Useful trail dog.

“A couple of weekends ago I made a run up to Mt. Rogers with some friends for an overnighter. One of them brought thier dog. Usually I frown upon such foolishness, however, on this trip I actually found a use for the creature. We were camping a half mile away from a water source and after supper, with little water to spare for cleanup, we let the hound lick the pots and bowls. Great dishwasher. I was sort of glad to have him along at that time. I must say however, that is the only good use I've ever seen for a dog on the trail. I must add that this was an exceptionally well behaved and voice trained dog that responded immediately to his master's commands. I was impressed.

Anyway, other than licking the communal stew pot and the obvious (companionship), exactly what good is a dog on the trail?”

“What good are YOU on a trail???”

“What Buddur said!”

“My are we hostile today.

Couldn't come up with an answer hu?”

“Other than for cooking stew what good is a pot on the trail? You can live on granola and jerky right? How about TP? you can use leaves/sticks/rocks...

you can train a dog to be the perfect companion, and the dog will never complain or b!tch about you bringing something they don't agree with”

“Useful dog? When I lived in Alaska I wanted one of those Karelian Bear Dogs.

Bear Dog

Not for hunting but for safety-warning and defense.”

“it is like having another person with you kind of except they cant' talk adn you make all the decisions.”

“Dogs don't ask such stupid questions.”

“I can pick up litter, strow fire rings, repair trails, and cover my crap in a 6" hole 200 feet from a water source.
Just some things.
Give me one thing for the dog.”

“Nice breed pathman. I guess protection and hunting would qualify.
What else?”

“So donman, a dog is like TP on the trail?”

“good for you, everytime I'm out I find that some other people didn't... and the dog never brings beer bottles or spills white gas in a water source... a hiker can care for his dog or children the same way he cares for himself/herself with little effort. A dog gives love unconditionally and is great company”

“yep, optional”

“Why didn't you send the dog to fetch more water?”

“Skijoring.”

“Good points donman.
So now we have that a dog is:
a good dishwasher
a good companion
a good protector
a good hunter
easy to care for.

Any thing else?”

“ya... if you and your dog share a tent then a dog is an excellent source of stinky heat”

“pacbac, he was dog-tired by the time we got to the top of that mountain.”

“and hair.”

“So now we have that a dog is:
a good dishwasher
a good companion
a good protector
a good hunter
easy to care for
a source of stinky heat
a source of hair for your sleeping bags and electrostatically charged high-tech fabrics.


and what in the world is skijoring?”

“Thanks for reminding me. Dog fur makes good yarn, too.

Skijoring For backcountry, you run a pulk (sled), usually between you and the dog.”

“my dogs are good for search and rescue... maybe you butt someday??
and they keep my feet warm.”

“yeah, dogs don't go really well on canoe trips, unless ya got a really well behaved dog that won't try and tip the canoe, but while hiking, i try not to leave little presents on over used trails, but a dog is companionship most definately, i'd go nuts without a dog on my own. If i'm pushing myself a little too hard, my dog is always excited to keep walking, he pushes me on when i'm about ready to collapse under the weight of my backpack. and nothing's better than a stinky wet dog in the tent after a long wet rainy day, stay outside. I'm not going to go far without a dog.”

“pathman, that looks like fun. I'll have to add it to the list.



This has been an effort to substantiate the useage of dogs on the trail. Buddur's initial hostile response set the wrong context. I am trying to come up with the reasons for having a dog on the trail. After this last trip with the wonderdog, I am vunerable to conversion. Hostility will only drive me away. I need facts and reasons here.”

“my dog carries part of my tent. tell me that's not a good use.”

“You'll see people here debating backpacking as though it were an ancient fighting style "My Ultra-light will defeat your External pack style!" I think it all boils down to preferences. I think Sarabelle's posts are one of the best things about TT, tell me Gojo and Belle don't have the best time on their trips. A dog is a great partner, and a good balance between soloing and grouping. I think anything you wanna take on the trail is great if you can handle it (and be a considerate hiker)”

“Josh, that's probably the best reason yet.

"So now we have that a dog is:
a good dishwasher
a good companion
a good protector
a good hunter
easy to care for
a source of stinky heat
a source of hair for your sleeping bags and electrostatically charged high-tech fabrics
Skijoring
Search and rescue
Pack animal.”

“Yea, I like Sarabelle's post also.”

“keep the mousers and rats away at night if you sleep under a tarp.”

“that one could be good or bad though because they keep the critters away, but they keep the critters away.”

“nother gooden Josh.”

“Do they keep dog-hating backpackers away?”

“Yea, on this last trip, there was deer poop everywhere at our campsite. I slept under a tarp, hoping to see the deer the next morning. I didn't see anything-no possums, no coons, no squirrels, no deer,no nuthing. Also, as soon as we got to camp. Dog ran around the whole area and ate up all the deer poop. Talk about bad breath. I'm not putting that on the list.”

“So now we have that a dog is:
a good dishwasher
a good companion
a good protector
a good hunter
easy to care for
a source of stinky heat
a source of hair for your sleeping bags and electrostatically charged high-tech fabrics
Skijoring
Search and rescue
Pack animal
Intruding critter deterrent."”

“Skijoring is a blast. If you cross country ski, and have a dog you should give it a try.”

“I do a little cross-country skiing but I don't think the Beagle will do much pulling in 12" snow.”

“LOL! This thread is a riot! BS, I commend you on your resolve to try and determine practical reasons for bringing a dog. There are definitely some but I think in all reality, most people bring a dog along because they love them. I don't expect you to understand that.”

“The Montana version of Skijoring is being pulled behind a horse over a course at the rodeo gorunds (there was a competition at Red Lodge last week at their winter carnival). They go off jumps kind of like water skiing.The smarter ones wore helmets. I think this version was dreamt up by the rodeo fans for an excuse to go to the rodeo in the winter and get drunk.”

“Back to the original thread- Dogs are great to day hike with. They have such a blast running around, playing in the water, fetching sticks and rolling in stinky stuff. Overnighters are another story. They want to crawl in the tent with you (after doing all that fun stuff during the day); stinky, dirty and wet.”

“rosey, you've chosen a peculiar color brush to paint me with.

I happen to own a lovely, eighteen year old beagle. She is a member of the family and the only one still with us, as the children have grown up and vacated the coop. I first acquired her to ride around with me at work, but alas, she gets car sick. I dread the day she leave here. Her age limits her mobility now, but in her prime, her little short legs would not have allowed her to be a good trail dog. She's a good one.”

“Some of the early South Pole explorers found dogs useful after they ran out of food (burp!)”

“LOL, no, I can't see a beagle skijoring. Retrievers and, of course, sled dogs/huskies do great.”

“So now, thanks to Aero, I get to add smearing stinky stuff around with his/her back so it will decompose faster.

So now we have that a dog is:
-a good dishwasher
-a good companion
-a good protector
-a good hunter
-easy to care for
-a source of stinky heat
-a source of hair for your sleeping bags and electrostatically charged high-tech fabrics
-Skijoring
-Search and rescue assistant
-Pack animal
-Intruding critter deterrent
-An object of love
-smears stinky stuff around with his/her back so it will decompose faster.”

“add also: potential food source in time of famine.”

“dogs also:

are fun
are conversation starters
look out for people (mine goes back and forth between people in my hiking party)
great pathfinders”

“dislexic agnostic-- One who doubts the existence of Dog.”

“you wouldn't understand.”

“mine goes back and forth between front and back, too. that's why i can't really take him when i go with anyone else. when he has his pack on he doesn't realize he's wider than usual and knocks people in the back of the knees. gets very irritating for peopol who don't want him there to begin with, which i totally understand.”

“probably mooching food along the line.”

“Dogs = gear? WTF?







My dog kept me on the right trail after I had a little accident and had to limp out 5 miles on a sprained ankle with no flashlight after dark. I had her on a 14 ft. retractable leash and let her out to it's full extension and let her pull me down the trail. I started to go down the wrong trails a couple of times by mistake but she wouldn't let me. She was a really good trail dog.”