The best dog I've ever taken backpacking with me was a big Rough Coat Collie. His name was "Trouble" but he never really was any at all. Gentle, friendly, fun to hang out with, and loved kids. The biggest problem with him was that his coat attracted burrs like it was made of Velcro.

The next was a lab/German Shepherd mix named "Buddy". He too was a truly great dog. I found him in a shelter. Unfortunately, the vet that cared for him wasn't so great. I had asked him to treat him for worms, he said he did, but not the kind that killed him. I found that out after the fact, when it was too late to save him. I had him less than a year. We only got to do a few hikes together, but he was everything you'd want in a hiking partner. That dog could trot through a field of burrs and come out clean as a whistle

My next dog, a pure bred Aussie named "Tucker", was like having a cartoon Tasmanian Devil ripping and snorting around. He didn't like anyone, or anything. He barely put up with me. He was great at hiking with me though, always did big loops around me, checking everything out and making sure it was safe for me. But you couldn't pull out anything to eat without him going nuts to get at it. And he went "Alpha" on anything that was near his food (all food was his), and all dogs that came near him. We only hiked on property and the public land that borders it, which is for the most part completely inaccessible. I would have never taken him out in public, it would have been a disaster. Tucker was not trainable in the common sense of the term, but he had qualities that made him a great dog none the less. He passed away this week. He was 16 years old, a long life for an Aussie.

My current dog, another pure bred Aussie, named "Annie", I got as a pup earlier this year. She will be doing her first backpacking trip with me very soon. She has been a handful going through puppyhood. Aussies have a zillion watts of energy and get bored fast with repetition. She chewed a lot of stuff up that I'd rather she hadn't, but she's getting over that now and on the few short day hikes we've done she has done pretty good. She also runs (zooms) loops around me, (which has earned her the nickname "Bullet Butt"), but she has much better manners around food, people, and other critters than Tucker could ever muster up, and she loves everyone (with great exuberance!). I'm looking forward to getting her out there now that hiking season has begun here. I'll let you know how she does soon.

For what it's worth, last weekend one of my wife's outdoor cats went with me for an overnighter behind our house. She followed me over hill and holler on a mile long tough bushwhack and spent the night with my neighbor and I on the top of a tall limestone bluff overlooking a lake. She ate some chicken for dinner with us, and oatmeal with raisons for breakfast. She slept all night curled up in a corner of my neighbor's tent, and had the manners of a true lady. When my neighbor and I parted ways the next afternoon she followed me home.

My neighbor was fairly well impressed. Said she was the most amazing cat he's ever met. I've met some pretty amazing cats, but she's right up there with the best of them now.