Dogs for pack animals?

[406]

There is an old saying "you can teach a malamute to do anything once. Once."

There is another one that I definitely subscribe to "you don't tell a malamute to do anything. You ask. They'll think about it and let you know".

Although I've had some great malamutes, I have to say. One hauled a case of beer 20 miles in for us and two day worth of his own food. He kept the beer cold by going neck deep in every creek he saw.
He was a good boy.

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[tonechaser88]

I’ve put a lot of thought into this topic . Not sure I have enough experience training dogs and working with their physical abilities to really say if it would work out or be a bust and a pain in the neck . I would say however , for the hunter that doesn’t have access to land or a place for stock , someone could keep dogs in town.
My thoughts on a breed would be a mix breed probably, something that’s not super protective. Maybe St.Bernard/mastiff/Newfoundland/malamute/lab?I would think someone would just have to get brave and take the plunge, maybe figure out breeding all the desired traits ? Loyal but hard working with a good structure but not prone to hip problems, doesn’t bark at everything and doesn’t resemble a wolf too much? lol was considering having a buddy go in on a pack dog breed project and also getting a couple donkeys just in case the dogs didn’t work out. Would love to hear more from experienced dog packers .

 

[Batch]

I would love to have these two pack out for me but by mile 1.5 they're ready for a nap

 

[Windigo]

I would be very interested in what book this is so I can buy a copy.

I seem to remember an old Gordan Eastman movie where he used dogs as pack animals, but that could have been some of the "theater" he liked to put in those.



I consider myself a pretty good dog trainer, but for this I would probably pay a professional to help me out.



My last dog I backpacked with was a 90lb rot mix, she had one of those generic commercially available dog packs and could carry her food. I wouldn't put any real weight in there because it had no real structure to it.

My thought for this is get/make/modify to fit a saddle setup similar to what the goats run and probably just run goat sized panniers.

A cup of dog food is about 4 oz, 5 cups a day is 20 oz a day, so for a 9 day trip that's 11.25lbs per dog. Seems reasonable. If I am 20 miles in, and fully loaded it will take me two days to get out. So at the start of the return trip they will only need 2.5lbs of food per dog.

That movie was "High Wild and Free", and it's a great watch. I think it's on Prime video.

 

[Wellsdw]

I’ve taken my malinois, not malamute, back country with a Pack. He’s a tracker first pack dog 2nd. Basically he can haul his food and bowls, and maybe a few
Random items. So basically for a week long trip, he hauled his crap, and nothing else or very little. They really eat
To much to be pack animals
IMO