Crazy Dog Lady talks about her dog's backpack trip!

[Shan]

Last week we went on a dual vacation! Mountains of Idaho and desert of Utah all in the same week.

This was Gina's first backpacking trip. I got her her own backpack by Outward Hound. She's a large by all measurements, but because she is so "narrow" or "ungirthy" she needs a medium in everything. Unfortunately the medium pack had 50% less capacity than the large pack!

Before we took off I rented this book from the library:

Backpacking With Your Dog (Paperback)
by Charlene G. Labelle

It's really the only comprehensive book on backpacking with your dogs. Plus there is a doggie first aid kid list in there. However, I probably also needed a doggie first aid book. It doesn't cover actual first aid.

She carried her own food, food/water bowl, snacks. and doggie vest. I carried her wool blankie. This dog gets very cold easily despite being lab/pointer and almost 60 pounds. In the tent, I folded up her blankie by our feet, put her fleece vest on and then covered her snuggly with my rain jacket. It was the only way to not have her shivering. Temps were only in the 40s at night. Oh and I also bought a camp towel to dry her off in case she went swimming after the sun setting. She was chattering like a wood pecker one time!

I got compliments on what a great trail dog she was.

Getting excited!


Starting off the trip!


Must go through lots of trees before reaching the mountains and lakes.


Taking a break at our second campsite, Toxaway Lake


Great views, best campsite ever, Toxaway Lake!


Hanging out with the boys while they fish


Queen of the Mountains!




Then we headed down to Southern Utah for another trip.
In the Escalante Grand Staircase NM.


Watching me take a plunge!


Desert camping!


Doggie in the desert! She stepped in a cactus and had one stuck to 3 paws. Luckily we brought leather gloves and pliers for that. After that incident she was on a short leash near me.


All in all, she did excellent with her new pack and didn't mind it at all. She quickly learned not to bump into rocks and trees. Her "injuries" only consisted of a cracked dew claw and a small scrape on her side (probably from a fallen tree branch) that left her hairless in 2 spots. Her pads did well.

It was hard to get her to eat breakfast. So I ended up feeding her when we all breaked for lunch. Then she wouldn't eat all her dinner either or her snacks I brought. I think she ate less than she would eat at home.

[Wild One]

Those are sweet pictures. I've taken three dogs backpacking in my days at different times (1 springer/dalmation mix, and two redbone hounds) and it seems like they always ate a little less than usual. Didn't make sense to me, working all day I thought they'd eat a ton, but they didn't. They're funny in the backcountry some times. My bro and I took our first redbone (Ginger) on her first backpack trip--just a quick one up to Silver Lake in AF--and made the mistake of letting her run loose for a few minutes. Less than a minute after we unleashed her, she saw a cow moose with a calf. She chased them like 500 yards before we could call her back. She's lucky she didn't get trampled and we're lucky nothing happened to the moose.
Gina looks like a great dog!

[accadacca]

Very nice report and boy did you guys get around. Cool to see the different terrains.

[asdf]

Sweet pics!
Where is the pic of you jumping into the water?
besides escalante....

[Shan]

The one of the falls is called Upper Calf Creek Falls. You start up near HWY 12 and hike down. It's shorter than the Lower Calf Creek Falls and dogs are allowed unleash (though we leashed her when we saw people coming as a courtesy). Fortunately it was the same guy we saw everywhere and he loved dogs.

Here's some more from the trip:

[accadacca]

Very cool! Man I need a dawg...

[Shan]

Very cool! Man I need a dawg...

If you are really wanting a dog (or are even ready for one), please adopt a homeless dog.

Don't go buy from backyard breeders, classified sales ads, or pet stores. No one should be brining more puppies to this world just for profit. There are so many dogs that are killed each year because of lack of homes.

At the shelter I volunteer for there are so many housetrained, well-mannered, and good with kids dogs there. Just waiting, waiting, waiting. Even puppies or dogs with papers too if that's important to you. 1/4 of shelters dogs are usually purebreds too. Or the good old American mutt - my favorite. An experienced shelter or rescue worker can help make a match for you.

HEY! Super pet adoption weekend is in SLC Sept. 15-17! Look for the Petsmart Tents near exit 305. Over 600 dogs will be there looking for a family. It's free to visit too.

[stefan]

hey shan,

nice photos!!

they're all great, but i am really drawn to this one....

[Shan]

I love that one too. It's going to be enlarged and framed for sure.

[PunchKing]

hey shan,

nice photos!!

they're all great, but i am really drawn to this one....

Stefan, I think that you are drawn to this one because of the large number of phallic symbols present. It is like a warm blanket for the eyes letting us all know that the man is still in charge.

[Sombeech]

Very cool pictures indeed! Thank you very much. Makes me want to do some desert camping this fall.

[packfish]

Great pictures- your dog shivering doesn't always mean it's freezing to death. I have always packed with my yellow lab. She also carries her own food and collapsible dish. I don't know if I have ever had her on a leash- she knows what " heaL" means very well and usually knows what is going on before I do. I would suggest to anyone wanting a companion for hiking to look to the shelter first but do not limit yourself to just that. A hiking companion is a dog that should be your best bud and be able to respond to verbal commands with out ? and anything less will be a hassle for you and possible discomfort for others you meet on the trail.
Dog Fish is now 11 and going strong but the day will come when she can't go and I don't look forward to that day. She took me through a divorce , help me raise my children and has now taken me into the best years of my life.

[Shan]

Sounds like a great dog packfish! A good buddy indeed.



I had her shivering checked out by a vet. We ran all sorts of tests which concluded nothing was wrong with her health wise, so that's good.

The shivering stops when she's got her vest on and then a rain coat laid over her. So I guess I assumed she was cold. I don't coo and cuddle her either, so I don't think it's an "attention getting" move, like some dogs I've seen. A couple of the nights, she was still wet from swimming and the sun had gone down - she was so cold (or what I assumed was cold) her teeth were chattering like a woodpecker.

[packfish]

Shan: I hope your companion brings you as much happiness as mine has. has.
You seemed very concerned for the welfare of yours and with others- thumbs up to you.
You have quite a few more great years with yours, cherrish them. They don't judge you and that's hard to find from any freind.

[savanna3313]

My brother-in-law always takes his dogs backpacking and camping with him and they carry their own packs. The packs mostly contain the dogs dishes and food. They really love the outdoors! One is a purebred he got from my sister for Christmas (the 200lbs bloodhound) but the other is a pound puppie (grown up now) that is a truly smart and wonderful dog.

I got my last cat from the shelter, a purebred Russian Blue who thinks she's a dog but I find the hardest part is picking out just one animal! I cried when I left because I wanted to bring all the animals home with me.