[nagdu] Going hiking?

[Tami Jarvis]

Daryl,

I love hiking! So I started from the first figuring out how I would do 
that with the cane as I learned how to use it. Same with dog. I got her 
as a pup, so I had a lot more flexibility and training time with her 
than I would have with a program-trained dog. Quite a bit that I do with 
her just wouldn't work with a dog that was as protected as the program 
pups usually are.

Anyway, I like to feel the ground with my feet and use the cane to let 
me know about obstacles from shin to head. I also use sound a lot, and 
it took some doing to learn to stay oriented in wide open spaces.

With the dog, I like my sport harness because it has free play in the 
handle but still gives me good feedback from Mitzi's movements. She has 
learned to maneuver my feet in a way I don't understand... I actually 
thought they had fixed some sidewalks around here and broke a cane 
finding out those sidewalks are worse than when I was learning the cane 
in the first place. Who knew? /lol/

Doing some bit practice on uneven ground of various types might help you 
figure out how well you can handle ups and downs and holes and obstacles 
of various types... If you spend nearly all your time on smooth, regular 
city sidewalks, then turf can be very different. If you spend more time 
walking on the wild side in the rough with cane or dog, then you 
probably have more transferrable skills. /smile/

The dog will need plenty of water, and so will you. Depending on the 
length of the hike, you both may need more calories, so there's a nice 
full backpack for you to carry. /smile/ Spare cane highly recommended! 
Especially if you get irritated and hit that stupid rock with that 
stupic cane after a couple of miles. /lol/ I have a couple of different 
hiking tips, one a big ball and one sort of a large disk. They make the 
end of the cane pretty heavy, though, so that's why I've learned to feel 
the ground with my feet and just use the cane for other types of 
obstacles. The large ball does break when you hit a rock with it. /smile/

Um... I began preparing Mitzi as a pup, so I can be pretty free and easy 
with her on a wilderness hike. With a dog that didn't learn those wild 
skills young and that hasn't had much experience with being off leash, I 
would not do quite a lot of what I do with her. /shudder/ A hands free 
leash works well if you're using your cane but need to keep the dog from 
going off and getting into trouble.

Hiking in company, I use the sounds of the others to know where the 
trail is, so I can feel the ground with my feet as I track them. I don't 
like going slow, though, so sometimes that's a bummer and I end up way 
ahead, using the sound of people calling for me to slow down to aid in 
echolocation. /lol/ Mitzi also likes to show me the trail with her bells 
or with a squeaky ball, so that's way cool. When she's guiding, we tend 
to move right along, so there we are blazing the trail again if the 
other hikers prefer to mosey. I grew up with RP running around in the 
hills and woods, so it's pretty natural for me to know where I am and 
where I'm going and how to get back to where I've been. I also find 
getting lost kinda fun and enjoy the challenge of getting unlost, 
preferrably before I'm too hot, tired and hungry to have fun anymore. 
Thus, I don't avoid getting lost and have given myself lots of practice 
getting found again. If you get anxious when you get lost and aren't 
used to the woods, that is something to take into consideration when you 
plan where to hike and with whom you will be hiking. Some sighted people 
can't find their way out of a paper bag and can forget the way back 
after the third step, so I don't plan to depend on someone's vision 
until I know they can use their brains. /smile/

Don't know if any of that is helpful or was what you were asking about. 
The most important thing is to know your own strengths and limitations 
if it's something you haven't done much and proceed with caution until 
you know you can handle the ground and environment, and until you know 
what your dog can handle and how.

Have fun and let us know how it goes!

Tami

On 03/03/2014 07:29 AM, Daryl Marie wrote:
> hi!
> I have always enjoyed nature, but have been hesitant to go hiking with a cane.  In a couple of months, my husband, my dog and I are going to be going to Montana for a few days just to relax. There's a lot of trails around where we're staying, so I would LOVE to be able to take Jenny and just go!  Any advice would be greatly appreciated; perhaps I just don't know what to ask.
>
> Daryl
>
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