Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Hiking with dogs

My wife & I have a new dog and would like to introduce him to hiking in the Sierras. Other than the common sense things such as picking up after him, store his food as we would ours, keep him on the leash at all times (this is what the wife says about me, LOL), don't enter the NP's with him, don't let him hassle the wildlife, is there anything we should be aware of or should we not even consider taking him out?
We do use Frontline for ticks etc. Does it really work though? We don't see ticks here at the beach, yet.

Carry a sufficient supply of water for the dog or factor in clean filtered water from wild sources.

Boots for paws.

Medication and first-aid kit for the dog.

Basic obedience and field training, especially voice control.

Strobe light collar.

My experience (on me, not a dog) with ticks in the Sierra is that the occur on the warmer, moister, western side, at lower elevations in Spring. I've never encountered any above about 7000', but I do remember Doc Murray mentioning that he picked one up above 8k.

I hike often with my Weimariner, Talus. She is well-behaved and doesn't run away....definately bring benadryl in case of rattlesnake bite. She won't wear boots. My biggest concern for my dog in the sierra is heat exaustion, coupled with sunburn. I have noticed that she doesn't do well in summer up there, and heat exaustion is dangerous...she has pink skin and a pink nose, so sunburn is another issue. She also seems to get tired above 13K. The Frontline works for ticks - ticks where I live are worse in spring than I've seen at altitude. That being said, she loves to go hiking with me. I just have to remember her limitations.



She loves to swim in the lakes:

From Recreation.gov, regarding Inyo National Forest:

Pets:
•Dogs are allowed for trips staying in the National Forest. Pet food must be stored the same as required for your food.
•Dogs are prohibited, as are any other pets, on trips visiting the wilderness of Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
•Pets need to be on leash or under verbal command. Do not allow pets to chase or harass wildlife.

Tracie, you've got yourself a fine companion there.

Highly encourage leashes ONLY, not verbal command. I've heard of too many stories where the dog wanders off, encounters a bear, and then leads a 'huffy' bear right back to the dogs humans.

Why, thank you Snacking Bear! I think so too! She likes to hike more than ride in the Jeep tho...

I usually keep her off leash. Especially if the trail is icy. She never wanders off.

Definition of Talus: MY DREAM DOG.

Dogs are great, but they don't clean up their poop. So if you take along a dog as a companion, clean it up for them - no exceptions.

That's all on the owner, not the dog. We keep ours under verbal command and always within sight. If the upcoming trail is 'blind' I have them wait until I can see what/who is ahead before allowing them to advance in front of us. We always yield to any other trail traffic, which doubly serves to give the dogs added breaks. My $0.02

If you are not willing to keep your dogs on a leash when hiking, please leash them when you encounter other people on the trail. Dogs sense fear and react to it, and that can be terrifying for someone who already has a fear of strange dogs.

My old dog carried his own pack about 25 pounds, it was a two part pack that I could grab the pack and pop it off him easily. He was 90 pounds of athlete. He climbed many peaks with me off trail and was trained to walk beside me if we encountered any people or animals along our way. He never had a leash. He always asked permission before jumping into bodies of water. If your dog is trained at that level you will have many years of happy times.
His only weakness was he hated to walk on the mid sized gravel, I think it irritated his feet. He suffered from AMS once in all our travels. He was my best hiking partner, been gone 15 years.

Not only this, but especially if you're approaching a hiker with a dog who is appropriately restrained. If the rules are to leash dogs, then I leash my dog, just like I follow other wilderness rules like packing out my trash, getting a permit, and not cutting switchbacks.

When other hikers approach with unleashed dogs, my dog gets agitated. I'm not sure why - maybe anxiousness because she doesn't have the freedom of movement that they do, and couldn't protect herself as well if they attacked her? I have no idea, but my dog reacts differently to leashed dogs than she does to those that are unleashed when we're somewhere she's supposed to be restrained (dog parks are a whole 'nother ballgame!).