Puppy ate my manhood

[Christopher *]

My wife said she wanted a puppy. I said "no". She emasculated me three days later with this little surprise:

So now that her adorable cuteness is here and I'm head over heels, how do I start working this little girl into hiking? Any tips or techniques? Any essential dog gear I need to get started? I am only assuming my 9 pound pack is a thing of the past, but is there such a thing as lightweight dog packing?

[Greg Mihalik]

If you are active, and take your dog along, she'll do fine. If you live in the smooth confines of a city you will need to find trails to toughen her feet before setting out on a 3 day cruise over granite trails.

Our dog carries 10% to 15% of her weight (7#-8#) without slowing down – her food, leash, bowl, etc.

By far the most important thing you need to do is train your dog to Come to you on command – near or far, rain or shine, rabbit or deer, other people/dogs, and the rest. And after that, "With Me", as you pass by the commotion.

There are no bad dogs, just poorly trained owners.

[Travis B.]

There's no better hiking buddy than a dog. She'll be an always enthusiastic partner.

Your pack weight shouldn't increase at all. Just get a good dog pack and she can carry her own gear. There are a bunch of dog packs out there but I'd never use anything other than a Ruffwear Approach pack. It's an amazing and stable pack.

Just get out with her a lot and get her used to life on the trail. Dogs are very adaptive and learn quickly. Good training is important too, obviously. Have fun with it and be patient. I find the only time my dog struggles on the trails is when I'm frustrated, anxious, or impatient. My own attitude dictates how she will respond.

Good luck and have fun.

[Billy Ray]

I used to but the beer in my dog's pack.
But I would do that where he could not see me putting my stuff in HIS pack…
If he saw, he would balk at carrying it… :)

Billy

[Greg Mihalik]

It's been a while since we've had a puppy…

They have a "sensitive" period around 12-16 (?) weeks that you need understand. They need a lot of support and confidence building. It's a weird thing, and depends the temperament of your dog. They can get spooked for life. The library is your friend.

I took our first pup to the playground for exposure to lots of tunnels, slides, rails, and commotion. She was independent and smart to begin with, but always fearless.

Somehow our second pup never got over a fear of manhole covers, or cowboy hats. And I had to "teach" her how to boulder hop. Initially she was not willing to jump over an "unknown black pit". We obviously missed something during those formative weeks.

YMMV.

[Jennifer Mitol]

Oh yeah – lots and lots of training. Do as much as you can in terms of real obedience classes, don't just do it on your own. Pay for it, go, and practice A LOT at home. You cannot do this enough.

And remember dogs are contextual learners, which means that the dog cannot translate what it learns in your living room to the sidewalk, and what it learns on the sidewalk to the trail….so you will have a lot of practice and training for both of you. The good news is that dogs actually LOVE to learn (well, i guess not ALL of them….) and the mental practice is great to tire him out. So take what you learn in obedience class and practice it in your home, on the sidewalk, and on a trail. Different trails.

My one big piece of advice is don't let him carry anything and don't take him on any big hikes (even big day hikes) until he's at least a year old. He can take walks with an empty pack (CharlieDog uses the Ruffwear Palisades pack – the harness stays on the dog and the pack can be detached, so he gets a rest when we do) to get him used to it, but good ones are so expensive I'd probably wait until he's closer to a year old before making the purchase……he'll grow out of the harness and you'll be stuck with a too-small pack that cost just as much as your pack. And don't skimp on his pack, either, just as you wouldn't skimp on yours. I did at first and Charlie got these horrible chafing under his arms after a short weekend trip. Never again….

Anyway – get him in the shelter in your backyard right away, take him car camping so he gets used to the tent and a campfire and all that…but the biggie is training training training training. I spent about 2 years carrying treats for him in my hip pocket while he trained on the trail. Now he's good to be off leash sometimes (but not everywhere – too many people, horses, etc) and he has excellent voice control.

It's a ton of work, but holy cow it's SO rewarding. I just LOVE taking the Chuckster on trips! He truly is the best backpacking companion I've ever had.

[Jennifer Mitol]

And an interesting tidbit…

Charlie grew up in my condo in Chicago – we took walks 3-4x/day. he did not have a backyard to run around in – we went to parks, and forest preserves, and went backpacking a lot, and we went to the beach all the time (I lived right by Lake Michigan – the dog beach was literally 5 mins from my house). Whenever I would visit my parents in the 'burbs, Chuck never wanted to play in the yard…he wanted to go for a walk. On the sidewalk.

Charlie's friend Cody grew up in the suburbs, never went for walks just always played in his backyard.

Charlie and Cody would backpack together a lot. Cody constantly ran off into the woods, and one time his minder/person lost him for several hours. Cody had run off and quite uncharacteristically did not come back with a voice command. It was awful.

Chuck never leaves the trail. He'll go off a few yards to do his business (never on trail!), but then always comes right back. He likes to be in line, usually #2…never first (anymore…that took a ton of work). But always right on someone's heels, on the trail.

I think it's because he likes to walk on sidewalks all the time………

[BlackHatGuy]

"Puppy ate my manhood"

Join the crowd. What a doll!

No insight, sorry, just love pup pics.

[Peter Boysen]

Based on my limited experience, I'd also add to make sure to practice commands and just general hiking both on and off leash. My dog behaves way better off the leash, but in some settings it's just not really safe (next to rivers with thin ice, etc.) Maybe other folks can train their dogs well enough for situations like that, but for myself there are some points where a little mistake can make a big difference.

Also, this thread needs more photos.

[M B]

They need to be a certain age before long sustained hikes to avoid permanent damage. I dont remember what that is.

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[Aaron Sorensen]

I got my pup at 3 months.
At 4 months I took her on an overnight hike where she could be off leash.
The hike was 15 miles each way and she did about 50 miles running around all over the place.

Since then I have taken her on about 95% of my runs with me.
The longest is about 20 miles, but with her leash off she can do 30 easily.

At 1 1/2 she ran her first 50 mile run with me.
Two months later she ran another.

Zero issues and zero problems.
Guess I just was lucky enough to get a dog who really loves to run.
She's the same way while hiking.

.

.

[Christopher *]

Man-oh-man!!!

These responses have me excited to have a new partner. I'm planning on the pet store classes after the holiday. I'm inside Philadelphia, so immediate trail access is scarce. I do however like to run, so once I get her leash trained I'll start her slow.

This evening my wife took the dog out, while I google-researched my plans to grow the fuzz ball into a running and hiking outdoor machine. My wife returned home with the dog swaddled in a puppy bijorn, layered in a bright pink fur-trimmed jacket and being hand fed gourmet puppy treats.

I may be in for an uphill battle.

[Greg Mihalik]

"I may be in for an uphill battle."

Dogs are smart.

Our dog knows exactly what should happen when I say HERE. If my wife has her in "training mode" a single 'Here' will get the job done. But the dog knows what she can get away with when my wife casually says Here…Here…Here…oh good dog…etc.

I try very hard to never be in "casual mode" when I expect the dog to do something. If I don't really mean it, I'll use casual words, not command words.

Develop a consistent set of command words, but use each one Only once. Always in a neutral tone, never a "negative" tone. If your dog learns that a negative voice means business, then by default the "other" voice is just chatter. There is no place for anger. If there is fault, it comes back to you.

With a puppy you get about 2 minutes of attention. So think ahead, plan the training session, and Quit with success (before failure – mental exhaustion on the dogs part). Do it consistently two or three times a day, as part of your "routine". The dog will learn that the sessions are opportunities to please you and will look forward to them.

The only thing you will have to negotiate with your wife is who is control of the dog "at the moment". My wife and I are explicit about it and refrain from stepping on each other. Most of the time when we are out my wife "has the dog". But if I see a situation developing, I'll say "I've got the dog", call the dog, and take control. The dog knows what is happening and behaves accordingly.

Last, everything we accomplish with our training is with positive reinforcement. There is no need and no place for a negative voice, look, or leash. Look for each small success and you will find it.

[Travis B.]

Chris, what kind of dog is she?

Others are definitely correct in saying you don't want to push her too hard when she's young and her body is still developing.

If you do want to train her to run I'd suggest getting a skijor belt, harness and a skijor line. Teach her basic commands like let's go, gee, haw, whoa, easy, line-out, on-by, and leave it. Once you and the dog learn to communicate well while attached to one another you'll get to experience the joy of barreling down the trails together. And the great part is that all of those skills are easily adapted to running, hiking, biking, skijoring, or even roller blading (if you are brave).

Oh, and get her a pink tutu. She'll look mighty awesome tearing down the trails in harness wearing pink. And both you and the Mrs. will be happy.

Cheers…

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[Jeffs Eleven]

Man the same thing happened to me last month! Our dogs even look similar. Ours is black mouth cur/ GSD.

She is great off leash and on trail.

If you end up like me you'll kick out your wife in lieu of a quieter, more obidient creature. I'm only writing that because my wife never reads BPL and I feel somewhat safe saying it

.

[Christopher *]

"But the dog knows what she can get away with when my wife casually says Here"

Oh great. This is how it went with out little nephews. Aunt Jenn is the best and Uncle Chris is a "Mr. mean-head". LOL.

I'm definitely going to put priority on the training and the practice of said training. When I was a kid we had a woefully undertrained oaf of a dog, so I know what I want to try and avoid. Hopefully the PetSmart classes are an adequate foundation. From what I understand the classes are as much for the owners as they are for the pup.

"Chris, what kind of dog is she?"

She is a rescue from a kill shelter, and they really didn't know her pedigree for certain. They put Border Collie/Retriever mix on her paperwork. She is around 10 weeks and surprisingly smart. Thanks for the mention of the skijor belt and for the hope that with the right training and development she might even be able to accompany me on the bike from time to time.

As for the pink tutu, I caught the wife fondling one in the store yesterday so lets just say its only matter of time. I've already seen what blatantly happens when I say "no", so I'm just going keep quiet on that one.

Jeffs … they do look similar! I love the look you getting in that picture. Its a mix of "… seriously?" and "I'm going to eat that."

[Mark Ries]

I saw a good one the other day. When training a puppy get a newspaper and roll it up, if the puppy does anything wrong hit yourself on the head with rolled up newspaper for not keeping a closer eye on the puppy.

[Lori P]

I got a second hand dog, when she was three. She'd been with a family that spoiled her rotten. She's a Mudi (everyone just said "what?") which is a Hungarian herding breed. They make great watch dogs and are extremely smart. She was obedience trained, so knows basic commands, but she does not respond to toys, does not fetch, and does few things other dogs do…. The breeder got her back when her family lost their house and could not keep her. The breeder emphasized that with this breed, I cannot allow the dog to take charge, or I would end up with the kinds of behavior the previous family had – she and her sibling would herd all the local children around the neighborhood. Other people will tell her to do things, and she ignores them completely. Rather than greeting others, she warns me about them. It's taken a long time to get her to accept people I hike with. Definitely not anything like a lab or golden.

Shortly after she came to me, she dug out of the yard and I came home to find her sitting on the front porch. I'm sure she had some excellent adventures. She lives to walk – at the drop of a leash she gets mega excited. So hiking is just another walk. She's right under my hammock or just outside the tent door while I'm sleeping.

One of the things the breeder did that paid off hugely for me was exposing her to many sensations and experiences early. I walked her into the sports store and tried dog packs on her – she was nervous of the store, but let me put several packs on her. The breeder had put costumes, packs and harnesses on all her puppies, and I can put anything on her now. One of the best things is the Ruffwear Roamer – the leash is either a shorter one with a waist belt, or a longer one with a hand loop (adjustable) and it's long enough to be her tie-up in camp. She has a fleece jacket for when temperatures plunge, which she loves – her hair isn't thick enough to insulate so well and she dislikes cold. She isn't a roamer and has a pretty reliable return – when a friend's dog chased deer and she charged after, she came back when called. (She doesn't seem to have a strong prey drive, luckily).

I make a mix of brown rice and turkey burger and dehydrate it for her trail meals. It makes being on the trail a different experience, since she gets high quailty non-corn-based kibble at home and never our food. She comes to sit and wait when the stove comes out and the boiling starts. I have also given her cooked, deboned trout (never raw – salmonids can have a parasite that's deadly to canids, which is why she never gets to wander around lakes where fisherman casually dispose of guts) and also bring some favorite dog treats (people giving her jerky caused some concern when she started vomiting after hikes. No jerky, no upchuck.). She carries her food, her dish, her booties, a few first aid items specific to her, and her ccf pad strapped along the top of her pack. We bring couple of poop bags for frontcountry areas on the way to the trailhead (long drive, potty stops),

I also keep her from wandering where many have camped. Feces are never buried quite deep enough. Dogs get giardia, too.

[Sharon J.]

"They need to be a certain age before long sustained hikes to avoid permanent damage. I dont remember what that is."

I've heard ~18 months quoted. Can't vouch for this graph, other than that it was shared by a few of my friends with working border collies.

from
http://24kgsd.com/blog/2013/09/05/growth-plate-closure/

Lots of great info in this thread already. Only think I can think to add is make sure she's amenable to being handled. You'll want to check her for ticks each night, and perhaps give her a good wipe-down before she curls up on your $400 sleeping bag. Plus if, god forbid, anything untoward happens, you may need to be able to carry her, or have the vet examine her. Actually that's another one – see if your vet will let you bring her in for fun visits: no shots, no thermometers, just cookies.

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