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  1. #1
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    Default exhausting your dog

    Has anyone had their dog become exhausted while hiking? I could see this happening if the dog were old or overweight, but I have a hard time imagining how a healthy dog could get worn out before a person.

    My vet told me that it's nearly impossible to get effective weight loss for a dog by walking or running them. They are too efficient with 4 legs and weight must be controlled through diet. This leads me to believe that it would be hard to exhaust a dog through walking.

    Just curious if anyone has had this experience and if so, were there circumstances that contributed?

    Below is Beanie the Biscuit Tracker and she covers at least double or triple the miles I walk on the same stretch of trial, running back and forth, but she is always ready for another mile.


  2. #2

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    1990, Bill Irwin hiked with his dog Orient. Orient was checked by the vet throughout the entire trip every week and when the hike was finished the vet told him that the 10 month hike had put 7 years of wear on Orients pads and feet. He was retired as a service dog and Bill got another dog but kept Orient until he passed away.

  3. #3
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    I think your vet is assuming that by 'hiking' you mean a leisurely 15 minute stroll 3-4 times a week.

    the 2 leg 4 leg thing is BS


    if it's hot almost all dogs will be exhausted well before a FIT person.

  4. #4
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    Look at your dog now he sleeps or rests 16-18 hr a day. On a long distance hike over a period of time he just does not get enough rest. With police dogs we allmost never catch a suspect unless we get a good perimiter and get the suspect to lay down. He will kill himself trying to keep up with you. He will most likly finish with you but his health will suffer. This is not just my opinion I have talked to our lead K9 trainer and he told me leave my dog home unless I only plan to hike 4-5 hr a day.
    If it do'nt eat you or kill you it makes you stronger
    'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

  5. #5

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    I love my dog. She is always ready and willing to go with me wherever I go and whatever I do. And she has been with me on the trail and on the water. She totally trusts me. I always try to make sure that I never betray that trust.

  6. #6

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    I am (one of the few maybe?) who enjoys seeing dogs on the trail. I have often thought how nice it would be to have a canine companion on my hikes but the information in this thread has changed my mind - that and the fact that there are places where dogs can't 'hike' and the additional responsibility hiking with a dog entails, etc.
    Enough is OK, too much is just right.

  7. #7
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    Um, yeah, you can exhaust your dog. Especially in hot weather. Most dogs will just keep going past the point of exhaustion as long as they are following their owner.
    Ken B
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    Our Long Trail journal

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Adams View Post
    1990, Bill Irwin hiked with his dog Orient. Orient was checked by the vet throughout the entire trip every week and when the hike was finished the vet told him that the 10 month hike had put 7 years of wear on Orients pads and feet. He was retired as a service dog and Bill got another dog but kept Orient until he passed away.
    I have not seen that dog but maybe he was overweight or not ready for a daily life of long trail.Dogs are different like humans that are different. By your logic every wolf should retire 20 times in his entire life. or a sheepdog should retire 40 times i ten years.Please Give some respect to an animal that has been in the woods for eternity and we took them in our house to make them pampered pets.

    Answering OP's question: In normal circumstances I can not exhaust my dog ( a sheltie) but in hot days he conserves his energy and just walks behind me . His record in this summer was 46 km in a day and yet he was not tired and I called it a day. Your dog seems like a fire ball and I am sure you wont see a day that he is exhausted until he is over 10 or more years old.

  9. #9
    Registered User Kookork's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ScottP View Post
    I think your vet is assuming that by 'hiking' you mean a leisurely 15 minute stroll 3-4 times a week.

    the 2 leg 4 leg thing is BS


    if it's hot almost all dogs will be exhausted well before a FIT person.
    I have not heard a fit person runs 80 km day (52 miles) a day, day in day out pulling a musher yet in iditarod dogs do it easily. Define FIT person again man.

  10. #10

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    i've seen alot of overworked and overheated dogs on the trail
    tell ya what,put on a fur coat, zip it up and then go hiking in hot weather!
    then let me know how that worked out for ya
    Last edited by CrumbSnatcher; 03-04-2012 at 22:08.

  11. #11

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    i saw the video of bill and irwin, that dog looked stressed out, watched them climbing a rock face and the dog made a nice move up the rock,just to be called back down to help bill up. i bet that dog back tracked alot. most dogs rely on us humans, but with irwin it was the opposite.

  12. #12
    Registered User Kookork's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrumbSnatcher View Post
    i've seen alot of overworked and overheated dogs on the trail
    tell ya what,put on a fur coat, zip it up and then go hiking in hot weather!
    then let me know how that worked out for ya
    With all the respect for you., I have seen a lot of overworked and overheated hikers too. Dogs don't sweat from the body( they don't have sweat glands) so they regulate their body temperature via mouth and breathing and it makes us think they are overheated when they are just regulating their body temperature.

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kookork View Post
    I have not heard a fit person runs 80 km day (52 miles) a day, day in day out pulling a musher yet in iditarod dogs do it easily. Define FIT person again man.
    That's not a good example. A musher might push his dogs hard for a few days or a week during the iditarod, not every day, all day for months and months on end. I would also suspect they take a lot of breaks during the day to let the dogs rest. Dogs are sprinters, they can't keep up a hard pace for a long period of time.
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  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kookork View Post
    With all the respect for you., I have seen a lot of overworked and overheated hikers too. Dogs don't sweat from the body( they don't have sweat glands) so they regulate their body temperature via mouth and breathing and it makes us think they are overheated when they are just regulating their body temperature.
    i understand everything you are saying, i also thought they regulate the heat thru the pads also(i could be wrong) but to me without the sweat glands, the regulating/controlling the body temperature would be tougher, not easier(again, i could be wrong) the thing that sticks out to me is the overheated, overworked HIKERS had a choice and got themselves into the situation. the dog is expected to obey and follow. anyway lets all please agree, that if you see a animal being abused or mistreated? to beat the hell out of the owner :-) just joking--------------------------------------------------no im not :-)

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    Thanks for all the info and points of view. Certainly the individual dog would be a big part of the equation, as well as the terrain and temperature. I wasn't planning to thru-hike with my dog. I don't think I would even want to do a multi-week trip with my dog. I do bring her on weekend trips and day hikes.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrumbSnatcher View Post
    i understand everything you are saying, i also thought they regulate the heat thru the pads also(i could be wrong) but to me without the sweat glands, the regulating/controlling the body temperature would be tougher, not easier(again, i could be wrong) the thing that sticks out to me is the overheated, overworked HIKERS had a choice and got themselves into the situation. the dog is expected to obey and follow. anyway lets all please agree, that if you see a animal being abused or mistreated? to beat the hell out of the owner :-) just joking--------------------------------------------------no im not :-)
    I've seen older bird dogs lay down when they were tired and hot. Not all dogs will push past their limits. They may be smarter than we give them credit.

  17. #17
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    I walk my dog every day at least 3 miles on hilly terrain, quite often twice a day. I have seen her almost not able to move after a 3 day backpacking trip. Having said that I'm sure she would continue walking each day and get stronger just as we humans do but just like we humans they need to work up to it. Usually at the end of day two, she does not move from stopping at the end of the day until the next morning. Different dogs, different breeds, different results.
    I am not young enough to know everything.

  18. #18
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Yea Deanna's first choice was Chewie.. (Chewbacca) He was 2 miles during training and 4 miles at the end ... he crapped out at 4.1 - sucks... just sat down and stopped...

    Here is the result:
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Whiskey View Post
    I've seen older bird dogs lay down when they were tired and hot. Not all dogs will push past their limits. They may be smarter than we give them credit.
    dogs will fake a limp to get you too stop, trying to tell ya something.
    Last edited by CrumbSnatcher; 03-04-2012 at 23:43.

  20. #20
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    That good info _ I have never seen that... but as I work with dogs I will look for that.
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

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