Canine Recreational Activities

There are a lot of fun activities you can try with your canine companion. Some are more formal like obedience, agility, tracking, etc and some are just for fun. Although, a lot of the just for fun events do have ways to compete and earn titles if you are interested.

SKIJORING

Skijoring started in Alaska and Scandinavia where the musher would often ski beside the sled loaded with cargo. Skijoring combines the best of cross-country skiing with the exhilaration of dog-mushing. Having some skiing experience is a real plus especially how to balance on skis. No more than three dogs are used to pull the skier because it would become too dangerous to have more since the dogs are so powerful. Skijoring gives the human participant a chance to see what mushing is about without the cost and expensive of the large team required for sledding.

Although the Nordic breeds are more typical, any healthy and properly conditioned 35 lbs and over can be a skijoring dog if properly trained. Knowledge of basic obedience commands is a plus. As well as learning how to pull, gee (right) and haw (left) commands, and how to stop. Skijoring is relatively inexpensive if you already owns skiing equipment. Either downhill or cross-country skis may be used. A mushing dog harness (x-back or h-back), towline, and skijoring belt are also required.

Both the dog and owner will need to be conditioned as well as the dog needs to be used to wearing the harness for light drags and eventually moving on to wearing it while running beside the skis before moving onto the first skijoring run which should be an open area where the terrain is easy. If there is any question about your dog's health be sure to check with your veterinarian first.

BACKPACKING

Backpacking allows the owner to enjoy the outdoors with their canine companion. In this activity the dog carries its own load in a similar fashion to saddlebags used with horses. Any healthy dog over the age of one year can backpack provided the dog is healthy and in good condition. Dogs new to backpacking should never carry more than 20% of their total body weight eventually working up to 30% of their total body weight.