[JadeD]

He could probably walk 3 miles, it is the fact that we are hiking in the mountains that makes it so much more work. I was used to walking 3 miles a day so when my family wanted to go on a 1 mile hike I was all excited. Oh my gosh, I about died half way through. I had strangers offering me their dogs water because I was in such bad shape. I needed an inhaler, and I don't even use an inhaler. I got some water that was meant for the people's dog, but they assured me they had plenty. I managed to make it to the halfway point, which was up on top of a mountain. I sat on a rock while the family looked around and then I got up and said I was heading back down the mountain and that was much easier, and the fact that I knew we had a picnic lunch in the trunk was just the motivation I needed. LOL

That was several years ago. I started training to do 5K's last spring and ran 3 last fall. I have a 5K this weekend. I won't begin to say I am in great shape, but I do so much better on a hike than I did when we went on that first one about 5 years ago! LOL Last summer we went to Gatlinburg, TN and I was able to really keep up pretty good with my family while hiking out there. There was even a stretch where we ended up in the middle of this huge family of like 20 people and they were so loud and drove us crazy and so my son and I took off jogging up the path a ways to get out of being in the middle of them. It was awesome to be able to jog with my almost 14 year old for about 1/4 mile like that.

I just worry that Teek will get tired because the terrain is much harder and it is mostly uphill the first half. He is 9 and when I got him he could barely make it up our block and back. This is 9 weeks later and we walk a mile almost every night so he is making progress. If he makes it the whole way great! We also have miles of walking trails in our town and I love to go walk like 5-6 miles just for the fun of it, so the pack will be good to have in case he gets tired. We will be taking the puppy with us this summer as well so we can have a pack and even if they take turns walking and being carried it would still be handy to have.