Ultralight Dogs?

[Michael L]

Mine isn't lightweight at all, but he sure is high energy. They are a bit hard headed and like to run off, but can go for ever!

[tommy d]

My dog, Kaylee, is a female GSD and weighs in around 85 lbs. She's been hiking and backpacking with me on the Long Trail in Vermont since Fall 2002. I couldn't tell you how many miles she's logged or how many nights she's spent camping out with me, but it's been a lot.

She carries a Granite Gear pack (medium) with a bowl, extra leash, tie-out, trowel, and some food and water. She seems to love carrying her own gear. Whenever I put the pack on her, she gets so excited. On overnights, she sleeps at the bottom of my sleeping pad, but I've been thinking about getting her a little blue pad this year and lashing it to her pack.

Actually, this morning I just posted a short video of her hiking the LT at various times of the year. I should mention that I usually drop or take off her leash for pictures, but otherwise she's leashed 95% of the time. Honestly, I've seen too many big porcupines on the LT to ever let her off leash for long. Enjoy.

Hiking the LT with Kaylee Dog

Best,
Vino Vampire!

[Nate Davis]

Awesome video. She looks like a fantastic trail dog. Was that four walled shelter the one on Killington? I was there several years ago, so I can only vaguely recall it, but it looks familiar.

My dog's wonderful on the trail, but he's only camped with me three nights so far and doesn't seem to like it too much. Hopefully that'll change.

I'm big on leashes too, for the same reason. I'd hate to cut a trip short because Katahdin finds a porcupine, skunk, or copperhead. He's also hit or miss with other dogs. Supposedly that's the bull terrier in him, but he's coming around, so I'm not too worried about it. He's awesome with people he meets on the trail.

[tommy d]

Thanks Nate. She has been a great trail buddy, but this year I can tell she's really slowing down. I wanted to make sure that I captured some good shots of her before she gets too old to travel with me anymore.

The cabin in the video is Butler Cabin on Mt Mansfield. At the time, a friend of mine was the caretaker, so my dog and I went up to visit a couple nights a week. In my opinion, it's the nicest cabin on the LT.

I've found that the two biggest issues with getting a dog to like overnight, wilderness camping out are (a) not letting them get too cold and (b) helping the calm down at night. First, I think that most people assume that dogs don't get cold at night, but that seems like a big mistake to me. Unless a person wants to give their dog free range to find a nice bed spot, they had better bring/share a sleeping pad and blanket. Second, my dog is very alert, so it takes some work relaxing her in the woods at night. She's hearing and smelling all sorts of things that I'm not even aware of outside.

Finally, I'm a big supporter of the leash, and not just for safety. I like hiking WITH my dog. I have a friend who's dog just orbits around her in the woods. You can hear the dog, but it's kind of off doing it's own thing. I like being right with my dog.

Best,
Thomas

[Mike S]

People do need to realize that dogs need insulation as well. Mine settle down very easily in camp and will sleep through the night.

Normally I have a section of Z-rest and an old fleece vest that my dog caries. On cold nights I will also put my fleece vest or rain jacket over him.

Here he is staying toasty on a night that I believe was in the 30s.

[Steven Adeff]

I always throw a jacket or two over my boy when he sleeps, but inevitably he "kicks" it off after like 30minutes and sleeps the rest of the night without it. I would however like to get him a pad to sleep on. I was thinking of taking an old-school (read:cheap) therm-a-rest or similar and cutting it down to his size, and hopefully enough that it can also fit in his bag.

what have others done for dog sleeping pads? anyone use inflatables or just the foam ones like someone in this thread posted a pic of their pooch with?

[Joseph Reeves]

Last week was the Mighty Angus' first overnight backpacking trip and this past weekend his first overnight kayak trip.

[Scott Lehr]

Most of the giant breeds have different diet requirements than standard breeds. An example would be that when following the guidelines on a bag of food for quantity to feed, the actual breed of the dog make a difference, not just their weight. Great Danes, Mastiffs, St. Bernards, and other giant breeds need a low protien food for their first year or two of life to help keep them from growing so fast. Fast growth equals weaker bones and increases hip and elbow problems later in life. So its better to feed a larger quantity of a lower protien (not low quality) food than to give them less "Large Breed Puppy Formula" with much much higher protien. Its not uncommon to find many of the top quality breeders double and even triple the recommended amount of food on the bag. As a good rule of thumb, pay attention to how ofter your dog goes poo, 3 to 4 times a day is normal for most breeds.

[Kier Selinsky]

This is Stella – one of the best dang dogs ever. Normally we'd let her off leash when in the wilderness. This was taken while hiking at the crowded Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and the gentle leader was so my son could lead her. She went on several trips, and loved being in the woods and sleeping with us in the tent, but unfortunately she had to be put down earlier this year as she succumbed to lymphoma.

This is Lucy, our new lab/shar pei mix from the local aspca shelter. She's in training, and will be joining us in the BWCA this summer for her first extended trip. She's turning out to be quite the dog, and following in Stella's paw prints quite well (we attribute it to her sleeping on Stella's bed every night).

[Mark Regalia]

Don't assume your dog will sleep on any thing you bring. I found that mine won't have anything to do with closed cell foam. I suspect the same would be true of ThermoRests or air mattresses, unless of course your sleeping bag is on top of it.

They seem to prefer something that has a surface that they roughen up, or will conform to their body. I bought a very thin Yoga mat and laid it out in the livingroom. Sure enough they laid down it. So I'll cut it into pieces just big enough for them for use this summer. The nice thing is that it will fold up to fit in their packs, not mine :)

[tommy d]

When it comes to dog beds for the trail or any other dog backpacking item, a good rule is to always test it out first at home or on a short hike. Likewise, I wouldn't test out a new pack for a dog on a hike.

Dogs will vary. For instance, my dog doesn't seem to care what she sleeps on as long as it isn't cold ground or sometimes a wooden floor in a hut. She might take a nap on the ground during the day, but doesn't like sleeping like that overnight.

[billy weinman]

Buddy is 100 lbs, descendant, most likely, of the Apache and Puebloan dogs who were famous for hauling 150 lbs. on a travois across the plains leading into the eastern-most Pueblos. He is a rescue from one of the old trading towns in the New Mexico mountains. His owners have Apache blood in them, so I'm sure Buddy has Apache dog blood in him.

Have to admit, the picture is not my dog, but he looks exactly like that. He carries a good-ole REI pack loaded with a protein/sweet potato kibble and 500 ml of olive oil with which we up his calories when we're working hard in the mountains.

Biggest challenge: water. Buddy consumes massive quantities of water owing to his thick undercoat. So, if we have a ways to go til next water, I will carry an extra litre for him, plus we'll put 500 ml in one of his pockets. I've seen him carry 25 lbs for a mile once, when we needed the help, and that was back when he was only 75 lbs or so.

Right now we're in training for the CT in August. The plus side to his undercoat: boy never seems to get cold.

Go Dawgs!

[Brian Johns]

This thread is cat's a$$. Have to say my 10 year old Shepherd/Am. Fox Hound mix, Tucker, has covered many miles of Sierra trails. one thing I'll add that we learned the hard way is, paw protection. No matter how well they did last year or the year before, if the pads have gotten soft from around the yard and park, and your in rocky terrain, paw boots are your buddies best friend. We didn't have any issues of major medical concern, but did have to end a hike early out of my fear that the rocky ground was going to damage my dog's pads. Here's a couple of Sierra pics. I think they are from Penner Lake area, but who knows. Tucker's 10 now and he's been relegated to urban walks and two-mile friday overnighters with buddies, steaks and beer. he was UL in his day, though, carrying a pack, insulated bed, and food. Usually swimming in it while I yelled "out" to no avail.

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