Dog hiker

Hiking with a dog

Text and drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt, Hiking.org

Dogs can be the best hiking company ever, and countless stories, reports and experts recommend taking your dog for a walk or a hike to feel better, live better and enjoy life and the hike more

the challenges

there is a lot of good things about hiking with a dog, and just a few challenges.  The challenges are mainly about having to carry some extra food, about meeting other dogs or about going places where dogs are not welcome.

The good things

Hikers walking with dogs can talk for hours about this, about how the dog will help you see things, you would otherwise miss, how the dog will keep you company, so you won’t feel alone – and often cheer you up if you do. And how the dog can also help you feel (and be) more safe and sleep better, and help create contact when meeting other hikers or locals along the trail.

A dog can also find a hard to see trail, as it can pick up the smell of what way other hikers have gone.

The dog hiker drawing is part of my sketches of hiker types. See all hiker types here: hikertypes