M'ssippi's 2012 Thru-Hike

Re: M'ssippi's 2012 Thru-Hike
PLANNING a north to south trip with a black lad that is now 17 weeks old; what did you do at Baxter & part of NC where dogs are not allowed? Also how much more food % did your dog eat hiking? Thanks in advance for your input.

Re: M'ssippi's 2012 Thru-Hike
The only part they are not allowed in the south is the smokies.. I almost let Standing Bear kennel her, until someone in Fontana Dam warned me against it. Said that the kennels were outside and poorly equipped, and my dog would not be attended to. My dog being such a small breed, that scared me. She is very spoiled and needs something warm to cuddle up in at night. So, these people referred me to Loving Care Kennels. The lady drove to Fontana Dam and picked up my dog, then I called her the day before I exited the smokies and we arranged a time for her to meet me...Davenport Gap, isn't it? And she agreed that my dog is very spoiled and cried alot, haha.Once I got to Standing Bear Farm, I saw what they meant.....I think the guy's name is Curtis. It IS a really redneck place, however I know several people with larger breed dogs like yours, that kept their dogs there without any problem. Not good for a mini dachshund, but should be fine for your dog. I think it's cheaper too...I think $250. And he has pretty much everything a thru-hiker needs....re-supply, laundry, kitchen, beds.. With Loving Care, she quoted me $350, and I was like WHAAT!?!?!?!?&)@*&$)*^@$ so she changed it to $300 for a week...which actually took me longer because I went to Gatlinburg and Dollywood....hahaFor Baxter state park, I got a hotel room and a taxi ride to the trail, and left my dog in the hotel room bathroom that day. I made her a bed in the tub, put some newspaper on the floor, and made sure she had food and water. I told the people at the hotel, and they took her outside for a walk during the day so she wouldn't be stuck in there the whole time. That was the Pamola Motor Lodge.As far as my dog's food..... If she had been a larger breed, I would have made her carry her on food like everyone else's dogs with bags that draped over their backs. But I carried her food since she is so little. At first, she barely at anything. Maybe 1/2 cup a day. This gradually increased along the trail. The more in shape I got, the more miles I put in. The more calories she started burning, the more her appetite increased. However, somewhere around New York, she got tired of eating her usual hard dog food, and had trouble getting her to eat at all. Even drinking, she didn't do as much as I would have liked... she got really skinny for a little while. She is SO stubborn, she has done the no-eating thing several times before, like she is demanding a different brand of food just for a change. I found single serving pouches of wet dog food from Pedigree, which I found at Dollar Generals. She loved the wet stuff so much more. By the end, she would eat probably at least a full cup of her usual hard food PLUS a pouch (5.3 oz.) a day. Her appetite increased right along with increased mileage. When I started the trail, I didn't plan on hiking the whole thing, not even close. So we hiked less than 20 miles everyday the first half of the trail. With many days less than 10, and too many 0 days. It was when I started pushing to get at least 25 miles/day, she started eating like crazy. Luckily by then, the extra weight was nothing, I was used to the pack and in shape.Hope this helps... if I confused you, let me know. And if you think of any other questions, I'll try to answer them. I wish I could hike next year...maybe if I could find a sponsor or something..I'm too broke right now. I broke my leg 4 months ago and been out of work because of it...also I need that leg to completely heal. :/Well good luck!!