Well, we're in the same boat...

My "pup" is three years old and is a walking fanatic, but I think not a backpacking dog - at least nothing ambitious. I'm back a day early because the mosquitos were horrible, and that led to a 10 mile day rather than 6 on day two, and a 12 mile day instead of two 6 mile days... Yesterday morning we got up and headed out to the car since we were getting the idea anywhere else we wanted to go would mean being sucked dry!

The dog wanted to walk! she loves walking and hiking. The first night was stressful for her - she wouldn't come inside the tent, so I left her blue CCF bed outside but in sight. She curled up tail over nose and slept all night. The next day we headed up to Guest Lake using the "use trail" route up a creek instead of the "maintained" trail that would have added a few miles. She started to whine when we stopped walking. I could interpret it a few ways, but I think she was wanting to go home. She kept trying to dig dens under rocks and brush if we stopped for more than a few minutes.

We were at Guest for just a couple of hours - long enough to determine the only fish we would catch were tiny, and that the mosquitos were getting worse - and they were bad when we got there. After swimming and fishing we got in a tent to play cribbage. I looked out to see my poor pup's face covered with mosquitos trying to get in her eyes. I looked up at the hordes of skeeters on the netting, and asked my friend if he really felt this would be enjoyable, as it was only 3 in the afternoon! We packed and hauled it back down the trail. On the Kings there were far fewer bugs and we were able to sit and eat dinner, and I only had to smear DEET on her face once on the way down. (We were applying every half hour and I had permethrin treated clothing!)

All in all, she did everything perfect - I kept checking her paws and they were usually hot, and a bit of pitch between two pads worried her, but she did really well. Didn't notice any blistering or open sores. I put two booties on her front feet and carried her pack and food for a while to help her. She didn't bark and whine all night, though something along the Kings had her growling - I yelled into the night for it to go away, whatever it was, and she stopped. But I know she has sore feet and she was really, really tired. She's a good hiker and does really well off leash, sticking close by and paying attention most of the time.

I feel pretty bad that I made her do marathon miles! But when she won't get in the tent with me, I didn't want to leave her out for the epic hordes to suck her dry, and she seems ok today, though still tired. Next trip I will specifically make it a single night and lots of down time for her to swim in the lake, which she seems to enjoy. I'm also going to get her a wading pool - it was warm up there and it's warmer down here in Fresno, and she loved the water.

Booties come off on creek crossings, or at least the little short ones I had did. Sigh. I think they filled with water or got stuck in the sand or mud. Didn't find them...

The trails out of Courtright are I think pretty good... where the trail gets rocky she would walk on the dirt or grass just off the trail if she didn't like the trail route with horse steps or boulders. I didn't care for the exposed decomposed granite sand sections in the afternoons, and I worried that she would be annoyed by them, but she never limped or flinched.