Melman

Melman is a perfect fit to the roots of his name. If you have ever seen the movie Madagascar, he was named after the giraffe played by David Schwimmer. Melman is usually the goofy character of the group and flops around in a very “cartoonish” way. He is the best possible trail dog anyone could ask for. He always takes the lead (along with Nika) and will stick to the trail even if he has never been on it before. If us humans are slacking he will wait for us to catch up almost as if he is encouraging us to continue. He is a 3 year old Great Dane and started hiking after his growth spurts were over right around 2 years ago (Danes should not be over exercised while they are puppies). He has slowly worked his way up and now carries all of his own gear (food, water, first-aid, & bedroll), our last trip out his pack was 12 pounds and it didn’t slow him down at all. At 105 pounds he is a little small for a Dane, but he makes up for it in thinking that he is a lap dog! One of the coolest things about Melman on the trails would be that he will often stop and appear to soak in the view just like the rest of us!