Leaving the dog : (

[Frick Frack]

Question-If anyone has any suggestions for how to leave your dog back at home while tru-hiking I would love comments. My wife and I are planning a tru-hike and this is the biggest issue....what to do with a 15 year old Jack Russell : (

[Blissful]

We left our dog with my parents - but my hubby was only on the trail five weeks. Any relatives that could take him in?

[Old Hillwalker]

Here is my decision relative to the exact same quandry:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=33697

Here it is 47 days until I'm supposed to depart and he is still alive and tail wagging.

[glacier48]

I have faced that same sort of issue. I am at a loss for an answer. Any relatives or friends that would like free rent to take care of your dog? Maybe at a university college. I is hard to leave someone behind in the unknown. I am trying to take my dog with me but it will be challenging. Can you take her?

Glacier

[minnesotasmith]

Question-If anyone has any suggestions for how to leave your dog back at home while tru-hiking I would love comments. My wife and I are planning a tru-hike and this is the biggest issue....what to do with a 15 year old Jack Russell : (

To bring up a truth as relevant as it is unpleasant, odds are that pooch doesn't have that much longer. If you're at wit's end with finding a solution for your dog's care that you can accept while away for 6+ months, why not just hold off on your thruhike until your dog passes on in the natural order of things?

[Wise Old Owl]

Because a Jack Russel can live to be 24!

[mudhead]

You mean torment you until it is 24.

[minnesotasmith]

Because a Jack Russel can live to be 24!

=========================================

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/jackrussellterrier.htm

"Life expectancy (of a JRT): about 15 or more years"
===========================================
http://www.ehow.com/how_9971_care-jack-russell.html

"Be prepared to enjoy a good 15 years with your Jack Russell, as this is the average life expectancy for a Jack Russell terrier"
======================================

Just because some men live past 110, doesn't mean that it's the way to bet. So it is with that (obviously loved and lovable) pooch making it 9 more years.

[doggiebag]

You mean torment you until it is 24.

24 is nothing cattledogs can live up to 27 ... I'll be pretty much have gone completely crazy by then. Another 20 years

[Appalachian Tater]

The average lifespan for a species doesn't really give you an accurate prediction of how long an individual will live.

The best solution is to get your wife to stay home with the dog and take your girlfriend on the hike.

[Frick Frack]

He knows something is up because he was "bouncing" around more than usual when I got home....making this much harder. Taking him would be difficult because he has one eye, not the best vision in that eye, and loss of hearing. He has not been on a hike in years (used to do 12+ miles and get home and want to play ball). Most relatives already have their hands full and friends have other dogs (Wiley doesn't care for other dogs). He is still full of energy but I do not think he could handle all that would be thrown at him. Hopefully a solution will surface....

[Programbo]

Since you are still planning a thru hike I shall assume you don`t mean this year...Perhaps one of the thousands of nice folks who come on this board lives near you and would be so kind as to take the little pooch in while you re gone...If you are planning for a year away that gives plenty of times for visits with the little critter so he can become use to the person you will leave him with and it wouldn`t be to sudden of a shock.

[minnesotasmith]

"He has not been on a hike in years (used to do 12+ miles and get home and want to play ball). Most relatives already have their hands full and friends have other dogs (Wiley doesn't care for other dogs)"

Back in the day when you took this dog hiking... If at the level of training you had in you to get your dog up to, he still had trouble dealing with other dogs he'd meet on the trail, what was your rationale in even bringing him onto marked trails (as opposed to bushwacking, where you could expect not to run into other people's dogs)?

[JAK]

I say take the dog. Take him someplace the three of you can hike safely, without bothering anyone. That's the right thing to do. If you had a better option, like a relative that knows the dog as well as you do, then you wouldn't be asking us. Do the right thing, or if you want to do the wrong thing, stop asking others to go along with it.

I have to ask you. Why should I care about you more than I care about your dog?

[JAK]

If he's really not up to any hiking at all, or if there is no suitable place, wait until he's gone.

[doggiebag]

IMHO I wouldn't abandon a dog that I've had for 15 years for a thru-hike. It's just a hike. But if I have to be typing this ... I feel sorry for this dog. At least I know my dog will never have to face being alone or getting abandoned when he get's old or I get a whim. If anything - if someone does decide that a thru-hike is more important than the dignified treatment of a companion of 15 years. Just don't leave it in the pound if a suitable home can't be found. The chances of adoption are low and the thing will be scared and lonely for the last of it's days. Do the right thing and put it down. Though it sickens me to have to write this. The sad thing is most folks are usually off the trail after a couple of weeks.

[minnesotasmith]

IMHO I wouldn't abandon a dog that I've had for 15 years for a thru-hike. It's just a hike. But if I have to be typing this ... I feel sorry for this dog. At least I know my dog will never have to face being alone or getting abandoned when he get's old or I get a whim. If anything - if someone does decide that a thru-hike is more important than the dignified treatment of a companion of 15 years. Just don't leave it in the pound if a suitable home can't be found. The chances of adoption are low and the thing will be scared and lonely for the last of it's days. Do the right thing and put it down. Though it sickens me to have to write this. The sad thing is most folks are usually off the trail after a couple of weeks.

1) It's an animal, NOT a person. When someone says "companion" when the word "pet" is more descriptive, it sounds like they are confusing a pet with a human friend. I enjoyed and did well by the dogs and birds I've owned, but would never have let one kept me from going to graduate school, beginning my career, becoming married -- or thruhiking the AT.

2) It sounds like you are overestimating how quickly aspiring thruhikers that quit bail. What, over 3/4 make it out of GA alone, and the majority through the Smokies. If someone is not going to make it the whole way, they may very well at least get into Virginia, over 450 miles into this thing.

[Nomad94]

Question-If anyone has any suggestions for how to leave your dog back at home while tru-hiking I would love comments. My wife and I are planning a tru-hike and this is the biggest issue....what to do with a 15 year old Jack Russell : (

Join a Jack Russell forum. Make friends.

[mudhead]

IMHO I wouldn't abandon a dog that I've had for 15 years for a thru-hike. It's just a hike. But if I have to be typing this ... I feel sorry for this dog. At least I know my dog will never have to face being alone or getting abandoned when he get's old or I get a whim. If anything - if someone does decide that a thru-hike is more important than the dignified treatment of a companion of 15 years. Just don't leave it in the pound if a suitable home can't be found. The chances of adoption are low and the thing will be scared and lonely for the last of it's days. Do the right thing and put it down. Though it sickens me to have to write this. The sad thing is most folks are usually off the trail after a couple of weeks.

Agreed. I just could not find the words.

" the old dog barks without getting up, I remember when he was just a pup."

[CrumbSnatcher]

To bring up a truth as relevant as it is unpleasant, odds are that pooch doesn't have that much longer. If you're at wit's end with finding a solution for your dog's care that you can accept while away for 6+ months, why not just hold off on your thruhike until your dog passes on in the natural order of things?

FNA!!! the trail ain't going anywhere,dont do that to your dog.