Not sure where to post this!
My GSD is 2.5 yr old, and this weekend, we took him on a 3 day trek, respectively 3 miles, 6 miles strenuous and 9 miles back strenuous. He was also carrying his own bags for the first time, with not much weight (his food and our raincoats). He is used to day hikes and jogging, so fairly strong to start with.
I have questions and don't know if anyone will have answers as this is not that common of a subject.
1) Is it even a good idea to trek with your GSD, as our seems to have struggled yesterday (had to carry his pack the last 6 miles, and he kept wanting to lie down, was better after swimming in lake, but today he is stiff and crashed). They don't seem to be that athletic. Short distances, maybe?
2) How much more to feed him? Normally 500g daily, so on hikes how much should we increase?
3) First night out, there was a bear & cub nearby, so he was waking us up all night barking loud at any noise. Second night, no bear, just dear, but just as loud, until he's fall asleep from exhaustion. Any chance to train him to be quiet?
4) is there any kind of pain reliever to have with us for him?

This being our first 3 day trek with him, there is probably much to learn, so any comments are appreciated.
Thanks!
Aude

I say go for it. I just did 3 days and 40 miles of the Georgia portion of the Appalachian trail with my 2+ year old czech GSD. He carried his own pack roughly 10% of his body weight the first 2 days until he started to get pressure sores from the straps rubbing (I'll have those padded before going again). Sure he got sore, he was stiff and one night had a limp. But he was rearin to go every morning. They get tired just like the rest of us, doesn't mean we should baby them. He had a great time. My friends dog also went (40lb hound mut) and she had the easiest time out of us all.

As far as food, I fed him 25% more food than normal each day and I still feel like he got lean, so I would increase him more than that if I did it again. But keep in mind, we did 12-13 miles of strenuous hiking each day. I feed raw and just vacuum packed 2 days portions of raw food and put it in his pack. It stunk like high hell by day 3, but he ate it just fine without any problems (no diahrrea etc).

As far as pain relievers, I don't take pain relievers for muscle pain for myself, so I'd certainly never do it for my dog. But I'm sure if you asked your vet there is somethin out there you could get. However unless he was limping completely on one leg or somethin and you had to walk out 10 miles, I wouldn't give him anything, but that's just my opinion.

And for noiseness, try training a "quite' command or something. there have been many discussions on that type of training here on the board so I wont go into that. Just do a quick search.

If you search on Amazon.com for "dogs hiking" you'll come up with a number of different books. I have Best Hikes With Dogs in Western Washington, and while it doesn't cover all your questions, it's a pretty good resource. I'm sure other books cover your questions as well.

Thanks for the info, I'll take all this into consideration, and did order a couple of books (one on 1st aid).
Still took my dog 40 hours to recover, so we did too much, clearly. We'll start from scratch and have fun this time!

I would suggest as you already know that the dog is not properly conditioned for the activity. The dog got a double whammie. On the longest most sustained hike you have ever done, you also made him carry packs for the first time.

I would have carried my dogs things on a long hike if he had never carried stuff before. (Of course YOU would be stiffer in the morning )Often dogs will not even let you know they are hurting until they are REALLY hurt. It would suck to be way out on the trail and have an injured dog.

A fitness program designed with the summer's goal of backpacking may be a fun idea for the summer. Training with and without the doggie packs on, increasing the weight from empty to the full weight they will be expected to carry over time so the dog is more ready for it. Probably some ideas like that in the book mentioned.

As hiking is what I do for a job in the summer, I can tell you that if conditioning of two dogs was equal, the smaller dog always seams to fair better over the large dog on long hikes. That said a GSD properly conditioned should have no problem out hiking a smaller less conditioned dog or you for that matter!!!

Great hobby you have chosen with your dog! Good for people and dogs alike! Other things for your trainig program:

Work on that quiet command, a speak command can also come in handy.

Make sure that if you will have your dog off leash that it has a solid recall and leave it command and that it does not range too far. I have seen dogs go after/flush wildlife, and then see things turn around! Dog chased back to owner by deer, moose or bear is not a good thing

I agree with Jennifer - conditioning is important for humans, dogs, and horses.

I would LOVE to backpack in the winter, but not the summer! Too dang hot!!!

For you guys/gals that do this alot, how old would you think your dog needs to be to be strong enough/mature enough to do this without hurting themselves or doing something stupid once in the woods?

My girl is nearly a year old and has a good recall, but hasn't been tested with alot of distraction like wildlife smells, etc...

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For you guys/gals that do this alot, how old would you think your dog needs to be to be strong enough/mature enough to do this without hurting themselves or doing something stupid once in the woods?

This totally depends on your dog. Since I live in a wilderness setting and walk my dog in a wilderness setting every day as well as hiking, he has had lots of experience form day one. For city dogs being off leash for the first time with all the sounds, smells, and squirels can be very overwhelming! I can't remember what breed you have, but some hounds for example, I would not be trusting off leash in the woods without some great training!!

I started hiking on flat ground with him off leash,since I got him (8 weeks) gradually increasing distance, watching for signs of fatigue and moving at a slow pace. I would always bring food (when he was a pup) and we worked on leave it commands and recalls on trail.The pup did have some wildlife poo eating habits we broke early on in his trail carreer. Can't take two steps here without stepping in some kind of wildlife poop.

I did not introduce signifigant downhill hiking until he was a year old. (he did do some downhill running in the winter before he was one, but it couldn't be avoided and is not ideal IMHO).

At just over 1 he came to work with me building trails and could do a 20 + km hike with 4000ft of elevation gain in a day with no trouble and no stiffness the next day. (that would not be every day!) Remember my dog is small and well conditioned to that kind of stuff. He is now about 2.5 yrs and I am thinking of introducing some panier bags as he is finished growing.

Up until now I carry water for him if we will be away from water or snow for more than 3 hrs at a time. I let him drink out of all water sources in the field, which you may or may not be comfortable doing depending on where you live. I am fine with it. I find he does not drink that much maybe because he is raw fed and his conditioning is good, and he is small? A litre of water for him for a full day hike would be more than enough, some would be wasted. I use freeze dried raw when back country camping.



I think you are fine to go to some wooded areas and try out some hiking to see the dogs reaction to distractions at this age. Keep the dog on a long line at first, and try to be really fun! One good recall meathod that can be good in the woods is to train a whistle, key shake, or some such thing. Whistle every time you are about to feed the dog at home from now on. Then whistle at home for the dog to come and get high value treats occasionally, extend this eventually to hiking and whistling the dog to you for high value treats.

Another stratagy for the trail you could try is to not feed the dog before you head out. Take the dog's food in your pockets (if you are a raw feeder pick some kind of pocketable treat) and let the dog off leash (on long line). Every time the dog comes to you on its own, feed it a treat or two. No need to call the dog this way, just the dog learns it is valuable to check in on you.

Start out small, an hour or two in the woods on trail let's say, and test her out before you take that BIG trip. Work your way up, let your dog's energy levels and behavior dictate what you are ready for.

I hear you on the winter thing...dogs love winter

Hope that helped.

Edit: Forgot about 'leave it'. Very important. After you have worked on it at home and the dog knows what it means I think it is almost worth setting the dog up on trail a few times to see the reaction. you know, you see a squirrel/rabbit up a head the dog does not. Pick up the long line/leash, when the dog sees it say 'leave it', if the dog goes for it-leash correction. When teaching leave it I taught it to mean, stop what your are doing and come for a treat...then it can have a positive connotation as well.

I was told by my vet to give a St. Joseph baby asperin for pain but I have never done this. I know that dogs tolerate human medications but I wouldn't start experimenting with any without your vet's advise.