Well, today we've done lead walking, sit, staying out of the kitchen, sharing, leaving and Willow relaxing while Shadow has lessons. The next, and one of the most important, lessons is going to happen later this evening. Our local pub has opened for the ski season, so it's a lesson in how to settle in the bar. Any suggestions on how us humans should spend our time whilst teaching this valuable lesson would be most welcome
Re: Training time... Oh gosh Fiona.... Do they have Wi-Fi? You are going to be SO bored I do hope there will be someone there to keep you company. 8)
Re: Training time... Umm talking to anyone who will listen (probably everyone there) about ski-ing. Sooooo can't wait to get our ski's on this season...only about 32 sleeps
Re: Training time... [quote author=Edp link=topic=8872.msg126136#msg126136 date=1416766176] Umm talking to anyone who will listen (probably everyone there) about ski-ing. Sooooo can't wait to get our ski's on this season...only about 32 sleeps [/quote] Ooh, where are you skiing? I was trying on new boots today. A real issue for me because I have tiny feet (UK size 2.5) and need a high-end boot. There's not much demand so NO-ONE stocks them. I found a pair that fitted - yey! - but my friend, who has the same size feet as me, had seen them first and there was only one pair, so she walked away with them. Now I have to wait to see if they can get a pair in for me, too, otherwise, back to wearing my flippers...
Re: Training time... Pretty soon I should be able to get on the trails round here...none of that downhill stuff for me, I stick to the cross-country and I love it! Harder to do, now that I have to take the pooch for walkies, somehow not enough time in the day to do it all, as I can't take him with me, drat....
Re: Training time... Lisa you could take up Skijoring. with him?you know the cross country skiing with dogs thing?! The Canicross sites usually cover training for it, looks great fun for dog and human? I shudder at the thought of Brods seeing a deer while Skijoring with me after a recent incident running with him and cuilli attached to me and they saw a fox on the other side of the loch ( nearly invented the new sport of waterskiing with dogs instead of a speedboat...) but that aside looks fab!
Re: Training time... Just curious. we're planning to live somewhere cold. do dogs wear sweaters? shoes for walking on frozen lakes to protect their feet. Frozen lakes aren't smooth. Could be 25 to 30 below. Celsius and fahrenheit kissed for a couple of days last year. It sounds odd, but we're sick of the rain on Canada's west coast. My wife won't learn Spanish, so we're moving north instead.
Re: Training time... It doesn't generally get that cold here. It's generally around -10C average over the season, although we have had seasons where it's been consistently -20c and even weeks at -50C It really depends on the breed of dog as to whether they wear coats. I've seen some short-haired breeds like Staffies wearing them, but never a labrador. The Bernese mountain dog we played with yesterday would never need one Cocker spaniels can have issues with the hair on their feet getting clogged up with snow and ice, so they sometimes wear boots to stop that happening. But your conditions in Canada, especially on the east coast, are a little more extreme than ours here, so I think you'd need to take more local advice
Re: Training time... We live in Idaho an in a snow belt - so we often get several FEET of snow at a time, and once it comes down...it's here until spring. : Temperatures throughout the winter generally don't get above 40F (5C), and the overnights routinely stay in the 20F (-4C), with cold snaps that dip as low as -15F (-26C) and stay there for a few days... It's cold...but manageable. I have Anatolian Shephards (Livestock gaurdians) to look after my farm critters - and for the most part they just stay outside. They tend to bed down in the barn with the goats, snuggled up into the cuddle pile, or near by in their own little hay nest....but I do offer them the opportunity to come in the house if they wish. Usually they get too hot being inside, so they head back out after a while. No worries about frozen toes or the like - and their fur is plenty insulating. My old girl that we lost nearly a year ago now...I would allow her to stay in the house anytime it was 15F (-9C) or below...and she would take advantage of it. Now my house dog - Bella and her predecessor Izzy stay in the house except for potty and play time....and don't generally have issues with getting cold or with snow collecting in their pads. Izzy would play outside in the snow chasing her "blue toy" which didn't collect so much snow as a ball....until she was just panting and would go and stretch her belly out on the snow bank. I never bothered with a coat for her...as we weren't outside for all that long...and most of the time we were playing so she was generating heat. I suspect Bella will have short outside play time this winter, and as she's still such a little thing, she won't be out there unsupervised - so I doubt she'll get very cold.
