Preparing Dogs for Enjoyable Hikes

Betty, our recently adopted yellow Labrador retriever, peered into the collapsible water bowl, turned up her nose, and walked away.

Veteran trail dog Ranger trotted over, lay down, and lapped up the water in the bowl. Betty watched before she polished off the water once he finished.

That’s when I realized that Betty not only required physically conditioning for our summer hikes but also needed to learn about basic hiking equipment and routines.

Of course, some hiking customs don’t need any training. Ranger, Betty, my husband Dave, and I had stopped at a viewpoint after hiking up switchbacks to about 10,200 feet. Break time! I sat down on a nearby log. Ranger sidled up to me, impatiently waiting for dog treats that he knew were in my daypack. He recognized the routine and Betty was a quick study: breaks meant cookies!

After their snack, Betty learned about the water bowl.

She joined our family this past December but so far hasn’t been on any long or high-altitude hikes thanks to record snowfall. Dave and I estimate that we might be able to climb a 14,000-foot mountain in early July, depending on how much more snow falls and how fast it melts. That means we have ample time to condition.

Each spring, we gradually condition ourselves and our furry companions before attempting long hikes, and 13er and/or 14er climbs. That way, we avoid suffer fests and enjoy our outings.  However, this year, our conditioning will be different because Betty needs to learn trail manners at age six. She was a conformation show dog and mother before retiring to our home in the central Colorado mountains.

The following suggestions and observations may be especially helpful to owners who intend either to hike for the first time with their dogs at lower elevations or in Colorado and/or plan to hike to high altitudes in other states.

Spring is a great time to whip Fido into shape, and teach basic manners and trail etiquette to make outings safe and enjoyable. Please note that long hikes, especially on uneven surfaces, and/or any climbs, are not for puppies of any age.

Richard Gastellum, DVM, operates a mobile veterinary service called At Home Pet Doctor, LLC based in Buena Vista, Colorado. He hikes and climbs 14ers with his dogs when he’s not tending to injured or sick animals.

He explains why puppies shouldn’t go on long hikes or climb 14ers: “Puppies have open growth plates at the end of long bones which are very prone to injury. Rock, steep, and slippery terrain create ideal conditions for injury and growth plate separation which results in acute lameness.”

Typically, he says, growth plates of small dogs close at about twelve months of age, and eighteen to twenty-four months for giant breeds. For additional information about this issue, see: https://www.caryunkelbach.com/climbing-colorados-14ers-and-hiking-with-dogs-a-veterinarians-perspective/

Conditioning/Training Plan

Here’s our plan for Betty:

• Have your veterinarian check out your dog for health issues, including cardiac and orthopedic problems. (Betty passed her hip, elbow, and heart tests prior to becoming a mother.) Your veterinarian will determine if any tests are necessary after your dog’s examination.
• Make sure Fido is current on all core and other recommended vaccinations such as leptospirosis. Your vet also may recommend heartworm prevention. For more information about other health-related concerns, see: https://www.caryunkelbach.com/climbing-colorados-14ers-and-hiking-with-dogs-a-veterinarians-perspective/.
• Trim Fido’s nails to avoid splaying of paws and tearing of nails, especially dewclaws, when caught on brush or rocks.
• Reduce extra pounds that your dog may have put on over the winter so he/she is in good weight so as to avoid undue pressure on joints and exasperate breathing issues.

  

• Make sure your canine knows basic commands such as come, stay, leave it, sit, and down. If he/she doesn’t, consider signing up Fido for a basic obedience course or
• join or organize your own group of friends to meet regularly to train dogs so Fido is well socialized around other canines and humans. For some ideas on how to organize such a group, check out: https://www.caryunkelbach.com/training-dogs-in-rural-areas/.
• Gradually increase walking distances on different type surfaces, such as dirt, grass, and rocky terrain, if possible, to toughen Fido’s pads.
• Familiarize your dog with water bodies, such as creeks or streams or even lakes, so he/she won’t fear water- handy when you must cross a creek without a bridge or any logs strewn across the water to continue hiking on a trail.
• If possible, start acclimating your furry friend to altitude but do so gradually, and note any breathing, fatigue, or tender paw issues.
• If you expect your dog to wear a pack, incrementally increase the pack’s weight.

  

Betty spent most of her life living at about 4,300 feet on the Colorado prairie. That didn’t cause us much concern even though we live at 8,300 feet because she’d passed her cardiac test. That said, we carefully watched her for any breathing issues when she went on her first walks. Over a two-week period, we walked farther each day until we hit the two-mile mark, the typical distance for our daily walks. She remained on a leash for the first week and then was off leash at times depending on her responsiveness to “come.” She learned “this way,” and “wait,” handy commands when hiking.

We learned that Betty’s feet needed toughing up, even on the hard-packed dirt. She also must learn not to step on the occasional cactus when she strays off the trail. (Stash a Leatherman tool, knife, or tweezers in your pack to remove such nasty barbs from paws.)

Trail Etiquette

But we also observed that Betty loves to chase critters. Fortunately, we encountered deer and elk when she was leashed, so we easily discouraged her from chasing them by telling her no and leave it before “Betty come” and a treat as a reward when she responded. Off leash, she learned to turn towards us when we told her to “leave it” before we called “Betty come.” She was rewarded with the almighty cookie each time that she raced back to us.

Trail etiquette and national forest rules require dogs to either be leashed or under strict voice control. That definitely means no crittering.

Therefore, we’ve adopted a dual approach to teach this rule: on the trail training and more formalized obedience training sessions.

That’s because Betty has an excellent nose: she’s delivered live voles and mice carcasses to hand. She also alerts to any kind of bird. After all she is a bird dog!

Until we hike to high altitudes, we won’t encounter marmots, pica, and ptarmigans, all of which she shouldn’t chase.

She’ll definitely be leashed on her first hikes to areas where marmots, picas and ptarmigans live. We’ll give her the no chasing commands that’s she’s learned, plus a reward treat. Fortunately, she often follows Ranger’s lead. He’s learned proper trail manners and doesn’t chase wildlife.

Trail etiquette also means that dogs shouldn’t race toward hikers. Some people dislike or fear canines, even bundles of yellow fur with non-stop wagging tails. Ranger stays by our side under voice control but we’ll put Betty on a leash when we spot other hikers until she learns to stay with us and keep all fours on the ground. The same routine will apply when we see hikers with dogs. Not all canines are dog and people friendly.

To reinforce on-the-trail learning, Betty trains with other dogs each week in our local park. She’s learned sit and down, and now reliably stays and comes.

Elementary obedience training helps reinforce basic trail manners and also offers socialization- the human and dog variety. Even dog-and-people-friendly canines may find concentrating around other dogs and people difficult especially those unaccustomed to distracting situations.

Owners who intend to hike for the first time with their dogs or whose canines, purebreds or mixed breeds, tend to disregard their owners’ commands, might consider working their dog toward acquiring the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) title. See: https://www.akc.org/products-services/training-programs/canine-good-citizen/training-testing/

Betty earned her CGC in March primarily so she could join Ranger in participating in the local library’s Reading to Rover program which offers children a weekly opportunity to read to dogs. We hope that a side benefit will be reliable trail manners.

Other Trail Considerations

Many but not all dogs love to swim. If your dog doesn’t, consider introducing him/her to a creek or pond before setting off on a trail that requires crossing a stream. This may be especially important this year, with high runoff from snow expected in the high country. Some trails have wooden bridges or logs strewn across creeks. But many don’t, which means dogs may have to wade or swim to cross a stream.

We’ve taken Betty on a hike with a few small creeks. Ranger bounded through the water but Betty carefully tiptoed over the first crossings. On her second hike, she watched Ranger jump into a stream and lay down to cool off, before she waded in for a drink.

Next, we took both dogs to a swimming hole created by a beaver dam across a rushing creek. Ranger dove in. Betty, perched on a rock, jumped in and submerged her whole body including her head! She quickly surfaced and paddled back to shore. Since then, she’s learned to ease herself into the water before gracefully enjoying a swim. Pre-retirement, she only swam occasionally at a lake that had an easy entry point.

Doggie Packs

Dave and I hope to backpack with both dogs this summer. That means both need to wear their own packs.

Dr. Gastellum recommends waiting until your dog’s vertebrae back growth plates are closed- about the same time frame as bone growth plate closures- before he/she carries a pack.  That’s not an issue for either Ranger, age seven, or Betty, but neither have ever carried a pack.

They’ll first wear packs, with limited weight, around the house before they carry them on our daily walk. Next, they’ll carry packs on short and then longer hikes, with more and more weight.

What’s the maximum weight that they should carry?

They both weigh in at a trim 68 pounds. Dr. Gastellum recommends that they carry no more than seven pounds but suggests talking to your own vet for advice about pack weights.  We don’t know if both dogs will like their packs although they enjoyed their fittings inside a REI store, probably because of the attention lavished upon them by other customers!

We look forward to hiking with both dogs this summer but know for sure that Betty will be leashed on summits where hikers enjoy the views while eating snacks. Betty’s the original chow hound that can snatch and devour a goodie in a  second.

Have fun preparing for summer hikes with your furry-footed best friend!

Related articles:

https://www.caryunkelbach.com/climbing-colorados-14ers-with-dogs/

https://www.caryunkelbach.com/favorite-colorado-14er-climbs-dogs/ 

https://www.caryunkelbach.com/climbing-favorite-colorado-14ers-dogs

https://www.caryunkelbach.com/climbing-redcloud-peak-dogs/

https://www.caryunkelbach.com/hiking-dogs-colorado-mountains/