Trail Dogs and Trekking Poles

“I need some suggestions. My old trail companion, since deceased never presented me with this problem. Radigast is a golden retriever mixed with something stubborn with a will of his own. But if he doesn't want to come he won't. So I keep him on the leash all the time. This is not a bad thing I understand. I also want to use trekking poles ofr my balance as well as leverage against the pulling power of this 110 lb beastie.

Do you trail dog handlers have a system for this? I'm looking at a variation of the "buddy system" leash thing where the leash attaches to a belt leaving the hands free. Anybody have have any experience with that?

I know he needs training, and I am working on that. But I will likely keep him leashed all the time one way or the other just for his safety and everyone else's.

What wisdom do you have to share?”

“First of all you need to teach him that your are his master in all matters. Put a shock collar on him. After you have taught him to obey without it, like, sit, stay, down, come. You will have the added leverage to get his attention when he is away from you and acts like he does not want to listen. I use one that reaches out 2000 yards. You never want to have your dogs tied to you like that not out in the woods, one or both of you will end up dead.”

“I have a friend that had to resort to the shock collars for her two Plotthounds. They're figuring out the routine now and rarely need anything more than the beep.”

“brokentail.

Thanks for that I hadn't really thought about the tied issue. Mostly I don't do mountaineering or anything like that. But your point is well taken.

Any other views on this?”

“oh man, don't get me started on shock collars.”

“I teach them to heel. I use a 4' leash hooked to my pack with a 'biner. It does not hang down too low and with the dog behind me the poles/dog/leash entanglement is not an issue.

brokentail I don't believe you are that good of a trainer if you only believe in using a collar. I am not against them because there are some dogs that need them to be trained off leash. I have taught 8 dogs to obey voice commands and never used a collar.

Besides there are some places like Shenandoah NP that require them to be on leash. IMHO there is nothing more dangerous than a dog not trained to be on leash. They don't know not to run around owners and others and trip them and are a general pain in the butt to be around.

I would go with leash training then work your way up to voice commands. Resort to the collar last.”

“Radigast is trained fairly well to leash. I use a prong collar which looks absolutely draconian but he loves to see it come off it's hook. He will pull somewhat but that collar keeps him quite reasonable. He will heel with reminders and slight pressure on the collar.

He is also trained to "no pull" which works very well unless he really wants to get to the car. My preference is to keep him on the leash.

I am not overly interested in shock collars but obviously there are strong opinions about them. I agree some dogs may need them, but I don't think I would want to take that route.”

“just my two cents, i don't think i'd want a dog tied to me when i have a 30+ pound pack going down hill in rugged terrain”

“I like the halti for our dogs. They're used to running when the leashes come out and want to run, not walk. The halti simply turns their head if the pull too much. No pokes, no shocks, no tug of war. They can pull as hard as they want and all it does is make them look back at me. They're very focused on going forward and knock off the offending behavior immediately. It's nylon webbing and weighs not much, is comfortable for the dog, once they get used to it, and didn't cost too much.
I do suggest taking your dog to the pet store to try it on...comes in different sizes and the size needed depends on neck and nose size.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?cm_ven=goo&cm_cat=adwords&cm_pla=unknown&cm_ite=sku&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302032900&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441775200&bmUID=1175603767205
last edited: 4/03/07 7:37:13 AM”

“The closest I ever came to owning a horse was when I tried putting a "gentle leader" type head gear on him. He reared up like the Lone Ranger was yelling "HI HO Silver away.....!!!!" Not sure what his reaction would be now. My previous trail dog would stay right with me when her pack was on. When she was resting on trail she was tired enuf that she rested. She always came when called even if she took the long way around. I'd put the leash on her when other people
approached but I never did hike with her in a group. She also only weighed 30#.

But thats all done and gone. Now it's beastie.”

“This doesn't answer your question exactly, but it's just an observation. I have found that when I have taken a large exuberant dog on the trail, something that helps to calm them down is putting a loaded backpack on them. I have taken my aunt's large 1 year old lab out on day hikes, and this helps to calm him down tremendously. He pays more attention to me, and I can let him off the leash and not worry about him tearing through the woods. It doesn't take very long before he happily settles down and walks right behind or in front of me on the trail. Once we came upon 5 or 6 deer crossing the trail in front of us and he didn't even take off to chase them.”

“Rather than a shock collar try a pinch collar. I had to use it on my daughter's 100# chessie...works great.”

“Rev, it takes a few minutes for them to get used to it. Once they do it's highly effective and you don't have to hurt your dog to have control.”

“Sassafras

I have seen the headgear style in operation. They use them in the dog socialization program in the prison where I volunteer. At this point, he is very adjusted to the collar and does not mind it at all. It looks positively draconian but he loves it and it does not hurt him in any way was near as I can tell. So I am not really looking for a new leading device.

My previous trail dog was a totally different animal "in pack". It was uncanny. Go out for a day hike and she would run all over tracking mice and the whole nine yards. Put the pack on her and she focused on the trail and stayed right with me.

I don't have a dog pack for this one. (Any one got a dog pack they need to get rid of? Donations would be cheerfully accepted.) So I haven't had the chance to try him under load. That's my next endeavor. I would like to train him to the trail.”

“oh yeah, don't get me started on pinch collars either.”

“Well... I didn't get out on Friday like I wanted to because of the mice and cat which is all in another thread. But I did finally figure out how to make a pair of panniers for the pooch. Fortunately he is a big guy and so I was able to make the pack out of a pair of totes I had had purchased a while ago for another purpose. He finds the whole set up rather humorous at least so far. I plan to get him out for an actual hike tomorrow afternoon to see how he will respond under real life conditions. The next test will be to get him out for an overnight somewhere.”

“Good luck with that. I wish I had a trail dog SO bad.”