Taking Dogs in the B.C.?

And some dogs learn that faster than others (hence some slower...). Agreed that you need to invest training time - at it helps to have an open enough slope that you have lots of options for adjusting to where your dog has gone while you work to teach him/her that you turn rather than go straight, and that the dog CAN'T get near the skis. I've found tone of voice to help a lot with the three dogs I've taught to ski with me.

I also keep my dogs fit all year 'round by hiking on weekends and lots of long mid-week hilly walks, so for me the test of whether it's too much has been fairly easy - are they postholing more than infrequently? If not, they've shown that they're able to keep up with us when the footing is good (as measured by how they seem that evening and the next day - did they stiffen up, are they up for more action, etc). If they are, it's the wrong day or wrong route for them. One caveat on this rule - a day or hours old uptrack in deep powder will generally have set up enough to support a dog's paw, but if you take a different route down you may have committed the dog to a LOT of wallowing especially if it's not so steep (my dogs have aways loved steep and deep, just like us - they just hop like rabbits down the hill). On the other hand, if you're following close to your uptrack your dog may be bright enough to follow it rather than your downtrack (I had one dog who did this, but got a little stressed and barked as he ran down if we got out of sight for little bits where we veered off the track, but he knew where we were going and just keep tooling and met us around the bend).

I believe, and strongly so, that you cannot teach a dog to not harrass wildlife. It's at the very core of their nature.

I few years ago I was on a trip with 4 guys and 1 dog, and the dog got into it with a porcupine. Bit right into it, and had 30-40 quills stuck all over its face, including many quills stuck inside its mouth. I have since learned that pocipine quills can be removed by cutting off a bit of the end (say 1/2 to 1 inch or so) and supposedly the barbs on the quill will then retract and it will come out easy. Instead it was 3 guys desperately trying to hold down the dog while the 4th was painfully pulling them out with a leatherman. Have you ever tried to hold open a dog's jaw? Not easy, and those teeth are sharp!

Perhaps there are some dogs that are trained well enough to not bother the other animals, but i'm skeptical. Put yourself in the dog's shoes: What would you rather do, listen to that master dude saying "No!" for the eleventy millonth time, or get to chase after a fat-ass marmot?

Corey is right. Today on Ellinor as I crested the top, several goats were loitering casually including a calf. They are apparently comfortable with visitors and made no attempt to flee. I did not have my dog with me, but my last two dogs were well trained and well behaved but neither would have resisted the K9 impulse to kill the calf. Not a wildlife interaction I would enjoy.

I think it depends on the dog and the amount of training.

My current dog (a mystery breed) has turned out to be surprising well behaved with wildlife -- far exceeding my expectations.

Earlier this year I was touring up the Henry creek valley and I heard my dog make excited barks up ahead -- I whistled and called her and she returned -- very excited and kept wanting to return to the source of the excitement. I need to keep commanding her to stay with me -- and she did -- and in another hundred feet -- I got to see what the excitement was all about -- a porcupine!!

I was amazed -- previous dogs of my have gotten snouts full of quills and have had run is with skunks (which is worse for the humans -- the ride home is something else!!)

So -- if you are able to train your dog to respond reliably to your voice commands -- even in the face the excitement of a wild animal -- you can let them off leash with less worry.

An off-leash dog park where there are lots of dogs to distract your pooch is a good place to test your dog's training.

I think it depends on the dog and the amount of training.

An off-leash dog park where there are lots of dogs to distract your pooch is a good place to test your dog's training.

We would take our dog on a regular basis to Marymore Park and let him run, socialize, play, etc... I think that is the best thing you can do for your dog if you want him to be friendly with other dogs.

Hi Snow Bell 

Today on Ellinor as I crested the top, several goats were loitering casually including a calf.  They are apparently comfortable with visitors and made no attempt to flee.  I did not have my dog with me, but my last two dogs were well trained and well behaved but neither would have resisted the K9 impulse to kill the calf.

I've heard of mountain goats raising baby elks, but it's rare.   Or, do you mean a "kid", as in a baby goat, by any chance?    Sorry!