UL Chocolate Lab!!

[Jonathan Ryan]

Hey Guys,
so my dog is getting close to a year old and he is ready for some easy overnight hikes. I have been doing regular easy training hikes with him 3 days a week after work so I am confident he is ready to come along on an overnighter. My question is what kind of gear do you bring for your dogs besides their food and leash. Till he is alittle over a year I will be carrying all of his gear so no doggie packs yet. I am a tarp camper so I am thinking I may setup close to a tree so I can leash him to it so he does not wander at night. Do you guys bring a pad for the dog to sleep on. I am in New England so it is hovering close to freezing at night, should I bring some kind of insulation for him? He is a pretty sturdy pup already at 70lbs and has a very sunny attitude toward life, so I am thinking he will enjoy the experience. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Christopher Plesko]

I bring Turbo (70lbs Golden, now 4 years old) a sleeping pad if we're going overnight. He mostly likes to sleep next to my sleeping bag but I've never seen him shivering at all. I always debated getting him a little blanket but he has accompanied me above treeline above winter and even with ice and snow on his face from the wind has never complained or acted cold. He does come in the tent with me if I have one and he's slept with me in the car a lot of times.

Turbo won't wander off so I only bring a leash if required or in a populated area so I can leash him up around people who may not like dogs. By ourselves he roams where he likes.

My wife got him a soft doggie bowl for food and water so I usually put his food in it and give him water from my hydration system or he just drinks out of streams. He also likes Milkbones on summits for a treat as he's climbed 13 14ers. The latest purchase is doggie shoes which he uses in the snow and I carry along in case he cuts a paw on rocks.

Good luck, dogs are great hikers and solo companions!

[A. B.]

I cut a square from a cheap foam pad for my dog. It doubles as something to sit on.

[John Brown]

Interesting thread. do you guys have any experience bringing a dog camping in desert? I'd like to take ours, but the inevitability of cactus paw/nose is a major deterrent. I'm not sure the dog could avoid it even if he tried…

[Jonathan Ryan]

thanks for the feedback guys. I think I am going to take the old foam backpad from my Jam2 for him to sleep on as well as an old small fleece blanket as it is getting pretty cold up here. Should be an interesting experience. I am now teaching him the "pounce" command so he will go and jump on Jim Baily when he starts snoring loud at night :)

[jim bailey]

Does anyone know where I can score a titanium suit of body armor for sleeping?

[Christopher Plesko]

The blanket is a good idea although I'll be surprised if he gets under it. Report back at what temperature he does :) You might end up using it as a towel for wet dog.

I've never had my Golden get cacti or snake bit but I suppose it's possible. They're pretty smart about where they put their paws and Turbo has run through some fields that are filled with pokey things. He does get burrs in his fur but they don't bother him and I cut them out when we get home. Once he stuck his head down a rattlesnake hole and the snake popped out! But he backed off and just watched it.

He listens pretty well though. I can call him off a rabbit from 5 feet away off leash.

[Brad Groves]

One of the dogs I take with me is a Lab mix. His cold tolerance isn't that great. I've found that my size medium vests fit him surpisingly well (say 70-90 pound range). Depending on expected temperatures, I bring either a windproof fleece vest or a down vest. I'll wear it around camp, he wears it at night. It helps if the vest has an elastic drawcord at the waist to cinch up around the dog. (I'll try to post pics in the next day or two.) Blankets or jackets draped over the dogs hasn't worked at all for me. They fall off the first time the dog moves.

I bring a 3' long chunk of foam pad. Use it inside the pack framesheet-style, around camp as a sit pad, he gets it at night. The husky I have just gets a pad unless it's really deep winter. Depending on where you go, I've had pliers come in handy a couple times when the lab tried to eat a porcupine. Some superglue-ish stuff if one of them cuts a pad open.

[Greg Mihalik]

John Witt,
Assuming your dog can learn, sometimes a big assumption, the desert can be OK.

Essential items to take are course comb for getting the cholla off, and either large sturdy tweezers or small precision needle-nose pliers for extracting spines.

And, if you have a packrat midden available for training a little up-front on-leash work can shorten the learning curve. Our dog learned (harmlessly) what they smelled like and that that was not a place for her.

Good Luck.

[Catberine Taylor]

Please note that Labs and a number of other large dogs are not physically mature until they are almost 2 years old. Putting stress on immature joints in a breed prone to joint problems anyway is asking for lots of trouble. If you want your dog to have a normal hiking life of 9-10 years instead of 5-6, hold off on the long trips and on weight-carrying. It's OK to put an empty pack on a one-year-old Lab, but don't start adding any weight until the dog is at least 18 months, and then work up very gradually. This advice came to me from several veterinarians who backpack with their dogs. Please check with your own veterinarian if you have any questions.

[Lynn Tramper]

>but don't start adding any weight until the dog is at least 18 months

Yup. That's why agility training makes you wait until 18 months before you can take your dog on full-on training.

Ours is a very small doggie. Feels the cold easily, so he gets a closed cell pad and a MontBell UL down inner! Sometimes if it's REALLY cold he will sleep with me in my bag!

[Joseph Jacaruso]

You are correct about loading a young dog. However I have a 3 year old Golden with hip dysplasia. It was a product of poor breeding but there is good news. She has been seen by John Sherman one of the most progressive vets on dog mobility issues. His prescription for Bonnie is backpacking. It helps maintain a healthy weight of 70 pounds or less. It helps develop strong muscles to make-up for the deficiencies in bone structure. She also takes glucosamine and hyaluronic acid to help preserve the cartilage in her joints.
How is she doing? We just came in from a two mile nightly walk with her pack at a pace of 3+ miles an hour. I’ve had her on several backpacking trips where she kept a steady pace all day.
Will this treatment work? Yes, I have had a previous Golden named Maggie with the same problem. The hiking and weight management kept her going over 14 years before she passed away from an unrelated disease.
If you have a dog with hip problems I strongly recommend consulting Dr. John Sherman at Vethab in Raleigh, NC.

As for backpacking with your dog. There is no better hiking partner. They are always ready for an adventure and never complain if the weather if bad or the trail is rough. All they ask is a little food and and a little rest.

By the way peanut butter is a great energy booster for dogs. Remewmber they are burning a tremendous number of calories too!

[Corba Man]

Does anyone have opinions about the results of using closed cell foam for a dog bed? Did your dog accept it? Did you coat it with anything?

I've been trying to teach Snow to accept a raw 1/2" closed cell pad in place of her usual pampering of a 3" fuzzy polyester pillow. But she's pretty unhappy about the transition.

By the way, Walmart has 1/2 x 20 x 72 pads for $7. Great deal on the raw multi-purpose material.

[A. B.]

If your dog doesn't like it then they will when they are cold enough. My dog went to the CCF square I cut because the alternative was the ground.

Your dog may dislike the feel of the raw pad so you might try a cover for it made out of something more familiar.

[Brad Groves]

As promised, visual aid regarding dogs, seasonally appropriate layering, and foam pads. Incidentally, the dogs have gotten so that they go to the tent and look at me, expectantly, when they're ready for bed. They seem a bit perturbed if I don't let them right in to get to their pads.

[A. B.]

That's funny Brad. My dog will lead me to the tent when he is ready for bed. I also have to be quick to claim my spot. Otherwise he'll lay on my bag and pad and give me the most pathetic look.

[Jonathan Ryan]

Hey all,
just wanted to report back that my pup did great for his first night out. While my buds and I sat around the bushbuddy drinking Jim's Loco Coco in celebration of my last hike as a free man, the little guy had a great time wandering around camp playing with sticks. Temps dipped into the mid 20's and he did not seem affected without any sleeping insulation. But I did bring a DIAD pad for him and he did seem to appreciate that.

[Christopher Plesko]

He's so cute! Glad he liked it :) My Golden is pouting because we haven't gone running yet today.

[Stuart Armstrong]

Great pics!

You guys are seriously not helping my trying not to get a dog. I've been wanting to for like 3 years.

[Ultralite Hiker]

Assuming your dog is fully developed, they can carry up to 1/3rd of their body weight and be totally fine (closer to 1/4th if they are a breed prone to Hip Dysplasia).. My dogs (two Hungarian Vizslas) are 3 yrs and 2 yrs old. They each have their own Ruff Wear Approach Packs. They share an REI adventure Dog tent. They carry their packs, their tent, food, collapsable dog bowl, tether, and a nighttime treat. They each have their own foam pad they carry as well. Fully loaded up, their packs weigh about 6 pounds each (well under 1/4 of their weight). Each dog weighs in at about 40 pounds. Something we have used in the past is a 20×30 bathroom rug as a pad for them. Folded up tight it fits in their pack and isnt all that heavy. They have never had to carry more than 8 pounds, and even at 8 pounds they are still under 1/4th of their weight. With 6 pounds loaded up they could hike all day if I let them. They love every minute of it.

Important things to do before hiking with dogs is:

1. Obedience training. Not where they come 75% of the time when called, it must be 100%.
2. Keep them on lead, even tethered in camp. Your dog may come 100% of the time in the back yard but what would he do if he saw a rabbit/squirrel/fox?
3. If keeping them in your tent, train them to go to an area of the tent and stay there until you release them. You will never get one wink of sleep in a tent with an untrained dog. They will move all over the place.
4. Bring something for them to sleep on. Someone already mentioned the walmart pad which is great. They will be very restless not having a pad.
5. Make sure they know not to bark at strange noises, animals etc.
6. Keep their load under 1/3rd (1/4th if prone to hip Dysplasia).
7. ENJOY IT! there is no better hiking partner. Just like hunting, hiking with a trained dog is very much fun.

[Randall Dee]

If you're concerned at all about your dog being cold, I would put something on him at bed time. You can supply a pad, but there is no guarantee that he/she will use it. I use a cheap fleece pullover that I got at the local second hand store. They are practically a dime a dozen. Either a vest, or cut the sleeves off of a pullover. Works great and cheap.

Even empty, I think it's never too early to put the pack on your dog just to get them use to it. The pack also works good for tucking the other end of the leash into. I make my dog wear it while we are hiking. She walks at heel with the leash on, with the other end tucked away. When we see approaching hikers or horses, I can quickly grab the leash and move off the trail. And people are less likely to get upset when they see her on leash.

[Alex Gilman]

My 2 year old APBT Montgomery is about 65lbs (he's a little over weight).

He has obvisouly has short fur and no undercoat so for the outdoors I got him a Ruff Wear Cloud Chaser Jacket.
http://www.ruffwear.com/Cloud-Chaser-Soft-Shell-Jacket_2?sc=2&category=12

I got him the one in black as he tends to get things dirty

He uses it all day long in winter snow (in combination with his Red Sun Shower Shell. [ http://www.ruffwear.com/Sun-Shower ]
I put the Cloud Chaser Jacket it on him at night for added warmth while sleeping. It also keeps the bugs off his back.

The Jackets work great with their reflective tape and my Red Head Lamp filter at night. I can see exactly where he is and it doesn't ruin his night vision.

The Sun Shower jacket is cool to wear on trail where there are lots of people because it makes the dog seem more friendly and I get away with him not bein on leash a lot more.

I'm getting him the Pallisades Pack in Medium REI currently is backordered so I'm waiting.
http://www.ruffwear.com/Palisades-Pack?sc=2&category=13

Also he has the following:
http://www.ruffwear.com/DoubleBack-Collar?sc=2&category=16 – blue

and

http://www.ruffwear.com/Knot-a-Leash_3?sc=2&category=15 – black

I'm a huge fan of Ruff Wear gear they seem like the "ArcTeryx" of the dog stuff.

[Alex Gilman]

I have heard that tying your dog off to a tree at night in predator country is not a good idea as it doesn't give them a fighting chance. I also don't want my dog to run off and get lost (he probably wouldn't but it's for my own peace of mind). So I keep him in the tent with me.

That's another reason I like the Cloud Chaser jacket. I put it on him and it keeps his shedding fur and dirt off my stuff while keeping him warm.

[Patrick Matte]

I would never tie up a dog to a tree at home or other wise.A dog should be trained and obedient before going on trail.At night I keep whichever dog that is with me in my shelter with a leash on- I keep ahold of it or lay on the handle.That way if they're spooked curious or who knows what else,they can't run off.

This is Maggie,our husky/lab mix on Preacher's rock near Woody Gap close to sunset.
She to like others mentioned previously,will go towards the tents when she is ready for bed but ours happened to be her 3rd. choice and like s to "hoork" my quilt.

[Patrick Matte]

http://www.trekpet.com/camo-pet-crate-pad.htm
The pad I bought at a local hunting supply shop-Bargin Barn.Weighs 16 oz.,so not exactly UL but they're worth it.

and Maggie modeling both sides for those that are interested.

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