Skiing. With puppies.

ASSholebomber22

ASSholebomber22

Active member
Really want to tour a little with my pup the season, but I've never skied with a dog and want to keep him and I as safe as possible.

He's 5 months and really likes when I bike or skateboard with him, but a couple times he's darted in front of me for whatever reason causing me to bail to avoid hitting him. Of course, I scold him like he understands but he just wags his tail and tilts his head.

How do I keep him back? I'm terrified he'd get caught up in my edges.

Also, booties? Rex specs? What should I look into to keeping his and my stoke level for skiing high?

Here's lil Seymour ready to shred, for reference

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First off, your dog is so cute I think the only thing you would have to worry about is him getting stolen lol

Fr you should bring him on hikes and stuff so he is used to being beside you and then slowly work your way up to boot packing with him and then see how it goes
 
Cool dog, and awesome idea to let him rip with you. I have a red heeler and he’s a champ beside the bike, but it took some work. For obvious reasons, it’s safer to have him on my right side in the streets, so that’s the side he’s trained to stay on, and I think it’s easier to choose a side and stick with it. I would suggest just spending as much time as possible with him running alongside your bike, to get him accustomed to both A) the fact that he can’t dart out to chase a squirrel, sniff a tree, etc. and B) he has to keep pace with you and stay close. In my experience, it’s kind of a different skill for dogs to walk/hike beside you compared to running, maybe it’s some kind of “running with the pack” thing. Anyways, have fun, sounds sick.
 
Biggest thing is keeping him away from your edges, the last thing you want is to be waaay out in the backcountry with a bleeding dog that doesn't know what's going on.

I'd try skinning around with him in a flat valley, just walking along. Give him a quick pole wack if he tries to get close to your skis / nip at your skis / runs in front of you. Our dog was also taught the phrase "get in line" and she'll walk along the skin track in between skiers, helps when you don't want them running off or if you're going through skinny / sketchy terrain.
 
For sure train him up to being around your skis. My dog had to get to get a couple stitches. Same thing happened with my friends dog. Its super common for them to get right up on your skis and have a leg punch deeper than your ski putting the dogs led directly against your edge.

Also, until most dogs are at least a year old, they aren't developed, and can't do big treks. They will overwork themselves if you let them, and at a younger age it isn't good at all for them. So keep it really short and make sure you pay attention to overdoing it. Hopefully this isn't your first dog or first time doing work outdoors with a dog. If it is, just underdo it and don't get him injured. Be sure you're packing medical tape and gauze.

Most booties are difficult in deep snow because they get snow trapped inside of them and end up being worse then not having booties on the dog in the first place. If you look around online you can find ones that will work, but don't get the type that you can just find at petsmart. They need to be made specifically for this kind of thing. Same thing goes for chest protectors/vests. They can work but you have to make sure they are't packing snow inside.

**This post was edited on Oct 9th 2019 at 10:43:36pm
 
My pups hate booties and they often get lost in the snow anyway. We use Musher's Secret Paw Protection, which is a salve that you put in their paws so they don't get ice clumps. There are some brands that also make special beacons for dogs that are slimmed down feature-wise and are cheaper. If you're going in avy terrain, you may want that. Also, keeping them trained is paramount in that terrain since you don't want them dropping an avalanche on you.

I second what was said about being careful when they are young. Having them running downhill in the snow may hurt their shoulders if they aren't fully developed.

Enjoy the times out with your pup. It's awesome to see them so happy chasing you and bounding through pow.
 
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