Snowshoeing with Your Small Dog Part VI – How Many Calories Do You Burn?

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. Because you are walking on an uneven surface, and have to lift your legs higher so your snowshoes don’t catch on the snow, you will even burn up to 50% more calories.

For example, According to the Snowshoeing Calorie Calculator from Everyday Health, a 160 lb person snowshoeing for 2 hrs (the average trip) would burn 1161 calories. That same person was walking for the same amount of time would only burn about 500 calories. That is less than half of the calories.

That may sound nice but I wanted give you access to real numbers, not just a ballpark figure or warm and fuzzy concept.

You can enter your information into the Everyday Health Calculator to find out exactly how many calories you will burn while snowshoeing with your dog.

I don’t count Chester and Gretel’s calories but I put their information into the calculator to see how many calories a dog burns just for the fun of it. The results said that Chester burns 95 calories during 2 hours of snowshoeing. I have seen how hard he works so that seems a little low to me but I am sure it is not too far off. He does weigh only 13 lbs after all 🙂

The best part about snowshoeing for fitness and weight loss is that you get to have fun playing in the outdoors. It is work but you barely notice because the scenery is so beautiful. It’s way better than hitting the gym just to stare at a the wall and breathe someone else’s air and sweat (appealing, no?).

Also, your dog makes a good workout partner. More and more people these days are Trailing Their Dog to Good Health™. There is nothing better than spending the day with your dog. I bet you dog thinks there is nothing better than walkies and spending the day with you too. You can have fun together and burn calories while you are at it.

Besides burning calories, there are other health benefits too. Wintercampers.com lists some of these benefits:

  • It offers a low-impact, safe form of exercise.
  • It is an aerobic workout that also builds strength and muscle endurance.
  • It helps you improve your running fitness
  • It works the hip flexors and extensors which are crucial muscles for cyclists.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Jessica. I’ve been studying the Dachshund breed since 2007, owned 3 of my own, and shared in the lives of thousands of others through their owner’s stories. When I’m not sharing what I know on this blog, you can find me hiking, camping, and traveling with my adventurous wiener dogs.

17 Comments

  1. I know I work harder in the snow. Torrey sails through it, literally, but little Roxy has a harder time.

  2. Holy cow – twice as many calories! After spend the winter eating our way around Austin we might need to make a bee-line north for a little show shoeing before swim suit season. =)

    1. No snow IS a problem. Ha, ha. Our winter has seemed more mild here this year too. Well, except for the unusual bit of snow in the City this year.

  3. You make me really want to look for a place to rent some snowshoes now! lol Honestly, you’ve really intrigued me. The main problems it that this year we’ve hardly had any snow!

    1. That’s what 2borwndaws said too…they haven’t gotten much snow this year. Weather this winter had been kind of weird around here too. At least you will be ready for next year 🙂

  4. I snowshoed for two hours once. I thought I was going to die. Kolchak loved it and romped like a psychopath for two hours straight. 20 minutes in, Felix started crying and refused to take another step in the snow. My other half carried him the rest of the way. Maybe next year, we’ll just send Kol snowshoeing with you ;0)

    1. Ha, ha. I have had some “thought I was going to die” moments. It’s always fun looking back on it though and not nearly as bad the second time because you know what to expect.

  5. Now that is a neat idea! Snowshoeing!! We’ve never tried that. Probably because you cannot do that in New Mexico or Arizona!!! Maybe we can try that now we are in WA!!! Thanks for the links. Love the comment about the gym! That made us giggle!!!!

  6. This is great information. I never new Snowshoeing was that good of exercise. I was thinking about getting snow shoes for my husband and I this year. I wish I could say we would take our Lab with us but she doesn’t get around to good these days with her arthritis. But we take her outside as much as we can. She loves to play in the snow with her favorite dog toys.

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