UKH

Hi

Does anyone else on here ski tour with their pooch?

My dog loves it but we haven’t been too adventurous yet. We saw lots of other people touring with their dogs on the rando tracks at Morgins, Portes Du Soleil. 

Has anyone got any tips? I have a waist leash and carry her if we end up skiing down a piste. 

In reply to joeydurkin:

My dog would end up under my skis! I have seen people doing it very successfully. I guess it's just a case of taking it carefully and training the dog to stay well away from the skis. Mine would try to catch my skis!! lol

In reply to joeydurkin:

Hi dude.

Long time no see. 

We used to take Rueben (Springer Spaniel) with us when we went skiing in the Lecht etc, not huge distances but he was always fine with the cold and didn't stray under/in front of the ski's. With regards to carrying yours, what size/breed of dog is it? I have seen people with dog backpacks but I guess if your hauling a Rottie then it might be a challenge.

In reply to adamholden:

Backpacks for dogs to wear or be carried in?

In reply to joeydurkin:

My dog, a collie/retriever X used to x-country ski with me over several miles on the North Yorkshire moors.  I assume she enjoyed it, although I'd suspect she would have preferred a long run or walk over a smelly footpath.

The only issue I can recall was in soft despise snow.  I'd stay on the surface, mostly, she'd sometimes sink!  But the situation was often me doing the sinking and she on the surface,!!

Dogs may also get snow balls on their underneath or legs.

In reply to Billhook:

We hooked up with a couple of French guys on the Haute route and they were doing a traverse of the Alps with their dog Stupe.  Stupe had his own rucksack/harness with avalanche transceiver, dog bowl, clip in point etc which he carried.  He was first up the plateau du couloir!  Seb would skin up on approach skis then snowboard down with stupe across his sack and shoulders.  Very impressive.  Stupe unfortunately got a bit of snow blindness on the Otemma glacier and we took him back to Cham so Seb could carry on the traverse.

In reply to adamholden: she is a cross about collie size 12kg she would hate/wouldn’t stay in a backpack. Carrying when I ski down isn’t a problem it I would prefer to stay away from pistes and other skiers  

In reply to Billhook: mine seems to love jumping in soft snow. She doesn’t seem to understand energy conservation and will jump straight into powder  

In reply to Guy: that is amazing. I am a bit worried about the snow blindness. If I need goggles because of the wind then I figure it’s too wild for the dog because I don’t think I have a chance of keeping goggle on her  

In reply to Removed Usercapoap: she has long hair, so I put a fleece on here that seems to stop the worst balling, as I agree removing them is a nightmare. 

In reply to joeydurkin:

I've never heard of snow blindness being an issue.  We've an old sled dog and the team she worked on did 40km a day in bright snowy conditions and none of the dogs ever had goggles.

In reply to joeydurkin:

It was an exceptionally long day in initially very hot sunny weather.  We had gone straight from the Valsorey hut to the Bouquetins and bypassed the Chanrion and Vignettes because they were full.  The Otemma glacier was a furnace and then the weather closed in and we had a full on blizzard that put down 50+cm of snow over 36 hours.  Stupe did have goggles but like you say I think he shook them off.  He wasn't distressed but was obviously slightly uncomfortable so we took him home .

In reply to joeydurkin:

I've skied with a dog in the group on a few occasions. One was a XC ski trip over Hill of Fare (Deeside) when some friends had a dog they were looking after while its owners were away. The dog was clearly not used to ski & spend much of the time trying to balance on its 'master's' skis - quite comical to watch & more or less successful as we were travelling quite slowly most of the time.

Another was in the Alps with someone who is a guide & brought his puppy - some form of Pyrenean patou already quite big even if still young. The dog was clearly used to being out in the snow & just walked/run along us & seemed to enjoy the downhill (powder but not deep). For the flat Cyrille had the dog on a leash to pull him along while I struggled to keep up

In reply to joeydurkin:

Hey Joey

My friend and I took his dog ski touring when she was a pup. She would go for the tips of our skis and I was terrified of hurting her. She loved the day out though and wore a little coat to keep her warm.

In reference to snow blindness...

https://doggles.uk.com/doggles-hints-tips.html

In reply to joeydurkin:

Since we have our crossbreed (seven years now) my wife is faster than me on ski

He is about 25 kilos, unknown origin and he loves (not only) ski trips. He survived with me dozens of bivouacs, quite lot in the snow and he is nice heating when he is a bit cold and snuggle in the night

He must be on the leash all the time because he vas hunting before he got to dog shelter and the whole ski training took us only few trips though he was already adult

Don't be afraid to be adveturous. Dogs are tough and love to stay outdoors

In reply to joeydurkin:

I used to, but she's too old now. Going up was no bother, nor was traversing.

Downhill, I'd tell her to sit till I was far enough away so she was playing catch up, then off we went.

She's the best collie. And they're hard a s nails. De-ice the feet every now and then and happy days.

In reply to joeydurkin:

The labrador loves it but is apt to knock you over with enthusiasm on the downhills. The corgi had to go in the rucksack as she kept bottoming out - legs are too short! Just local stuff on a nice day mind, not hut to hutting in the alps.

Thanks for the replays. Great to hear other people are out there enjoying touring with a 4 legged fury friend.