Hiking With Your Dog—The Best Gear For Your Trip
Original article on Forbes
By: Allison Olmsted
Like many outdoor recreation activities, hiking has experienced a huge popularity boom since the coronavirus pandemic began. People want to get out of their homes more, get exercise and fresh air, all while maintaining plenty of space and social distancing. Hiking is perfect, and you don’t need any special skills. But you do need to start out with the right gear, which is why my last article here at Forbes was on all the best things you need to know to get started in hiking.
Another pandemic surge has been new dogs, rescued or purchased, puppies or adults. Anecdotally, demand for dogs has never been higher and many shelters have placed just about all their pups. Given these two trends, a lot more people will likely be taking their dogs on the trail, and that’s great, but there are some things you need to know first.
I’ve been hiking with dogs for more than 20 years, and currently have two golden retrievers I take out in the woods almost every day. They are trained to explore the wilderness off-leash, but not all dogs are, and not all places allow that in any case. For instance, most National Parks do not allow dogs at all outside your car, and the ones that are most dog friendly, like Maine’s Acadia, still require all dogs to be leashed at all times. Many state and local parks have similar rules. In any case, if your dog’s recall (“come”) is not totally reliable and truly under voice control, you should not be hiking with your pal untethered. So, let’s start our gear round-up with the leash.
Ruffwear Roamer Leash: If you think a leash is a leash, you haven’t seen the Roamer, specifically designed for hiking or running with your dog. Two things set this apart. First, like several Ruffwear active models, it can be worn either around your wrist or your waist, for a hands-free connection with a quick adjusting buckle. Secondly, it is made of springy bungee material for built-in stretch and shock absorption, which gives your best friend a little more room to roam and avoids sudden jerks to you, especially in precarious terrain like while scrambling over rocks.
Ruffwear is one of the most proven and trusted brands in active and travel gear for dogs, the choice of many ski patrollers, and K9 rescue squads and they make great stuff. This has their signature Talon clip for a fast, strong connection to your dog’s collar or harness, and even a special built-in slot for holding poop bags. Available in two lengths, seven and eleven feet long ($40).
Kurgo Collapsa Bowl: Your dog needs water, first and foremost, on every single hike. In addition to the risk of dehydration, if you don’t give your dog fresh water when they want it, they are more likely to drink what they find, and if the water they find is stagnant this puts them at risk of diseases including the increasingly widespread and problematic leptospirosis. There are a lot of portable dog bowls on the market, but most are a sort of waterproof fabric sack, and these are harder to dry, clean and carry outside your pack.
I love the Collapsa bowl, which is a tiered wedding cake style rubber bowl that collapses flat and has a hole in the rim I attach to the outside of my pack with a carabiner. Almost every good day pack has outside water bottle pockets, so I can get the water and bowl without opening the pack. It’s also handy, very easy to clean and dry, durable, and can also be used for food while being much easier for the dog to eat out of than the sack models. It holds 24 ounces, is made of food-grade silicone that is PVC and BPA free, and it’s even top rack dishwasher safe. I’ve had mine for years and it comes in three colors and is just ten bucks.
Kurgo Go Tech Harness: There are a couple of reasons to use a harness hiking, even if you don’t in everyday life. First, it’s better to have the leash pull on their body, with the force evenly distributed, then on their necks. Secondly, if you allow your dog to drag a long leash, which some people do, especially in training, a sort of in-between step where you are not holding them but can catch them easily, you don’t want to risk the dog running and getting the leash caught on a root or something and choking them. Beefier harnesses also offer some protection from thorns and underbrush for more adventurous dogs. One of the best and most important uses for a harness is assisting your dog with a lift over logs or up rocky terrain and for that, you need a handle, which many harnesses surprisingly lack. For hiking harnesses, look for three key features: adjustability for better fit, dual rings so you can attach a leash to the back or front, and a handle.
I like Kurgo’s Go Tech because it’s minimalist and light and doesn’t bother the dog, designed specifically for running and hiking, but still has a handle, offers chest protection, is very well made, and the price is just right ($32). Kurgo is another company very well known for its quality outdoor and travel gear for dogs.
Insect Shield Dog Gear: Dogs are even more vulnerable to ticks and biting insects than we are, especially since you don’t want to spray them with DEET based repellants, which are the most effective ones. According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), the worst tick-borne diseases affecting dogs are Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, Bartonellosis, and Hepatozoonosis, all of which can have serious health consequences. Dogs in or traveling to high risk areas should be on some form of prescription tick prevention, but in addition, Insect Shield, a fabric impregnated with safe and protective permethrin, is a good supplement. I wrote about Insect Shield garments for humans in my last hiking story, use them regularly myself and on my dogs, and can vouch for the effectiveness.
Like GoreTex, Insect Shield is a fabric licensed to lots of outdoor apparel companies, but they also make their own lineup, which includes both Cooling Vests and neck gaiters specifically for dogs, in different sizes and colors. They are very light and can be soaked with water, retaining their tick prevention while doubling as portable air conditioning. Both my dogs have the vests and neck gaiters, and they also make bandanas, all light, easy to use, easy to clean and so inexpensive that you can’t afford to skip the added safety ($5-$15).
Ruffwear Approach Dog Pack: This is certainly not a must, but on longer hikes, you’ll need food and water, and so will your dog. Sportier pups can easily carry their own gear in a saddlebag style backpack, and if you aspire to do overnight backpacking trips with camping, this becomes more vital as your pup will need even more food and extras like a bed or blanket, and you can only carry so much stuff on your back. Day hikes are good training for that. The Approach Pack has an excellent fit, with an integrated, adjustable harness and the low-profile saddlebags are form-fitting for enhanced stability and better load carrying. Lightweight but durable materials and streamlined design give you more for less, with big pockets and easy access smaller pockets on both sides, all zippered. It comes in four sizes, from XS to XL for all kinds of dogs, and two colors. Ruffwear recommends your dog carry no more than 25% of his or her body weight ($80).
Kurgo G Train Dog Backpack: If you have a small dog or puppy, they might not have the endurance to go for as long as you’d like to hike. If you want to keep going and make it easy on your dog, this human pack is specifically designed to give canine rides. I’ve not seen anything else like the G Train, which combines the best features you want in a daypack (padded laptop compartment, dual water bottle holders, multiple zippered compartments, and a comfy padded hip belt and adjustable sternum strap for comfort and efficiency on longer hikes), plus a pet carrier compartment with a zip-open mesh top that rolls neatly out of the way. It is for dogs up to 25 pounds, uses integrated fiberglass support rods for structural stability, has ventilated mesh back and side panels to keep your pup cool, and an interior tether that attaches to your dog’s harness for extra safety. A heavy-duty waterproof bottom keeps everyone clean, inside and out ($150).
Orvis Field Dog First Aid Kit: Ever since one of my dogs cut her paw on a hike, I’ve routinely carried first aid supplies. There are lots of pre-assembled first aid kits specifically for dogs on the market, and this one from Orvis may be overkill, but it’s the best and most comprehensive I’ve found and comes with two packs, large and small, so you can take what you need hiking and keep the rest as a more comprehensive back up first aid supply in your home or car. Orvis is America’s oldest catalog retailer, found in 1856, and ever since had built a sterling reputation specializing in outdoor, fishing, hunting, and active gear, and makes a lot of products for dogs, both leisure and field.
The smaller kit comes in its own zippered case and includes WoundSeal for instant stopping of bleeding; stainless steel, surgical-quality instruments and a trimmer for broken nails; lots of bandages, ointments and general first aid stuff, as well as instructions, a basic first-aid guide. The larger kit is prepared for almost anything, also has a zippered pouch and includes a lot more wound dressings, antibiotic ointment, burn-cream, even high-calorie nutritional supplement gel for injured, sick, or stressed pets, a mylar emergency blanket and a comprehensive 93-page dog first-aid field guide. If this complete setup is too much for you at $149, Orvis also sells the smaller carry kit separately for $69.
Booties: Not every dog needs footwear, and it also depends on what kind of terrain you are hiking in. Living in New England, where my dogs, who have sturdy pads, are primarily on dirt and grass, I don’t use them for summer hiking but I would reconsider if they were on the sharper, hotter rock in the Southwest or Hawaii. If your dog has more sensitive feet, you do longer distance pursuits, or cross sharper terrain, they are worth considering. For performance, the Ruffwear Grip Tex booties feature a Vibram outsole that provides protection and exceptional traction on varied terrain. They have breathable mesh uppers for ventilation and secure closure system that cinches around the narrowest part of the leg ($75). Unlike the other items above, I have not actually used these, but they are extremely popular with trail runners. I do, however, use booties in the winter, as my dogs enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, winter hiking and backcountry skiing trips, and snow and ice can build up in the spaces between their pads. For these sports, check out the Polar Trex booties, which have high performance insulated softshell uppers that are breathable and weatherproof, plus excellent traction ($100).
Acme Thunderer Whistle (Orvis): If your dog is not trained to respond to a whistle, there isn’t much point in carrying one. But I have trained my last three dogs to come to the whistle, a sound that not only carries much further in the wilderness and gets their attention better than your voice, it is also neutral, emotion-free and not subject to inflection interpretation. Having a dog that comes to a whistle is a great asset if you run into people, wildlife, or anything that requires an instant recall, and if you have a new pup I highly recommend it. And yes, you can also teach an old dog new tricks. Also, it’s always a good idea in the wilderness to be able to call for help or alert rescuers, dogs or no dogs. A lot of quality day packs have a whistle built right into the sternum strap buckle, a feature many owners never notice, but I like a good loud dedicated whistle, and the aptly named Thunderer from Orvis is a great choice. It’s for hunting dogs, and mine is not, but it produces a fluctuating frequency that makes it easy to hear over high winds or other noise, and the durable nickel-plated brass will last a lifetime ($25).
Ruffwear Beacon Safety Light: In a perfect world, day hikes end before dark and no one ever gets lost, injured, behind schedule or is forced to stay out after dark for any reason. But we live in the real world, not a perfect one, and planning ahead is better than being sorry later. Plus, in places that allow it, a full-moon nighttime hike can be fun for man and beast. I find having a reliable safety backup to keep my dog in sight when it’s dark is reassuring, and the Beacon is a high-performance safety light to keep dogs visible in low-light conditions or inclement weather. Durable and waterproof, it has an easy-to-use quick clip that attaches to apparel, harnesses, or collars. It’s rechargeable, with indicator lights to warn you when the battery is low. Choose from three LED colors and three light modes, while the bright, full-body glow design is visible from all directions ($25).