My Dog is Complicated

Brook, my female Australian Shepard, is 4 years old and has been backpacking with me for 3 seasons. The problem relates to how Brook will totally sacrifice her own comfort to ensure that I am protected. This translates to her only sleeping outside and typically finding a strategic vantage point from which to keep watch through the night. Frankly, I would rather she slept in the tent to help keep me warm, but I do appreciate her concern. Brook would rather not backpack anymore which I am sure is due to her dislike of riding in a car and her discomfort while in the wilderness.

So last year I left her at home for about 2 months and she developed an anxiety situation where she got a rash from constantly liking her feet. My Blog Post in Adventure Continues explains more about the problem and hopefully our solution.

I think you may be attaching your feelings to your dog. How do you know she is uncomfortable backpacking? I can see how she may not like riding in a car. Our border collie loves riding in the car, but does "seem" anxious on the trail with ears slapped back. A herding dog's job is to protect their "flock", which is us, and away from their familiar territory (home) it is normal for them to be more anxious. Nevertheless, our dog also shows a lot of pleasure. I walk her daily at home, and often go on different routes so she gets more comfortable with the unfamiliar.

As for sleeping with you, it may be too late to start that, but we put our dog's sleeping pad in her crate at home when she was a puppy and then put it in the tent, and she just naturally preferred to sleep in the tent on the pad. Although she sleeps with us in the tent, at least once a night she barks at stuff. Since we are old farts who have to pee at night, she goes out with us and seems to be satisfied with that amount of out-of-tent time.

I'm reminded of a friend who says, "My dog says I anthropomorphize too much."

You might enjoy some of Dixie's videos about her rescue dog (and many other backpacking subjects).

Here's one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qumfQte1y3I

I looked at your blog...I'm crazy about your dog.

She's simply doing her job.

Your dog is so sweet. I have never been camping with a dog. I should first own one.