What gear to pack when hiking with your dog
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While we aren’t experts in hiking, we do like to take adventures with Maggie, our dog, when she is able to go on trips with us. This means finding activities that are dog-friendly. And the majority of the time, that means outdoor activities.
Whether you like hiking or want a packing list for your dog, we have you covered.
These are all things we absolutely love to bring with us when hiking with our dog.
Leash and Collar
Many of the places we hike request that you keep your dog on a leash. This allows for better control of your pup when other dogs walk past or in our case on one of our hikes deer running past.
Tags/ID
Having some form of an emergency contact on your dog helps anyone who is able to capture them get them safely home to you.
Trust us, after finding two dogs in the last year on the side of the road without any contact information on them, you definitely want to have some form of tag with a phone number. Microchipping is great, but 90% of the time our pets can get home faster just by having a $10 tag with your phone number on it.
Reflective/Flashlight
We absolutely love this hands-free flashlight. Whether you are walking on dark paths or at night, this light keeps it out of your eyes and onto your path.
Snacks
As humans, many hikers pack things like trail mix for themselves, but a lot of us forget about our four-legged friends. Snacks like dog treats or even some kibble from her dry food help Maggie just like trail mix helps us. Providing energy to get us through the end of the hike.
Collapsible Dog Bowls
This makes it so much easier for Maggie to drink water whether in the car or park. The best part is that they fold up flat & can store in small spaces or be clipped onto a loop to just hang outside your pack.
We have one for each car and an additional one for her pack.
First Aid Kit Specifically for Dogs
I purchased Maggie’s first aid kit right after her adoption so it is not exactly like this, but this kit has all of the same contents ours currently does.
And trust me, this kit does come in handy even if it’s a human injury as Peter learned when my incision opened up at 2 AM and we realized we had nothing to help stop the bleeding.
A first aid kit whether for dogs, cats, humans… all have one purpose, to help bandage a wound in an emergency.
Dog Wipes
You will thank yourself for packing these! We use these every single day, multiple times a day!
Maggie loves to roll in dirt, stomp in puddles… pretty much loves to get new smells all over her. But when you are in a car for hours at a time, that mess might not want to come home with you.
These wipes have saved us from mud, sand, anal glands (which if you ever have happen in a car you will be extremely thankful you have these).
Note – the normal full pack of these can be very heavy, we usually just put a few into a ziplock bag and put them into the backpack.
Poop Bags
We usually carry an additional roll in case we run out, but we have a bag holder that hands off of her leash making it much easier to clean up when walking.
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