I won't say that taking my dogs on that 4-day hike was a deliberate act of defiance, but that was certainly part of it. As I discovered while planning the trip, taking dogs on a multi-day hike/camping-trip is tantamount to getting permission from the FCC to broadcast the F-word during Saturday morning cartoons.
Depending on where you live, there aren't many places where it's even legal to take dogs on anything more than a day-hike. What's more, there are precious few books and guides on the topic. There are a smattering of guides geared toward doggy day-hikes, but they neglect some important details, such as what to feed your dog, and where your dog should sleep. Even more frustrating, the information that is readily available about backpacking with dogs is more hostile than helpful. Consider this excerpt from the trail guide Southern California Pacific Crest Trail: “Pets aren’t allowed on national park trails. Elsewhere, you still shouldn’t take your pets on the trail. Dogs in particular annoy other hikers, spook stock, harass wildlife, pollute campsites and sometimes import diseases harmful to other mammals.”
Not exactly encouraging, but as I discovered, if you take the time prepare, a backpacking trip with your furry four-legged friends is not only possible, it’s pretty darn fun.
Finding a Trail
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| At the trail head to the Sespe Hot Springs |
While some states allow dogs on state park trails, my state, California, does not. National Parks are a no go. Most municipal parks are too small for anything more than a day hike. That leaves National Forest or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land as the only sure things. Still, many of the popular multi-day trails cross multiple jurisdictions. Finding a 40-60 mile section of trail that doesn’t enter a restricted area isn’t easy. Ultimately, what works best is to search the FAQs on the individual US Forestry or state park websites for the wilderness areas you’re considering and getting on the horn with the local ranger station to ask doggy-specific questions. You need to ask if dogs are allowed on both the trails and campsites (or in back country areas if you won’t be using designated campsites) and what the leash laws are, along with whatever rules and permitting requirements the park has for humans. My friends and I chose an out-and-back hike in the Los Padres National Forest for my maiden doggy trip.
Doggy Gear
I am not a light packer, so the idea of carrying food, water, and bedding for my dogs, in addition to my own gear, was not appealing. This meant getting Jager (a black lab/German Shepherd mix) and Little Jack (a yellow lab/Great Dane mix) their own packs. Most pet stores and outdoor outfitters sell packs for dogs and they range wildly in cost, from expensive (twenty five bucks or more at your typical pet store) to exorbitantly expensive (ranging from fifty dollars to upwards of a hundred and twenty five buckaroos at snazzy outdoor retailers). I opted for a mid-priced, slick looking, polyester pack, and a cheaper canvass pack with more cargo capacity. To sleep in, I bought a cheap 2-3 person backpacking tent and a couple of lightweight fleece blankets to use as doggy sleeping pads.
The other gear item I looked into extensively was doggy shoes. Yes, they make shoes for dogs. This at first seemed absolutely bananas to me, but then I read a book that said it was common for dogs to get sore feet during hikes, and the authors had a whole slew of photos to support their claim—photos of people with big stupid grins carrying dogs in their arms, carrying dogs over their shoulders, toting dogs around inside backpacks with only their furry little heads peeking out. My knees get sore toting around a 40 lb pack; I wasn't about to carry a 100-plus lb dog on top of that. So I looked into the shoes.
The shoes at pet stores are little more than socks and don’t offer much in the way of traction. The shoes at my local REI are the exact opposite: they’re nicer than my hiking boots and more expensive too. Good if you can afford them and your dogs will wear them. I opted to make my own dog booties. Favorite Dog Hikes in and Around Los Angeles, by Wynne Benti, has a handy pattern for making your own lace-up booties from suede leather. I spent less than $30 on supplies and maybe 4 hours assembling booties for both dogs. The booties worked great, and unlike store-bought boots, the homemade ones have holes for the dogs’ two front claws to stick out and gain better traction. The only hiccup was that the booties stretched and came loose when they got wet, but this was easily remedied by wrapping the ankles of the booties with athletic tape.
The final important item I bought was biodegradable dog poop baggies. I knew from experience it’d be easier to grab up their mess with a bag before burying it or tossing it clear of the trail. If you practice leaving no trace behind, then you’ll have the pleasure of packing up your dogs’ turds along with your own.
Getting the Dogs in Trail Shape
There are three matters you should concern yourself with when training your dogs. The first is getting them in shape. I was looking at doing 10 plus miles a day—certainly not an iron man pace, but a lot more than the 1-2 mile walks my dogs and I take on a daily basis. The second matter is getting the dogs used to wearing packs. Packs not only add weight, but also make your dogs wider. It takes a bit of practice for them to get used to the idea that they can’t squeeze through the narrow spots they usually do. The third training matter is getting your dogs’ feet trail ready so they don’t have to wear booties the whole time. Walking your dogs regularly, even on cement or asphalt, should be all you need to do to toughen your dogs’ feet, though there are products to help your dogs build calluses, and I even read you can put coffee grounds on their feet to toughen them up. Sounds as silly as putting coffee on your own feet, but to each their own.
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| Jager and Jack on an urban day-hike. |
Food and Water
Water is as vital to dogs as it is to humans. Since Jager and Jack are big, I planned on them drinking as much water as I. Our trail route followed a creek, where fresh water was plentiful, so we took only 1-2 liters of water apiece with the idea being to filter water along the way. Several books I read claimed you shouldn’t allow your dogs to drink from creeks. Good luck with that. As veterinarian Tom Grennell notes in The Appalachian Trailway News, “Telling a thirsty dog that he/she can’t drink from a particular water source is a little difficult for them to understand.” A thirsty dog is going to drink when it sees water. I let Jager and Jack drink whenever the trail crossed fresh water and avoided stagnant water. It lightened their load and meant less pumping water for me. And the fact is, dogs have more intestinal fortitude than humans. If your dog does contract something like Giardia, the symptoms are pretty obvious (diarrhea), and the affliction is treatable with a visit to the vet. If you’re hiking where fresh water is scarce, you’ll have to carry more water. Keep in mind, though, dogs can only carry between one quarter and one third of their own body weight, so don’t mistake your pet for a pack mule.
Figuring out what to feed your dogs is trickier than the water issue, since dry dog food is bulky and heavy. Science Diet makes a high performance dog food that packs more calories in less space. If you go this route, make sure to switch over to the new food in advance to get your dogs used to it. I opted to go the route of bringing less food and more high-energy dog snacks. Zukes makes easily digestible power-bar snacks, and there are numerous companies that make pet jerky (that is, jerky for pets to eat, not jerky made from pets). I bought a fair amount of both and brought about ¼ the amount of dog food I regularly feed my dogs. In the mornings, before hitting the trail, I fed Jager and Jack a small portion of jerky, then a power-bar treat when we stopped for water breaks. Feeding dogs large meals before vigorous exercise can cause illness, so I waited until we were done for the day before feeding them a mixture of their normal dry dog food and chicken jerky.
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| Jager and Jack on the trail. |
For the most part, human meds are not safe for pet consumption. The two notable exceptions are buffered aspirin (make sure it’s buffered!) and Benadryl. I stuffed a bottle of each in my first-aid kit in case the dogs or myself suffered any sprains, strains, or allergy attacks. I also brought some standard over-the-counter topical ointments, which are fine for dogs, including triple-antibiotic ointment and cortisone cream. Tweezers are a must for splinters, thorns, and ticks, and then of course, I had the standard assortment of gauze, bandages, and moleskin. The only first-aid item I brought specifically for the dogs was a bottle of paw crack glue I found readily at a pet store. My contingency plan for any paw injuries was to seal cracks or cuts with the glue and then put the dog booties on.
Jager and Jack already take a combination heart-worm, flea, and tick control medication, and I figured this would suffice. Not so much. All three of us came down with ticks. I’d recommend a good bug repellent and a visit to your vet beforehand, particularly if you’re hiking in an area where ticks are known to carry Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Fever. In any case, it’s a good idea to visit your vet before a hike to make sure your dogs have all the vaccines they need.
Once on the hike, I made a habit of inspecting Jager and Jack every evening. I checked their paws for cuts and cracks and then gave them both a rub down to check for scrapes, bugs, and burrs. In addition to the ticks (which you can pull out with tweezers), Jack picked up several cactus spines in one leg, and Jager apparently dragged his hindquarters through a forest of fist-sized burrs.
Miscellany Learned on the Hike
1) Leashes don’t work with a damn. With all of us wearing packs, it was a constant battle keeping leashes untangled. In the end, I only kept the dogs leashed when we were in camp or at the trailhead. If your dogs are trained to obey you when off-leash, and there aren’t leash laws, this is the way to go.
2) Dogs’ behavioral problems don’t disappear on the trail. Jack distrusts every dog besides Jager. After a long day of hiking, he was grumpy and wanted to maul any other dog that got close to him, so I had to be ready to leash him at a moment’s notice. Make sure you know your dog’s behavioral problems and how to deal with them. If your dog isn’t obedient and well behaved, don’t take him hiking, because, trust me, behavioral problems will be worse on the trail.
4) You usually get what you pay for. The two doggie packs both ended up getting torn to bits and had to be thrown away after the hike. I’ve subsequently bought high-end packs, and have to admit they are well worth the money. The cheap tent also proved to be a bust (largely because Jack thought it’d be good to lean against the side of it and split the fiberglass pole like a twig). Some of the other cheap stuff worked great, though. The biodegradable poop baggies worked wonderfully and the fleece blankets were great sleeping pads, though I usually woke up to find myself sleeping on them and the dogs curled up on my expensive sleeping pad. Like any gear, you never know how something will perform until you field-test it.
5) Hot Springs are Awesome. It in no way pertains to dogs, but if you can manage to plan your hike so hot springs are involved, I highly recommend it. My human friends and I spent several hours basking in a steaming pool and it sure made those sore shoulders, backs, and knees feel a lot better. The dogs, for their part, were perfectly content to let us enjoy ourselves and they managed to sneak in a well-deserved nap alongside the pool.
Jager and Little Jack Fart in the General Direction of Dog-Haters
In the end, the hiking trip was a great experience for all of us, dogs and humans alike. Despite my last minute paranoia that one of the dogs would get hurt, they faired remarkably better than us humans (they do have 4-wheel drive, after all), and I was the only one left limping afterward (don’t worry—just a sore knee). The dogs had a blast and were perfectly happy to just be along with my friends and I, whether we were hiking, soaking in the hot springs, or sitting around the campfire. And despite the ominous warning of the books I read, no livestock was harassed, all the hikers we met were in fact quite happy to meet dogs on the trail, and no diseases were gotten. The only thing that was gotten was a good time by all, so go stick that in your pipe and smoke it, dog haters.
-Garrett Calcaterra
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