WALKING IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH FIDO

For lovers of nature and long walks surrounded by greenery, there is nothing better or more relaxing that spending your summer weekends along the mountain trails, in the company of your family and friends. Obviously, the fun is doubled when we find our funny-faced friends walking along behind us, wagging their tails.

Taking our dog trekking is undoubtedly an excellent idea because it is good for us and good for our pet. However, when we decide to undertake this type of sporting activity, we need to take a few precautions: generally, hiking on nature trails is more difficult than a walk in the park and tackling steep, craggy ground without the right equipment could turn out to be very tricky for our four-legged friend.

If the dog is in excellent health, he can accompany us to the highest heights without any problems. To be sure of this, all you need to do is take your dog to the vet and have his cardio-circulatory and pulmonary levels tested. It is better to avoid taking a puppy just a few months old or an overweight dog with you, because they would have difficulty enduring certain types of physical exertion.

Before setting off on a dog trekking experience in the mountains and the woods, regardless of whether it is an easy or a more intensive walk, we need to have a sports lead with us, possibly with an ergonomic handgrip, to guarantee a good grip and make it easy to keep our dog under control, preventing him from disturbing others. Naturally, a water bottle is also needed: just like us, when Fido performs any physical exertion, he needs to drink frequently or at least every hour. As far as food is concerned, these quadrupeds have slow digestion and it is best to feed them at least 4 hours before setting out and only once at the end of the hike.

When our pet has delicate paws and there are walks on rocky or harder surfaces on the agenda, it would be best for him to wear special protective shoes for dogs, to defend him from possible cuts or injuries. Ferplast has designed handy Trekking Shoes for this purpose, which are made from tough fabric and also have an anti-skid rubber sole.

For the more enterprising pets, we might want to get a rucksack for dogs, like Ferplast’s Dog Scout: it is a sort of tough nylon backpack that can be fastened to your four-legged friend’s back and can be perfectly adapted to his large size, thanks to the adjustable straps; the clasps with padded inserts make it soft and light when it comes in contact with the skin, ensuring your dog the utmost comfort. The special feature of this rucksack is the spacious pockets on the sides, in which you can place essential objects for your walk, like your dog’s lead, hygienic bags, snacks, portable and collapsible silicone bowls and his raincoat in case of bad weather… so your pet can also make himself useful, without overloading him of course!

Have a good walk!