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jleuch02
06-06-2004, 13:45
I was wondering how people delt with dog food on a thru hike. I heard it was best to stick with one kind of food, so I found a high calorie, high protein dog food (Nutro Natural Choice High Energy). How do people deal with mail drops for dog food? Would it be possible to buy the food as we went? Also, how much should we be feeding a dog on a thru hike? She is a medium sized shepard mix and we have been feeding her about four cups of regular food a day. Thanks.

Pencil Pusher
06-07-2004, 03:45
According to a different thread, there should be plenty of dog food on the trail. Apparently unsuspecting humans walk down this path they refer to as the AT. A never-ending supply of food...

Seriously though, I'd err on the side of caution when feeding the dog. Besides watching for various cues during the day, I'd feed the dog more. If he's laying down the monster logs every day, then maybe that's too much food. Then there's the water aspect. That's alot of weight, water and food between their known sources/stores. I'd certainly think you could buy dog food as you went along, americans love them. As to whether the dog gets the celery-enriched-bioprotein, special soy mix, Grade A version at each store, my guess is no. As for sticking with one brand, maybe you could call up each store along the AT and see which brand is most common.
Regardless of the logistics, I wish you and your pooch the best of luck and times hiking on the trail.

LBJ
06-07-2004, 09:02
I fed my yellow lab (75 lbs), 2lbs. of Purina One daily. He carried 10 lbs. or 5 days worth between mail drops for the 270 miles I hiked. I did see it in stores in Hiawassee and Franklin.

Bluebearee
06-07-2004, 23:09
People do it both ways. I had friends in 02 who just bought whatever they could find along the trail, which yes, meant the dog was switching brands and types all the time. Vets will usually tell you not to do that, we get different food for Daly frequently, he seems to get bored with one variety (wouldn't you?), so we switch it up at home.

Last year on the LT I planned drops just for the purpose of mailing his food for him so I wouldn't have to worry about finding dog food in smaller quantities or different brands. It worked well, but for an AT thru-hike, would require a lot of drops. I definitely noticed that his appetite increased as mine did. He normally eats 2-3 cups at home (8 oz cups, he's a 65-70 lb Maine Black Dog-LOL), I would feed him at least 3 times a day on the trail, and many times he wanted more than that. I also packed and dropped Power Bones for his treats/endurance.

Good luck, remember you will be hiking your dog's hike.

steve hiker
06-08-2004, 02:11
I like Gravy Train best of all. When we go hiking my master getts water for my supper as soon as we get to camp, if its cold he boils some hot watter to pour in it to make hot muddy gravy.

If the stores out of Gravy Train I like Chuck Wagon extra beefy. I always feel good after a bowl of that and chase squirrels till dark.

But what I look for in all food is so I can lay a real gummy doo doo that will stick to the boots of the hikers who are meen to me during the day and wave their sticks at me. I wait till its dark and lay one down when I see them going to the outhaus. If they don't leave I let one in their boots at night, me and my master are always first up and hit the trail but I can hear the howls half mile away.

PROFILE
06-08-2004, 12:36
We did food drops for our dog food. I have trained dogs most my life and keeping a consistant diet is very important to a dogs over all health. We did 13 drops from home. Each drop contained 2 wks of food for the dog. However, our dog only carried 5-7 days. We would bounce ahead the extra food. This worked well so we could move the dog food around in bounce boxes to ajust to our plans.