If you meet Hana and her golden retriever, Gumbo, on the hiking trail (or anywhere ) , chances are you’ll also meet Shrimp, Gumbo’s stuffed animal.
“He loves taking his best friend and favorite toy, Shrimp, with him everywhere,” Hana told The Dodo. “He just adores and loves to show off Shrimp.”
Gumbo and Shrimp have been inseparable since Hana bought Shrimp from IKEA in 2017. She didn’t buy Shrimp specifically for Gumbo, but soon after Shrimp entered the house, he became Gumbo’s best friend.
In high school, Hana went on occasional hikes with friends, but it was Gumbo who encouraged her to do it regularly.
“We moved to the Pacific Northwest and met some dog friends who brought us closer to hiking,” Hana said. “So you can say we discovered our love for hiking together.”
Just as Gumbo is Hana’s hiking companion, Shrimp is Gumbo’s cheerleader.
“We carry Shrimp on basically every hike,” Hana said, noting that Shrimp is usually hanging on her backpack while she and Gumbo are on the trail because Gumbo doesn’t like carrying Shrimp if he’s busy paying attention to the hike and panting. .
“Gumbo is usually pretty close to me,” Hana added. “If he walks off leash (where allowed), he will grab the zoomies and run up and down the trail.”
“However, now that he is 8.5 years old,” she said, “he has slowed down a lot and is usually by my side when we walk together.”
And Gumbo likes to celebrate his accomplishments on the road with his best friend.
“Usually at the end of the hike, [Gumbo’s] favorite thing is to take Shrimp and show him to everyone else at the end of the trail,” Hanna said. “He’ll show it to my friends I’m hiking with or even strangers who want to come say hi.”
“I think he really knows that Shrimp is a ‘special toy,’” Hana said. “Usually if we have or bring shrimp, he knows we are going to have an adventure.”
There was a time when Hana and Gumbo accidentally left Shrimp on a hiking trail. They had already driven about an hour and a half from the hiking spot when Hana realized someone was missing.
“So we came back and I looked and saw that it was perfectly placed on the trailhead sign,” Hana said.
For other pet owners hoping to let their dogs hike, Hana suggests researching pet-friendly trails near you and making sure you understand the leash laws in your area. And when it’s time to hit the trail, she says a first aid kit is a must-have in your backpack, “for both you and your dog.”
And if your dog loves his toys, take a page from Gumbo and Shrimp’s book and definitely add a travel buddy to your plans.
“Shrimp are part of the family,” Hana said. “It’s gumbo and shrimp. “You can’t replace it.”
