Dog Questions

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corlay
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:13 pm
Location: central NY
Ski style: Woodland XC-BC tours
Favorite Skis: Asnes Gamme 54, Fischer Transnordic 66, Fischer Traverse 78; Madshus Birke Beiner, Peltonen METSA
Favorite boots: Crispi Norland Hook BC, Fischer BC Grand Tour

Re: Dog Questions

Post by corlay » Mon Jan 31, 2022 12:25 pm

corlay wrote:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:43 am
Musher's Secret to the rescue?
So, I had a tur with the Pup this weekend.

Decided to do a tur as opposite from the previous nighttime/woods as possible,
so Golf Course and Daytime.

The Musher's seemed to work pretty well.

I used it sparingly, to try and get a sense of how liberal an application was required - no more/no less.
About 40min in, we stopped and I checked his feet - there were a few small ice balls in his front paws, but nothing like the jam-packed ice he had the other night. I cleaned them out, applied a bit more Musher's (in-beween toes this time) and we were off an running.

Thanks for all of the advice.

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fisheater
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Location: Oakland County, MI
Ski style: All my own, and age doesn't help
Favorite Skis: Gamme 54, Falketind 62, I hope to add a third soon
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Occupation: Construction Manager

Re: Dog Questions

Post by fisheater » Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:36 pm

randoskier wrote:
Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:55 am
These dogs can really pull, I was a bit surprised as I usually see Malamutes or Greenland dogs pulling in Norway. These guys were fast with both pulk and person. They belong to two Norwegian couples that I shared a cabin with and are their hunting dogs, a German breed if I remember correctly.
German Wire Hair Pointers, I’m sure the German name is better.



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randoskier
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Re: Dog Questions

Post by randoskier » Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:08 pm

fisheater wrote:
Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:36 pm
randoskier wrote:
Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:55 am
These dogs can really pull, I was a bit surprised as I usually see Malamutes or Greenland dogs pulling in Norway. These guys were fast with both pulk and person. They belong to two Norwegian couples that I shared a cabin with and are their hunting dogs, a German breed if I remember correctly.
German Wire Hair Pointers, I’m sure the German name is better.
Jawohl; Deutscher Drahthaarterrier

I nice thing in Norway for dog-lovers- The DNT (trekking association) cabins normally havea separate cabin for dog owners, so you can bring your dog on your ski or trekking tour. They normally have two cabins on a site for a couple of reasons- one for the dog-friendly cabin which prevents allergies and other issues with the people travelling without dogs, and secondly; as a safety cabin in case the other one burns down, important because most of these cabins are quite far from any road.



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randoskier
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Re: Dog Questions

Post by randoskier » Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:21 pm

randoskier wrote:
Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:08 pm
fisheater wrote:
Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:36 pm
randoskier wrote:
Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:55 am
These dogs can really pull, I was a bit surprised as I usually see Malamutes or Greenland dogs pulling in Norway. These guys were fast with both pulk and person. They belong to two Norwegian couples that I shared a cabin with and are their hunting dogs, a German breed if I remember correctly.
German Wire Hair Pointers, I’m sure the German name is better.
Jawohl; Deutscher Drahthaarterrier

A nice thing in Norway for dog-lovers- The DNT (trekking association) cabins normally havea separate cabin for dog owners, so you can bring your dog on your ski or trekking tour. They normally have two cabins on a site for a couple of reasons- one for the dog-friendly cabin which prevents allergies and other issues with the people travelling without dogs, and secondly; as a safety cabin in case the other one burns down, important because most of these cabins are quite far from any road.



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Cannatonic
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Re: Dog Questions

Post by Cannatonic » Tue Feb 01, 2022 9:37 pm

I can add another 1st-hand account of a dog getting injured. I put a massive laceration into my 1st german shepherd's front leg while snowboarding, doing jump-turns down steep terrain. She was super-excited for the run and for some reason made jumping attacks toward the snowboard. She had gone with me a half-dozen times before with no problems so I didn't expect it. She had always stayed well behind me.

I got incredibly lucky as the cut was "superficial" and didn't hit any ligaments or tendons, but it was frightful. I felt massive guilt and regret and still do to this day. Had to follow me down 1500 vertical with leg slashed open and bleeding. I"m lucky it didn't break the bone, it could have been so much worse. I was woefully unprepared for it, didn't even have duct tape to wrap it for the descent. I ended up having to drive 2 hours from Rangeley, Maine down to the ER vet where we waited another 2 hours to get a couple staples in it, then drive 2 hours back to Rangeley to meet my friends.

It totally depends on the dog and if they know to stay away from your feet. It's a training and personality issue. I've skiied many XC miles with dogs with metal edges with no incidents, but many close calls. My current dog is terrible and likes to get in front of people while XC skiing. I have the Breidablikk from Asnes and would like to get Finnmark as well. The 3/4 edged skis are a good option too - in XC skking most of the collisions with dogs' legs are with the tips & tails so 3/4 edged skis prevent most of the problem.

The smartest move is to leave your dog behind for alpine tours and descents IMO. Take them on XC trip instead. A friend of mine's dog blew her cruciate ligament in the Teton backcountry. It's risky for dogs to do alpine descents. If your dog's there that should be the main focus in your mind while you're descending, knowing where they are & making sure they're in a safe position. Spring corn or consolidated snow is much better for their joints & knees than post-holing or deep pow
"All wisdom is to be gained through suffering"
-Will Lange (quoting Inuit chieftan)



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Woodsbum
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Re: Dog Questions

Post by Woodsbum » Sat Feb 05, 2022 7:32 am

wabene wrote:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:22 am
"A splitboarder gal I know accidentally slashed her pup's achilles tendon in the backcountry. Difficult evac, and the dog was never able to walk/run the same after that."
Yikes this is sobering. I would feel just horrible. Maybe it's time to detune the edges on my newish M62's.
This thread has made me think (on a Saturday no less!). My pup respects the situation when things get steep and stays well behind me but, there are situations which now seem more risky than I was thinking.

What is meant by "detuning" edges? What will I lose? What's the best way to do this?



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fisheater
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Location: Oakland County, MI
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Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska, Alico Ski March
Occupation: Construction Manager

Re: Dog Questions

Post by fisheater » Sat Feb 05, 2022 8:22 am

Detuning is typically accomplished by rubbing a rubber “gummy” stone on the edges from the tip, and from the tail. It is typically to make a ski less hooky. I find maybe about 8” on the tail, I only go about 6” from where the tip turns up.
I don’t use my rubber stone much, it’s from my tool shop days almost 40 years ago. It grew some legs and ran away from home, either that or it’s really good at hiding! I didn’t by another rubber stone, I just started using a new Scothbrite pad for detuning. It works good. Pay attention to progress while detuning, Scotchbrite is an efficient abrasive. You are only trying to round the edge a bit. Detuning is a smaller breaking of the corner then a corner bevel when making parts and tools out of steel.
Last edited by fisheater on Sat Feb 05, 2022 8:25 am, edited 1 time in total.



User avatar
Woodsbum
Posts: 22
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:38 am
Location: Vermont
Ski style: 13th century Norwegian
Favorite Skis: Altai Hoks
Favorite boots: Asolo New Snowfields
Occupation: Yes

Re: Dog Questions

Post by Woodsbum » Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:58 pm

Thanks, Fisheater. I'll put Scotchbrites on the shopping list.



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rickjamesbrown
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Re: Dog Questions

Post by rickjamesbrown » Sun Feb 06, 2022 2:40 pm

I've been skiing a lot with my dog this season. Somewhat new to the sport, and currently only have one ski - the Madshus Panorama Intelligrip M62 (from this forum I gather this used to be called the Eon). My dog is an australian shepherd, and especially when I'm skiing with my partner, she tends to go between the two of us a lot rather than stay ahead of us or behind us. I assume it's the whole herding thing with those dogs. I've had a couple close calls where I've almost run into her with the skis on a downhill, but luckily no injuries yet.

I generally like these skis, though after reading more on this forum and also skiing them a lot, I think I ideally would have preferred something with a stiffer camber. I think they're more downhill oriented, and that's not quite the terrain I'm skiing (hiking trails without a ton of steep hills, but every now and then something steep). They're also completely useless in fresh fallen snow (at least where I am - finger lakes region of NY). They just sink if it's more than a few inches, and then they're super inefficient snow shoes at that point. After a fresh snowfall, I have to follow snowmobile tracks/other ski tracks, or it's no fun at all. It's pretty easy to count on snowmobile tracks soon after a snowfall around here, but some of my favorite ski trails (where there's no snowmobile traffic) take a bit for others to break trail.

What I'm thinking is for my next ski, maybe "kill two birds" by getting one of the Asnes non-metal edged skis that's also good on fresh fallen snow, since there's not really much need for a metal edge in those cases. Was thinking either the Breidablikk BC, or the Finnmark BC. From what I've been reading here, the former is an edgeless Ingstad, and the latter is an edgeless Gamme. What's better in deepish (5+ inches) fresh fallen snow - the Breidablikk/Ingstad, or the Finnmark/Gamme? Especially considering most of what I ski is mild terrain, and what I mean by "better" is mostly that I am kicking and gliding, rather than essentially snowshoeing. If that makes sense.



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