
You just have to be willing to stop when your dog does, and know when to stop pushing them. When you hike or climb with your pup, they are your top priority. Our other one is a bit more hearty and is climbing Handies with us this next weeked

I couldn't disagree more. The best thing to do is to make sure your dog is fully developed before hiking them. I would wait for 1 year with any dog but, especially with large breeds. They haven't fully developed and this could cause damage for them later on in life. We have a 100lb Lab/Great Pyranese mix and we didn't take him hiking until he was over a year. Even now we stick to easier 5 or 6 mile hikes with him. I want him to be happy and pain free for as long as he can be...so in my opinion it's not worth pushing it with him.mountainmicah83 wrote:You will always get someone telling you not to take them under a year old because they can damage their ligaments and such but the main rule of thumb is start them small.
natbug72 wrote:I have taken my 30lb vizsla up all the following 14ers with me:
Grays/torreys, democrate, lincoln, bross, sunshine, redcloud, Bierdstat, Evans, Elbert, massive, pikes peak, Sherman, quandary and Yale. Yale was the only one where I had to leave her at the saddle with a friend due to the loose rock and scrambling towards the top. I think any of these hikes should be fine for your dog provided you know your dogs limitations and bring plenty of water and food for him. My dog has been my only companion on many of my 14ers and she makes a wonderful hiking partner
Enjoy!
Tell me about it. Mine is 3 years old and 55 lbs. We keep him on leash, but we did let him off leash on a hike (all below treeline) near Lake City once. He literally ran circles around us at full speed for 6 hours. He was a bit tired afterwards.onebyone wrote:natbug72 wrote:I have taken my 30lb vizsla up all the following 14ers with me:
Grays/torreys, democrate, lincoln, bross, sunshine, redcloud, Bierdstat, Evans, Elbert, massive, pikes peak, Sherman, quandary and Yale. Yale was the only one where I had to leave her at the saddle with a friend due to the loose rock and scrambling towards the top. I think any of these hikes should be fine for your dog provided you know your dogs limitations and bring plenty of water and food for him. My dog has been my only companion on many of my 14ers and she makes a wonderful hiking partner
Enjoy!
Vizslas are insane. They can go forever it seems.