|
Collie Packing
|
|
We live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. For those that don't know, that is the northwest portion of Washington State in the USA. The area is very wet and contains many lakes and waterfalls.
|
|
|
Michael loves to hike but hasn't had much chance since we've been married. The dogs provide a good excuse and the hiking is good exercise. In this picture, Holly is in the foreground with her bright red pack. Charlotte is blending in with the background in her forest green pack.
|
|
|
Charlotte and Holly enjoy themselves on these outings. Holly has her novice packing title and is working on her advanced title. Charlotte is working on her novice title and trying to lose weight. This requires the dogs to pack for 20 miles with 4 to 10 percent of their body weight. This doesn't seem to be much to either us or the dogs.
|
|
|
We seem to find a lake, waterfall or both on most of our hikes. You should find some good pictures here in the future.
We mostly hike within the National Forest System, Department of Natural Resources or Washington State Park systems. We avoid the National Park system since it does not allow dogs except on-leash within the campground areas. No backcountry or trails allowed.
|
|
|
I recommend one of the "best hikes" or "100 hikes" series of books. These always have excellent hikes in them. Quite often they grade the hikes by difficulty and will indicate the mileage and amount of time it takes for each hike. Also, they give directions to the trailhead and provide a map of the hike itself along with some photos and commentary.
|
|
|
We use Wenaha Standard packs for our dogs. These are nice comfortable packs with large pockets for carrying items. There are rings on the top for strapping things such as a sleeping bag or other small objects. There are three straps to secure the pack to the dog's back.
There are a couple of problems we have noted with the packs. First, it is easy to overload the packs. The pockets on these packs are very large. Our dogs are supposed to carry a maximum of 10% of their body weight. That is only 6.5 lbs for Collies. Certain breeds can carry up to 25% of their body weight. Second, the load is difficult to balance. We try hard to make sure both sides of the packs are loaded evenly so there will be minimal shifting of the pack due to movement.
There are a few really good articles on our links page for backpacking with your dogs. If you have any questions, you can always email us at rainybankcollies@gmail.com or mike@rainybank.com
|
