Mushing Terriers — Courtesy of Cold Spot Feeds
As you know, I’m a huge fan of famous musher Lance Mackey. Lance has won the Yukon Quest and Iditarod numerous times through hard work, grit, and sheer determination. He’s a no-nonsense kind of guy with a focus that has helped him beat the odds in racing and in his personal life. Lance is an inspiration to all who hear his story and I was honored to be able to connect with him for my new book, Ever Faithful.
Winter’s here, which means Lance is geared up for long grueling races through the wilderness in Alaska and my wheaten terriers and I are getting ready for winter backpacking. As you might imagine, wheatens are not the easiest dogs to take backpacking — summer or winter. Their long hair that picks up twigs, dirt, and snow, twisting into tight mats means a routine part of our gear includes de-matting tools, slicker brushes, and spray on conditioner. The winter can be especially tough, as balls of snow can begin to grow on their foot hairs, rapidly extending to encase their entire legs until the balls become so large they can’t walk until they’ve been melted.
We’ve tried LOTS of boots, most falling off after just a few steps in the store. We’ve gone to specialty stores and ordered booties online and just never found anything that seemed to fit right or stay on their feet. So naturally, after telling Lance what a thrill it was to be able to say, “I’m talking to LANCE MACKEY!!!!” (Yeah, I was embarrassingly fan-like!), I asked my first question, “What booties do you use on your dogs?”
My dogs insisted they had to wear the same booties as Lance’s dogs, so I went to the Cold Spot Feeds website and called the store in Alaska, where I made the sale clerk listen to my Lance Mackey booties connection gushing. The very patient clerk were extremely helpful in getting me hooked up with the perfect winter booties for my pups — these were no fru-fru, fall-off-in-the-store kind of booties but booties worn my real sled dogs. I have to say, ordering from a site that sells things like dog straw, caribou fat, fish oil by the gallon, and musher food is totally cool.
Today our package arrived in the mail — a box of dog booties from Cold Spot Feeds. I called to the terriers and announced, “You’re going to be wearing the same booties Lance Mackey’s dog’s wear!” Tails were wagging as we slipped and secured each bootie to doggie feet with stretchy velcro straps for a test in the woods.
I’m no Lance Mackey and my terriers certainly wouldn’t survive even the first day of the Iditarod, but we certainly felt a bit prouder and inspired with the Cold Spot Feeds booties. And, of course, on our test hike, the terriers spent a far amount of time racing and romping with an incredibly fast Vizsla whose owner said, “Hey. Great boots!” I casually replied, “We’re testing them out for a winter backpacking trip to keep snow from building up on their feet. Did you know, these are the same booties worn by Lance Mackey’s sled dogs? Did I tell you I know Lance Mackey?!” (Yeah, I can be shameless!)
2 Responses to “Mushing Terriers — Courtesy of Cold Spot Feeds”
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We have boots at home. Our boots are from UltraPaws. We hate our boots… like the freedom of running wild. The problem with running free, Noah gets snowball buildup and likes to pick at them… Needless to say, he’s not always careful and sometimes his paws bleed. I just bought “Mushers Secret” paw balm. We will be testing that out next snow and ski outing. I’ll let you know the results.
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