Bella's first hike...she cried the whole time!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Some of you might know that we just moved to Arizona from Florida because of many things, but one in particular is that we love the beautiful mountains and trails to hike on.

I originally got Murphy to run and then hike with and have taken him everywhere and he has literally scaled mountains that go vertical and we slide down. No fear, just that look of "Are you serious?" No whining, no stopping to lick his paws, no compaints what so ever. Now we have Bella Bee, or Princess Bella. She is 6 months old and today was her turn to be introduced to hiking a mountain.

Well Miss Bella cried and whined and pulled and jumped and otherwise was just obnoxious the whole 90 minutes going up and coming back down. Granted we were with 3 other dogs and we thought she probably cried to be among them most of the time, but even when we walked her right in the middle of the pack she whined. I checked her paws, maybe she was still too tender-footed for this terrain....no problems there. Whine-Whine-Bark!  Maybe she needed more water,...gulp, gulp...done. More Whine-Whine-Whine-Jump! Maybe she wanted to go up front of the pack, nope...whine whine and keep looking back at everyone. OK, I give up...and am getting annoyed as this is just not how I planned it.

Time to do some training...."whine" ..."hush!". Jump..."Off!", whine...."Hush!" , no whine..."good girl" . This went on for over an hour. And finally in the last 3 minutes of this long and treacherous hike, she got calm and quiet and walked perfectly by my side. Maybe it was because she could sense the car by then and she knew this agony was over!

 

Poor Bella, I think I tramatized her!

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Ha Ha!! Give Princess Bella hugs for us, hopefully she is feeling better soon!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Darn, I forgot about the sodium, Thanks. That ontop of the Benedryl and she will shrivel up like a furry prune!  Kidding.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

When Bandit was younger he didn't like long walks, around the block was enough for him.  He would just stop and sit and refuse to move.  There were many times when I had to carry him home, of course he only weighed 15-2-lbs, not 46!  He just never had the stamina that Rosey has.    Maybe it was too much for her. 

Oh and becareful not too much broth, it has a lot of sodium which can dehydrate dogs quickly... something I learned from our Karen:) 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Thanks Pat, now Miss Princess Bella is sneezing and has a runny nose. It never stops with Her Highness. She is getting warm chicken broth and antihistimines. Just like a child.  Maybe she was really trying to tell me it was just too much for her little body. All 46 pds of her! 

[Pat and Traveler]

This really made me laugh!  Dogs just never seem to do what you expect them to do.  You'd think Bella would be the happiest pup on earth to get a chance to hike with all her important beings.  Love the "whine..."hush!. Jump" sequence.  :)

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I think  Cheryl, Lucy's mom and Donna all may be right as it could have been a little of each. She was on and in very unfamiliar territory, but with her 3 favorite dog friends and me, DH,DS and DD. She may not have liked the activity and certainly was putting on her Princess crown for all to see. I checked her paws quite often and she never limped or showed any signs of discomfort. I may have to wait for a few months though as it may be just as you said,and be too strenuous for her. I remember training Murphy to run more than 1 mile with me when he was about 1 yr old and you'd think I was torturing the poor dog. He's stop and lay down, he'd keep turning around like he wanted to go home, he'd look for every shady spot and run right to it and sit. He was a mess.  He can do 3 miles now, but it's a lot cooler here so that is probably a big part of it. Thanks for your thoughts.

[cheryl & oliver]

Sue, could something have frightened her?..Could she have strained a muscle or something like that?..If she has walked and slid down things, I would think it might be a muscle cramp or strain or something, but maybe I am wrong, you know her best of all, she might just be doing the primcess routine...

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I'm thinking that 6 months is a little too young for this type activity.  Her legs & muscles are still growing and developing at this point, and her paw pads probably aren't all that tough yet.  Personally for me the whining would tell me that she wasn't enjoying this activity.  Just like kids are different, she might also just not be a hiking dog!  She might rather prefer shopping the mall ...... after all, she is a Princess!  In all honesty, I don't have a clue, but feel the whine was for a reason!

[Donna K & Quincy]

I think some dogs just don't like unfamiliar territory, my sister once had a dog who would put on the brakes and absolutely refuse to go for a walk, the only time he would walk willingly was when we were headed for home. We would drive him somewhere to walk and he would walk for a little while until he realized he wasn't headed for home, then the brakes went on again. Lucky for us he was only 151bs and could be carried. I have no idea what the solution would be. Where is Ceasar when you need him?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

All the dogs were on leash for most of the hike and when they were off leash I let her off too. She still whined and kept running back to me. It is very strange. Besides, I have yet to find an area that allows off leash unless the terrain dictates it allowable for yours and the pets safety. Our Murphy is like your Porter, maybe Bella will do better with just the two of us on some secluded (no other dogs) hikes.