Good idea! But Neo will have to drive home lol

OMG I think I have been ruined, lol. This was one of the worse experiences of my life. First, Neo whined the whoooole way there. Second, when we got there, it was only supposed to e in the mid 60's, and it was in the mid 80's. Neither me nor Brad knew where we were going, so we were both frustrated from trying to just find the trail. I wasnt counting on there being so many horseback riders there either. When we finally did get on the trail, we had to stop every 20 seconds and get off the trail to let the riders pass, cause Neo was trying to chase after them. He was soo worked up from the sights and smells, he was literally running in place the whole time. We made it about 10 minutes down the trail before we stopped because Neo looked ike he was abut to die from hypervenilation. His poor little brain couldnt handle everything that was going on. So that was a nice 5 hour round trip for 10 minutes of hiking. Wow, words just cant describe how much I was looking forward to this and how much I was dissapointed that we had to turn around and go home. First thing on to do list, Neo will learn how to walk on a leash in the heel position, if it kills me. I never realized how important that was untill the dog is in a situation to where I needed absolute control over him and I did not have it. Anyways, we WILL try again, after some training. I didnt spend all that money to give up! Cooler weather woud be nice as well. I got a few good pics, will upload them in a few.

aw sorry to hear your hiking trip went so badly hiking with nikki is probably one of my favorite activities!

Tuckered out on the ride home




Brad




Had to hold the water bowl so he would drink from it, poor puppy







When we first got to Camp







Huge Furnace





The Bison Range

Aww. Sorry it didn't go as planned. I just started introducing Frankie to some nature trails at our local/state parks. It is very overstimulating for him. We are working on it. He got real crazy when we got home, but we'll keep trying. I think he would go nuts with horses around.
Keep working on it. Keep us posted on how it's going.
You still got some nice pics

Oh sorry about the horses, we would have turned around as well. And all I will say about ur card ride is have u see my jack videos with him in the car?

Can u start with some local parks and trails? Maybe get him used to the "hiking" and walking?

S&J pull like mad and the leads I have With the bungee in them help to make the pull less on me.

Sorry it wasnt such a great experience. I noticed you picked up a palisades pack. Nice choice; yours looks so clean...

Appa walks like a champ... until we go hiking - then he's manageable. I think it's just too exciting for him to remember his manners. However, he has great trail ettiquit, he usually moves off to the side for on coming people. However, he hates anyone in front of him, I think we're spoiling the fresh smells. Hehe. Horses are a bad idea, they freak Appa out. He doesn't do well around them at all.

Sorry to hear it didn't go well When we go out on trails I always put them on a really long leash so that way they have more room to walk around..

Boy that had to suck all that anticipation and its over in a flash.
Adobo goes bonkers over horses she know when we are approaching the local corral and starts having hissy fits until we pass on by.

Did you take Neo for a long walk or run before leaving for your hiking trip? I know with our boy we have to exercise him before to burn off some energy before we get to our real hikes. Still, the more exposure they get to hiking trails (not your typical neighborhood walks) the better they tend to get. I would try getting some more exposure to local hikes that resemble a real hike to get him more used to them. With that said, my sibe is always bonkers when we reach a trailhead...even with countless hikes and trails under our belts. The beginning of any hike with our sibe is always the most challenging. Generally about 20-30 minutes into our hikes he settles into a nice pace out in front of us and is more manageable. It helps to find out what hikes are heavily traveled and at what times (and if they are going to be any events) so that you can plan your hikes to avoid crowds, horseback riders, etc. I find that getting a really early start helps tremendously as most people arrive late morning at heavily traveled trails which works out brilliantly. If it means waking up super early it's worth it to have a nice hiking experience.

I hope your next trip goes a little better. FWIW, my sibe walks like an angel on our normal daily walks but he turns into a freight train of pulling power when we arrive at a trailhead. lol

Ditto to what Val said.
My guy runs every day on trails. He knows what it's like to hike.
But when we get to the trail head, he is bonkers for the first 10-15 minutes.
He jumps and sniffs and pees all over the place.

This year I'm going to skijor with him and we will walk first before I even put on the skis.
Entirely for my own self preservation.

This remind me of the first time I ever tried cave surveying. Planed on it for weeks and weeks, and managed to map about 300 feet in eight hours! But I digress...

You definitely planned your LBL hike at the worst place. Wranaglers Camp, correct? Or was it the Southern section of the North South Trail? We routinely take Violet and Nola to the NS Trail. Horses are not allowed from Golden Pond/Jenny Ridge north to the Canal Loop. The Canal is another fantastic place to hike, but lots of mountain bikers and runners.

We went to Jenny Ridge Sunday and, save for one encounter with a lab (I swear for a split second it looked like a baby black bear!) when both our dogs went nutso, all they wanted to do was WALKIES!




Love to hike with you all there sometime. What part of TN are you from again? Lots of great parks there too.

Don't give up! CG