# Taking Our Dog Skiing



## LiquidGuy87

The girlfriend and I are the proud new parents of a Border Collie/Healer Mix puppy named Jackson. He's 11 weeks old, and growing up fast! We live in Fort Collins but spend nearly all of our free time in the mountains when we're not raising chickens or home-brewing. We ski quite a bit (mostly at there resorts) in the winter and were wondering about taking our dog with us in 3 or 4 months. I have friends that do this, but everywhere I have read it says it's a REALLY bad idea to keep your dog in a cold car. The way the friends do it is they have an external battery to power a heating pad in the dogs crate. They keep water accessible, and simply come down from the mountain every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to check on the dog. I would think that this heating pad idea would be sufficiently warm for a dog, especially while in a self contained crate. We're extremely responsible parents and want to do the right thing for our baby Thanks in advance for your thoughts!


----------



## catfishjon

dont know what kind of pass you have, but i ski the basin when i want to to bring my pup. the lot is super accessible. i can check on her very easily. it is also very dog friendly. i would say getting her out of the car and running around is better for warmth than anything. the heating pad sound cool too. where do you get one. might want to check it out. the best option i think is doggy daycare.. there is a great one in summit county. although it costs $30, it is totally worth it sometimes.


----------



## caspermike

yeh mike. me and brit have a 13 week old sheltie/ border collie mix. the heating pad sounds like a good idea. how much does one of those run? and what could happen if the pup chews it up?


----------



## goldcamp

We used to bring our Australian Shepard with us and would keep him in a crate and put a big thick blanket over it. The idea was that it would be like a tent and keep the heat in. He decided out of boredom to pull the blanket into the crate and destroy it. He ended up with a big fluffy pile in his crate which worked great to make it more comfortable and warm. I don't think a heating blanket is neccessary but certainely not a bad idea. He never seemed to be cold. If there is any sun at all the car probably warms up by 20 degrees or so. We left a thermometer in the car once and it was remarkably warm when we got back. Any way you look at he would have rather been with us than sitting at home.


----------



## Phillips

I leave my dog at home when I'm going to resorts. It's warm and she's got a doggie door. It doesn't feel right to me to leave a dog in a car. On the other hand I always take her when I'm heading into the BC. She loves it. Don't recommend taking your dog into the BC until at least a year old. The border collie in him/her may make her/him want to chase and "round you up". Hard to break dogs of this. Easy for them to get cut on an edge. Real dangerous stuff. Could possibly bleed out before you got back to car if artery was hit. Not to be a bummer, but I've heard of this happening before. Anyway congrats on your new pup. They are tons of fun and quite the responsibility. Your life will change. . . 



LiquidGuy87 said:


> The girlfriend and I are the proud new parents of a Border Collie/Healer Mix puppy named Jackson. He's 11 weeks old, and growing up fast! We live in Fort Collins but spend nearly all of our free time in the mountains when we're not raising chickens or home-brewing. We ski quite a bit (mostly at there resorts) in the winter and were wondering about taking our dog with us in 3 or 4 months. I have friends that do this, but everywhere I have read it says it's a REALLY bad idea to keep your dog in a cold car. The way the friends do it is they have an external battery to power a heating pad in the dogs crate. They keep water accessible, and simply come down from the mountain every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to check on the dog. I would think that this heating pad idea would be sufficiently warm for a dog, especially while in a self contained crate. We're extremely responsible parents and want to do the right thing for our baby Thanks in advance for your thoughts!


----------



## DanOrion

We've given our dogs a HUGE stack of old blankets and sleeping bags from the Goodwill to nest in. Dogs have been happy down to about zero and they are short-haired. Feeding the pup some high-quality treats helps to keep the furnace stoked while you're away making turns.

I like the heating pad concept, although I'd be a bit nervous about the chew factor and leaving anything that *could* start a fire near the pups.


----------



## millerS

Mike, you're a dirty hippie! Tell Jackson to sack up and hit the slopes, ha ha just kidding hope to see the family out there! I like the idea of the heat pad, but the potential fire risks and chew factor would scare me. So I think that I would just bring the crate and bed with extra blankets and let him out to run every once in a while to burn off some energy and so he doesn't get bored! Best of luck with the little guy!

When do I get to try some of this said beer?


----------



## Canada

*The down side*

Many of you met brooke, (the chocolate lab that many joked was my girlfriend in my single days). She came boating with me and skiing with me on every trip we made from the time I purchased her to the time she passed away from cancer 12 years later. 

One day I came back to my car at the keystone lot to find the air let out of my tires, my windows scrathed and notes written on napkins telling me that my dog was overheating in my car. (despite water in the back and a high that day of 32#. Beware what an idiot will do if you leave your dog in the lot. Still makes me mad to think about it. The vandalism to my car was pretty hard to absorb and afford at that point in my life.


----------



## junkshowriverchick

ew, canada thats pretty shitty that people would do that in the winter. i take my dog everywhere with me 3/4 of the year and he chills in the car when im doing stuff...he'd rather be there than at home. hank is a pretty laid back cat...er, dog.

granted, in the summer, i have seen dogs in cars while ive gone into stores for awhile, and if they are still in the car when i come back outside ive gone back in and had the store employees announce over the loudspeaker 'will the owner of the green ford taurus with the beagle suffering from heat stroke please come to the front'!
ya just cant do it in the summer. way too hot in those cars.

and OP- with a pup or any new dog, make sure you can trust him in your car before leaving him unattended, just like in your house or any other place. i used to foster pit bulls and i made the mistake of leaving an adult female in the car for like 10 minutes. chewed UP my tercel's nice interior and other items...


----------



## sgleason

We take our dog (border collie/lab mix) most days to the mountain. We live in Bend and ski at Mt. Bachelor, so we try to get there early and skin up the cone before we start riding lifts or play ball with her before we take off. We keep her in the crate with a blanket and water and toys. We usually fill a kong with treats to give her something to work on while we ski. Often, we still crack the window open because it gets too hot for her. If the sun is out, then she stays plenty warm. 

Anyhow, she loves to go ski with us. I took her on Sunday, and she was so excited to be back on snow. She does tend to follow too closely on the way down. This summer I took a tumble and she was jabbed with the tip of my ski pole. It cut her pretty good (required staples), but she is super tough. Didn't even cry nor slow down.

Have fun...your pups going to be pretty active!


----------



## SSOWDEN

*why*

I am with phillips on this one, why coop your dog up in the car while you are at the resort? Do you keep them in your car while at work during the week? 
Take 'em backcounty, although they tend to put holes in your wax track, bring a spray bottle of pam or something for long hair dogs. I ended up carrying my first Luke down steamboat after a hogan park trek because he high centered.


----------



## goldcamp

*Why*

My ski days are typically 10-12 hours, longer than I leave my dog during work. There is usually 3-4 hours in the car during that time where he can be with us. He truely does live for our love and affection and would rather be spend that 3-4 hours with us than 10-12 alone. Plus he gets to run around a little bit in a new environment which is more fun for him then my back yard. Plus I enjoy spending time with him.


----------



## class 3 felon

Let him haul in The Backcountry with ya' remember the first aid kit and stay ahead of him


----------



## jmetten

Yo Mike/Liz,

Abasin or the Challenger Lot at Mary Jane is the place for dogs. They can chill in the car (no different than them sleeping in your living room at home) while you ski a few laps. Then come back for brews, lunch, or whatever and let the dog run around. As for backcountry, I have had trouble with Nokhu in deep snow, he postholes and can't keep up. Awesome during corn harvesting season though, if your dog ends up anything like mine (hyperactive herder) he will chase the first person down and then run back up to chase the second. Take him up snowshoeing or on a tour to get a feel for how he does in the snow!


----------



## LiquidGuy87

Thanks a lot for all the input guys! All of this is super helpful. A-basin is gonna be my resort of choice this year. As for backcountry, we'll take him snow-shoeing like Josh said and see how he does! Hopefully see all of you up! Look out for the Volvo with a fatty rack and a cute dog inside this winter at A-basin!


----------



## Canada

I bought some boots for my dogs when working the back country. Maybe more of an issue with labs, but had some split pads on ice. 

Have fun!


----------



## El Flaco

class 3 felon said:


> Let him haul in The Backcountry with ya' remember the first aid kit and stay ahead of him


Yeah, be very careful about where they are while you're skiing. My old Malamute used to love going backcountry with us, but he got a little ahead of us on a packed out section on Bethoud and cut across my buddy's line, who couldn't quite avoid him - he ended up getting sliced in the leg and getting stitches. It almost severed a tendon- nicked it, but luckily it didn't sever it. THAT would have been super traumatic and very expensive....


----------



## class 3 felon

Yup, can't agree more Flaco. Hit the Hanna Bear one day and had to get her stiched up and almost cut through the tendon in her leg. She was ahead of me and turn back into me as I was cutting away from the direction I "thought" she was going. Also lost Barkley, King of the Black Bastards, one day up on top of Loveland Pass. He followed after a friend of mine who took off before me and when I got to the bottom he was there without the dog. He didn't realize that Barkley was behind him. In big powder it's a lot of work for them to run through that stuff and you have to stop and give them rests. Their running and your just gliding. I'd say I've learned to do a few runs to let the dog's have fun but you have to remember them during those runs. If you wanna go hard leave the dog in the car.


----------

