Hillwalking dog question

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 08:53:53 GMT

My daughter (32) did a 120 mile relay along the Ridgeway and Chiltern Way from Amesbury to Ivinghoe Beacon a month ago. There were 4 of them but still a fair stint each and they completed it in 11 hours. She was as bright as a button with no signs of stiffness/tiredness afterwards and went out drinking in the evening.

Last year she did a 120 mile overnight walk along the North Downs and a 50 km leg of the Thames pathway ultra-marathon. All this on an impulse and seemingly no specific training - after the Thames marathon I asked what training she'd done and she replied, 'I had one beer less last night'!

I cannot boast of such feats myself, even when I was younger - 200 km bike rides are easy compared with that.

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Wren — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 08:34:08 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

[quote user="Wren"] I'm not ashamed to say that I struggled with the stairs in our house the next day! Thanks all!! [/quote]

I walked the Yorkshire three peaks and coming down the stairs the next day was the hard part!

[/quote]

Yes, it was definitely coming down that was the hard bit!

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Utlendigur — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 22:30:34 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

[quote user="Wren"] I'm not ashamed to say that I struggled with the stairs in our house the next day! Thanks all!! [/quote]

I walked the Yorkshire three peaks and coming down the stairs the next day was the hard part!

[/quote]

I used to do a 55km ultramarathon in Iceland - 1st time I did it I injured my knee. Woke up the next morning unable to bend my leg. I had to crawl out of my tent on my elbows and try to scrape my sleeping bag off on the grass causing much hilarity on the campsite

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Michael Woodhouse — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 17:15:23 GMT

[quote user="Wren"] I'm not ashamed to say that I struggled with the stairs in our house the next day! Thanks all!! [/quote]

I walked the Yorkshire three peaks and coming down the stairs the next day was the hard part!

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:54:44 GMT

Arghhh...an audience ... Gulp!!

Padarn country park. http://loveswimrun.co.uk/love-swimrun-llanberis/

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Derek Lyon — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:51:30 GMT

Hi Gillian. When and where will you be. We are in Llanberis this weekend in our holiday home

Regards Derek

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Wren — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:15:22 GMT

Yeah... good luck with that!

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 15:57:55 GMT

Hmmm.... That's just a sign of insanity!

I'm doing the Llanberis swim-run event on Saturday. Praying for decent weather....

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Wren — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 15:56:38 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

Yeah! Well done...Yorkshire three peaks is a fair challenge!

[/quote]

Especially if you run half of it, then less than 48hrs later do an 8 mile fell race....

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 15:54:31 GMT

Yeah! Well done...Yorkshire three peaks is a fair challenge!

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Wren — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 15:45:39 GMT

Well, as predicted by pretty much everyone, the dog managed 26.2 miles on pretty rough terrain with absolutely no issues at all, besides needing to sleep most of the way home in the car, and bounced out of bed the following morning ready to go again. Which is more than her owner did! That was probably the toughest run (well, run/walk ) I've done, and I'm not ashamed to say that I struggled with the stairs in our house the next day! Thanks all!!

(ps. pic is Whernside (2nd last peak) from the summit of Ingleborough (last peak)).

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Anthony Dennison — Wed, 02 May 2018 14:58:00 GMT

One of my clients is an retired marine and he took his Labrador on one of those charity 100 mile walks, dog was fine as there were rest stops.

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Robert FalconerTaylor — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 18:15:13 GMT

I live in the North-West Highlands and have 2 springers and fostered a few. In 10 years the only problem I've ever had is blisters on pads of new dogs. Terrain is exposed, sharp rocks, skree slopes, peat bog and heather sharp enough to shred wagging tails if I clip the hair too short on the tips. I see loads of wee dogs way out in the mountains in the tourist season. Yours will be fine. Just condition the feet up on surfaces other than soft grass to harden the pads up a bit. DON'T put boots on. They tear dew claws to pieces on the front and cause nothing but trouble. Just add Coflex bandage (other brands are available) and Duck tape to your 1st aid kit - perfect for a temp shoe if you need one and pretty much anything else should the need arise. Above all - have fun - dog will out-walk you without even trying....

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Gareth C. — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 17:04:11 GMT

you know your dog best. be very careful with heat. I run quite a bit and do quite a bit with the dogs too. harness at the start good idea dogs have no concept of pacing. personally I limit my dogs to about 10km running.

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Wren — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 12:14:50 GMT

Brilliant, thanks everyone. No idea why I thought it might be an issue. I suspect that as usual she'll do much better than me.

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Kate Richardson — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 22:38:44 GMT

She is adorable. Running harness good idea, I have one for canicross- really comfy for me and dog- bungee lead. Can let you know make if you want?

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 22:21:17 GMT

My border collie used to do plenty of long walks with me ...her longest was 37 miles. As long as they are fit and used to it, they're fine.

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Iain Richards — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 20:33:40 GMT

Should be fine, it's not too rough a terrain. My lab would do it, probably lapping me

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Utlendigur — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:54:42 GMT

I had a Jack Russell who even at 15 was still out on the hills with me. The only time she got sore pads was (twice) on the same area of Skye - probably because of the type of rock. Carrying her most of the way back to Sligachan with a full backpacking rucksack was "fun" so the second time I took dog boots just in case (Trixie Walker off Amazon are ones that seemed to fit well). She also fitted quite well in a Karrimor mountain marathon rucksack on another occasion where the boulder field we were crossing was just too difficult because of her cataracts. As long as there's a plan B (boots, rucksack, shortened route) for the very unlikley mishap I suspect she'll be in better shape than the humans

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:25:39 GMT

If she can do 15 miles i would have thought she’d be fine. Psychologically scarred if you leave her behind though

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Julie Innes — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:13:01 GMT

I bet she'll leave you lagging!! I don't see an issue with her doing it. Are you sure this wasn't just an excuse to post a picture of your gorgeous doggy??

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Wren — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 12:22:33 GMT

[quote user="Niall Taylor"]

That's not a dog, that's a Meerkat!

[/quote]

That's her favourite pose. She often gets called a meerkat!

Thanks Liz - the wax stuff is more wax than balm - supposed to provide a physical protective layer on difficult/rough terrain, but it may well all be hogwash!

I don't have a running harness - she runs loose 95% of the time, but obviously there's bits on the moors where sheep/ground-nesting birds necessitate a lead. She does expend a lot of energy early on, then settle down and just run with us, but that's a good point, thanks.

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Niall Taylor — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 11:45:53 GMT

That's not a dog, that's a Meerkat!

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Liz Barton — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 11:24:41 GMT

Great photo!

In the recent programme with Chris Packham on dogs vs. cats he put a HR monitor on his dog during a trail run and while he maxed out, his dog barely raised a sweat - so much CV reserve! He was harnessed to the dog. I would probably discourage your little one from tearing around at the start and using up lots of energy thinking it's the usual 5 miler; do you have a running harness? Might be a good way to ensure a steady pace. And encourage walking on the grass. I have a collie with soft pads, who came off Scafell with blisters! I have no experience of pad ointment and would be concerned they would soften the pads.

RE: Hillwalking dog question

Wren — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 10:54:16 GMT

Sorry that came out huge