Touring with a Dog for the first time

Hi All,

I've done a handful of searches, but couldn't find this information, so if it's out there, forgive me and I'd appreciate a point in the right direction.

I'm looking for a guide or tips/ tricks to skiing with a dog (specifically a puppy). My lab Bo is about 6 months old, and I'd like to get him started on some short tours over the next few months. I've never toured with a dog before but I'm aware of some of the issues. One specific question is what people do to be cautious with metal edges around the dog. Has anyone used those boot things they sell at places like REI?

I'll keep this fairly open ended, so even if people have suggestions of places and just simple advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

-F

Talk to your vet about when it's OK to have the dog running with you (which it will do if you are touring for turns). In my understanding, this varies by breed, but there is a period while their growth plates are still forming when you want to avoid things like jogging with your dog - it will help ensure they are as sturdy as possible for the long haul.

Metal edges can cut a dog's leg well above where any booties I've seen will cover. So you just need to have everyone who is skiing with you alert to the possibility, and they need to prioritize not cutting the dog over fininshing the line they've just picked. Some dogs pick up on the fact that you turn back and forth quicker than others so YOU need to pick up on where the dog is heading while it's running alongside you.

Postholing can be very hard on dogs' hips/backs, but the problems may not show up for years until you have an older dog with bad back pain. Most want nothing more than to stick with you and please you, so it's not fair to the dog to assume that just because they're keeping up everything is cool. On some days/tours it's just better to not bring the dog along, IMO. Or choose a route that has snowmobile roads or that already has a well-sintered uptrack by the time you start (and which you follow closely on the descent so the dog has a choice of staying in it - that's what my dog Max used to do on powder days, but he knew that even if we'd veer away from the track for a few hundred yards we're rejoin it, though he barked the whole time we separated as he kept running down it). Which reminds me - when we'd yo-yo with him, we'd usually drop some gear at the bottom and he nearly always chose to curl up and rest by the gear as he knew we'd be back and he seemed content to have already climbed/descened that slope ONCE. Our other dog Sasha would follow us for every last run.


I'm sure others have other great tips including poop management 

Large dogs growth plates are not ready until 18months. Check with your vet about your dogs breed, but as Jim stated your dog may sustain injuries that won't show up for a few years as back, hip or leg problems.

We have a 4 month old german shepard pup. Can't wait to get her skiing with us. Hardest part will be leaving her at home this winter. Will probably take her to hyak mid-week for a 200-300 yard tour just to get her into the idea of snow and skiing, these trips will probably take a couple hours and will not be much related to skiing, focus on dog walking and obedience.
Personally, I don't like touring with most (not all) dogs due to poop (owner management of, can't blame the dog), messing up the skin track, getting tangled up in my legs while skiing and general dog appropriate behavior. I have a buddy in JH whose sister is a vet, she puts together 1-2 dogs a week who get cut by skis at Teton Pass, good money for her, but a hell of a thing to do an animal. A friend who runs avy dogs in Canada claims the dullest edges on the hill since he files his round to spare the dog when dog is running between legs in a snow plow.
One of my personal challenges will be to create a ski dog I want to ski with. Will let you know in a couple years if I am successful.

My dog has been cut a few times by ski edges. I obviously wasn't skiing fast enough. Booties would have only prevented one of the cuts. I used booties years ago, but only when her feet needed a break from the sharp snow. They are kinda spendy, get lost fast, and I take her out regularly enough that her feet are tough enough now. I carry super glue and have used it succesfully twice to close cuts.

FWIW, I have heard of, but fortunately have not been involved with, ski cuts to dogs' legs that manage to damage a tendon. Which is where my advice to pay more attention to where the dog is than what line you want to complete came from...

Fortunately we only perpetrated one skin-only cut on one of our dogs early in our time skiing with them, and after that were super careful and perhaps a bit lucky too. And perhaps the dog who was cut also learned a lesson that day, though we skied with other dogs since, some of whom were not at all savvy about running next to skiers, and somehow managed to avoid cutting them as well. I'd usually ski out first as the "dog magnet" and keep good periperhal awareness of where the dog was, and just plain stop if the dog was getting to close, regardless of how much of a bummer it was to stop in the middle of the line. One case where "first tracks" was not always as good as it sounded.