Which outdoor adventures does your dog enjoy?

[cj]

It sounds like almost everyone here enjoys hiking with their dogs, but I’m curious whether other outdoor leisure activities also inform your personal or professional training strategy.

In my mind there is a distinction between being an active participant accompanying their people on rivers and trails versus more task-oriented dog hobbies where they are in work mode (e.g. hunting, SAR, herding) on one hand or entirely passive companions on the other (e.g. climbing). I could be persuaded otherwise, though, and would love to hear examples of either!

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[brokertom]

@cj I love to camp, backpack, and hike, and one of the reasons we got a dog last year was so I could have a companion because I usually go alone and as a female, it'd be nice to have a bigger dog with for numerous reasons. So we got a GSD mix. And she hates the woods We are still working through things, but she's vary wary of being anywhere she can't see a significant distance behind and head of her (she is a rescue who lived in a dump for 6 months before we adopted her). Our area is very rugged and very dense with trees, and all the trails are very much single-track (she cannot walk side by side with me), so she has to be in front, or behind. And any time we go, she just cries the entire time and tries to turn around every 15 feet. It's a little better now that she's been with us a year, and she's fine on the frozen lakes in the winter. But she hates the noise of waterfalls, she hates running into groups of people on trails, and she hates the woods in general. I suspect I'll be going alone for a while

 

[cj]

@brokertom Oh, that’s so frustrating! I’m glad you seem to have gracefully accepted her preferences rather than imposing your own, but still.

 

[kreke]

@cj Dogs actually can enjoy camping. My parents dog was stranger reactive at home and pretty on guard as soon as people were around the property. Funny enough when they were camping this dog was the most chill dog ever. Like: Its not my home, I dont need to watch out, I can just chill here in the sun.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@cj If I bring my dog on any of these activities, they immediately become dog-oriented and are definitely more for my dog's enrichment than my own enjoyment. I still enjoy them, but if I do them just for me, I do them differently. Camping and running are the two that are the most tailored for her when she is coming along.

The majority of the training I do with my dog is oriented towards making camping easier. If I didn't camp with her, I wouldn't have much of a reason to work on recall/general manners around wildlife or get her comfortable in the water or have a place behaviour that is proofed outside of the home. When we camp together, instead of doing what I would normally do sans-dog, which is set up camp in a traditional national park campground and then go explore the area either on foot or by car, I pick remote backcountry areas where we will be hiking out of the place we are camping, or stay in a nice spot I don't plan on straying far from. On these outings, although I will do human things, I mostly prioritize making things enjoyable for her, even if it's just giving her time to nap in the sun and listen to the birds. If I'm ever planning to stay in a place I don't think she'd enjoy due to the terrain, amount of people, or weather, I just don't bring her.

My running is different when I bring the dog but I change it for her safety not her enjoyment. She would love any run I bring her on, but she's a pit-mix that is in her early senior years, so although the vet has cleared her to keep doing canicross, I keep our runs to 10-15 minutes and only take her max 3 times a week to avoid joint issues. I'm running a marathon this summer, so I go on my training runs without her and that allows me to keep our runs as something that is for her, as opposed to something that is for me and my fitness. If she was a younger dog and ethically bred for sound joints and endurance activities, I would be able to include her more in my running, but it's just not feasible for her.

 

[davecb]

@cj I used to go canoeing with my dogs. They were good swimmers, and they were good about hanging out and not dumping us into the water.

I had an 18 foot kevlar boat, that was pretty stable, and could hold 2 humans and 2 dogs. If we had to portage, the dogs were fine off leash. One of them used to go diving for minnows.

Now I take my dogs to run in the woods. But we do a LOT of dog sports, and they spend some long weekends working with me, where I expect precision and cooperation. They like it, but I think being able to run in the woods is good for them, mentally.

 

[girlonfire89]

@cj Her favorite are places where she can chase crickets in the grass or dig a hole for hole digging reason and then cool down in a creek or swim a round in a lake. As she's not that good on her feet anymore, I got a bike trailer to go on cozy adventures with her

 

[psyman]

@cj I do love hiking in nature with my dog. Both of us prefer hiking next to a creek. He loves to go in the water, but only if it's shallow and no higher than his chest. Forget about swimming.

So paddling is out.

He wouldn't enjoy running or biking either.

I'd love to go camping with him, but haven't so far. The main reason is while normally he's almost always off leash, I'd have to either constantly keep a watchful eye on him, or tie him out if we went camping. I wouldn't enjoy the first option and he wouldn't enjoy the second, so we haven't gone.