Walking or hiking a trail with your dog is a frequent activity dog owners engage in. It’s wonderful being in the outdoors enjoying the fresh air. Not only is it stimulating for you but also for your dog.
Weather you’re walking, hiking or jogging on the trail with your dog you want to avoid some common mistakes. You especially want to avoid common mistakes that are dangerous for your dog. These errors in judgment can cause serious injury and even death to your pooch!
The first thing you need to know well is your dog’s breed. Some breeds are more sensitive than others when out on the trail. There are breeds that are particularly sensitive to heat. If you are not knowledgeable about your dog’s breed you might be putting him/her in harms way.
Dog parents love their dogs like family. We love our dogs so much that we forget they are an animal. We are not mindful that unlike humans dogs have different limitations on the trail.
Lets look at some of the most common mistakes dog parents make when taking their dog on a trail. First, we forget that our dog is constantly wearing a fur coat! Secondly, we may not be aware that dogs do not have sweat glands all over their body like humans do.
What does this all mean? It means that your dog will overheat much sooner than his/her human parent will overheat! Additionally, your dog cannot cool down by sweating. Humans when they overheat start to sweat over their entire body to cool down.
Dogs only sweat on their paws. A dog’s paw is a very small surface compared to their total body size. Even though dogs have four paws it’s still not enough sweat to cool down their entire body.
This fact also means that dogs require more frequent stops to drink water! This is another common mistake dog owners make. They don’t’ bring water for their dog to drink on the trail. And dog parents don’t make enough stops for their dog to drink water even if they did bring water for their dog to drink.
Sadly, many dogs collapse on the trail! Once a dog overheats and collapses it’s highly unlikely that just resting will give the recovery needed to make it back to your vehicle. Many a dog owner has had to call 911 for help to rescue their dog!
A nightmare scenario can easily happen next when you can’t get cell phone reception to call 911 for help! It’s heartbreaking when a dog collapses on a trail due to overheating and isn’t able to recover. Regardless of emergency interventions, rescue efforts can fail, and your dog dies. Some breeds will refuse to drink water after they collapse and they go into kidney failure.
Don’t let this happen to your dog! Read about your dog’s breed and know his/her limitations. Take plenty of water for both you and your dog to drink on the trail. Know ahead of time whether a trail has cell phone reception or not. Leave some water bottles on the trail for the return trip heading back to your vehicle. Water is heavy and it’s hard to carry all of your water supply up and back on the trail. Be trail-smart!