Hiking With Your Dog

Do you want to know how to become your dog's best friend? All you have to do is simply take him out for long walks and exciting hiking adventures. Dogs absolutely love roaming nature's open lands with their masters. And just by watching your dog run and play through grassy lands or forest areas, you can literally see the smile on his face.

However, as much fun and excitement it is for your dog to be running wild out in nature, there are dangers that lurk which can cause serious harm to your lovable pet.  It is therefore your responsibility to be educated on these potential dangers to guard your dog from being hurt or possible killed.

Below are a few risks associated with taking your dog out hiking or traveling other outdoor areas:

1. Watch out for ant hills if you live in the south! In the southern part of the United States there exists abnormally large anthills. It is best that you keep your dog completely away from these anthills. From the coasts of South Carolina all the way to the lands of Texas, fire ants are abundant in these areas and are quite ferocious.

These ants are some of the most aggressive ants that you can find and they actually contain venom in which they inject into potential threats who approach their nests. Although their stings are small (yet painful), if your dog is stung by many of them at one time then he runs the risk of being fatally wounded and may die.

2. Be careful of snakes. Rattlesnakes cover most areas and are a potential threat against any dog, or human for that matter. Although different snakes prefer to inhabit different areas, the common grounds are often dry areas that contain burrows and deep vegetation. Hollow logs are also a common place in which rattlesnakes like to hide out. Even though these snakes give off a rattling sound when any potential threat approaches, this does little to scare away most dogs, and as you can probably guess the results often lead to a dog being bitten in the face.

Another common snake that can be found throughout most areas of the United States is the copperhead. These snakes tend to bite often and are extremely painful. However, they are not very venomous at all and most medium-sized to larger sized dogs will not be wounded severely. The same may not be said for a smaller dog due to their size (such as a Chihuahua) and a bite from a copperhead snake may need more serious attention.

3 Dangers Every Dog Owner Must Guard Against

Forest Dangers: The natural woodlands and deep forests can be some of the most exciting terrain for your dog to explore. There are endless adventures to uncover and natural curiosities everywhere your dog turns. However, because the forest contains plenty of mammal life, it makes for great hunting and trapping. And this presents a life-threatening danger to your dog if you are exploring terrain that should be off-limits.

For example, in the northern part of the US, many hunters set bait designed to trap fur-type species. Woodland dogs are attracted to this bait which has resulted in many unfortunate accidents with family dogs. Many of these traps are placed in ditches where dogs love to roam.

The best defense against these dangers when you are taking your dog to explore the forests is to be aware of the hunting and trapping seasons, as well as be educated about the hunting areas you are in. Even if it is off-season and you're running your dog through a no-hunting area, you must be aware of poachers. It is best to place a bright orange hunters best around your dog's torso. These types of dog vests are available through certain suppliers.

Prairies Chasing: Many people do not consider a Prairie to be something to worry about when taking their dog out hiking. They are not aggressive creatures and are actually scared of most animals. But therein lies the problem. Dogs love to chase prairies!

While your dog is probably not going to chase a large animal like a deer or bison, it is very likely that he will run after one of these small Prairie animals and end up chasing him for miles at a time. There are many cases where some dogs began to chase a Prairie and never made it back. They either wound up getting lost due to running so far away, or the more likely scenario – they met their match with some larger hungry wild animal.

Foxtail Plants: When running through grassland areas the most commonly encountered danger is called the foxtail plant. This is a perennial weedy grass that is located in large fields and on some roadsides.  It is slender shaped with long brushy spikes that contain seeds which will embed themselves into your dog's flesh. The most common area that dogs get these painful little spikes embedded is in between their toes. It is just like having barbed wire puncturing and stabbing through the skin. Each seed contains little barbs which point backwards.  Because of this design, they slowly get pushed deeper and deeper into the body and can cause infection or lead up to more serious situations, such as organ failure.