Thinking about adding a second dog? Here’s I went through the journey, thoughts and what I learned through the process with my second Vizsla.

Things to Think About

I had been wanting to add a second dog for the longest time, but I really wanted to get it right. First I wanted to wait until Whiskey was fully trained and reliable with other dogs. Once she was 2 years, I really started thinking about a second but it took a couple years to convince my husband! After a couple more years, I realized Whiskey’s breeder wasn’t breeding anymore so I had to start my search for a breeder again.

There were 2 years where I was on the list for another breeder with close lines to Whiskey, but 4 breedings just did not work. A couple didn’t take, there was one litter of 3 boys one girl that was called for (I was set on a girl, here are reasons why), and one litter only had a single. After waiting for awhile I decided to search for another breeder and that journey took another 1 year. At this time Whiskey was 5 years old when I finally met Alpine Vizslas and got on the list for Vixen’s (Bourbon’s mom) last litter.

During this journey of finding the right breeder, I had been pet-sitting as many dogs, especially female Vizsla dogs as I could. I wanted Whiskey to get used to the idea of sharing space and attention with other dogs, and for us to get used to how much work a second dog would be. It’s SO much easier pet-sitting another dog when your first is very reliable. Whiskey could be off leash heeling while I dealt with a second dog off-leash and I could pay 90% of my attention on the second dog while assuming Whiskey would make good decisions.

At home, I knew Whiskey didn’t guard resources like food or people, and that although she didn’t love puppies, she would tolerate them, growling but not biting. Even when pushed Whiskey would growl and growl and eventually give up and let a puppy sit on her or take her toys. The one thing Whiskey did seem to have an issue with, is attention and discipline. She has issues with alpha females taking the attention of her humans, and can also be grumpy if dogs are not following the rules. By the time we introduced Bourbon, we had worked through so many of Whiskey’s emotions that we had a blueprint about what to do in most circumstances.

The Preparation

Once I knew we were getting a puppy, I tried to dog-sit as much as possible readying Whiskey. Also, Covid became a thing, and threw a wrench into plans of visiting the puppies with Whiskey (or at all). There was so much turmoil about how to actually get Bourbon across the border, I wasn’t even sure it would happen at some points.

Knowing that a new puppy would be very exciting, and that Whiskey needed so much attention, we decided that the best thing would be to introduce Bourbon to the house while Thierry was out on a roadtrip with Whiskey. That way I could get Bourbon used to a new house, new yard, new life, and then introduce Whiskey a couple days later.

The Introduction

When Whiskey came back home, we met outside (it’s always better to introduce dogs outside) and I asked Thierry to pick up fast-food. Whiskey LOVES food and doesn’t resource guard the food so I wanted to feed her something extra yummy while Bourbon got to meet Whiskey. It went really well! Whiskey was focused on the food, while Bourbon was focused on Whiskey and we both paid all the attention on Whiskey so she didn’t feel like she was missing out.

After the introduction (about 25mins outside), we went in and Whiskey went around the house sniffing Bourbon everywhere. For the first 2 weeks, Bourbon slept with me in my office, and Whiskey slept with Thierry in our bedroom. This was because I wanted to introduce Bourbon to the crate slowly, and it wasn’t fair to have Whiskey sleep in the crate but not Bourbon.

First months

After a couple years of training Whiskey, I had stopped using treats all the time but with a new puppy, I had to use treats everyday. I found that training the two dogs together built a bond, and a good relationship between the two. Whiskey loves training, and Bourbon would pick up quickly with Whiskey, so they both got treats for being around each other and focusing on me. Whiskey learned there were always treats with Bourbon around, and she got big extra treats for letting Bourbon touch her, or sleep next to her. Whiskey also got lots of praise and rewards for tolerating Bourbon’s antics and playing with her.

Whiskey also got lots of time away from Bourbon. She had separate walks away from the puppy (as much as I could) and I always asked everyone to greet Whiskey before Bourbon. Overall their relationship developed quicker and better than I expected. Whiskey never played with puppies, merely tolerated them but after a week, she was playing with Bourbon and letting her sleep with her.

Bourbon was absolutely in love with Whiskey. Since she was taken from her littermates, Whiskey was the one dog in her presence and because of Covid, we weren’t able to meet too many puppies (and always outside). Apart from the first meeting, Whiskey never growled at Bourbon and was extremely tolerant of her shark teeth.

The two were never left alone without supervision (or without Bourbon in a crate) and play was always closely watched. Because Bourbon could be a little devil, we would remove her from Whiskey if she was too much, and give Bourbon time outs. Whiskey was always quite happy when we put Bourbon in the crate for time outs giving me kisses!

One of the biggest recommendations I got from others about introducing a second dog, was to make sure we spent lots of time with the first dog one on one. Because Bourbon was too young to hike, Whiskey got lots of hikes with me, without Bourbon, and once Bourbon was old enough, she went to daycare to meet other dogs and on pack hikes.

A Year after

I feel like each dog has their own personalities but both my girls find comfort in each other now. Whiskey has a small amount of separation anxiety that Bourbon doesn’t have, and Bourbon is timid with challenges and new dogs. They each help the other deal with their own anxieties and become more confident. This could definitely go either way (they could pick up each other’s anxieties instead), but through a mixtures of luck and training, they’ve helped each other become better dogs.

I try and use the dog that doesn’t have anxiety to help the other through something difficult. Whiskey will wait on a bridge and cross it over and over again, while Bourbon will slowly work up her courage to try for it. Bourbon will keep Whiskey company when she could be lonely waiting for us to return.

Adding a Third Dog?

Everyone keeps asking when the third will come! For now I will happily pet-sit all the dogs but for many reasons 2 is where we are at. Financially, it’s not currently possible, and then only 2 dogs fit into my sleeping bag, and barely that! I also only have 2 arms for 2 leashes and I’m not confident yet with Bourbon’s recall and reliability. We recently got to look after Merlin, the wirehaired Vizsla puppy and I absolutely loved it. The girls were great and everyone got along so well, however, I got absolutely no work done, and the amount of time and training a new dog takes is quite literally another job. For now, two!

How to start, things to think about, and where to go!

I love getting outdoors with my Vizslas and when it snows, we still head out. Cross country and backcountry skiing is a really fun way to keep dogs active with you during the winter months. However, there is much more to think about in the winter with dogs, so here’s what we’ve learned.

Winter Hazards for Dogs

While the bugs and bears are sleeping and wildlife is less of a concern in the alpine, there is the looming issue of snow, cold temperatures and avalanches. There is also less sunlight so getting lost becomes much more dangerous when the temperatures dip and there are less people on the trails.

Snow and Cold

You’ll need more gear in the cold (unless you have a winter mountain dog) and snow to protect both your dog and yourself. I find myself bringing lots of layers for everyone, and also sometimes a dog sleeping bag for longer days. Here’s more on clothing and footwear for dogs in the winter. Expect to carry a larger heavier pack than the summer, and keep your dog moving to the car if you start seeing signs of shivering. It’s always a good idea to check on your dog’s paws and body throughout hikes but it’s especially important in the winter.

With deep snowpack, running through especially thick deep snow can be exhausting for dogs and hard on their joints and hips. My dogs know to run on the skin tracks or follow behind in deep snow but some dogs may run beyond what they can sustain because they’re having so much fun. Thick crusty snow that gets punched through can also cut dogs paws and legs. Legs can get very bloody if you end up in these conditions, so ask your dog to stay behind your tracks or turn back if you see their legs raw or bloody.

Tree wells

Even in mild terrain, if there’s enough snow, there are tree wells. A space of loose snow can form around tree trunks and hidden cavities can easily trap and suffocate dogs (as well as people) that fall in. I’ve heard of several dogs lost overnight when they’ve fallen into tree wells and could not get out. This isn’t just for backcountry skiing, but right off the side of cross country trails. Be aware and keep your dogs in sight at all times.

Avalanches

If you’re going into avalanche terrain, make sure you have the training! There are classes available throughout the season and it’s very dangerous to go into terrain without knowledge, gear, and a skilled group of friends. Do not put an avalanche beacon on a dog. In an event a group may be swept away, humans must be first priority and precious time spent digging out a dog instead may mean the life or death of a human. You can put a different beacon on your dog that you can track instead.

When you travel through avalanche terrain, keep your dogs in control, and in line with the pack. A dog running above may trigger an avalanche above a group of humans or may also be caught in an avalanche even if the humans have been able to avoid one. There was recently a dog rescued after 20 minutes buried in an avalanche in Colorado. Please take precautions!

Basic Commands for Skiing with a Dog

There’s a couple things I have taught my Vizslas to do when I ski with them. The first is to get out of my path when I’m going to ski right into them. GO GO GO is the command that I’m right behind and they need to move out of the way. The safest way is to practice this is during running or with cross country skis (something without sharp edges). I just speed up randomly and yell GO GO GO and run them by without hurting them. They learn really quickly to move out when they hear that!

Another important command is to “STAY BACK” and hang out behind your tracks. That can be taught on leash at first, while walking or running. I use STAY BACK often while hiking on leash and need dogs not to pull in technical terrain.

“PASS BY” is something I picked up when I was mushing in the Yukon. When two dog teams pass by each other, they need to ignore each other and keep running. “Pass by” means no greeting, no sniffing, you are passing by dogs and you are working. Again, this is best trained while running.

“STAY CLOSE” and of course full RECALL (“full” meaning the dog comes all the way back and stands by you to be leashed without you stepping forwards) is extremely important when off leash skiing. These should already be in your repertoire but make sure you have these tools before heading out! Lastly, you should be able to leash your dog while on skis at any point (wildlife, dog fight, injury, emergencies, etc) so keep a leash within easy reach.

Dog etiquette

It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) pick up after your dog, especially on groomed ski tracks where someone may ski over. The poop also messes up the grooming machines and if this happens too often, dog-friendly becomes no dogs allowed quite quickly!

Keep your dogs away from leashed dogs or dogs in muzzles, and keep your dogs in the car until you’re all set to go. Off leash dogs in parking lots are super dangerous for both parties. Normally the first 5 minutes dogs are out are when they tend to poop and dog-poop filled parking lots are not fun for anyone.

If you’re moving quickly, keep your dogs to the side so they don’t run into anyone else skiing in the opposite direction. Keep your dogs from just standing in the middle of a run, especially on a blind turn, and let dogs play off to the side.

Skijoring, kick sleds

I’ve never tried! I’ve trained my dogs not to pull but I know lots of people that skijor and love this sport. There’s competitions with teams, as well as bikejoring and canicross (running with dogs pulling you). Make sure you have the correct gear (not just a regular harness and leash) and see if there are classes and competitions in your area (some listed below). For even more fun, try kick sleds on tracks! The faster you go, the bigger wipeouts you’ll have, so first start running and teaching commands before you really go for it.

Dog Friendly Cross Country Skiing Trails in Canada

It’s uncommon for dogs to be allowed off leash in cross country ski areas but there are some that do! Some are of these are on-leash, some allow skijoring, and some off leash. Please do your research before going! BC and Alberta have more off leash trails and Ontario and Quebec have more skijoring trails.

• Whistler, BC, Whistler Olympic Park 30kms of dog friendly trails
• Revelstoke, BC, Revelstoke Nordic Club,
• Kelowna, BC, Kelowna Nordic, 23km dog friendly trails
• Calgary, AB Bowness Park
• Caledonia, ON, Caledonia Nordic Ski Club 8kms
• Kananaskis, AB, Mount Shark 15km
• Kamloops, BC, Stake Lake 5km
• Radium Hot Springs, Nipika Mountain Resort
• Calgary, AB, Bragg Creek Trails
• Sundre, AB, Sundre CX-Country Bike N Ski
• Arrowhead, ON – skijoring trails, competitions
• Algonquin Park, ON skijoring and dogsled trails
• Halton, ON, Hilton Falls
• Haliburton, ON, Twin Lakes

Dog Friendly Cross Country Skiing Trails in USA

• Breckenridge, CO, even the gondola is dog friendly!
• Sunny Valley, ID, Super dog friendly
• Bozeman, MT, Hyalite Canyon
• Bozeman, MT Bozeman Creek
• Methow, Valley, WA, there’s a costume ski race with dogs
• White Mountains, NH, Loon Mountain
• White Mountains, NH, Bear Notch Ski Touring Center
• Lake Sakakawea, ND
• Aspen, CO Snowmass Nordic Trail System
• Oxford Maine, Carter’s Ski System
• Davis, WV, White Grass Touring Center
• Pagosa Springs, CO
• Winthrop, WA
• Yellowstone, MT

Backcountry Skiing

There’s lots of places to go backcountry skiing with your dog. The terrain opens everything up, and basically you can go anywhere that’s not dog-prohibited. Just make sure that you have all the essentials for yourself as well as a dog.

It gets really expensive and dangerous for winter rescues so make sure you’re self sufficient. At minimum carry a satellite communication device, first aid, and have the training to be out. I really like the Whyld River down dog bags as an emergency bivy/dog bag. The XL sizes can fit both you and your dog inside should you get caught out and it packs in extra small.

One of the most interesting pieces of winter dog gear that we’ve used are the Backcountry Paws dog gaiters. Does your dog need, but lose boots all winter long? This might be for you!

Dog gaiters might look like the weirdest dog contraption but they really are quite functional and solve a couple issues I’ve found no other answers to.

The problem:

Dog booties can be necessary if your dog’s paws are too cold (say -15 degrees), or if your dog’s paws develop snowballs, or if your dog’s paws might need protection for other issues. Fast running energetic dogs lose dog booties all the time and these can be expensive! We tend to use dog booties for hikes less than 2 hours, especially if the trail is wide and easy to find missing booties.

But what do you do if you are sick and tired of losing dog boots? For those longer hikes, or when I don’t want to spend my time finding lost booties, I use these gaiters. Because the gaiters have boots attached, this makes it impossible to lose boots and voila your issue is fixed! Read on for the caveats!

Our experience:

The first time I tried Backcountry Paws gaiters, I was a bit intimidated by the straps but it was fairly straightforward and logical to put on. Whiskey is a really patient dog so she helped us both get used to the gaiters and find out together how to use them. My dogs are right between the sizing. Whiskey has a large size gaiter and Bourbon a Medium. I can fit either in either size but the medium is pretty tight on Whiskey and Bourbon swims in the Large.

The best uses of these gaiters are on packed trails or loose fresh snow no higher than the knee of the dog. They’re great for active crazy dogs that lose boots, and those that collect snowballs on their paws and lower legs. The gaiters are also good for windy days when you want the entire length of the dog’s legs to be covered. I’ve not found a long-legged bootie that my dogs actually accept and enjoy, that stays on for 4+ hours, outside of this solution.

How to put on:

First you need to separate the front and back of the gaiters. I noramlly start with the front legs (undo the buckles to help). Place the boots atop the dog so you know where the front and back of each leg is before you start. You want to avoid putting the boot on front to back (you cannot tell outside of the top straps) so first get your placement otherwise the boot will be twisted.

Once the front boots are on, you can place the back boots on and then buckle the back strap to the front section. Make sure the velcro on the boots is on very well because once you hit the snow and the velcro starts icing over, it’s much harder to redo well.

Suggestions:

For short haired dogs, I really do suggest tights on underneath. If it’s cold enough to need gaiters, you’re most likely needing a jacket for a short-haired dog and tights will help prevent rubbing. For even colder weather I put a jacket on top of the tights and gaiters (see the photo below). This is a pretty good combo for very long cold days!

Try putting the contraption on at home first. Gaiters are not the easiest to put on a very excitable dog at the trailhead, in a dark car, without help. With that said, my girls are very patient with all kinds of clothing so I’ve actually not had issues myself, but Whiskey and Bourbon are not the type of dogs to bark or run around a car excitedly at a trailhead.

Lastly, take the time to really look and do up the straps around the ankles well. Make sure they’re firm and tight, that the paw is entirely the way inside, and that the least amount of strap is hanging loose.

New version:

Backcountry paws have released version 2 of their gaiters. The first flagship product was very well made. Whiskey still uses it without issues but it’s been really nice to see the improvements. There are less hotspots to rub on the dog with the new version (I normally have the dogs in k9topcoat tights underneath so it hasn’t been an issue for us). The second big improvement are the boots. The inside doesn’t have a seam to rub, and are looking much more comfortable. If your dog has issues with hotspots, get version 2!

Downsides/Caveats

There’s been a couple downsides I’ve found with dog gaiters. First, they take a longer time and a more patient dog to put on. You need to familiarize yourself with the system and you’ll have to adjust the straps for your dog the first time, so try to do this at home.

Second, the gaiters can fill up in deep snow. If you’re snowshoeing and the snow is higher than the knee of the dog, the dog can kick up powered snow into the gaiters and then the snow goes inside and collects. Or if your dog goes swimming in powder, the tops of the legs are not sealed (there is no sealing on any dog jacket). There’s no way for the snow to come out so you’ll have to make sure that your dog isn’t walking around with a bag of snow. I have this issue more with the back legs because of the shape, and sometimes I might take off the back legs but leave the front ones for this reason.

Third, the gaiter fit needs to be correct and I find that the paw size needs to match the leg size. For example, you buy the gaiters sized to the leg height, the bootie size may not fit perfectly (especially if your dog is shorter but has gigantic paws). So just check fit before you buy!

Have you tried these? Do you have comments? What was your experience like?