took my aussie on his first overnight backpacking trip this weekend and here is everything i did wrong that the gear blogs do not tell you

Background. I have been day hiking with Banjo since he was a puppy. He is 3 now, australian shepherd, 48 lbs, in great shape, has done 12 mile day hikes without breaking a sweat. I had been telling myself for two years i was going to take him on a real overnight and i finally pulled the trigger this weekend. 8 miles in to a lake, camp, 8 miles out. I was so confident going in. I was so wrong going out.

What went well so i dont sound like a total clown. His pack fit (i did the ruffwear approach, fitted at the store, did three local hikes with weight loaded before the trip). He drank well. His recall was solid. We did not have a single dog or wildlife incident. The actual hiking part of the hike was fine.

Things i got wrong, in approximate order of how bad they were. One, i carried his food in a ziplock instead of an odor proof bag and a curious black bear visited our campsite at 2am. I had hung the food correctly but the smell was on my pack and my pack was in the tent. We did not get attacked but i did not sleep again that night and Banjo was wired for the entire next days hike. Two, i did not bring booties and the second day his pads were tender on the descent (granite was hot, i should have known). He kept going but i could see him favoring his front right. Three, i thought he would settle and sleep in the tent like he does at home. He did not. He paced and stared at the tent wall and reacted to every sound for the first three hours. I think i underestimated how much of a sensory shift this was for him. Four, i did not bring an actual dog first aid kit, only my human one, and i would not have had anything appropriate for the paw issue if it had gotten worse.

What im writing this for. I am going again in three weeks (different trail, less bear country, two nights this time) and i want to do it better. People who actually overnight with dogs regularly: what do you do for sleep night one. Do you do anything with melatonin or trazodone or just suck it up and accept the first night is rough. Whats your actual food/odor protocol. And the paw thing, do you bootie preemptively or only when youve seen wear, and do you carry mushers or something else. I dont need the basic gear lists, i need the stuff that comes from having actually done this twenty times.