Trail Dog Training

Basic Trail Dog Training

Photo below is Sierra  on Cerro Alto Summit

located in San Luis Obispo County Calif.

between Atascadero and Morro Bay on highway 41 .

Sierra is my hard working daily hiking companion .

She is three years old and well trained in trail dog 

skill sets . 

This posting is the second in a series of trail dog training suggestions .

My goal is to impress the viewer with the importance of teaching their dog 

basic manners and skills that can be used on trail hiking adventures .

I have often heard it said that dogs should be on a leash when hiking , 

however the below photos illustrating some of the routine trail situations 

encountered by hikers make a leashed dog impractical !

Below we see a common water crossing by a hiker , followed by a 

photo of my dog Sierra awaiting her turn and command to cross the stream .

The command " sit "  " stay " and " follow " are very important .

After viewing the below photos , please enjoy the three minute video

that shows Sierra in action !

Below is Sierra Awaiting her turn to cross .

Note that that I removed sierra's heavy pack for the log crossing .

because of the difficult balance situation .

 Sierra below carrying her heavy pack  while rock hopping across .

The pack weighs 16 lbs.

below a very narrow trail on a steep slope  , a dog leashed while carrying a heavy pack

and using two treking poles is not practical . A dog must be trained to maintain it's

hiking position and avoid conflict with her hiking group . 

The short video below brings it all together .

Enjoy !!