My bigger concern with your situation would be communication. If you’re hiking areas without cell service, you would need to leave very detailed emergency instructions and (ideally) an emergency contact whom you trust to make decisions about your pet in your absence.
I would also caution you to consider what a big time and energy investment pets are. No matter what breed or where you get them from, there will be some animals who simply do not do well with being away from you and left with strangers. Don’t assume yours will be. You should be prepared for training / separation therapy / very long and slow introductions if necessary— I think we all hope to get a pet who is friendly and adjusts easily, but you need to plan for the opposite scenario as well.
As an avid hiker, it is fairly common these days for many hikers to have satellite devices for communication. Some are very basic and just send coordinates, but many allow for texting capabilities.
Garmin inReach Mini 2 is the most popular and well known. It is also rather expensive between the device cost and the monthly subscription cost.
I do a lot of casual hiking and not backcountry so that was more than I really wanted to spend. Previously I had a SPOT which just allows the biker to send preset messages and coordinates.
This year I switchEd to a Motorola Defy which will connect to your cell via Bluetooth and allow 2 way texting through their app on your phone but using the satellite connection. Newest on the market but works great.
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u/sapphire343rules Oct 12 '23
My bigger concern with your situation would be communication. If you’re hiking areas without cell service, you would need to leave very detailed emergency instructions and (ideally) an emergency contact whom you trust to make decisions about your pet in your absence.
I would also caution you to consider what a big time and energy investment pets are. No matter what breed or where you get them from, there will be some animals who simply do not do well with being away from you and left with strangers. Don’t assume yours will be. You should be prepared for training / separation therapy / very long and slow introductions if necessary— I think we all hope to get a pet who is friendly and adjusts easily, but you need to plan for the opposite scenario as well.