I read the number a second time before I accepted it: 185 dogs pulled from the 2026 Iditarod trail due to illness, injury, or exhaustion. That is against a field of 37 mushers, itself the second-smallest in the race’s history. A decade ago there were 85 teams on the trail. The math is not comfortable, and the discomfort is telling us something that neither side of the welfare argument wants to say plainly. The number that actually stopped me was not 185. It was one: a four-year-old dog named Charley, who died en route to the Elim checkpoint on Mille…
Author: Helen Corlew
Helen Corlew
Helen L. Corlew runs a team of Samoyeds, Alaskan malamutes and Alaskan huskies. I am a Tellington TTouch practitioner and use this mode of work with training and living with my dogs. Helen Corlew founded Prairie Isle Dog Trekking in Petersburg, North Dakota in 2010, and has spent the fifteen years since doing something most people only read about: teaching real dog sledding on real prairie terrain, at the edge of a landscape that doesn't apologize for being difficult. She is not a weekend enthusiast. She harnesses working dogs in January cold, trains handlers who have never touched a sled, and has built one of the only hands-on mushing education programs on the Northern Great Plains — from a single address on Highway 2, with no marketing budget and no shortcuts. Her writing on Prairie Isle Dog Trekking reflects the same philosophy. Whether she is covering trail safety across the Rockies, breed behavior in extreme conditions, or what it actually takes to trek with a dog in the Alps, Helen writes from the position of someone who has done the work before writing the sentence. She lives and runs dogs in Nelson County, North Dakota. Kindly follow me on Social Media!
Dog trekking holidays are multi-day outdoor trips where dogs accompany owners on trail networks, mountain routes, and wilderness paths. The global dog-friendly travel market grew by 34% between 2019 and 2023, with trekking holidays as the fastest-growing segment at 19% year-on-year (Statista, 2023).What Are Dog Trekking Holidays?A dog trekking holiday is a structured travel experience combining overnight accommodation, trail access, and dog-friendly logistics across 2 or more consecutive days. It differs from a day hike in 3 ways: route planning spans multiple days, accommodation must accept dogs, and the dog requires gear for overnight conditions. For the previous guide in…
Camping with dogs is overnight outdoor stays at designated campgrounds, backcountry sites, or dispersed land with a dog present. Over 78 million households in the United States own at least one dog, and the Outdoor Foundation reports that pet-inclusive camping increased by 34% between 2019 and 2023. Dogs participate in 3 primary camping styles: tent camping, RV camping, and backpacking.What Is Dog Friendly Camping?Dog friendly camping is any overnight outdoor stay at a site that permits dogs under a defined leash policy, waste management rule, and quiet-hour code. Dog friendly campgrounds provide dog waste stations, water access points, and designated…
The kennel smelled the way it always does at minus eighteen: straw, dogs, and cold air that belongs to no other kind of morning. I had my phone in my glove, checking the Denali puppy cam, because I had been checking it every morning for three days. Five pups born March 30th, named after national parks, were sleeping in a pile the way pups that will become working dogs should sleep. The comment sections below every clip were full of people saying things like "so cute" and "I want one." Those puppies are not available, and they are not going…
Dog hiking trails in Colorado are designated paths across mountains, canyon lands, open spaces, and state parks where leashed or off-leash dogs are permitted. Colorado has 6 primary dog-hiking regions: the Front Range, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Summit County, the San Juan Mountains, and Western Colorado. Each region has distinct elevation, terrain, and dog access regulations.What Are Dog Hiking Trails in Colorado?Dog hiking trails in Colorado are marked routes in natural areas that permit dogs, typically on a leash of 6 feet or less, across terrain ranging from 5,000 to over 14,000 feet in elevation. For the previous guide in this…
The season’s last run ended in minus eighteen. My lead dog Basin, a ten-year-old Malamute, was still breathing hard when a visitor reached toward her face. I said stop before I finished the sentence. A dog that has just run is not the same animal as a dog at rest. The cardiovascular system is still elevated and stress hormones have not cleared. The threshold for a defensive response is much lower than it will be an hour later. On May 22nd, a two-year-old was bitten near the neck during a Disney Alaska cruise excursion run by Gold Rush Dog Sleds.…
Walking the Camino de Santiago with a dog is permitted on all major routes but requires advance accommodation planning, veterinary documentation, and route selection based on the dog’s size and daily distance capacity. An estimated 3,000–5,000 pilgrims complete sections of the Camino with dogs each year, according to the Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago de Compostela.What Is the Camino de Santiago With a Dog?The Camino de Santiago with a dog is the act of completing one or more sections of the historic pilgrimage routes leading to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, while travelling with a dog as…
Hiking the Appalachian Trail with a dog covers 2,198 miles of marked trail from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Dogs are permitted on approximately 83% of the AT’s total length. 3 sections prohibit dogs entirely: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Baxter State Park, and the Bear Mountain Zoo crossing in New York.What Is Hiking the Appalachian Trail with a Dog?Hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) with a dog is long-distance trail travel with a canine companion along the eastern United States’ primary ridgeline trail system. The AT passes through 14 states, including Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York,…
Dog friendly national parks are federally managed parks that permit dogs on designated trails, campgrounds, and paved roads under specific rules set by the National Park Service (NPS). The United States has 63 national parks. Dogs are permitted in most, but trail access is restricted to a fraction of each park’s total trail network. The NPS enforces a universal 6-foot leash rule across all 63 parks.What Makes a National Park Dog Friendly?A national park is dog friendly when it permits dogs on unpaved trails, has multiple designated pet areas, and provides waste disposal infrastructure. Most national parks restrict dogs to…
Dog hiking in Japan is permitted on designated trails across 4 main regions — Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu — with access governed by trail-specific regulations, seasonal wildlife protection closures, and shrine and temple proximity rules that restrict dogs from entering sacred precincts within 50 to 200 metres of trail paths. The Japan Tourism Agency reports that pet-friendly outdoor tourism increased by 38% between 2019 and 2023, with dog-accessible trail networks expanding across all 4 main islands.Hiking with a dog in Japan differs from hiking in Europe and North America across 5 specific variables: shrine and temple access restrictions, bear…