Last night, while discussing upcoming solo adventures, my wife asked me if I am concerned about our small dog being gobbled up by a bear, wolf or attacked by a moose. It has never really concerned me as Sadie, my toy Aussie, keeps pretty close except upon the second leg of a double portage when I give her free reign if we don't come upon anyone.

What concerns should I have? Anyone experience a close encounter?

Thanks,
Mac

my husky/wolf pup. hats off to anyone who can tame a husky.

on the angleworm trail i had a black lab, this was a dog that we had rescued, she was running free in the woods and was chasing us while we were skiing, the temps that night were going below -25f, we kept her. she was a runner. on the angleworm trail she would be ahead of us, never more than 100 yards, still way too far. it was on the section of trail near the gull lake portage. we heard a sharp yip, my dog, seconds later she was at my side, actually between my legs. she never left my side after that encounter. ever. whatever she found scared the h out of her. this is the haunted section of the angleworm trail, btw.

this photo is of a solo backpack trip last early winter, the ice is sort of good. my dog stayed off the ice, he is fairly obedient. just before i took this photo a pack of wolves came onto the ice on the opposite shore. they were making a racket, milo was very anxious to go meet them. fortunately he heard my bloody screaming and stopped his ill planned trip across the lake.

we bring our 13 pound chihuahua/terrier on trips all of the time. even here in the cities we have to keep an eye on her. she is the toughest 13 pound dog you will ever meet.

I brought my 45 lb. border collie to quetico in 2013 and I made sure to keep an eye on her but a few times she went exploring around the site and I had to nervously call for her. This would happen in the early morning when I would let her out of the tent to do her business. One time she must have dug up some remains or food scraps because she smelled pretty bad.

Something out of the ordinary was I had eagles in camp on 2 seperate occasions at different sites. I imagine they were curious about my dog and wanted to get a better look. With a small dog, eagles would be very scary to me because of how silent they are. I don't trust them as there's footage of eagles taking down deer.

I was coming out from Frost Lake on the portage between Unload and Gordon. My heeler was off leash (the horror) exploring to my right and left, then she would pop out 30 yards ahead of me and wait for me to catch up. At one point on the last up/down before hitting Gordon on the end of a double portage she didn't pop out on the trail. I figured she went ahead to the water to where the canoe was tied off but she wasn't there when I got there. I panicked, dropped the bag, and booked it back up trail and she was sitting 30 yards from where I had last saw her looking back towards Unload waiting for me.

I was fully expecting the worst. Turns out the most dangerous thing she almost got into the whole trip was a giant snapper on the north portage out of Sawbill.

I don't worry about moose or bear because I know my dog will not approach or chase them. I do think about ( but not worry about) wolves as they are know to attack a small number of dogs in minnesota each year. Statistically speaking, a dog is about twice as likely to be attacked by a wolf as a person is to be killed by lightning in minnesota. In both cases, safeguards can mitigate the risk - just keep you dog close by.

From what I have read, the threat from eagles is more urban legend than reality. Golden eagles are a bit larger and seem to be more aggressive toward smaller land animals, but the common Bald Eagles pose little threat to any but the very smallest dogs. A female bald eagle tops out at about 12 pounds, and by the laws of aerodynamics would struggle to lift anything even half it's weight or less. I live along the Mississippi in a building complex with a fenced dog run and about 100 dogs. Two summers ago bald eagles built a nest across the street. At first owners of smaller dogs were worried about a nest just 25 yards away, but eventually came to realize the eagles liked to watch but, like most of us, would rather eat fish than dog.

Took this shot this evening in the fenced dog run.

Jaywalker - Thanks for saving me a bunch of typing. You said my thoughts exactly on bears, moose, wolves, and eagles.

Alan

quote jwartman59: "

That's the most beautiful ice I've ever seen!

Alan

quote Alan Gage: "

quote jwartman59: "

That's the most beautiful ice I've ever seen! Alan"

+1 Way cool!

I have a Sadie too! (A JRT). We are going on our 1st BWCA trip in THREE short weeks - but we have been camping all over including bear and wolf country.

1.) I have Sadie Clicker and whistle trained. If I ever notice that she is off "mousing" too far - I quickly recall her, and have a rock solid recall on her.

2.) At night I always have her night light on - a little light that clips on to her collar so that I can see her at all times at night. This thing is SUPER awesome, and I will NEVer go camping without it.

3.) I plan to bring a retractable leash. As a JRT this girl LOVES to run , so if we're by ourselves on the portage she can have the feeling of running free, but if we happen upon someone else I can shorten that leash right up. (This works well since she is under 20lbs) I wouldn't trust a retractable leash with a large dog.

Unless you're letting your dog free range and never ever ever paying attention to them, I think you will be fine.

My in-laws have two aussies, and the way the bark I think the moose and bear would run fast! ;-)