Backpacking with the Wheatens

Last weekend, we went on a backpacking trip in Central Pennsylvania. Warmer weather had melted the snows to generally less than a foot, making then more reasonable for hiking through. Unfortunately, subsequent freezes embedded the snows in a thick layer of ice, making footing very difficult. What should have been a 20-minute, 3/4 mile, easy hike into camp our first night was a 2-hour crawl as we needed to break through ice with each step to get footholds. After a nice snooze overnight in the woods and a fortifying breakfast of bacon, eggs, and freshly backed coffee cake (our backpacking buddy’s a FABULOUS one-burner cook and baker!), we decided our next planned 12-mile leg would probably take us several days rather than just the afternoon, so we hiked back out the way we came. A short trip, but lots of great stories to tell our friends back home!

Think you might enjoy hiking with your pups? Why not first try some weekend dry hikes. Load up your packs for practice and plan to cook lunch out on the trail. You’ll soon find out if you and your dogs love it and are ready for an overnight adventure!

Tips on successful and enjoyable backpacking with your pooches:
1. Practice regular hikes in the woods so you know your dogs’ limitations. Make sure you and your dog are accustomed to the distances you’ll be hiking each day, especially if you have an older dog. Because you’ll be carrying a pack, your pace will be considerably slower, so it’ll take much longer to hike the same distance you might when just out for a hike. Plan that you’ll make only a couple miles per hour.

If your dog’s going to be off leash for your backpacking, be sure you regularly practice off-leash hikes with your dogs with lots of recall training. Your dog should understand his place in the backpacking group pack — we try to keep ours between us or off the trails at our sides rather than allowing then out in front of the group. We usually start our excursions at night when it’s dark, so I do keep my dogs on leash for the first night. When hiking or backpacking, I have a ready supply of training treats to reinforce recall. Just remember to store your training treats with the rest of your food when backpacking — never in your tent as an enticement to hungry animals!

2. Be prepared for everyday needs. You’ll be packing lots of gear for yourself — remember to pack your dog’s gear, too. My dogs have small Urban Hound packs to carry their gear:

- Ziplock bags with a meal of food in each
- Training treats
- Collapsible bowl for each dog
- Hair care products

Wheaten terriers need LOTS of hair care and if you neglect it while out backpacking, you’ll REALLY regret it when you get home and have hours and hours of dematting to do. I take a slicker brush, a couple different dematting tools, and 2 travel size spray bottles of conditioner and detangler. Each morning, lunch, and evening the dogs get a through go through with each brush and dematter, followed by spritzing and a final slicker brushing. Sounds a bit silly and over-the-top, but when we get home and I just have a quick bath to give instead of trying to get a comb through matted hair, it’s all worth it!

3. Be prepared for mud and dirt. We have a sheet to put on the bottom of our tent as a dirt collector and also pack a towel to dry wet and muddy wheatens. And sometimes, you just have to give them a bit of a soapy scrub before going into the tent. Winter backpacking is great, because problems with dirt, mud, and bugs are minimized.

4. Be prepared for rain. I always pack my rain gear and rain coats for my dogs in the top of the pack so they’re easy to pull out when needed. If you dog gets cold, you’ll also need a coat. Choose clothing with bright colors to improve visibility in the woods.

5. Keep Fido hydrated. Staying hydrated is essential for happy backpacking for the entire pack — including Fido. You still need lots of fluids on winter hikes — and so does Fido. The collapsible bowls are great for giving drinks as well as dry food.

6. Take your camera so you can capture your adorable pooch and backpacking mates.

7. Be flexible. Don’t be afraid to change plans as needed, like we had to this weekend. Keep a positive attitude and approach each trip like an adventure. Then you’ll have lots of great stories to tell over steaming cups of hot chocolate back home — whether you walk only a couple miles, like us, or 20!

8. Layer — layer — layer. When you’re backpacking, you’ll be generating lots of heat and energy, so you’ll only need a couple layers — even in the dead of winter. Once you break for lunch or to set up camp, though, you’ll need extra layers to help keep in heat. And you can tell I don’t worry about looking stylish with my Elmer Fudd hat — may look a bit silly, but man is it toasty! Leave your less functional fashion items at home — though we sure could have used a good pair of stilettos on this trip for getting through the ice!