Loyal as a Dog

I wasn’t going to post / respond to this originally since it’s not a question (and also because I’m not very comfortable making text posts), but then I thought maybe it would be somewhat helpful for anyone not familiar with etiquette around trackset cross country ski trails and/or anyone interested in trying cross country skiing with their dog. So here goes.

Totally a faux pas, I 100% agree! Everyone should avoid the tracks that are set for people on classic skis, whether that be people on skate skis, dogs, hikers or snowshoers, etc. I also do classic cross country skiing sometimes (not with dogs though) so I know it’s frustrating when the tracks get messed up.

It was Finn’s very first time at a cross country ski area, so we were actively trying to teach him to stay out of the tracks (not sure why he seemed keen on running them, I would’ve thought that would be harder with the unevenness). You can see me trying to encourage him away from the tracks by pulling the leash and I was also talking to him at the time. We had practiced the whole on-leash-with-person-skiing skiing thing on a school field before, but there were no tracks there of course to use as teaching opportunity. (By the way, if anyone is looking to try cross country skiing with their dog for the first time and happens to have access to something as wonderfully flat, smooth, and open as a school field - I highly recommend getting comfortable there first, as it can be stressful trying it for the first time in a place where other people are skiing, both for yourself and the other people.)

But I’m happy to say that by the end of this ski outing, Finn had gotten the hang of it already and was keeping out of the tracks! (He’s my dad’s dog and he picks up on things a lot faster than my own dog haha, who luckily has no interest in running in the tracks.) We took both dogs cross country skiing again today, and Finn stayed cleanly in the centre as well, away from the tracks. (Photos/videos to come later!)

We picked West Bragg Creek (the location the photos in question were taken) as the first place to try cross country skiing with Finn because dogs are allowed there, both on leash and also off leash, so people who aren’t keen on dogs while they’re skiing tend to avoid this place in favour of one of the many other cross country ski places in the area. It’s a great place though with very regular trail grooming, as long as you don’t mind multi use - it offers hiking, snowshoeing, and fat biking in addition to the cross country skiing.