my closest family. Oh well, 6 months and lots of short trips between now and then. Thanks again for the thoughtful responses.

If you got a person willing to watch him why not try it with the pup on trail ....if he’s not enjoying you’ll probably realize it before your out of Va...I see your in TN...rent a car and drive him to who ever agreed to take him while you finish your hike......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nsherry61]

I still can't get over what an overwhelming number of doggy naysayers are active on this site. Good golly, it's worse that fear of bears and rattle snakes.

It all depends on the dog and the owner and the owner's goals and hiking style!! There are many dogs (yes a tiny minority, but still many) that are fully capable of doing a thru-hike and loving nearly every bit of it. Almost without exception in the previous posts against taking a dog, anecdotes and examples are used that pertain specifically to dogs that were not well trained or not well acclimated to backpacking or not of a breed type appropriate for extended long-distance hiking. I think it's safe to say that my dog, a great backpacking dog, would die trying to run the Iditarod, but hundreds of dogs do just fine running 1100 miles pulling a sled. Would all you naysayers tell sled dogs owners that running their dogs in an 1100 race should not be done?

So, be smart about whether or not you take your do on a thru hike. Make sure you dog can handle that type of activity and that you are ready and willing to do what it takes to support your dog along the way and not spoil the trail for other users. Then, if you decide it's right for you and your dog, GO DO IT!

[tawa]

Ask the dog if he really wants to do a thru hike----unless he answers yes then leave him/her at home!!

[Slo-go'en]

Ask the dog if he really wants to do a thru hike----unless he answers yes then leave him/her at home!!

No doubt he'll say yes. But ask him again after a few weeks in the cold rain and snow. He might be missing his warm couch and regular meals.

[Tipi Walter]

Ask the dog if he really wants to do a thru hike----unless he answers yes then leave him/her at home!!

So you go ahead on your thruhike and leave your dog at home. He's probably dead in about a week from lack of food and water. Or is someone else gonna take on your responsibility?

[turtle fast]

I personally woulden't bring a dog. Myself, I ran into 4 bears, 3 rattle snakes (and those I SAW right ON the trail), a rabid raccoon, a pack of hunting dogs, and other dogs that were not too friendly. Just a smattering as to why I woulden't want my dog around. Not to mention the serious possibility of the dog contracting Lymes Disease (I knew an AT hiker who's trail dog who got it).

[DRRouner]

When I did a thru with my dog she had the following problems. 1. She had an allergic reaction when she sniffed a flower and her face blew up like a blow fish. Gave her a allergy pill. 2. A owl swooped down and grabbed her by her tail. She did lose some hair. The event didn't leave her traumatized but she was most likely humiliated. 3. Went after a porcupine and received some quills in her face. The porcupine was fine and didn't even leave the area. It took me a couple of minutes to pull the quills. Never went after a porcupine again. 3. She had bouts of flatulence. Its possible it could have upset some hikers but I doubt it ruin their hike. On the flip side, they could blame her on when they themselves passed gas.

She weighed around 140 lbs (Alaska Malamute) when we started and about 135 lbs when finished. Although, it was over a week after we got back that I weighed her so she probably lost more than five pounds. I put some balm on her paws a couple of time in Pennsylvania as a preventative measure but didn't have any issues with her paws. We did have a problem with the Whites; I couldn't keep up with her. Undoubtedly, the Whites and Maine were her favorite part of the trail. She always ready to go in the mornings and breaks. I'm sure the colder temps was a major factor. My parents met us at Abol Bridge to pick her pick her up so I could continue on to Baxter. I had attached her wire leash to a picnic table. She tried to follow me pulling the table with her until the wire leach snapped. Yeah, She really hated hiking with me. I never saw blood coated rocks with chunks of flesh on the trail. Nor dead and dying dogs abandoned by the side of the trail. Out of the 4000 + miles of hiking with her on the AT, including a thru hike, I never had any major problems with her except for the heat. But we just started at sunrise and ended earlier.
While safely at home and out for a walk, a driver who was distracted by his phone, ran us over. Because of her injuries, I had to put her down.
I attempted another thru hike but this time alone, I got off the trail after 1300 miles because it became monotonous. But the real reason was I missed hiking with a dog. This February I will be doing another thru hike and will be taking my new dog, Abbie, with me.

[nsherry61]

I personally woulden't bring a dog. Myself, I ran into 4 bears, 3 rattle snakes (and those I SAW right ON the trail), a rabid raccoon, a pack of hunting dogs, and other dogs that were not too friendly. Just a smattering as to why I woulden't want my dog around. Not to mention the serious possibility of the dog contracting Lymes Disease (I knew an AT hiker who's trail dog who got it).

I personally would bring my dog. She's never seen a bear that I know of other than through the car window once. She's been around several rattle snakes and completely ignores them. Raccoons are nasty little critters when they want to be, I'd make sure I called her off any raccoons if she wasn't smart enough to figure it out on her own. I can't imagine she hasn't has some fun chasing raccoon on occasion. She has had her rabies shot. My dog enjoys other dogs, but then, you never know what those other dogs might do, I choose to accept the risk of an encounter. And, as for Lyme Disease, living in Massachusetts, she's far more likely to contract it in our back yard and woods around our house than along the AT, and she has yet in three years of running in the woods every day. And, she's had her Lyme vaccine.

Bottom line. I'd take her on a thru-hike in and minute and it if didn't work out, I'd send her home. But, I would never eliminate the chance for her to try and do it. As for rough terrain, she's been on top of about 1/2 of New Hampshire's 4000 foots, many in winter. It just depends on the dog and the owner.

[Jim Adams]

You have days that you want to hike and days that you want to take a zero.....your dog has no way of saying no when he / she needs a zero. they might like to run on hiking trails and have fun, but they also may not want to do it everyday for 6 months. When Bill Irwin hiked in 1990 with his seeing eye dog Orient, his dog received the best care of any that Ive seen on the trail. It was checked by a vet every week. the vet said that at the end of Bill's thru hike that Orient had 7 ears of wear to his pads from the hike. Leave your dog home!

[nsherry61]

...your dog has no way of saying no when he / she needs a zero.

Have you ever owned a dog? Mine sure doesn't have any problems communicating those sorts of things.

. . . at the end of Bill's thru hike that Orient had 7 ears of wear to his pads from the hike. Leave your dog home!

A dog's foot pads are not car tires, they heal. I don't know who claims a dogs foot pads somehow have a limited life based on the use they've had. That's just silly. Sounds like someone taking something a vet said and reinterpreting it to make a catchy statement or to exaggerate some point.

[cliffordbarnabus]

[QUOTE=nsherry61;2174745]I still can't get over what an overwhelming number of doggy naysayers are active on this site. Good golly, it's worse that fear of bears and rattle snakes.

it's not "fear", it's the reality of a dog's nose in your crotch, eating your m&m's, taking up space in a shelter, etc.

and the owner always saying..."what?...what?"

[Bronk]

My dog is completely wiped out after a week long trip doing only 70 miles. And I feel guilty for putting him through that. He loves it when we are out there but he is worn out by the end of each day. Yes, he is eager to get going again every morning, but when we get home he mostly sleeps for the next few days. I can't imagine subjecting him to back to back hikes for weeks or months at a time.

[nsherry61]

. . . it's not "fear", it's the reality of a dog's nose in your crotch, eating your m&m's, taking up space in a shelter, etc.

and the owner always saying..."what?...what?"

That sounds like an owner problem than a dog problem.

And, as for eating m&m's and taking up shelter space, I've had way more problems with human hikers causing those problems than I have had with dog hikers. If that is your metric for not being allowed on the trail, we should kick all the human hikers off the trail first and foremost.

[Jim Adams]

I've owned 7 dogs in my life. I was also smart enough not to hike with them. Orient was retired after his thru hike because of the vets findings.

[Sandy of PA]

I've owned 7 dogs in my life. I was also smart enough not to hike with them. Orient was retired after his thru hike because of the vets findings.

You DID thru hike with a cat!

[DRRouner]

Alright, I'm calling you out your B.S.

While on the trail, Orient was checked regularly by veterinarians who would hear about the Orient Express from the news media and would trek out to meet the two and examine Orient. Between “house calls” and trips to vets’ offices along the way, Irwin estimates Orient was checked at least 25 times. He was examined once at the end of the trip to head off a demonstration by an animal rights group who had heard that Orient was being abused. A veterinarian who had worked with Seeing Eye traveled over 300 miles to examine Orient, then held a press conference to proclaim him the healthiest dog he had ever seen. The demonstration never occurred.

This was taken from TheorientExpress.com

[CrumbSnatcher]

you live so close to the trail. why not hike from Springer Mt. to Fontana Dam. as a trial period. then decided after that?
Do you have someone to watch the dog short term/ long term? have them pick up the dog at Fontana and either leave them at home for good or bring the dog back to you after the smokies and hike VIRGINIA with the dog and decide after that. the northern part of the trail can be taxing for the dog, even the heat thru the middle states too, but with family just a drive a few hours away, you could change your mind later. Living in Chattanooga, i would hike the dog the 3 weeks to Fontana then decide. IMO