Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I spend a lot of time and energy hiking and backpacking in the summer.  I mean a lot.  This summer I managed to squeeze in over 500 km of hikes in just 14 weeks.  That's an average of over 35 km per week, which isn't too shabby considering I work 40 hours a week and am on-call every third weekend.  But it wasn't just me that was covering these great distances.  My longsuffering Morley mutt, Fender, was right by my side for every gruelling mile, despite the fact that he had both ACLs surgically corrected in 2010 and now has degenerative joint disease in his left elbow. 
As much as he and I love summer, we normally despise autumn.  Why?  Because in Kananaskis, October through December usually bring too much snow to hike but not quite enough to snowshoe.  And so for those three months of the year, we have to sit around and whimper and whine about the injustice of it all.
But not this year!  Mount Norquay ski hill opened today, and Nakiska is set to open on Saturday.  With ski hills experiencing their earliest openings in history, Fender and I are jumping up and down with excitement waiting to hit the snowshoe trails tomorrow!  Here are some tips on how to keep your four-legged companion safe, comfortable, and ethical during your winter outdoor adventures this season.

1. Keep your dog on a leash!  Always be mindful of whether you are traveling in an on-leash area.  Ignorance is no excuse in the sight of the law.  Even if there isn't a leash sign at your trailhead, it is up to you to know whether you are within a national or provincial park boundary. Parks staff heavily enforce the on-leash rule when you are within parks boundaries, and so they should!  Even if you have the world's best-behaved dog (and I do!), wildlife cannot tell the difference between good dogs and bad.  And wildlife take exception to even friendly dogs approaching them to say hello.  Parks staff have had to destroy numerous wild animals (not only bears and cougars but moose as well) that have become irritated with dogs off leash and have become aggressive towards hikers with dogs.  Keeping your dog on a leash helps protect wildlife from destruction by Parks staff.   And take it from me, conservation officers aren't shy about handing out $115 tickets to those of us who neglected to follow the leash rule.  Oops.
2. Bundle up your dog!  If the temperature outdoors is falling much below -10, your dog would feel much more comfortable in a winter coat.  Not only are canine coats great fashion accessories, they can dramatically improve your dog's ability to keep warm without shivering.  Shivering burns a lot of calories.  If your dog is having to keep himself warm through shivering, his stamina will be greatly decreased and he might not be able to keep up on long distances. 
   
3. Pay attention to the condition of the snow and have Fido wear boots.  Okay, I know I'm coming across as being a bit of a flake here.  I'm not normally one to dress up my dog, but snow with icy, crusty, or granular surfaces can actually do quite a lot of damage to our pets's paws.  I have seen countless abrasions between the pads of dogs' toes after the dog has gone hiking on sharp snow.  Having your dog wear boots in the ice and snow will also prevent snow from balling up between his toes and turning into painful ice balls.
4. Keep your pooch off the groomed trails!  Please keep your dogs away from groomed cross-country ski trails.  It's just good manners.  Dozens of doggy footprints in the snow might look cute to the owner of the pup who made them, but they wreak havoc on groomed ski tracks.  If you let your dog run all over the tracks, don't be surprised if you get scolded by the next cross-country ski enthusiast you see on the trail.  If you have your pup on a leash, it should be easy to keep him off the ski tracks!
5. Consider an avalanche beacon!  If you are recreating in avalanche country with your dog, consider outfitting him with an avalanche safety beacon.  Av beacons for dogs are made by the Pieps company, and are available for purchase from Mountain Equipment Co-op (www.mec.ca).  Of course, there is no point in having your dog wear an av beacon if you do not also have a receiver and the training to locate him in the event that he is swept away by an avalanche.  Affordable avalanche safety training is available through the University of Calgary.
6. Pick up after your dog!  This is common sense.  I realize its a lot harder to pick up in the snow, and oftentimes as soon as it is deposited it melts itself into disappearance, but think of what the trails would look like come spring melt if nobody cleaned up after their pet?  It is quite acceptable to bag the specimen and leave it off-trail but visible so that you can pick it up on your way back to the car and not have to pack it for your entire journey.  Just don't forget where you left it!

There are five hours and 45 minutes left in my work week.  As I sit in my office and look out the window at the snowflakes gently falling, I can't help hoping that the snowflakes are falling bigger and faster in Kananaskis.  I just can't wait to get out there and snowshoe with the world's best trail buddy!  I hope my readers can find time in their busy schedules to get out to the mountains with their dogs this weekend too.  Your dog will thank you for it!

Fender and I posing halfway up our ascent of Powderface Ridge last weekend. Fender in his winter coat and me all prepared with my bear spray, compass, whistle, flares, bear bangers, and my satellite messenger!