Glad to hear he made it through okay.Bobo wrote:Am I a bad dog owner? I don't think so, but, here's my story. Two years ago, I took "Buddy" along for a Tour de Massive (my avatar is actually from early in that hike). Buddy's in good shape. He was my training partner for marathon training, so a 20 mile run on dirt/rocky trails is not unusual for him. What happened though is that the rocks on massive were tougher on his paws than I expected, so by the time we started the descent off the ridge after hitting all the summits, his paws were sore. We were only about halfway down that steep descent before he started having real problems. He weighs about 85lb, so carrying him in my arms wasn't an option, so I tried to get him into my pack, no dice...way too big. Sadly it turned into a "death march". I'd go a little ways, he'd come along, then stop. I'd have to go back, carry him a few steps, then encourage him to go a few hundred feet, then repeat the process. I'm sure he was in pain, but I couldn't see much choice. Eventually, I decided to go ahead to the car, get my sleeping bag, some extra food, and come back and set up a bivy with him. The further ahead of him I got, the more determined he was to follow. If he wasn't going to stay put, I couldn't charge ahead. Eventually we got off the steep stuff, and his paws didn't seem to bother him as much, so we hoofed it back to the car. Shortly after that I got him some dog booties. The booties are great, although they do cause traction issues on snow. Despite the booties, I decided not to take him on Challenger/Kit Carson due to rockfall issues.
The worst was when I saw a guy on the Incline with a wiener dog. It was like 10 lbs and he was swearing at it like a sailor because it wouldn't go any further. First, he had made it 3/4 of the way and second, some of those steps are 3 - 4 times his height. Those dogs aren't quite built for the incline. Instead of the guy yelling at the dog for being lazy why didn't he stop being lazy and pick the dog up and help him out. A few words from me only shut the guy up for about 10 seconds. Wish I could tie a leash around his neck and bring him with me on a 14er...