What do you do with your dog in town?

[Jberczel]

Also completed a SoBo thru-hike with my dog this year. Looks like you have a lot responses, so here's my 2 cents:

When stopping by towns, I'd usually leash her to trees nearby. Let me know if you have any other questions about thru-hiking with a dog.

http://www.atjindo.com/blog/CT/2001

[Sibe]

I've never done the AT with my dog (2016? Fingers crossed) but I have done many of the trials in Canada. The largest one, a drop in the bucket compared to the AT, was the Bruce Trial. It's maybe 500miles. I've often ran into the same problem over the three years I've been hiking with my dog.

The simple truth is... the better trained your dog is, the better adjusted she is to the situation, the easier life is going to be. When doing things like distance hiking the dog really should be trained to handle town visits. Things like separation anxiety and barking will make your life 'almost' not worth living. I found out the hard way.

My best solution was training.

As far as hotels go, I've spent a couple weeks in various hotels for no other reason then to train my dog. It took a little effort but before long me leaving meant I was going to get her a tasty treat and was coming right back. Now she actually looks forward to going to hotels and practically pushes me out the door.

I've never found "no unattended dogs" to be much of an issue if your dog doesn't act out or make itself known. Most don't actually care. Some simply have you enter into such contracts to get protection from damage, physical or otherwise (noise/nuisance). There have been times I've left her in hotels unattended. There have been times that I've asked specifically if I could leave her there and said I'd pay them $100 if she made so much as a peep. Unfortunately there have also been times I've had to bring her with me.

In such cases, I'm glad I trained her to sit and wait outside stores. I did this one without hiking in mind. It was trained through the simple routine of getting my morning coffee at the end of our walk every day since she was maybe 8months old and as such this has never been an issue for me. If the dog sits quietly, ignores distractions including someone approaching to pet her, then the only real concern is that someone might try theft. Easy solution in those situations... get a locking dog collar/leash.

If it's just me and my dog, those are the only real options. I take her with me or I leave her at the hotel. If you take your dog, you know you're gong to run into the same issue. It's best you teach the simple things (not always so simple) before you need to actually use the skill set. The best part about it is you're doing yourself a long-term favor. Vacation, travels, etc, all things we tend to do from time to time and all things you can bring your dog if it's well behaved.

If you have a dog it's because you love them and you want them to share in your life... that most definitely includes moments such at hiking the AT.

Take them, leave them. lock-em up near by, just train them and think beyond your desire to have them at your side. I for instance would go SOBO, pick my dog up after the first hard leg of the journey, maybe in Vermont, kennel her while going through bear mountain, then send her home sometime before the smokey mountains and finish on my own- as I started.

p.s. hitching has remained relatively unchanged for me with and without a dog. My pups adorable and I'm male. Alone I'm hard pressed to find a ride, with my dog I'm equally challenged but receive a small blessing because she's cute and some feel safe picking me up because she's there- solo women mainly.

p.s.s. I really don't see much changing from my normal experience if I were to do the AT... probably easier given the hiking culture around the AT. Canada honestly doesn't have anywhere near the same sort of community support. Canada is lacking the 'trail magic' as I've heard it called around here.

[illabelle]

Nice post, Sibe, and Welcome to White Blaze.

[OldTrailDog]

Solid advice Sibe. I had the border collies I owned before this young one well trained for town chores. I could go to the store and tell them to stay, usually at a bench seat or during winter on top of one of the snow plow piles. Folks in the store would gather at the window to gawk at the border collies laying on top of the snowplow piles patiently waiting for me. Reminds me of what I need to get brushed up on with this new BC before hitting the trail.

However, I am somewhat puzzled by how a person would "send a dog home" or "pick up a dog" during a thru-hike. It is a long way and expensive to accomplish this if you live any distance from the trail. I personally am researching and making contacts to negotiate GSNP and BSP dog deprived parks.

Plus, after watching some of the terrain on youtube in the Whites, I very well may end up kenneling and shuttling the White Mtns. stretch too. Bottom line for me is I MUST give the AT a shot, because I'm getting old and don't want to regret missing giving it a go.

But the companionship of my dogs over the years working in western wildernesses means far more to me than ticking the AT off a bucket list. If things don't come together logistically with her, we will enjoy what we can and move on to other adventures together.

[paule]

I am not a dog owner,I just don't feel responsible enough and am on the road a lot,but I love them.As a non dog hiker there are a few rules I go by when I encounter a dog on the trail.The first and I feel the most important is,I never approach a dog in anyway until I ask the owner if it is ok.If I am approached by a dog I stand still and make no attempt to pet or touch the dog in any way.I don't know if I am right in thinking a dog can be beneficial in a shelter area,but I think it would deter wild animals from entering the area.Is this right or wrong?Or does it just depend on the dog?I think it's great that an owner would give his dog the chance to enjoy a hike.If I was in town and another hiker asked me to watch his dog for awhile while he did what he had to do,i would love it.In Austin dogs are accepted at quite a few places,there are many businesses that put water bowls out for dogs and the water fountains in the parks have a lower bowl for dogs. Good owners give a dogs a good name,,,a bad owner is usually the problem,not the dog.

[Puddlefish]

Since barking was mentioned as a concern.

Training dogs not to bark is actually one of the easiest things to train for. A positive reinforcement method, no electric bark collars or anything.

Dogs barks to get the attention of the pack leader (hopefully you) with the intention of alerting the pack to potential danger. At that point your dog expects the alpha (you) to assess the threat and deal with it, and then follows your cue on how to behave. It's basically about letting your dog know what is and isn't a threat, by your actions.

Your dog should be allowed to bark once, just once per incident. You hear the bark, haul yourself up from what you're doing, walk over, see what's happening, soothe your dog, speak to it calmly, let them know the mailman isn't scary, greet the mailman in a friendly manner, your dog will pick up on this quickly and learn that the mailman isn't a threat to the pack.

I'm amazed at how many people aren't aware that barking is an easily trainable behavior. If your dog is barking for some other reason, chances are that it's been allowed to treat it's owner like a beta, been abused/neglected, or otherwise has an owner who prefers to make excuses for it's behavior than to put the effort into training it, or, they just don't know how.

It's worked for me, for multiple dogs, it will work for you. Google it yourself for more concise/accurate information.