Hiking with Dogs: Great Idea or Asking for Trouble?

OK, I admit it. I had high hopes for Cleo. Maybe even unrealistic expectations of hiking with dogs. After all, she was a shelter rescue and I didn't know her history, let alone her exact heritage.

But I was completely shocked the first time I took her out on the trail with me. She was a 5 month old bundle of energy, long legged and healthy. Her obvious parentage was Boxer and Rhodesian ridge back, but could there have been a bit of 'fraidy cat in her?

She did just fine for the first half mile, but then a stream crossing came up. It wasn't much of a stream, probably a bit cold on her paws but not deep enough to slow her down. When I glanced over my shoulder, there she was, sitting near the edge of the water. I called encouragingly, and she just sat there looking at me. "Huh" I thought. "She's tired already." So I went back and got her, carried her over the water, and was astounded when she squirmed and whined to be put down on the trail.

This happened at the next stream crossing, too. I'm not a rocket scientist (just a humble microbiologist), but it only took TWO MORE water barriers (a snow patch and a large mud puddle on the trail) to arrive at the conclusion that my little puppy was terrified of getting her feet wet.

Her feet issues were driven home even harder at puppy class the next week, when the instructor taught us how to trim toe nails. Cleo had to be scraped off the ceiling - let's just say she was "extremely unhappy" about having her toes touched.

And then I recalled an incident that had happened on the day we adopted her from the shelter. We were playing with her awhile by holding her, and then put her down on the floor - she refused to walk more than a few steps before wanting to be picked up again. So she was demonstrating foot issues from the first day we met her. I'm still wondering what sort of traumas she endured before ending up in the shelter (she also hates brooms and will go out of her way to avoid them).

This story illustrates the danger of assumptions about hiking with dogs. Not all dogs like to hike, not all dogs like water, not all dogs should be out on hiking trails due to behavior issues or physical limitations.

A few considerations for trail dogs: good stamina, coat length and thickness (silky long coats will need heavy duty maintenance after a muddy hike), adequate leg length for clearing obstacles or wading streams (unless you don't mind scooping up the dog each time), strength, ease of training, temperament (eager to please? responds to voice commands? friendly?).

And sometimes hiking with dogs is not about the dogs at all - it's the humans who do not understand how to be responsible trail companions.

Think about this for a minute. How tall are you? Your view of the trail is WAY different than what your dog sees. If it's a hot day, you are probably wearing a hat to keep the sun's rays off your head. Are you going to put a hat on your dog's head? (I have actually, with my own eyes, seen this on a lovely but embarrassed looking Irish Setter.) And have you gotten down on your hands and knees in a huge fur coat to check out the trail temperature on a hot, sunny day? I've seen some "low riders" (short legged little guys) looking rather uncomfortable under those conditions, including a teacup Chihuahua on a rugged, exposed mountain trail who trailed way behind her owner.