First Hard Hike

[Labradorable]

I think one of the reasons people are finding this to be too long a hike is because the title of your thread "first hard hike" contradicts everything else you're saying ... it was an easy 10 miles, you just walked, the pack was practically empty, etc. etc..

[labby]

Labby and BigBrownDog, thanks for your thoughts. I wasn't frustrated at you specifically. I apologize if I came off that way. I care about my dog very much and want the best for her. My frustration was with the implication by posts such as yours that that wasn't the case and also that my vet is an idiot.

Read Garth's latest post. Vets are human. As with all humans, we make mistakes. We prolly think we're better at whatever it is we do than we actually are. This includes vets, doctors, etc. The vet works for YOU. YOU love your dog. Therefore, it's in your dog's best interest to use common sense and actually question advice that you are given for that dog, whether its from a vet, your mother, or even us. Only when you have different views and advice can you make an INFORMED decision for YOUR dog.

That's what we are getting at. The advice that it is okay to hike that far with a young dog was wrong. Does that make your vet an idiot? No, but it makes him/her uninformed and this misinformation might harm your dog.

As Sharon stated, vets push early spay/neutering, all these vaccines and chemicals on your dog. Is it best for your dog? NO. This is where you need to be an informed dog owner and say "no, I'm not going to do that to my dog". If you need to put it into human terms to come to that conclusion, then do that. Would you do this to a human child? Then why would you do it to a dog you confess to love?

Spaying a dog at 6 months is like giving a hysterectomy to a 10 year old girl. Would you do that to your daughter? Common sense would tell you no. They need those hormones to reach their full potential.

Would you ask a 7 year old to do the hike you asked your puppy to do? Prolly not. Then why did you ask your puppy to do it? Raising a dog boils down to common sense. Stop before you do something and think it through. Then make an informed decision.