Christmas(ish) hike

[TxMom]

My husband has the week off and the kids and I are taking time off from school, so we had to plan some fun activities for the week. Today's was a trip to a little state park we'd never visited before. It really is little, and part of it is closed due to flood damage from earlier in the year, so we hiked a little more than two miles and thereby covered most of the available trail. Not much, but the scenery was fun and it was good to get everyone out and about AND away from the holiday crowds. We crossed paths with a few people, but had most of the place to ourselves. Livi seemed to enjoy exploring somewhere new, and aside from some pulling on the leash she did great. Since we had a 3-year-old in tow, I don't think our walking pace was strenuous enough to be worried about as "forced exercise." We also stopped for a few water breaks and lunch along the trail. Livi didn't drink much water despite my frequent offering of it, nor did she relieve herself while we were at the park. When we got home she drank a bowl of water and peed. Should I be doing more to encourage her to drink on the trail, or is she probably ok with whatever she drinks if I offer it frequently? Generally we were stopped for a few minutes whether she drank or not (gravel in a shoe, someone was having trouble with their water, etc., etc.), so it's not like she got to immediately keep moving when she stopped drinking. And once was the stop for lunch, which was much longer.

 

IMG_20151223_112247958 by birdofpray, on Flickr

Setting off on the trail!

 

IMG_20151223_114938965 by birdofpray, on Flickr

Cute puppy.

 

IMG_20151223_121229084 by birdofpray, on Flickr

Scenery.

[chene]

Aww, what a cute little group. I wouldn't worry too much about the drinking and peeing,if she was really thirsty she would probably be drinking. Like kids, when dogs get distracted with play and interesting sights they sometimes forget to care about basic needs. Aed is like that. Sometimes he pees himself in the middle of chasing a toy or greeting someone because he got distracted and forgot to go when we went out the door. As far as the water, I would try offering her the same water in the same container at home and see if she drinks it then.

[TxMom]

Thanks! I think they're all pretty cute, too. I'm hoping in a few years we'll have the whole crew in good shape for more serious and frequent hiking and camping.

 

I use the same water and container when we go to local parks and usually she drinks it eagerly, so I figured it was probably just distraction like you said. Since it was a short hike and nothing too intense as far as heat or terrain, I wasn't too worried... but living in Texas, water consumption is the sort of thing we keep an eye on. When we went to Palo Duro Canyon last year they told us it's not unusual for dogs to get seriously ill or die on the trails because their owners don't pay attention to all the signs saying to take LOTS of water for EVERYONE. People, too, but dogs much more often.

[aschlemm]

I agree, what a cute group!!! The scenery is beautiful! What fun!!! I love to hike with my dogs.

[TxMom]

It was a really neat little area! Sort of a wetlands/swamp thing, which is very different from the surrounding countryside. I love finding the little places like that -- it feels like we've traveled so much farther because it's so different. I'd like to go back and see it in the spring, too. I wish I'd taken more photos of the plants and scenery, but, well, three kids and a dog... I left the real camera and home and just snapped a few cell phone shots.

[Gideon's girl]

It looks like much of Florida.