Snowshoeing with Your Dog

This is a guest post from my friend Elena and her Dachshund Moo. She recently moved to Seattle from Texas so this winter was Moo's first experience in the snow. Elena wanted to share what she learned. Being from the South, Moo’s exposure to snow was minimal… very, very minimal. There was once a few years back when a light dusting of snow covered the ground in the town I grew up in, and I … [Read more...]

Snowshoeing is a fun way to enjoy the silence of winter while hitting some of your favorite summer trails. Summer trails become a whole new experience. A blanket of snow even makes trekking an abandoned logging road interesting. And snowshoeing with dogs is the best. Even small dogs can do it! Many people are surprised to know that taking your small dog on a snowshoe trip is possible. It DOES … [Read more...]

Snow is falling in the mountains around here and in many parts of the country. There is something truly special about bundling up and playing in the white, fluffy stuff. Winter time can be so peaceful and the crisp air can revitalize the senses. I don't know about you but I'm itchy to get out. It can be fun to do something simple like throw hot chocolate in a thermos and head out to build a … [Read more...]

For three years I have shared our adventure stories with the hopes that we might just inspire one of you to get active and fit with your dog. We aim to lead by example but I have also offered some tips to help get you started along the way. Today I want to share one of our favorite winter activities with you - snowshoeing with your dog. I am always a bit disappointed at first when snow falls in … [Read more...]

The subject this week is somewhat long and dry. I wrote my post on safety and then realized it was way too long for someone to read in one sitting (I am a blogger not a novelist). As with the previous post on short day trip safety, I tried to make a somewhat long, boring subject shorter. I also tried to infuse it will some dry humor. See if you can catch it :) In Part I, I covered the basic … [Read more...]

I hope you have enjoyed the Snowshoeing with Your Small Dog 101 Series so far. When I was thinking what to make today’s post about I couldn’t decide if I wanted to tell you about some of our favorite trails, and trail resources first, or talk to you about safety when Snowshoeing with Your Small Dog. To help me choose, I flipped a squeakie squirrel and he landed on his face…so safety it is (it’s … [Read more...]

One of my most popular posts is “How Many Calories Do You Burn Walking Your Dog?” In this snowshoeing series, I have told you several times that snowshoeing burns significantly more calories than walking alone. I told you that snowshoeing is almost as easy as walking. I say “almost” because you WILL sweat more. Sweating more is proof that you are burning a heck of a lot more calories. … [Read more...]

The most important ingredient to a happy snowshoeing dog versus one that has a miserable time is warmth…followed closely by being dry. Smaller dogs aren’t able to generate as much of their own body heat as big dogs. Also, because smaller dogs are closer to the ground, the cold radiating up from the surface chills them. To make sure Gretel and Chester stay cozy warm, they wear double-fleece … [Read more...]

This is the third installment in the Snowshoeing with Your Small Dog 101 Series. Snowshoes are designed to increase the surface area of your feet and keep you floating on top of the snow, while still providing traction and stability.  Today I am going to tell you about snowshoe features, how to pick the right ones and where to get them. Like last week when I told you about what you should wear … [Read more...]

When I lined out the Snowshoeing with Your Small Dog 101 series, I planned to address gear and snowshoes towards the end. It was clear by your questions that these two subjects were what you were itching to know. You asked me several questions about what you needed to wear and how to pick the right snowshoe. I decided to rearrange the order of my posts to answer your most burning questions first. … [Read more...]

A couple of weeks ago we announced that were going to post a Snowshoeing with Your Small Dog 101 series. Yesterday we shared some of our favorite snowshoeing adventures to prove that small dogs really can snowshoe. Today is the kickoff of our series. We will publish a new post in this series each week on Monday until we run out of things you want to know :) Snowshoeing is almost as easy as … [Read more...]

I have been thinking about this for a while but now I have to get off my butt and do it. Last weekend we met with our Adventureweiner friends at a local dog park. My friend from Life with Doxies said she had been enjoying reading about our snowshoe adventures and asked me what to look for if she wanted to start herself. I said, “funny you should ask” because I have been thinking about doing … [Read more...]