Dog must never chase reindeers!
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This guide is made for a dalmatian, which has thin fur. Dog gets cold easily. For a dog with a longer/thicker fur, the coats are not needed. Also the dog may feel more comfortable not sleeping inside the tent, but in abside instead. |
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Take care of the paws. Especially rocky terrain is very "paw-consuming". Check also "armpits" daily, twigs, sawmps etc. can irritate skin. |
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Almost all huts, fireplaces and other campsites have lots of food disposals around. If your dog is greedy, keep it on a leash there. Nobody wants a farting dog in a same tent :( (I know, a well trained dog does not eat unless the owner gives permission, bla bla bla.) |
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Be absolutely sure that your dog comes to you when you call it. There are lots of birds etc. funny chase targets, the dog might chase them a long time before it notices that the owner is far far away. Or keep the dog in leash. |
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Start with a small day's journey. The dog gets to better shape fast, but at first it will run after all new exciting smells all day long. Even a trained dog usually does not run a whole day. |
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When crossing a river, the dog might not understand the strenght of the current. It's safest to keep the dog unleashed so she/he doesn't tangle the leash anywhere if the current pulls him/her away, with your hand tightly on the dog's collar, harness or backpack preventing him/her floating away and resting the dog against your legs in the upstream side. Or you can always carry the dog over. |
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Even if the law permits and your dog is bombproof to come back when you call it, it's good manners to leash your dog when you see somebody else. It's not very funny to have a dog jumping against you when you are carrying a heavy backpack. Besides, they might have a dog with them too, and the dog may be agressive towards other dogs. |
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You cannot take a dog inside most of the open or rented huts. |
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What Finnish law says about keeping dogs unleashed:
This is said in Metsästylslaki (ML, the hunting law) 51§, & 53§ and Poronhoitolaki (PHL, the reindeer law) 42§, moment 2. I don't even dream on translating the law text completely, but basically it says: ML 51§: From 1st of March to 19th of August the dog must be kept in leash or you must be able to immediately leash your dog. ML 53§: To keep dogs unleashed, you must have permission from the owner of the land. PHL 42§, moment 2: Authorities, owner of the reindeer or reindeer herdsman has a right to shoot an unleashed dog if it's chasing reindeers during the on-leash time of the year, or if the dog is shredding a reindeer any other time of the year. However, they have no right to kill the dog if it can be stopped otherwise. |
| In Finnish Lappland, many fine hiking areas are owned by Metsähallitus. We asked their opinion at autumn 2004, and they said: We do not give any written permissions to keep dogs unleashed, we stick to 51§. Don't take my word on it, you should ask yourself from Villi Pohjola, their opinion might be different in different cases. |
Needed things: | |
| Rain coat: | Thin, completely waterproof, can be kep on a dog the whole day if needed to. |
| Warm coat: | At our autumn trip, the temperature was quite cold, near 0 degreeds celsius
in the mornings. |
| Harness or collar: | If you take harness, be sure that they fit along with the coat or
possible backpack. With harness, the dog can be used as a "ski lift", pulling tired walker up the hill.
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| Streching rope as a leash: | For a ski lift trick, it's good to have stretching rope
to even the pullings. Of course you can also use ordinary leash.
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| Backpack: | Over 2 years old dog can safely carry a backpack. It's good idea to train carrying the backpack before the trip, so the dog gets used to it, and gets in better shape if you are planning to load heavy weight. Maximum load depends of the dogs structure and physical condition. A light-structured dogs might carry maximum 1/5...1/4 of their own weight, less if they are not in good condition. A fit dalmatian is able to carry max 1/3, some other breeds with very good fitness might be able to carry even more. Better keep the weight well below the max, it's more comfortable for the dog, too. Keep the packs balanced and if the coat shows any signs of wear, use your own extra clothing to pad the backpack. Check the dog regularily, if it' left behind constantly, breathes heavily or lies down in the middle of the walk, it's overloaded or getting too hot. In that case, take a break, give some water and lighten up it's load a little. |
| Combined water and food cup: | The water in northern Finland is drinkable, and good tasting too:) Just remember to check that there is not any dead animal in the river close to you.
It's a good idea to have the cup hanging on your/dog's bakcpack with some sort of quick release. Our
urbanized dog drank it's water rather from the cup than river. We used hiking plate meant for humans,
it's cheap, light and sturdy.
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| Food: | It's a good idea to pack each meal into it's own bag. If a bag gets broken, not all food is exposed to moisture, and one bag is easy to pick up from backpack for swift feeding. At this time of autumn colours, the place was full of blueberries, lingonberries and crowberries, so that our dog had stomach full of them and did not care to eat all dry food at evenings. If the dog looks like too tired or underfed, you can always add some dried meat into it's food. Also vegetable oil or clarified, saltless butter gives good boost for energy.
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| Training bits or training toy: | It's good idea to reward the dog from correct behavior with reindeers. And rather too much than too little:)
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| Medical bag: | Carbon tabs,paw grease, snake pack, skin lotion. The carbon tabs are
there if the dog eats something unsuitable (poisoning), the snake pack can be give as an antidote to only
poisonous snake here in filand, "Kyy", also the snake pack helps if the dog gets stinged by lots of bees. There aren't snakes in northern Lappland, so the snake-pack is not mandatory everywhere. The paw grease should be used regularely, so that paws last better. Especially rocky terrain is quite
paw-consuming. For a longer trip some doggie painkillers are required, if something like split nail happens. Be careful, dog can easily hurt itself even worse with painkillers.
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| Light blanket: | You can put it on dog while sleeping on the tent. The dog can release itself from blanket if it gets too hot, therefore it's better than jacket.
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| Small towel: | If the dog sleeps insde the tent, it's good idea to clean the paws.
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| Boots: | Well fitting boots are helpful in difficult terrain or if the paws get injured.
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| Sleeping mattress: | The dog should have it's own. It can be smaller than normal,
for example cut the normal sized mattress into half. This protects the tent's floor and your own mattress.
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| Therm-a-rest repair kit: | If somebody is using therm-a-rest or any other air filled sleeping mattress, repair kit is a must. Dogs nails break the mattress easily.
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