Before we get to winter sports that you can do with your four-legged buddies it’s good to remember the care that you shouldn’t forget about in this period.
If your dog is short-haired, dress them for the outdoors in an adequate winter outfit – especially when the temperature drops to zero. If the dog’s paws come into contact with thawing salt, wash them with lukewarm water after you come home. You can also treat them beforehand with a special protective product.
And of course, give good consideration to the physical fitness of your furry friend, and if it’s not used to long training even at more favourable conditions, start with winter sports slowly. Rather do the sport’s activity several times a day for a shorter period of time than once for long. You can gradually increase the training time and take from its frequency.
Skijöring – you’ll stretch both your body and your dog’s body
At a cottage, on a mountain holiday... Just anywhere where the snow terrain allows it, try skijöring, that is cross-country skiing together with the dog. This sport belongs to the category of those, that strengthen the relationship of the owner and the dog, and at the same time, skijöring requires their coordination. It’s also a condition that the dog be strictly disciplined.
In skijöring, the dog runs harnessed in a special strap in front of its master, who is following it on cross-country skis. This winter activity will be appreciated not only by Nordic breeds, but also by hunting breeds. Summer equivalent to skijöring is the modern canicross, when dog and human run together. Also joined by a strap.
Mushing – sport for the demanding ones
Mushing, or dog sledding, is not something that you should do with your dog only once. It’s rather a long-term hobby that requires real discipline. You surely know pictures and videos from mushing: a harnessed dog pack carries a dog handler on the connected sled. Nordic breeds are best suited for this sport.
With a medium-sized, fit dog (or even a pack) you can try a version of mushing and perhaps harness them to a sleigh that you or your children will ride on. However, the dogs must be disciplined, obedient and trained.
What else can you do?
In winter, you can continue even with sports that you’re used to from the previous months. If your dog fell in love, for example, with dogfrisbee, indulge it in its favourite activity even in the snow. Do you set out for running together? You don’t have to stop even in the winter. Just make sure that you switch to doing sports at low temperatures gradually and that the dog’s paws don’t suffer from thawing salt.
Do you do sports in the winter with your dog? How much time do you spend outside?
Doing yoga with a dog, or doga in other words (the combination of “dog” and “yoga”), has become popular in the United States of America, but it has not become so popular in the Czech Republic yet. What is it about and what benefits does this sport have...
Earlier, this heart disease was attributed only to certain pure-blood breeds. Nowadays, it can even occur in cross-breeds. Another disease which reminds us of how important regular preventive check-ups at the vet are.
Days are getting colder and it is time again to prepare our furry friends who live outdoors for winter. All cats (whether they live outdoors or only go outside occasionally) need our greater attention in this season.
A Somali cat is a long-haired version of Abyssinian cat, one of the oldest cat breeds in the world. But it does not have an interesting or long history itself. Even though it is named after an African country, first Somali cats were born in the United...
Until recently, Cairn terriers were the most popular terriers in Great Britain (until they were overtaken by Westies). It comes from Scottish island Skye and it used to hunt foxes and otters here already in the times of Mary, Queen of Scots. That’s...
A team of Swedish athletes one of whom is Mikael Lindord regularly attends one of the most difficult races in the world to challenge other teams – the Adventure Racing World Championship. When Mikael and his friends stopped in the middle of an...
Each dog is an individual and has different needs. When it comes to diet, it depends on its health condition or physically demanding activities. However, we can generalize these needs to a certain degree according to a breed, age and mainly the size of...
Adopting a dog senior might save his life. They also need stable home and love which unfortunately can never be fully provided in the shelter. Nevertheless, most people who are considering adoption as an option automatically look for a puppy or at...
The International Rabbit Day is celebrated on the fourth Saturday or Sunday in September. This year, it was 22 September. This annual celebration of a cute mammal with long ears, short tail and a velvet coat is not only meant for the million of rabbits...
Do you also follow the recent trend which encourages us to come back to our roots and mind our planet more? I am personally very happy about that. More and more households live according to zero-waste and non-toxic principles and we don’t forget about...
Cats enjoying themselves in a doll house are a hit on Iceland. Their creators probably didn’t expect so much fame and first of all, they didn’t create the whole project for money, fame and for a short-time amusement. There is a much more noble purpose...
Your furry friend might get poisoned in a minute, only a few seconds of carelessness or a slow reaction is enough, especially if your dog is similar to mine and “eats everything he finds on the way”. Fortunately, my dog hasn’t been poisoned yet but I’m...
