We try to bring our dogs with us when we go somewhere, be it a bar or a hike. We recently took them on their (and my) first backpacking trip out in eastern Washington.
We bought them little packs to wear so they could help carry their own food, waste, etc while we’re hiking. They looked pretty damn cute.
The packs were a mistake, though. They would move around too much, slanting off to one side. Grizzly was a pretty good little trooper, but Ranger did not fare so well.
It was pretty hot when we went, but we made sure to stop frequently to let the dogs rest and drink water. Grizzly didn’t have any problems but at one point Ranger plopped down and would not move. Would. Not. Move. Visions of having to strap him to my back for the rest of the trip started to enter my mind. That’s another 40 pounds. We had to get him moving.
We took off his pack and attached it to ours and led him down the short distance left to where we had planned to break for lunch – a place in the shade by the river. We got him there but he was in bad shape – breathing heavily, clearly suffering. He tried to sleep but when he put his head down he inhaled the loose dust on the ground. I soaked my handkerchief in cool river water and sat down on the ground with him. I took his head and put it in lap, out of the dust and he rested there while I placed the cool handkerchief on his belly, his paws. I felt so horrible, I hadn’t imagined he’d have such a tough time. The hike we were on was all downhill and pretty easy. We didn’t hike more than a couple hours at a time before a long break, and we stopped frequently for water breaks.
Eventually he perked back up and was able to make it the rest of the way to our campsite. He was not happy, though. Once there I realized his pack had been rubbing him under his arm, leaving a painful looking patch of rubbed raw skin.
This is a few days after, when we were back home. It was really surprising, since we had done a few practice runs with the packs prior to the trip without any issues. By the way, I recommend investing in a Comfy Cone – they are much more comfortable for the dog than the hard plastic ones you get at the vet.
It wasn’t all bad, though – the dogs loved hanging out at the campsites and sleeping snuggled up with us in our small two person tent.
We’re not sure if we’ll try backpacking with the dogs again, but if we do we’ll avoid summer altogether and opt for a cooler month. We also won’t be using the packs again – we’ll just carry their stuff in ours.
aussiedoodleadventures.com 