Album The dogs of backcountrypost.com

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First overnighter in Uintas this summer.

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Are you going to finish that?
 
Moving into a new home, the thing I was most excited about was getting another dog. The rescue my wife and I work for got a new dog a few weeks ago named Gus and we immediately fell in love with him. Gus was a stray captured by animal control in Newark, NJ, and his time was running out on the kill list. Thankfully he made it to our rescue.

As a rescue volunteer, I've worked with a ton of dogs, but coming by the kennel to walk Gus, we quickly bonded in a special way. He was the calmest, most mellow, gentle soul, so we put in an adoption application. He was schedule to be neutered that week and needed 7 days to recover from surgery before he could be around other dogs, so we had to wait over a week before our trainers could do the meet and greet with our dog Joey. Throughout the week while Gus recovered, I came into the kennel every night and spent at least an hour a night with him counting down the days. In retrospect, I jumped the gun and didn't brace myself for the possibility it wouldn't work out, i.e. we contacted the owners of the cabin we rented in Maine for later this month for permission to bring a second dog, Gus had a jumbo dog bed waiting for him at home next to Joey's, and we already had new dog bowls on the kitchen floor for him. Two trainers from our rescue brought Gus over a week later and as expected he got along great with Joey. They walked well together, wagged their tails and played nicely, all was good. Unfortunately, Gus failed the cat test miserably. For 45 minutes, the trainers tried everything to keep Gus in a calm state with our cat Tommy in the room (in a crate for his protection). These are two of the best dog trainers I know, and I know they did everything possible to try and make it work. Some dogs just have a strong prey drive in their DNA and he may have had to chase squirrels and chipmunks to survive when he was a stray. It just wasn't meant to be. It shattered my heart that Gus wasn't going to be able to become part of our family. I was down in the dumps for a few days but I'm just happy he's in good hands now with our rescue. I've continued to visit him almost every day and will continue to until he finds a good home and family.

Last weekend I picked Gus up for the day. I took him to the Catskills for his very first hike ever. He absolutely LOVED IT! After spending most of his life dodging traffic and scavenging dumpsters in the inner city, and locked up in a cage, this was truly his finest hour. He had amazing trail manners too. He walked right alongside me, never pulled, and moved over and sat to allow other hikers in the opposite direction pass.

So I'd like to make Gus an honorary "dog of BCP". I'll be doing some more hiking with him but hopefully for his sake, not for too long.

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And if anyone knows someone from the northeast that's looking for an AMAZING dog, please let me know.
 
Vegan.Hiker said:
Moving into a new home, the thing I was most excited about was getting another dog. The rescue my wife and I work for got a new dog a few weeks ago named Gus and we immediately fell in love with him. Gus was a stray captured by animal control in Newark, NJ, and his time was running out on the kill list. Thankfully he made it to our rescue.

As a rescue volunteer, I've worked with a ton of dogs, but coming by the kennel to walk Gus, we quickly bonded in a special way. He was the calmest, most mellow, gentle soul, so we put in an adoption application. He was schedule to be neutered that week and needed 7 days to recover from surgery before he could be around other dogs, so we had to wait over a week before our trainers could do the meet and greet with our dog Joey. Throughout the week while Gus recovered, I came into the kennel every night and spent at least an hour a night with him counting down the days. In retrospect, I jumped the gun and didn't brace myself for the possibility it wouldn't work out, i.e. we contacted the owners of the cabin we rented in Maine for later this month for permission to bring a second dog, Gus had a jumbo dog bed waiting for him at home next to Joey's, and we already had new dog bowls on the kitchen floor for him. Two trainers from our rescue brought Gus over a week later and as expected he got along great with Joey. They walked well together, wagged their tails and played nicely, all was good. Unfortunately, Gus failed the cat test miserably. For 45 minutes, the trainers tried everything to keep Gus in a calm state with our cat Tommy in the room (in a crate for his protection). These are two of the best dog trainers I know, and I know they did everything possible to try and make it work. Some dogs just have a strong prey drive in their DNA and he may have had to chase squirrels and chipmunks to survive when he was a stray. It just wasn't meant to be. It shattered my heart that Gus wasn't going to be able to become part of our family. I was down in the dumps for a few days but I'm just happy he's in good hands now with our rescue. I've continued to visit him almost every day and will continue to until he finds a good home and family.

Last weekend I picked Gus up for the day. I took him to the Catskills for his very first hike ever. He absolutely LOVED IT! After spending most of his life dodging traffic and scavenging dumpsters in the inner city, and locked up in a cage, this was truly his finest hour. He had amazing trail manners too. He walked right alongside me, never pulled, and moved over and sat to allow other hikers in the opposite direction pass.

So I'd like to make Gus an honorary "dog of BCP". I'll be doing some more hiking with him but hopefully for his sake, not for too long.

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And if anyone knows someone from the northeast that's looking for an AMAZING dog, please let me know.
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Good on ya, mister!
 
It's been a long search to find the perfect fit for our family. Meet Lucy. She arrived Sunday from Kentucky via a 2 day recue shuttle that transported dogs from Kentucky to as far north as Ontario Canada. She won our dog Joey over pretty much instantly. She's also super respectful of our cat. She's a 1.5 yr old 72 lb, German Shepherd, Lab mix. Can't wait to get her out hiking and camping. Going to start with some dayhikes and work her way up to overnights, then eventually longer backpacking trips. Also thinking of selling the kayaks to make room for a canoe that can hold both dogs.

Joey up top, Lucy below.

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Vegan.Hiker said:
It's been a long search to found the perfect fit for our family. Meet Lucy. She arrived Sunday from Kentucky via a 2 day recue shuttle that transported dogs from Kentucky to as far north as Ontario Canada. She won our dog Joey over pretty much instantly. She's also super respectful of our cat. She's a 1.5 yr old 72 lb, German Shepherd, Lab mix. Can't wait to get her out hiking and camping. Going to start with some dayhikes and work her way up to overnights, then eventually longer backpacking trips. Also thinking of selling the kayaks to make room for a canoe that can hold both dogs.

Joey up top, Lucy below.

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Welcome Lucy!
 
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