Of Nihon Ken & Hiking [ Part II ]

Sangmort

Ok, some more Doggy Hiking questions, as Hiking is a big part of what I'll be doing with my pup. [ on lead, when he's old enough & conditioned / ready, of course ]


We tend to hike at an average of about 13-15miles [ day hikes ] though I will eventually start doing longer hikes / camping [ 30-50miles ]


Here's my dilemma...on my last hike I encountered quite a number of snakes, which my father & sister almost stepped on...

Now, I'm not too concerned about any human members, but what about the dog? Three of the snakes we saw were venomous [ rattler, coral, & cottonmouth ] & with the Nihon Ken's prey drive, I'd hate to see them go after the snakes & get bit! I mean, if we're 7 miles into the hike, it could take hours to just get back to the car, let alone to an E-Vet!

& of course, there's ticks...My Dad & sister got a couple of ticks on them...how effective is tick preventative on dogs? Are there diseases other than Lyme a dog could get from ticks?


I'm just really concerned about the dog's safety on a hike, in the middle of nowhere, where it might take hours [ at the minimum ] to get medical treatment. As much as I dream about taking a dog hiking with me, I'm really concerned about their safety

Any thoughts on this, guys?

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& sorry for two threads / questions in one day...want to get these questions out there before I forget them! ~

Nekopan

I've heard of snake-awareness courses for dogs... anyone know anything about them?

Edit: Here's an article about one for rattlesnakes.

ljowen123

I use Sentinel and never saw a tick on Jazz this year - works pretty well.

I've heard that the snake awareness works, but the only one I know off is for rattlesnake. The other two are pretty quiet.

sunyata

We do not have much of a venomous snake population here, so we do not worry too terribly much about them. However, the few times Bella has come face to face with a snake, she has pretty much ignored it, and completely ignored it once I told her to leave it.

Once the pup has a really good understanding of the "leave it" command, telling the pup to leave it will probably turn its attention away and decrease the chance of a bite. Also, you may take a survival course to learn what are the best steps to take for a snake bite in humans or canines. And talk to your vet about the best course of action to take just in case.

ETA - About ticks... The flea/tick preventatives we use have never failed. The only times I have ever seen a tick on Bella or Nola they were crawling on the outer part of their fur. Neither have had a tick bite while on preventative. Check with your vet to see which preventative they recommend for your area and activities.

lindsayt

The topical tick repellants are great. If the dog does get a tick (usually around the ears or face where the fur is thinnist), you can easily remove it just make sure the ticks head is removed intact. They will fall of on their own after a few days, or if you want the vet to do it they have a few special tricks to get the little buggers off (edit-I guess vaseline is not a good idea-I have to ask more into that, maybe I'm confusing this as a bot-fly removal technique). I have heard of people also using chew juice or a burning/just extinguished match. We use lidocaine spray and then twist them out intact with tweezers. Although we rarely see ticks uo here, you can send the removed ticks in to a lab for testing later to see if the critter is carrying anything like rickettsia, babesia, ehrlichia, etc. It depends on what area you live in also. At the least, I would carry a pair of flat blade tweezers and a tick/mosquito retardant bandana for the dog to wear as extra protection (avaialble at REI).

Those are long hikes! Sounds like an incredible adventure with the right dog.

JessicaRabbit

I was told by my vet that vasoline causes the tick to regurgitate, and release it's toxins into the dog, thereby increasing the likelihood of exposure to Lymes. Both vets (holistic and general)told be to pull the ticks out trying to keep the head intact.

Be careful if your dog has seizure issues though with preventatives as they have been seen as a possible link to seizures (Brandon knows more about this than I do). Brewers yeast sprinkled over food is a natural repellent.

I have no suggestions about snakes. But I look forward to reading other peoples answers.

KFontaine04

Jess, I remember you telling me about brewers yeast before. Is the pill okay instead of the powder? Miso doesn't like to eat his food when there is funny powder on it :P

JessicaRabbit

I don't see why not.

lindsayt

Jessica, I hadn't heard that so edited the post. Thanks, I rarely ever see ticks out here. I know Hartz and Sargents flea/tick drops will cause seizures in animals.