Hiking With Your Dog: What to Pack and Where to Go

South Africa has extraordinary hiking and a patchwork of rules about dogs. Getting it right means checking before you drive, not at the gate.

Check the rules first

Most national parks do not allow dogs on trails. Provincial reserves and municipal areas vary enormously — some require a permit, some allow dogs on lead only, some allow off-lead in designated areas. Table Mountain National Park requires an activity permit for dog walking in permitted areas, for example, and the rules differ trail by trail. Phone or check the reserve's own page rather than relying on a blog. Fines are real and so are the reasons behind the rules.

Water maths

Assume roughly 100ml per 5kg of dog per hour of hiking in heat, and more for a working breed in summer. A 25kg dog on a three-hour summer hike can easily need two litres. Carry it — mountain streams are seasonal, often dry, and sometimes contaminated. A collapsible bowl weighs nothing.

What to pack

• Water, bowl and more water.
• Lead, even for an off-lead-reliable dog, for stock, wildlife and other walkers.
• Tick hook, tweezers and a small first aid kit including a bandage.
• Poo bags, and take them out. Leaving them on the path is the reason trails ban dogs.
• A photo of your dog on your phone and current tag details.
• Booties or paw balm if you know the route is hot rock or sharp shale.

The South African hazards

Snakes. Keep dogs on paths and out of long grass and rock crevices, especially October to April. Baboons in the Cape and parts of Mpumalanga are dangerous to dogs and a dog that chases a troop can be seriously injured — lead up. Porcupines at dusk mean quills, which is a vet job, never a pull-them-out-yourself job. Heat and rock temperature — early starts, and check the surface with your hand. Ticks — check thoroughly at the car, not at home.

Is your dog fit for it

Build up. A dog that walks around the block is not ready for eight kilometres of altitude gain. Flat-faced breeds should not do hot or strenuous hikes at all. Puppies under about a year should do shorter, gentler outings while growth plates close, and older dogs need shorter routes and more shade.