Travels with Fido – High Altitude Trips
Judy Hunter, owner of mixed-breed dog, Maxsam, shared this story of when “Max” was a puppy a few years ago and traveled with Judy and her husband, Bob, on a cross country trip that included the Rocky Mountains.
Dogs can suffer from high altitudes too if they are not used to them.
We took our 5 month old mix breed puppy, Maxsam on a cross-country trip from Michigan to South Dakota to Colorado to New Mexico to Florida and home (23 states in all).
We noticed that as we climbed in elevation, his generally exuberant behavior changed to a more sedate one. After speaking with many other dog owners along the way, we realized that Max was just trying to adjust to the higher altitudes. Once we stayed at the higher altitudes, Max seemed to recapture his wonderful personality. Our suggestion is to take the time to acclimate not only yourselves to the higher altitudes, but to realize that your canine companion needs the same time.
Picture is of Maxsam (Max) and my husband, Bob Hunter in the Colorado Rockies.
Max is a member of the AKC Canine Partners program for all dogs, including mixed-breeds and rescues. For information on joining the AKC Canine Partners community: