Recently a dog got hit by a car while hiking with another company. The dog was very well trained and had a reliable recall.
The pack hikers had 8 dogs per person and noticed the dog was missing during “role call.”
This didn’t happen because the dog wasn’t well trained. It happened because the pack hiker didn’t notice he was missing.
As pack hiking becomes more popular, more and more unqualified people are making flashy websites and social media accounts with pictures of happy dogs. On the outside, it can look like a good time, but pretty websites and cute pictures of dogs are not going to keep your dog safe. If you’re going to hire someone to hike your dog off leash, they need to be an experienced and highly qualified professional. It is not an easy job and it requires an in-depth knowledge of dog training, dog behavior, and a very functional set of safety protocols.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but eight dogs is too many for one person. Regardless of how many dogs you have, the idea of the “roll call” is insane. Every second of the hike you should be monitoring every dog to make sure they’re in your line of sight.
If you are hiring someone to hike your dog off leash you need to thoroughly vet them. A nice website and social media means nothing. When we offer clients a spot in our hiking program they get a detailed breakdown of what we do with the dogs on the hikes and how we keep them safe. My team is CPR/First Aid certified and follow strict protocols on how the dogs are handled from the moment they get picked up to the moment they get dropped off. We welcome any questions about our program and at times have allowed clients to join us on the hikes to see how they are run. Here are a few things we do to keep the dogs as safe as possible on our hikes:
We do small groups 5 dogs per person max
All dogs must go through our training program first (or a similar program with a trainer we know) and be E-Collar trained.
Dogs with bite histories go through muzzle training and wear properly fitted muzzles that are double attached to their collars on hikes. This way muzzles cannot come off if they are playing or rolling and they are able to pant, take treats, and drink water through the muzzles.
Most of the dogs are separated in the car by crates and dividers. Occasionally we will have two friendly dogs sit together in the car.
All dogs enter and exit the car one at a time when their names are called.
They stay calmly by the car before and after the hike as we get ready.
They walk on a loose leash to an area far from the road with good visibility where we drop the leashes/take them off.
Dogs must prove they can come when called around a variety of distractions (dogs, people, prey animals, bikes, horses etc) before we drop their long lines. Only dogs with exceptional behavior who have hiked with us for a long time (usually over a year) can go without a leash.
Dogs cannot enter bodies of water unless we release them into the water.
They are not allowed to drink from puddles or water we have not released them to. They drink water from bowls we provide and are released one at a time to drink from the bowl.
Throughout the hike we practice obedience (sit, down, stay, come, heel, middle, and a variety of tricks).
Anytime we see a distraction (person, biker, dog, horse etc) on the trail we pull off to the side and stay as the distraction passes.
All of our dogs are conditioned to come to us when they hear a pet corrector spray (compressed air). This way we can use pet corrector spray to deter incoming off leash dogs while also signaling our dogs to come to us.
We curate safe and appropriate play by typically only letting the dogs play two at a time and making sure they are consensually playing. All dogs know an “all done” cue that ends play.
We will end play if the dogs knock into another non playing dog or human or if the play becomes unfair or unbalanced.
We do not let dogs off leash on busy trails or near the road.
We do not hike dogs in the woods on windy days, we will go to a field to avoid falling trees and branches.
Hikes may be shortened or canceled due to unsafe hot or cold weather.
A pack hike is not just a walk in the woods with a bunch of dogs. You have to be focused, alert, and well educated to make it a safe and productive experience.