Today I introduced a new friend to the delights of hill walking. There was much wagging of tail and sniffing everything that could be sniffed, so I think he enjoyed himself. I just need to persuade him to share the driving and all will be good, instead he just lay on the back seat and snored. I have a sneaky suspicion that he has never been up on the hills before so a gentle 6.5 miles to start him off with. He just needs to work out how to get over a stile properly……………
Hill hound
15 Comments to “Hill hound”
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Superdawg used to shiver in the cold , and look at me accusingly in hail – and we once had ato abandon a walk due to snow – so he got a fleece-lined jacket. He still wears this from time to time, but, as he’s got older, he’s developed a thicker coat, and a nice layer of fat. He’s just about 22 kg, but he can clear a stile or a fence – up to about four feet high – with one mighty bound – hence superdawg.
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New wild camping pal, I see 😉
And taking in the sights from Higger Tor, too eh? 😉
Yep, I’m that sad – but then I’ve seen plenty of the Peaks of late to spot an area in seconds from photos
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I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and really enjoy doing so, having also done some of the walks and recognising some of the shots that you have taken.
We do a lot of walking and have encountered the same problem with stiles so many times! We bought our dogs ruffwear harnesses, they are great and we manage to lift our 20kg (ish!) dogs over fences and stiles with these. They can manage the ladder stiles that aren’t too steep with a bit of guidance and the handles on the harnesses are brilliant for this too. They also have fleecy linings on the straps to prevent them rubbing.
Hope you manage to find a suitable one for Reuben, it makes walks so much easier!
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Yeah, they are great for lifting over fences too, we often do this rather than attempt some of more difficult or rotten stiles! They are also brilliant on the mountains going up rocky scrambles, ledges or steep sections, both up and down hill when a little bit of help or guidance is needed.
They don’t wear them in the car, but I would expect it would be quite easy to attach a seatbelt loop to it and then attach to the seatbelt, as long as he doesn’t chew through it!
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Dog envy apart, what a brilliant looking hound. It should be possible to train your dog to negotiate stiles. I managed to do it with mine – even the big ladder stile sort that are common in N Wales soon became no barrier. Harnesses make a lot of sense though, they chafe less on the dog and are more likely to stay on than a collar. They have other uses – recently I had to rescue a mate’s endlessly curious staffie from a mill race – this would have been a really tall order without the harness. It saved us from the harrowing spectacle of finding out whether the wave after the wier was a stopper or not and also meant the dog displayed a slightly sheepish look for all of ten minutes.
As for harness in the car there are ones you can buy with a loop that clips around the seat belt. The thought of 20 kilos of unrestrained dog flying into in a collision doesn’t bear thinking about.
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She is a one off, a mongrel who is descended from a long line of mongrels about the size of a runt collie. We got her from Battersea and when we lived in London we’d always tell people she was a Plaistow kebab harrier – if ever there was a dog who could single handedly sweep the town clear of bits of chicken it’d be her. She’s now getting misty eyed with age and a bit arthritic which means I haven’t been able to take her with me to the mountains for several years now. Enjoy your new dog while you can.