- So you've probably heard of the 10 essentials
for people when you're hiking or backpacking.
But did you know that there are also 10 essentials for dogs.
Yes.
That is right.
(upbeat music)
(van honking) This is my show gosh darn.
What's up my friends?
My name is Miranda.
Thank you for being back here in my cool van, Vincent.
Today I'm joined by the real star of the show.
(upbeat music)
My dog Nala.
Bam!
So Nala is my rescue dog, I've had her for about three years
and she's also my favorite adventure buddy.
So what are the dog 10 essentials?
There aren't 10 essential systems for dogs
in the same way that there are
an established set of systems for humans.
But it is important that you are prepared
when you're hiking with your dog.
So yeah, we're gonna cover the 10 essentials
for your doggo.
(dog barking) Great.
Exciting! (beep sound)
I'm considering the dog 10 essentials to be,
food, water, training, backpack
and first aid, installation, identification,
elimination, leash and comfort.
Doesn't roll off the tongue
quite as well as the human 10 essentials but it's okay.
So first is food.
When you are backpacking or hiking with your dog,
you should carry one and a quarter the amount of food
that they generally eat in a day.
So if your dog eats two cups of food,
you probably wanna carry like two and a half cups
of food with you.
That's just because dogs like people burn more energy
when they are hiking
or backpacking than they do just like sleeping on the couch.
Exactly like people.
If you're backpacking,
you also wanna carry an extra day's worth of food
for your dog.
Same thing that goes for you,
carry extra food in case you're out longer than expected.
So we want to do the same thing for our canine friends.
You'll also need a collapsible bowl for your food.
So I have this Ruffwear collapsible bowl.
This acts as her food bowl as well as her water bowl.
But you can also get something like this,
Sea to Summit bowls if you prefer.
The reason I like this one is that the base is wider
then the top, whereas this is the other way around.
This one will sometimes tip over.
And then as far as water goes,
you also wanna make sure
you have more than enough water for your dog
as well as their own water bottle.
Keep in mind you do have to filter your dog's water.
Try and keep them from drinking from streams
or puddles or like muddy places,
because dogs can also get sick.
And getting Giardia,
while you're out backpacking is never fun.
Remember that even if your dog has diarrhea,
you still have to clean it up.
If your dog is at all like Nala,
and gets too nervous to drink water
or too excited to drink water while you're out hiking,
one thing that I've found that works really well is
to add some bouillon cubes like chicken
or beef bouillon cubes to the water,
and then this will encourage my dog
to drink it because it tastes better to her.
Third of the 10 essentials is probably kind of cheating,
but we're sticking with it and that is training.
This should probably be like number one
for the dog 10 essentials,
But yeah. (car engine roaring)
So voice command training is crucial
and so is step-off training.
Meaning training your dog to step aside
or step off trail when people are passing.
(soft bang sound) Oh my gosh, you are so good.
Depending on where you're going,
it's also important to teach your dog to move aside
for bikes or runners or horses.
Most places require your dog to be on leash,
so hopefully you can just have your dog on leash.
But I tend to take Nala off leash when I get to a campsite
because she is under such good voice command training,
and she will stay either in the tent
or right next to the tent or right next to me.
So being able to have that kind of flexibility with your dog
and make sure that they're gonna listen to you,
is really really important.
I wanna make sure that I'm clear when I say that,
all of my training with Nala is still a work in progress.
I am far from being a professional dog trainer.
Barely even a novice dog trainer.
And Nala is my first dog.
But these are things that I think are really important
and have made our experiences on the trail better.
Training.
Next is a backpack
(car engine roaring) for your dog.
Depending on the type of hike you're doing,
a backpack might not be necessary,
but if you are going long distances with your dog,
you might want to have them carry some of their own stuff.
So this is the Palisades Pack by Ruffwear,
and this is what Nala carries when we are
on any longer hikes or like whenever we're backpacking.
So she can carry some of her own stuff.
It does have these compressible pockets on the sides
so these can press down
if there's not a ton of stuff in here.
If you do decide to use a pack with your dog,
it's recommended that you do some training prior
to putting a whole bunch of stuff in here.
Putting the harness on your dog first
and doing some walks
and then adding the pack with no weight in it
and slowly working up weight for the pack.
It's important to note that dogs are only supposed
to carry a quarter of their body weight.
(bell tinkling) Fun fact,
people are also only supposed
to carry a quarter of their body weight.
Something to keep in mind.
Next, just like for people is a first aid kit.
I have this adventure medical kits, dog.
Adventure dog series?
Dog kit?
Well, so many words.
If you don't wanna buy a first aid kit for your dog,
you can also just make your own
make sure that you're carrying any medication
that you need for them as well as a way to deal with wounds,
sprains or breaks and then also probably a way
to carry them out if needed.
This is where Nala's harness comes in handy.
Her harness came with her policy's pack.
And it is a weight-bearing harness
so if ever needed I can actually use that to lift
and carry her out of an area.
Some people will also bring booties
to protect their dog's feet.
That's especially a good idea if there's a lot
of rock and dogs are not used to walking on rocks.
Something else I was gonna say about first aid kits.
Oh yeah, bring them.
So insulation for dog looks like a couple different things.
Obviously dogs already have a fur coat on,
so they're inherently going to be warmer than us
on cold days.
But having a light jacket for cool times of year
as well as a warm jacket or even like a warming blanket
for very cold times of year is really a good idea.
Especially if you're backpacking with your dog
you want a way to wrap them
and keep them warm when you're just at camp
like hanging out.
And then if your dog tends to overheat
or get really hot, especially if you're a long haired dog,
you might wanna consider a cooling jacket.
something that will help lower their body temperature
in really really hot conditions.
Yeah, or just like wait until the cooler time of year to go.
Another thing to consider
for really hot days are paw protectors,
something to help protect the bottoms of their feet.
And then also for really cold or snowy hikes,
you might wanna consider something
to help keep their feet warm like booties.
Some snow can get trapped underneath dog's nails
and cause them to bleed which is really uncomfortable
and also kind of scary.
So yeah, just make sure that you have extra layers of warmth
or cooling for your dog.
Identification.
Basically that comes down to their collar and name tags
as well as any like local license that they have to have.
(dog groaning softly) Oh, I know you want that.
This is way to identify your dog in case they get lost.
I'd also recommend having your dogs microchipped.
Another important piece of identification is some sort
of reflective jacket or color
or a small light like this one.
Which hopefully, is not dead.
It's dead.
This is a night eyes clip, collar, light.
This just clips onto Nala's collar and then at nighttime
you turn this on and it will obviously provide some light
so we can find her in the dark.
Next is elimination, travel and poop bags.
Basically just a way to deal with your dog's poop.
Poop bags are necessary if you're in a place
where you can't bury your dog's poop
so then you'll have to carry it out,
as well as you'd have to carry out your own poop.
Important thing to keep in mind.
But otherwise the trowel works really well
for burying your dog's waste.
The way that I will use this for Nala,
is I will dig the hole next to where she has pooped,
and then I will use my foot or a stick
or something to sort of scoot it into the hole
and then bury it again.
You never want to get your child poppy.
This is not meant to touch poop ever.
Not for poop only for dirt.
Great, burry or carry.
Number nine, on the dog 10 essentials,
is the most important, debatably, after training a leash.
Always have a leash.
Even consider having a backup leash.
I have in fact lost leashes while backpacking with Nala,
(snow cracking) (man shouting indistinctly)
- Oh oh,
- It broke
- It just broke. - Nala come.
(man sighing)
Come here.
I had like recreate something out of
some paracord daisy chain some stuff together.
So I dropped Nala's leash yesterday,
about four miles in on the trail,
which was not what I intended, but (laughing) I did.
And then I was able to fashion this leash for her,
using a carabiner, and a girth hitch,
a daisy chain.
So yeah, always have a leash.
This is Nala's normal leash that we use
just on our daily walks.
And this is just made out of an old piece of climbing rope,
and a carabiner.
But I recently got this leash, for backpacking.
She's a Ruffwear leash that actually can go around my waist.
And then has this like bungee section.
And then clips onto Nala's collar.
Great thing about this leash,
is that it weighs way less than this heavy rope leash
and it allows me to be hands free.
So leash, always have a leash.
Last but not least is comfort.
And this is just comfort at camp.
Ways to keep your dog cozy and warm at night.
So whether that's a dog sleeping bag
or a Z Lite sleeping pads.
They have their own place to sleep
or even just like a warm blanket
that can help them stay cozy.
This also includes things like toys
or treats to keep them distracted,
so that you have time to set stuff up, at camp.
And that's it.
That covers the dog 10 essentials.
These are not a specific system.
This is just what I carry.
And what I find works really well for me and ma buddy Nala.
Your 10 essentials might look different,
and if they do, I would love to hear what you carry.
So go ahead and leave that in the comments below.
If you think there's something I missed, also let me know.
And as always, if you haven't already,
go ahead and like this video,
subscribe and I will see you all in the wild.
Hey doggo.
Say bye.
She doesn't know what that means.