High Sierra Topix

What are you guys using for your K9's?

I have a 2 year old, 100 lb German Shepherd. I have a bunch of trips planned this summer, and a couple of those trips may incorporate my dog tagging along. He has a backpack and a pad, but I'm more curious about warmth at night, booties, and good dehydrated food? Any and all recommendations and/or experience is appreciated!

Hey narc1370,
Great question. I've been backpacking in all seasons with dogs for more than 3 decades, and so far so good. Well, I should say that the only injuries were minor. They lead to an important part of your question, so I'll begin there. Twice my dog Bearzy has broken, or had damage to his front foot dew claws. Just last trip this happened:

See the break of dew claw in upper frame. For this injury I used a very sticky type of band aid first, then some of that soft, stretchy pink tape to provide cushion, and wrapped over that with tough white medical tape. It stayed on fine. This happened a couple summers ago, and here's what the fix looked like:

So, it's good to plan a med. kit for the dog too, and Russ, LincolnB, WD and others can add detail to this. These wraps are probably the main req., and I'd add that you should bring enough to rewrap daily, or sometimes more if they are worn/torn off in icy snow crust, or scree. LincolnB gave me a very helpful link to a dog bootie option I like very much, and intend to use. Here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J5 ... UTF8&psc=1

Dog booties that cover the dew claw are the ones you want, and you'll have to study all of the bootie options if you go that route. Note Bearzy, and many dogs do not need to use booties. Helps if the dog already has toughened paws. These cheap, and light booties are worth having in the med kit though.

This is long enough, so I'll curtail it here, just adding that winter warmth is a big deal. I have this sort of jacket for Bearzy, and he sleeps on my extra clothes, or an airline blanket, on top of his own ensolite pad, under my very warm z-bag, which I open up to serve as a quilt over us both.

Note sleeping set up, with Bear's light blue, 1/2ensolite pad, usually piled with my down booties, jackets, and anything else warm. My using an inflatable pillow has allowed me to dedicate extra clothing to Bear's bed-- I used to make my pillow out of it.

I am looking forward to other's ideas on the med kit, best food, harnesses, dog packs... Thanks for the post narc1370. Ian.

Thank you for the detailed response. I didn't think much about the wraps, but after reading your TR and seeing these pic's, I think I overlooked this, and it's a no brainer. I appreciate your comments, as I would have never thought of this.

For any kind of general paw-overuse problem, you can apply paw wax. It's sort of the canine equivalent of skin lotion and sunburn cream. They say that just about any kind of soft wax will work. If you use too much wax, the dog will just lick it off.

For meds, bring some baby or regular aspirin (depending on which your vet suggests). Checking paws for cuts or sap should be done throughout the day. Sap removal I’ve yet to fully solve but peanut butter or olive oil applied can work.

As for gear, a down jacket or throw blanket can work for bigger dogs, along with a pad (I like the according style like z-rest).

Food: good freeze dried food has been difficult for me to find or liked by our dogs. Regular food for breakfast and dinner and doggie power bars for snacks works. Often my dogs appetite wanes for their dry food so I will either bring some baby food (come in Mylar bags like Sawyer squeeze bags) as a topper and/or catch and cook some trout (which mine love).

Every dog’s needs are going to be different. Mine are spoiled: they sometimes ride on top of our packs and have their own down sleeping bag.

"I have a bunch of trips planned this summer" - where? What terrain/temp? Big differences in gear -

For Shasta I use one of those thin blue cell foam pads - she's happy with that for anything much above freezing.

For cold weather - I splurged on a down jacket for her, from Saks Fifth Avenue:


Fifteen bucks, at Savers.

The first couple trips I figured she could share my bag, but she doesn't like that, at home or on the trail. She's a Shepherd, God damn it. Her job is to keep watch, not get all cuddly with one of the flock.

Snowtrout writes:

Food: good freeze dried food has been difficult for me to find or liked by our dogs. Regular food for breakfast and dinner and doggie power bars for snacks works. Often my dogs appetite wanes for their dry food so I will either bring some baby food...

We have struggled with dog foods in both directions. Our friend Frank's dog just about quit eating in the mountains, yet performed fine. Hard to even feed her cheese! Our dog Bearzy becomes an insatiable eater, unlike his habits at home. We are trying to bring him enough of the right sort of snack food to supplement his breakfast and dinner. Those two meals consist of his regular dog food, to which we add low fat cheese. In the past I erred by giving him our sausage and jerky, some of which we've learned can be awful food for dogs, depending on the additives, sodium, and fat content. Any ideas on overall dog food for week-long mountain trips... what's this "baby food" Snowtrout?

Harlen,
So, Petsmart at one time carried a food topper in a few flavors that had a twist on top/Mylar bag. It was perfect for backpacking because you could squeeze a little on the dry food and save the rest for later. Well, can’t find it anymore (there is the gravy but it’s just flavored water).

Walking down the baby food isle at a grocery store, I saw the same style of packaging, multiple flavors and cheaper than the dog version. Dogs loved it and didn’t know the difference

Longer trips can be tough if they shut down to eating their normal food. Cheese and mashed potatoes, good. Fish cooked with a little butter, salt and deboned, our dogs favorite. Extra helping of human food like chili Mac, sometimes not so good at night in the tent.

What works for us and our doxies, may or may not work for a big dog. We have a new pup that’s going to do her first trip ever Memorial Day weekend. Camping she is fine but backpacking might be something different. We just have to bring a variety of our go to items.

Having carried out two different dogs from the wilderness (one paw/pad injury, one shoulder injury) I never take my pooch out now without an Airlift from FidoPro.

https://fidoprotection.com/products/fid ... og-harness.