7 local hikes to try with your dog, plus musings from a dog dad
There are very few things that make me as happy as my two awesome rescue pups, Kaba and Cooper. I, legitimately, am one of those people that prefer four-legged friendships to the two-legged kind. There is just something about the undying affection, the effortless love and attention, and a quick, sloppy tongue to the face when I get home that makes me innately happy.
Kaba is a 14-year-old (aptly dubbed “my old man”) Rottweiler-Basset-Hound mix (the logistics of which still confuse me after 12 years) and Cooper is a spunky Border-Collie-Golden Retriever mix coming in at a year and a half (literally, a big pooch). Needless to say, there is a lot of extra energy running around my home at any given moment and it has always been an important goal to keep the hounds active. That can be a tall gulp of water while juggling a growing career and the ever-present responsibilities of day-to-day life.
But, not one to back down from a challenge, I find time to get the guys outside to run and play. Recently, I made a trip to the picturesque mountains of Pennsylvania, where my family has a cabin in the Raystown Lake Resort area, and was able to lug the puppers with me. Y’all, when I say that these dogs were in heaven, I am being legit! The highlight of our mini-vacay was taking Kaba and Cooper on their first mountain hike – just the sheer excitement on their furry faces was enough to keep me smiling for days.
While trekking over the rocks and across the streams, I realized I was watching them and intently thinking about the conversations they were trying to have (I know, I know, crazy dog-dad alert – don’t judge me) and how they were understanding their new adventure. The sights, the sounds, the smells – all new and ready to be explored by the most inquisitive private eyes on the planet!
The best part is you don’t have to make an eight-hour journey to give your pups the great outdoors, Charlotte is crawling with pet-friendly trails and hiking, all in our backyards. Keep reading to get an insight into my crazy canines’ escapade as well as local options for you to try that are sure to break the monotony of neighborhood walks.
“Why are ya grabbing all of that stuff, dad?”
My boys are incredibly intuitive – sometimes to the extent of being eerie. You know that heart-melting head tilt mongrels do when they are intrigued with something? Kaba and Cooper have mastered the adorable gesture. While I was gathering up their harnesses (if you don’t have one, I highly recommend them – super comfortable for the pup and gives you more control all while reducing the strain and pull of a standard leash and collar), leashes, portable water bowl (an inexpensive must-have for hiking hounds) and a travel bottle of flea and tick spray (For humans — I do not hike without it!), both boys were just following me around with that cocked head “what’s all this stuff ya got?” look on their faces.
They knew something was coming because their dad is way too OCD to not be prepared with notes on hiking areas nearby and the items needed for a successful walk up the mountain. Like my momma always used to say, “It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”
Before stepping out of the house for a hike (or in life) – be prepared.
In Pennsylvania, Kaba and Cooper marched their fluffy rear ends right into the woods with me but did not venture more than a foot from my legs in the beginning.
They were overwhelmed by their heightened senses and kept looking at me, confused.
This little scenario lasted 10 minutes, tops. After that, one wanted to dart one way while the other was tugging in the opposite direction. Both boys were determined to study and scrutinize this new environment. The fear of new did not stop them from jumping full force into the new world they found themselves in and I thought to myself, what if people could live like that? It is human to question the unknown, to fear taking that step into the foreign, but how amazing would it be if we just took a deep breath and moved forward anyway? How many more doors and opportunities would present themselves?
“Oh man, what’s that!?”
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it thrives in the wolf. Throughout the entire hike, Kaba and Cooper turned over every rock, sniffed every leaf, chased every noise and tasted things that made me cringe. But they were ecstatic about all of it. As I watched them maneuver this new reality, I saw them question, experiment, and learn something (whether that be that rocks are too heavy to pick up with my mouth or rotten bark doesn’t taste that great). Shouldn’t that be how we respond to life? To be curious about what surrounds us and to want to know as much as we possibly can during this blip of time on Earth?
When we learn, we understand (hey, I won’t eat that bark again) and when we understand, we are capable of empathizing with what is around us. So, go on, be curious! Just don’t try to lift a rock bigger than your head with your mouth – it does not end well.
“Ok my human, I’m pooped!”
I had this grandiose idea that the pups and I would be on the side of the mountain all day; continuously exploring streams and crevices and cliffs. Nope. After about an hour, Kaba was done; kaput, throw in the towel, stick a fork in it, done. He found a nice, shaded area of damp leaves and laid down and refused to go any farther.
I tried coaxing him. I tried bribing him. He was planted and that was that. So, we all rested and enjoyed the cool breeze coming off the high valley ahead of us. In that moment, I could feel the satisfaction radiating from the pups as they lay there, soaking up the rays of sun penetrating the leafy canopy. It was time to call it quits, and that was ok.
Knowing when to rest, or simply, when to let yourself stop something, is a lesson that has been hard for most to ingrain in the old noggin. Knowing when to stop, when to rest, when to let something go is not quitting – it is reaching a place on quiet and contentment and feeling and being ok with an ending point.
“Thanks dad, that was a good time!”
We made it down the mountain (I may, or may not, have had to carry the old man down the last third – but that’s what dog dads do) and after a long visit with the large water bowl on the porch, both scruffy doggos found their most comfortable spot and reveled in the adventure they had just conquered. Kaba gravitated to a faux fur blanket on the couch and Cooper (being the level of extra that he is) plopped down on a plush bean bag in the corner.
As they lay there, dozy eyes rolling around the room, I kept thinking about how happy they looked, how pleased with themselves they must be. They, literally, hiked a mountain and I could feel their puppy pride. How cool would it feel if we could simply be happy about being happy like those two?
Celebrate the little things that get you out of bed every day, revel in that little niche you have carved out in your office, pat yourself on the back when you do anything that moves you forward and makes you proud. And while that euphoria is warm, find that faux fur blanket and let yourself be happy.
7 Local hikes to try with your dog
Want to get your dog’s tail wagging? Try out one (or two, or three ….or all) of these local, pet-friendly hiking trails. Fido can fetch, run free or lazily meander — and you can learn something from your fur baby.
Reedy Creek Nature Center & Preserve
2900 Rocky River Road, Charlotte, NC 28215
Latta Plantation Nature Preserve
6211 Sample Road, Huntersville, NC 28708
Crowders Mountain State Park
522 Park Office Lane, Kings Mountain, NC 28086
Landsford Canal State Park
2051 Park Drive, Catawba, SC 29704
Westminster Park
3916 India Hook Road, Rock Hill, SC 29732
Kings Mountain State Park
1277 Park Road, Blacksburg, SC 29702
Frazier Park (and surrounding greenway trails)
1201 West Fourth Street Ext., Charlotte, NC 28202
This story was originally published May 6, 2018 at 11:00 PM with the headline "7 local hikes to try with your dog, plus musings from a dog dad."