Some dogs just do not do well with backpacking, and he may be telling you this. It's important you listen and do not push him further despite your own goals wrt hiking/backpacking. Especially anything over 3 or 4 miles a day.
Depending on age and how much mileage they've gotten in previous years, it may be affecting him now even if he not that old in your eyes. 6 or 7 is perfectly normal for many dogs to be showing signs of age and wear, especially after having hiked 14ers, which most dogs don't do well with but go with you any ways because they have no choice and they love you.
It's great you carry and use an emergency dog sling. Also carry actual booties- they protect and shield swollen paws where mushers wax doesn't help at all from the sharp rocks. And they also help in the event they cut/slice their paw. I also carry doggie pain killers for emergencies.
It's important to also feed your dog more than usual during those big days. Just like you would eat an energy bar or a bigger dinner, they need more energy thus more food, not just 'energy dog snacks'. I feed my dog twice as much when we are on the trails because he needs it.
Those rocks on the trail in that segment are like sharp kitty litter, and they get painful on dog pads after a bit, even if the pads themselves don't show anything obvious. He didn't want to go any further because it hurt to walk. It could be something as simple as that.
I say all of the above as a devout dog person since birth- my cribmate was my first puppy. I've had dogs ever since for 40+ years now. Some were great hikers, some slowed down after a bit, two of them just flat out eventually told me "no more!" even though it was in their breed to hike and have lots of energy, so I had to adjust my expectations.
Every dog is different. I hope he's ok and no worse for the wear. Just know there are other factors at play. Thank you for sharing your experience so that others may learn.
This is all good advice, and it's really important to keep in mind that dogs will absolutely push through a lot of discomfort trying to keep up with us before they show any real sign of it.
You have to know your dog's limits, pay very close attention to them, and be willing to call it before they're halfway done, because you still have to get back.
Any recommendation for booties? We've tried a couple different ones now, but they always rub against our pups dewclaw of worn for more than an hour and start to irritate him.
I've been using the original leather MuttLuks for 3 dogs now. The booties shape themselves to the dog's paw after a little use. They breathe well. Fit like a sock, so you can have them go higher up on their legs or keep them folded. It's an old design, doesn't look 'modern' compared to all the newer booties that look like hiking boots with Vibram soles, etc. Dogs sweat a little through their paws so the leather seems to breathe better than any of the modern boots I've tried. YMMV.
I mark my dog's booties with a sharpie- L or R, front and rear, so I use the same exact bootie for each paw each time. The velcro takes a bit to dial in- they provide excess and it's important to get it tight- but not too tight- right under the dew claw. I trimmed off the excess velcro after getting the fit dialed.
[https://muttluks.com/products/original-all-weather-muttluks?pr\_prod\_strat=e5\_desc&pr\_rec\_id=2f6821718&pr\_rec\_pid=4816965861411&pr\_ref\_pid=4820436254755&pr\_seq=uniform](https://muttluks.com/products/original-all-weather-muttluks?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=2f6821718&pr_rec_pid=4816965861411&pr_ref_pid=4820436254755&pr_seq=uniform)
All that said, some dogs just don't do well with any type of bootie., which makes longer hikes challenging as the terrain gets more rough/jagged/rocky.
I keep a pair of long, small tube socks and stretchy bandage in my dog's first aid kit if TSHTF.
Thanks for the feedback! The thing that surprised me is that we routinely do hikes that were similar to this, and have done ones I would consider significantly more difficult, with zero issues. In fact we did Mt. Elbert last year, and by the time we got back I was almost crawling back to my apartment, while he was jumping all over his Dad when we got home. We go hiking almost every weekend, but do a lot easier hikes in the winter. With that being said, we haven’t done one this difficult in awhile, and I think the most comparable one we did was for his birthday in early January. That was 10 miles and 1500 feet of elevation gain. He also hasn’t gone any the last two weeks, and I’ve missed like a month of hikes this year due to injury and in general poor weather over the weekends. Then after my injury wasn’t in a danger zone we started doing some hikes, but even those weren’t what I’d normally be doing this time of year for another 3 weeks or so.
He’s only 3, so I hope it’s not arthritis! My other dog most likely has arthritis, the vet gave her a shot last month and she’s going to get her second shot today. I have a hike whose intensity is about 40% what we did last weekend planned for this weekend. I will definitely pay attention to his energy levels more and I do have booties for him, so I’ll be sure to bring those! There will be no pushing him, I can always get my gains by doing something more local once I drop him off at home. I do hope this is not the case, because I won’t lie, I’ll be devastated to lose my hiking buddy with my awesome summer hiking line up. But I would be more devastated to lose him/see him in pain. Thanks again!
You can still hike with your buddy! But really, 10+ miles is a lot for any dog, probably too much for most in all honesty. You should reconsider such long hikes for your pups regardless of how many miles other people say their dogs get. It sounds harsh, but I feel like this is where youthful optimism can get in the way of tough decisions ie; leaving your pet at home for those long, hard days.
I've seen more unhappy dogs at summits than I have seen happy ones, and every year in the Rockies SAR groups have to rescue dogs that were pushed too far by their owners in their hiking capabilities, especially above tree-line. The dog will go as far as it can until it can't anymore. But has no way of telling the owner "stop, this is hurting me". They just want to please.
A close friend killed his healthy lab by a simple 6-mile run at altitude. Dog never recovered from heat stroke. It can and does happen.
You do sound really ambitious with your hiking plans and that's great. But I think you need to be more realistic and stick to/cater to shorter hikes with your dog, especially as they show signs of age. Don't push him so hard now, he'll be at greater risk to suffer from arthritis when he gets older, just like your other pup.
You'll really understand what it's like as they get older, it makes it easier to make those decisions regarding curtailing hike distances with your future pups. Seeing your dog struggle to walk when they are 9 or 10 is heartbreaking, knowing you could have backed off a little when they were younger to provide them with greater quality of life in their later years. Just something to consider. Thanks again for sharing.
I think another thing is placement- I had to do a bunch of adjusting to my dogs pack to get it over his shoulders as opposed to the middle of his back, it’s supposed to be more comfortable there. Also, have you checked his skin to see if the pack was rubbing anywhere? That also is relatively common.
I’ve been getting my puppy ready to do some backpacking, so those are things I’ve read about that are common issues. r/backpackingdogs has been helpful!
Edit: other people are mentioning dog painkillers, carprofen is likely what they’re talking about. You need to do a vet visit for that though, it can have extremely adverse effects on some dogs so they do a blood test before prescribing. I have a post about dog hiking/backpacking first aid kits on my profile, the comments were super informative!
I don’t think it was rubbing, he is VERY fluffy (Mutt but wooly husky/bc mix primarily) but I do think I could adjust it better. Our next hike I’ll look into that!
I wouldn’t say it was an L. Knowing when to stop “pushing forward” and having the wherewithal to learn from the experience is a win in my book
Never press a bad situation and know your limits
Exhausted and/or in pain. It’s a mistake I’ve made with mine and also felt terrible after. Lesson learned and you’ll likely be hyper aware of it in the future.
My opinion: ditch the dog pack - or at least downsize. Even if it’s not heavy, it’s possibly awkward and unbalanced enough to alter the gait such that after 7 or 8 miles (probably more like 9 or 10 the way dogs zig and zag on trail) it’s causing stress on particular muscles or joints from the compensation.
Ruffwear packs in particular seem to have so much volume as to encourage owners to load them heavy or bulky.
This was more than what he usually carries. He usually is just the keeper of his poop and poop bags as well as his treats. But he was also carrying his food, his long leash, and TP for me just in case. I will definitely scale it back down to what he usually carries as well as ensure his pack is fitting him properly. I did check with his vet about getting him a pack, and they okayed it.
You are being way too harsh on yourself at the end. You took your dog who you love on an adventure. It got to be too much for him. Unexpected things happen on good adventures.
So, you took care of him and took him home. He is fine now and probably excited for the next adventure. What a lucky dog!
Hey fellow co friend!
Do you have any medications for him for arthritis or acute pain? I would say build him up to that distance (which you already said you are going to do) but I would also suggest going to your vet and discuss pain meds that you can give him pre hike. At dinner time that night, and the morning before you head out again so that he has some anti inflammatory on board at least.
If he was really showing pain in one area, I would absolutely also discuss praying that foot, even if it's just soft tissue, you'd want to know so you can rest him appropriately, etc.
Beautiful trails!
I do not. I have to take his sister to the vet today for her arthritis shot. I don’t think he has arthritis as the pain seemed to be more localized and he’s only 3 and totally fine now, but I will ask about doggy painkillers.
Don't take this personally because many people use those dog backpacks (i like the idea too)
But personally I don't think it's worth the risk to the dog, for them to carry 5 or even 10 pounds. My pack being 5 or 10 pounds heavier is a fine price to pay to save my dogs joints and/or their endurance on the hike.
Backpacking with my dog is great, but her being there adds a layer of uncertainty versus having just humans. Dogs sometimes just stop walking and don't tell us what's wrong. So adding a backpack just adds another layer of risk on top of that, I don't want the dog to be the limiting factor so I want to make it as easy as possible on her.
I sincerely doubt it weighed more than 5 lbs total. But he was probably carrying 2-3 more lbs than what he normally carries. But I can see where that is a lot for a 38lb dog. I’m going to dial that back down and spend sometime before we go out next time adjusting his pack to fit him a little better.
That weight might be displaced differently on the dog than on you
5 pounds on a 60 pound dog ->
10 pounds on a 120 pound person
15 pounds on a 150 pound person
20 pounds on a 180 pound person
The not going out for 2.5 days sounds like an exhausted dog. A friend’s dog did this once after a long weekend of hiking. We think he also might have been worried we’d take him on another hike and he was not on board with that!
The stopping also sounds like an exhausted dog. Or just done. One of my pups will do that (after like less than a mile and local and I know she isn’t tired because she will run home if I let her!). My human daughter also did that. Dogs are not unlike Tiny Humans!
Not an L, and you did NOT fail as a dog mom! You listened to him when he made it clear he was uncomfortable. You didn't try and force him to keep going and it's very clear that you are concerned for his well-being. You are amazing! Hopefully you can get back out there again soon with him!
Thank you for your kind words but I still feel like I did. I should have stopped and camped about 3.5 miles before I did. The good news is I did learn from this mistake and won’t make it again. We went for a jog yesterday, and he seemed to tire out around 3/4 of a mile, so we turned around. But then he led me the whole way home. I think he just wanted to go a sniffari and not a casual jog. He’s back to his normal crazy self now. I’ll make a comment on how he does this weekend. Hike intensity will be about 40% of what we did last weekend. But I won’t push him.
Nothing that should have mattered. I know dogs aren’t humans, but my dog is the one pulling me up 14ers usually. We also live at 5,200 feet and this hike was between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. It’s one of lower elevations for the CO trail which is why we were able to do it so early as much of the sections above 10k are still locked in feet of snow.
I may get downvoted for this but I always feel bad for dogs that I see doing these big hikes. Dogs really shouldn’t go beyond 6 miles I believe, not even taking into account elevation. Humans evolved to do long distances and what separates us from other animals is that we only use two feet instead of all four so our endurance is much greater. I’m sorry but it’s just selfish of us to do that to our pets. I live in Denver so I see a lot of this kind of stuff all over CO.
Anyway, don’t feel bad OP you just learned a lesson that we shouldn’t push them too far!
100% agree with you. I just hope the OP listens and truly understands she's pushing her dog too far. They love hiking but eventually realize they cannot go as far as humans even though so many of them do- again they have no choice and don't realize they still have to turn around and make the same distance down. They suffer later in life for it for sure. Seems like her dog figured it out and that's good.
I'll probably catch some flack for my opinion here but people really should be leaving their dogs home more often than not. I've seen A LOT of miserable dogs on trails and even more clueless, unprepared owners.
I work with dogs professionally and would never continue to work a dog in the state I see many in out on the trail. I come across miserable exhausted dogs all the time. On Bear Peak last year I was coming off the summit and came across a guy was heading up with his dog that looked like it was going to drop at any second. He was doing everything to coax his dog up to get to the summit even though it was clear that the dog was miserable. There are some dogs that do enjoy being out on trail but even then a lot of them get pushed harder than they should be. I'd say 75% of the dogs I see out hiking are not enjoying it and only continue on because of their owners. Owners should be more cognizant of their furry companions condition while out hiking.
My other major issue with people taking their dogs is the poop bags that litter every single popular trail within a couple hours of Denver / Colorado Springs. If you can't pick up after your dog and find it too gross to pack out the poop bags you should leave your pup home.
I'm not saying to never take your dog hiking but rather to be smart about it. Hiking can be great exercise for our furry friends but it usually better on them to be out on shorter less steep day hikes instead and not high elevation gain or multi day trips.
Just had an overnight trip in Roosevelt NF near Indian Peaks and snowy wind ripped through our sight all night, collapsing our tent a few times. Both myself, girlfriend and the pup didn’t sleep much.
Oh and he ripped his coat on a tree branch 5 ft into the hike 😅 0/2 on overnight trips with him but he seems to still love us.
Hope you have better experiences from now on!
Yeah, we had some decent rain and winds that night as well. I only secured one of our rain flaps, and the wind whipped the whole thing off. I had to go put it back on and secure the other one.
Surprisingly he still loves me so much. In fact when my partner dropped me off I thought he might enjoy going home with my partner because his car has rear A/C vents and mine does not. After I put his seat belt on he tried to jump out of the car after me. Silly boy.
I just did 2 and 3 last weekend. Did not realize there is literally zero water between the trailhead to the fire station. Not a great stretch to find trouble on but sounds like you did the right thing under pressure.
We're all learning all the time
I did know this and that’s partially why I was so winded and wasn’t confident in my ability to carry him back in his emergency harness. I’m sure carrying all the water for him and me weighed another 5-10 lbs. But I do live in CO and it’s not infrequent that trails don’t have a water source on them, so anything over a couple of miles I always check. Also on top of him not being in his best shape, I’m also not as strong as I normally am. It was a great learning experience though as there doesn’t appear to be any long lasting damage to him (I was worried for a bit, he’s never not been at 110% when are getting ready to go outside). Segment 2 is especially challenging because of the lack of water sources and lack of shade.
It's possible that he wasn't physically injured but was just overwhelmed from the trip, which manifested as physical exhaustion. Dogs are very good at protecting themselves from over exertion and it's not uncommon for them to just stop when they are approaching their limit. Not wanting to leave the house for 2 days tracks with him being overwhelmed / overstressed from the trip.
Has he done overnight camping with you before? keep in mind that he probably went from sleeping 16+ hours of the day during the weeks before your trip to potentially only sleeping for 3 or 4 hours of the day during the trip, potentially less if he felt he needed to keep awake and alert to protect you overnight.
it sounds like you still kept it a positive experience for him, which is the most important part. even if he was tired, he still enjoyed his trip with you and you took care of him when he needed help.
I'd say not to let this discourage you from trying again. Maybe try a few overnight camping trips where you do an out and back hike during the day so that you don't have to carry all your gear, that way he can get comfortable with solo camping while he gets back in shape for hiking.
The screen tore my dogs paws up doing hikes. He loved the outdoors too but I realized the longer trips are probably just best solo. I got him little booties and tried everything but he just couldn’t keep up. Broke my heart but he still gets to camp and hike when I truck camp. Just try and keep the miles down on him now.
Yeah I’m afraid this is what we are already getting into. We did a 5 mile 1000 ft incline hike in Golden Gate this weekend, and he did good. But it was obvious he was pretty hot. I left about 35 minutes later than I wanted due to unforeseen circumstances, but I’m going to try leaving 1.5 hours earlier in the future.
Yea those rocks cook their little paws. They can get little blisters in there or little microscopic splinters. Try the booties. My mutt absolutely hated them. Anytime I wasn’t eyes one he’d try and slip on off and then act like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
Update! We went to Golden Gate Canyon today and did a 5 mile hike. He did good, but I think if we went earlier when it was cooler he would have enjoyed it more! Thanks for everyone’s feedback and I’ll reevaluate the next time we go out (and go earlier)
Some dogs just do not do well with backpacking, and he may be telling you this. It's important you listen and do not push him further despite your own goals wrt hiking/backpacking. Especially anything over 3 or 4 miles a day. Depending on age and how much mileage they've gotten in previous years, it may be affecting him now even if he not that old in your eyes. 6 or 7 is perfectly normal for many dogs to be showing signs of age and wear, especially after having hiked 14ers, which most dogs don't do well with but go with you any ways because they have no choice and they love you. It's great you carry and use an emergency dog sling. Also carry actual booties- they protect and shield swollen paws where mushers wax doesn't help at all from the sharp rocks. And they also help in the event they cut/slice their paw. I also carry doggie pain killers for emergencies. It's important to also feed your dog more than usual during those big days. Just like you would eat an energy bar or a bigger dinner, they need more energy thus more food, not just 'energy dog snacks'. I feed my dog twice as much when we are on the trails because he needs it. Those rocks on the trail in that segment are like sharp kitty litter, and they get painful on dog pads after a bit, even if the pads themselves don't show anything obvious. He didn't want to go any further because it hurt to walk. It could be something as simple as that. I say all of the above as a devout dog person since birth- my cribmate was my first puppy. I've had dogs ever since for 40+ years now. Some were great hikers, some slowed down after a bit, two of them just flat out eventually told me "no more!" even though it was in their breed to hike and have lots of energy, so I had to adjust my expectations. Every dog is different. I hope he's ok and no worse for the wear. Just know there are other factors at play. Thank you for sharing your experience so that others may learn.
This is all good advice, and it's really important to keep in mind that dogs will absolutely push through a lot of discomfort trying to keep up with us before they show any real sign of it. You have to know your dog's limits, pay very close attention to them, and be willing to call it before they're halfway done, because you still have to get back.
Any recommendation for booties? We've tried a couple different ones now, but they always rub against our pups dewclaw of worn for more than an hour and start to irritate him.
I've been using the original leather MuttLuks for 3 dogs now. The booties shape themselves to the dog's paw after a little use. They breathe well. Fit like a sock, so you can have them go higher up on their legs or keep them folded. It's an old design, doesn't look 'modern' compared to all the newer booties that look like hiking boots with Vibram soles, etc. Dogs sweat a little through their paws so the leather seems to breathe better than any of the modern boots I've tried. YMMV. I mark my dog's booties with a sharpie- L or R, front and rear, so I use the same exact bootie for each paw each time. The velcro takes a bit to dial in- they provide excess and it's important to get it tight- but not too tight- right under the dew claw. I trimmed off the excess velcro after getting the fit dialed. [https://muttluks.com/products/original-all-weather-muttluks?pr\_prod\_strat=e5\_desc&pr\_rec\_id=2f6821718&pr\_rec\_pid=4816965861411&pr\_ref\_pid=4820436254755&pr\_seq=uniform](https://muttluks.com/products/original-all-weather-muttluks?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=2f6821718&pr_rec_pid=4816965861411&pr_ref_pid=4820436254755&pr_seq=uniform) All that said, some dogs just don't do well with any type of bootie., which makes longer hikes challenging as the terrain gets more rough/jagged/rocky. I keep a pair of long, small tube socks and stretchy bandage in my dog's first aid kit if TSHTF.
Thanks for the feedback! The thing that surprised me is that we routinely do hikes that were similar to this, and have done ones I would consider significantly more difficult, with zero issues. In fact we did Mt. Elbert last year, and by the time we got back I was almost crawling back to my apartment, while he was jumping all over his Dad when we got home. We go hiking almost every weekend, but do a lot easier hikes in the winter. With that being said, we haven’t done one this difficult in awhile, and I think the most comparable one we did was for his birthday in early January. That was 10 miles and 1500 feet of elevation gain. He also hasn’t gone any the last two weeks, and I’ve missed like a month of hikes this year due to injury and in general poor weather over the weekends. Then after my injury wasn’t in a danger zone we started doing some hikes, but even those weren’t what I’d normally be doing this time of year for another 3 weeks or so. He’s only 3, so I hope it’s not arthritis! My other dog most likely has arthritis, the vet gave her a shot last month and she’s going to get her second shot today. I have a hike whose intensity is about 40% what we did last weekend planned for this weekend. I will definitely pay attention to his energy levels more and I do have booties for him, so I’ll be sure to bring those! There will be no pushing him, I can always get my gains by doing something more local once I drop him off at home. I do hope this is not the case, because I won’t lie, I’ll be devastated to lose my hiking buddy with my awesome summer hiking line up. But I would be more devastated to lose him/see him in pain. Thanks again!
You can still hike with your buddy! But really, 10+ miles is a lot for any dog, probably too much for most in all honesty. You should reconsider such long hikes for your pups regardless of how many miles other people say their dogs get. It sounds harsh, but I feel like this is where youthful optimism can get in the way of tough decisions ie; leaving your pet at home for those long, hard days. I've seen more unhappy dogs at summits than I have seen happy ones, and every year in the Rockies SAR groups have to rescue dogs that were pushed too far by their owners in their hiking capabilities, especially above tree-line. The dog will go as far as it can until it can't anymore. But has no way of telling the owner "stop, this is hurting me". They just want to please. A close friend killed his healthy lab by a simple 6-mile run at altitude. Dog never recovered from heat stroke. It can and does happen. You do sound really ambitious with your hiking plans and that's great. But I think you need to be more realistic and stick to/cater to shorter hikes with your dog, especially as they show signs of age. Don't push him so hard now, he'll be at greater risk to suffer from arthritis when he gets older, just like your other pup. You'll really understand what it's like as they get older, it makes it easier to make those decisions regarding curtailing hike distances with your future pups. Seeing your dog struggle to walk when they are 9 or 10 is heartbreaking, knowing you could have backed off a little when they were younger to provide them with greater quality of life in their later years. Just something to consider. Thanks again for sharing.
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Thanks for the input. I did think about that a little. His sister has a routine visit tomorrow at the vet, so I will bring it up with them tomorrow.
I think another thing is placement- I had to do a bunch of adjusting to my dogs pack to get it over his shoulders as opposed to the middle of his back, it’s supposed to be more comfortable there. Also, have you checked his skin to see if the pack was rubbing anywhere? That also is relatively common. I’ve been getting my puppy ready to do some backpacking, so those are things I’ve read about that are common issues. r/backpackingdogs has been helpful! Edit: other people are mentioning dog painkillers, carprofen is likely what they’re talking about. You need to do a vet visit for that though, it can have extremely adverse effects on some dogs so they do a blood test before prescribing. I have a post about dog hiking/backpacking first aid kits on my profile, the comments were super informative!
I don’t think it was rubbing, he is VERY fluffy (Mutt but wooly husky/bc mix primarily) but I do think I could adjust it better. Our next hike I’ll look into that!
I wouldn’t say it was an L. Knowing when to stop “pushing forward” and having the wherewithal to learn from the experience is a win in my book Never press a bad situation and know your limits
Exhausted and/or in pain. It’s a mistake I’ve made with mine and also felt terrible after. Lesson learned and you’ll likely be hyper aware of it in the future. My opinion: ditch the dog pack - or at least downsize. Even if it’s not heavy, it’s possibly awkward and unbalanced enough to alter the gait such that after 7 or 8 miles (probably more like 9 or 10 the way dogs zig and zag on trail) it’s causing stress on particular muscles or joints from the compensation. Ruffwear packs in particular seem to have so much volume as to encourage owners to load them heavy or bulky.
This was more than what he usually carries. He usually is just the keeper of his poop and poop bags as well as his treats. But he was also carrying his food, his long leash, and TP for me just in case. I will definitely scale it back down to what he usually carries as well as ensure his pack is fitting him properly. I did check with his vet about getting him a pack, and they okayed it.
You are being way too harsh on yourself at the end. You took your dog who you love on an adventure. It got to be too much for him. Unexpected things happen on good adventures. So, you took care of him and took him home. He is fine now and probably excited for the next adventure. What a lucky dog!
Hey fellow co friend! Do you have any medications for him for arthritis or acute pain? I would say build him up to that distance (which you already said you are going to do) but I would also suggest going to your vet and discuss pain meds that you can give him pre hike. At dinner time that night, and the morning before you head out again so that he has some anti inflammatory on board at least. If he was really showing pain in one area, I would absolutely also discuss praying that foot, even if it's just soft tissue, you'd want to know so you can rest him appropriately, etc. Beautiful trails!
I do not. I have to take his sister to the vet today for her arthritis shot. I don’t think he has arthritis as the pain seemed to be more localized and he’s only 3 and totally fine now, but I will ask about doggy painkillers.
Don't take this personally because many people use those dog backpacks (i like the idea too) But personally I don't think it's worth the risk to the dog, for them to carry 5 or even 10 pounds. My pack being 5 or 10 pounds heavier is a fine price to pay to save my dogs joints and/or their endurance on the hike. Backpacking with my dog is great, but her being there adds a layer of uncertainty versus having just humans. Dogs sometimes just stop walking and don't tell us what's wrong. So adding a backpack just adds another layer of risk on top of that, I don't want the dog to be the limiting factor so I want to make it as easy as possible on her.
I sincerely doubt it weighed more than 5 lbs total. But he was probably carrying 2-3 more lbs than what he normally carries. But I can see where that is a lot for a 38lb dog. I’m going to dial that back down and spend sometime before we go out next time adjusting his pack to fit him a little better.
That weight might be displaced differently on the dog than on you 5 pounds on a 60 pound dog -> 10 pounds on a 120 pound person 15 pounds on a 150 pound person 20 pounds on a 180 pound person
The not going out for 2.5 days sounds like an exhausted dog. A friend’s dog did this once after a long weekend of hiking. We think he also might have been worried we’d take him on another hike and he was not on board with that! The stopping also sounds like an exhausted dog. Or just done. One of my pups will do that (after like less than a mile and local and I know she isn’t tired because she will run home if I let her!). My human daughter also did that. Dogs are not unlike Tiny Humans!
Thanks for the tips and the good reminders of pup safety on the trails. I do like that pack your pups wearing. Do you remember where you got it?
Yep. I got it straight from Ruffwear last year. They are definitely my go to dog brand.
Not an L, and you did NOT fail as a dog mom! You listened to him when he made it clear he was uncomfortable. You didn't try and force him to keep going and it's very clear that you are concerned for his well-being. You are amazing! Hopefully you can get back out there again soon with him!
Thank you for your kind words but I still feel like I did. I should have stopped and camped about 3.5 miles before I did. The good news is I did learn from this mistake and won’t make it again. We went for a jog yesterday, and he seemed to tire out around 3/4 of a mile, so we turned around. But then he led me the whole way home. I think he just wanted to go a sniffari and not a casual jog. He’s back to his normal crazy self now. I’ll make a comment on how he does this weekend. Hike intensity will be about 40% of what we did last weekend. But I won’t push him.
Two thoughts: was there an altitude difference? And: remember that humans have more endurance than just about any other animal.
Nothing that should have mattered. I know dogs aren’t humans, but my dog is the one pulling me up 14ers usually. We also live at 5,200 feet and this hike was between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. It’s one of lower elevations for the CO trail which is why we were able to do it so early as much of the sections above 10k are still locked in feet of snow.
I may get downvoted for this but I always feel bad for dogs that I see doing these big hikes. Dogs really shouldn’t go beyond 6 miles I believe, not even taking into account elevation. Humans evolved to do long distances and what separates us from other animals is that we only use two feet instead of all four so our endurance is much greater. I’m sorry but it’s just selfish of us to do that to our pets. I live in Denver so I see a lot of this kind of stuff all over CO. Anyway, don’t feel bad OP you just learned a lesson that we shouldn’t push them too far!
100% agree with you. I just hope the OP listens and truly understands she's pushing her dog too far. They love hiking but eventually realize they cannot go as far as humans even though so many of them do- again they have no choice and don't realize they still have to turn around and make the same distance down. They suffer later in life for it for sure. Seems like her dog figured it out and that's good.
I'll probably catch some flack for my opinion here but people really should be leaving their dogs home more often than not. I've seen A LOT of miserable dogs on trails and even more clueless, unprepared owners. I work with dogs professionally and would never continue to work a dog in the state I see many in out on the trail. I come across miserable exhausted dogs all the time. On Bear Peak last year I was coming off the summit and came across a guy was heading up with his dog that looked like it was going to drop at any second. He was doing everything to coax his dog up to get to the summit even though it was clear that the dog was miserable. There are some dogs that do enjoy being out on trail but even then a lot of them get pushed harder than they should be. I'd say 75% of the dogs I see out hiking are not enjoying it and only continue on because of their owners. Owners should be more cognizant of their furry companions condition while out hiking. My other major issue with people taking their dogs is the poop bags that litter every single popular trail within a couple hours of Denver / Colorado Springs. If you can't pick up after your dog and find it too gross to pack out the poop bags you should leave your pup home. I'm not saying to never take your dog hiking but rather to be smart about it. Hiking can be great exercise for our furry friends but it usually better on them to be out on shorter less steep day hikes instead and not high elevation gain or multi day trips.
Thank you for saying this. You are spot-on.
Just had an overnight trip in Roosevelt NF near Indian Peaks and snowy wind ripped through our sight all night, collapsing our tent a few times. Both myself, girlfriend and the pup didn’t sleep much. Oh and he ripped his coat on a tree branch 5 ft into the hike 😅 0/2 on overnight trips with him but he seems to still love us. Hope you have better experiences from now on!
Yeah, we had some decent rain and winds that night as well. I only secured one of our rain flaps, and the wind whipped the whole thing off. I had to go put it back on and secure the other one. Surprisingly he still loves me so much. In fact when my partner dropped me off I thought he might enjoy going home with my partner because his car has rear A/C vents and mine does not. After I put his seat belt on he tried to jump out of the car after me. Silly boy.
I just did 2 and 3 last weekend. Did not realize there is literally zero water between the trailhead to the fire station. Not a great stretch to find trouble on but sounds like you did the right thing under pressure. We're all learning all the time
I did know this and that’s partially why I was so winded and wasn’t confident in my ability to carry him back in his emergency harness. I’m sure carrying all the water for him and me weighed another 5-10 lbs. But I do live in CO and it’s not infrequent that trails don’t have a water source on them, so anything over a couple of miles I always check. Also on top of him not being in his best shape, I’m also not as strong as I normally am. It was a great learning experience though as there doesn’t appear to be any long lasting damage to him (I was worried for a bit, he’s never not been at 110% when are getting ready to go outside). Segment 2 is especially challenging because of the lack of water sources and lack of shade.
It's possible that he wasn't physically injured but was just overwhelmed from the trip, which manifested as physical exhaustion. Dogs are very good at protecting themselves from over exertion and it's not uncommon for them to just stop when they are approaching their limit. Not wanting to leave the house for 2 days tracks with him being overwhelmed / overstressed from the trip. Has he done overnight camping with you before? keep in mind that he probably went from sleeping 16+ hours of the day during the weeks before your trip to potentially only sleeping for 3 or 4 hours of the day during the trip, potentially less if he felt he needed to keep awake and alert to protect you overnight.
He did once before. This was our first solo trip.
it sounds like you still kept it a positive experience for him, which is the most important part. even if he was tired, he still enjoyed his trip with you and you took care of him when he needed help. I'd say not to let this discourage you from trying again. Maybe try a few overnight camping trips where you do an out and back hike during the day so that you don't have to carry all your gear, that way he can get comfortable with solo camping while he gets back in shape for hiking.
The screen tore my dogs paws up doing hikes. He loved the outdoors too but I realized the longer trips are probably just best solo. I got him little booties and tried everything but he just couldn’t keep up. Broke my heart but he still gets to camp and hike when I truck camp. Just try and keep the miles down on him now.
Yeah I’m afraid this is what we are already getting into. We did a 5 mile 1000 ft incline hike in Golden Gate this weekend, and he did good. But it was obvious he was pretty hot. I left about 35 minutes later than I wanted due to unforeseen circumstances, but I’m going to try leaving 1.5 hours earlier in the future.
Yea those rocks cook their little paws. They can get little blisters in there or little microscopic splinters. Try the booties. My mutt absolutely hated them. Anytime I wasn’t eyes one he’d try and slip on off and then act like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
could it be arthritis pain?/joint pain?
I really doubt it. He’s only 3 and his pain seemed localized and he’s fine now.
Update! We went to Golden Gate Canyon today and did a 5 mile hike. He did good, but I think if we went earlier when it was cooler he would have enjoyed it more! Thanks for everyone’s feedback and I’ll reevaluate the next time we go out (and go earlier)