[header] How to choose a good hiking dog [title] Determine how trainable the dog is. [step] Some breeds are more independent and hard to train than others. If you want your dog to be able to frolic off-leash, you'll need a dog with good recall (comes when called). 
[substeps] If you do plan to let your dog off his leash, avoid dogs with a strong prey drive. The last thing you want is for your dog to run away after a squirrel, never to be seen again.