Dogs n'skis

[snowsparkle2]

Hi all, I see that there are a lot of diva dog owners here, so here's a little question perhaps you can help me with...... My friend finally managed to persuade her OH to let her get a dog, who is now a fully fledged member of the family, and who loves going out skinning & skiing & all sorts of outdoors things. However ! She can't stop herself from attacking the skis once they're going fast downhill & same thing with back bicycle wheels. Twice now she's had her paws run over by sharp skis - and even that doesn't stop her . Normally she's a really well-trained, well-behaved dog. Eats when told / sits & stays / doesn't get on the furniture etc etc. Any suggestions ?

 

[atlantiqueen]

That's a tough one. My dog is pretty good about not attacking skis - she's more interested in outpacing me. However, I helped patch-up a dog last weekend who had a major chevron-shaped laceration just above his foot - he was cut to the bone so needed stitches.

If you can work on training the dog to heel that will help. You might try putting the skis on the floor in the house and working on the heel command while the are still. The same thing with the bicycle - keep the dog on a short lead and walk the bicycle around the yard - whenever the dog nips at or chases the tire, correct her. When she behaves properly reward her (treats, toys, hugs - whatever you use for reward).

Getting her used to these unusual stimulants in a non-stimulating environment may help her (the dog) to restrain herself. If she sees the skis and the bike as non-threatening and as not something that is attacking her mommy, then she will not need to protect you from them.

Try to avoid using a high-pitched or excited tone when training around the bike and skis - calm is the key.

I'm not really Cesar Milan but maybe this will help.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

AtlantiQueen....EXCELLENT ideas!

I think training on a leash on Cross Country skis is helpful as well. I've been told that when you start to go faster than the dog, their natural instinct is to compete....or stop the skis! It's a control/Alpha thing!

Good luck! I couldn't bear to cut Kadie's paws with my skis (or anything else) by accident!

 

[snowsparkle2]

Yes, thanks for the ideas Atlantiqueen, it's true that she only sees the skis & bikes really when they are in action and therefore either dangerous or competitive ! I hadn't thought of that. Will let you know how it goes

 

[SkiNurse]

I'm sitting next to a friend @ work, reading her your story. It is almost the exact story she told me 4 hours ago. She can't stop her dog either from attacking her skis.

Her suggestion??? Ski faster!:ROTF:

 

[alaski]

I had to train my dog to ski politely with me while at the resort, so I can relate. atlanticqueen has great advice. Calm and quiet, anything to downplay the excitement of skiing. It sounds like your dog might have a herding drive, which is a hard instinct to contain.

For me and my high-drive, exciteable dog, it took countless hours and many repetitions. In a word - practice! I took some old track skis with plastic edges, and hiked up hills and skied down with my dog, hundreds of times. I had to train him to trot between my skis, which you probably don't want to do, but if you put a leash and training collar on your dog, and correct him when he gets excited, he will learn. The repetition will also help calm the excitement that he feels when you are skiing. Putting skis on and off a whole bunch of times will help condition the dog to not be so excited, as well (this has not worked for my dog, but we have worked out a deal that he can stay in a down-stay a few feet away and bark all he wants, as long as he doesn't break his stay).

The problem I'm found with the "heel" command while skiing is that dogs tend to trot close to our legs while in heel position. That's how they "keep track" of us and know that they are where they are supposed to be. They can easily get their paws caught under the skis when in heel position, so that's usually not great.

X-C skiing is a little easier, as the dogs tend to learn that the focus is on going somewhere rather than the mode of transport. I am really firmly against alpine/downhill/backcountry skiing with dogs, though. The impact of running down mountains is hard on dogs, floundering through powder is a huge strain on them, and it is almost impossible to keep them from being cut by ski edges. It's kind of unfair to spend a lot of time teaching a dog not to be excited when skiing, and then zoom away from him on alpine skis while he struggles to keep up. I just don't even try, anymore. I have to expect my dog to be calm and obedient at the resort, so it's just counterproductive to get him all jazzed about skiing. I do take him x-c skiing, which is a good compromise for him.

An e-collar can also be a great tool if you spend the time learning to use it correctly. Biting skis and bike tires are terrible and dangerous habits, and the last thing you need is for your dog to bite someone else's tire and cause an accident. Do what you need to do to break those habits - which probably means lots of time and repetition devoted to training.

Good luck! Watch those edges on doggy paws...

 

[SnowHot]

They had a great thread on Epic about this earlier this year.
Some great information and pics included
https://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=66345

 

[skigrl27]

My dog is a ski-attacker as well! Good w/ bikes. But skis are pure evil to her. I'm super paranoid about cutting her little paws too....it's like the skis and the person on them are her instant enemy once in motion.

It must be funny to watch since she will run SUPER fast to chase them down hill. We have another moonlight hike coming up...I hope she's better this time around.

Sorry, I have no advice to offer. But would love some more!

 

[Christy]

I like Atlantiqueen's advice. I would just add the thing you are going for is to claim the skis/bike as yours--something she is not allowed to touch.

Our dog used to attack the vacuum cleaner and the usual sit/stay/leave it commands were useless (they are always useless when he's excited). It wasn't until I started watching the Dog Whisperer and learned about claiming space and objects as your own, and about breaking fixations, that I was able to break this habit. It only took a couple minutes, actually, after I figured out that it was your energy/attitude that allowed you to claim objects, not a voice command. Making sure the fixation never even really gets started has been key to keeping him from attacking the vacuum since--I correct him if he even starts to look at it with that gleam in his eye.

I know that the show has had on bike attacking dogs--maybe you can search the dvr (if you have one) for repeats, or get a dvr owning friend to try to record one otherwise.

 

[snowsparkle2]

Great advise thanks everyone Looks like a lot of patience and hard work is called for.

Alaski - you must be an amazing trainer to get your dog to trot between your skis. I just can't imagine how hard that must be !