Johnson lives in Bend, Oregon together with his wife, two sons and three dogs — Pharaoh (a Shiba), Jasper (a Boxer), and Timber (another Shiba).

During the week he is busy at his job with UPS but on weekends, he takes off to go hiking around Bend with his trusty sidekick, Pharaoh.

Johnson has had Pharaoh since he was 11 weeks old. "I thought at first I wanted a bigger dog. But once Pharaoh came through the tall grass and let me hold him I knew he was special, " says Johnson in an interview with BarkPost.

He says he spent all his time training Pharaoh, who tends to be off-leash on these hikes. "The Shiba Inu breed is a different breed altogether as they are not off leash dogs. Every thing you read about them says not to. Well I noticed very early how Pharaoh was good on recall. We trained a lot and the older he got the more easier it got.

"We started small with the hikes but after we saw what was out there, we went farther more often. He would listen to me and stay and let me take some pics. He listens extremely well off leash, and i think he pays more attention when we are out in the forest."

Johnson says that they've truly come to love being in the mountains. "Lots of days we leave before 5:00 a.m. to drive to the trailhead and start hiking in the dark. He knows the routine and is pretty patient with me fumbling around in the dark."

According to Johnson, Pharaoh and him hike close to 40 miles a week and get up to thousands of feet of elevation. They've even hiked to the tops of quite a few peaks. "One of my favorites was scrambling up Broken Top in the High Cascades to just over 9k."

Johnson says that every time they get to the top of a summit, Pharaoh wags his tail like he knows he just climbed a mountain. "I never see other Shiba Inus off leash, let alone standing on top of mountains. He always looks so proud in his pictures. A sense of accomplishment and self-worth. I have never met another dog like him," says Johnson proudly.

"I have been married for 8 years and I have had Pharaoh for 11 years, we have a really close bond. He knows all my gestures and body movements, almost to a fault," says Johnson.

"To me having dogs is a bond that is like family. They are a part of our family and I try to teach my children just that."

"I really think they make us better people. You could have the worst day in the world where everything goes wrong and everyone is giving you s!*t and the second you get through that door, those dogs are sitting there so happy you are home and back in their lives even if you only have been gone a little bit. How can you not smile at something like that?"

To follow more of this pair's beautiful hiking adventurous you can check out @KJRedSnow on Instagram or Redsnow Shibas on Facebook.