Deerfly Diaries

Skijoring Clinic at Redstone, CO Winterfest 2010

This weekend was Winterfest in Redstone, Colorado. The quaint historic mining town of Redstone is about 15 miles from Carbondale on Highway 133 on the way to McClure Pass. Traditionally the town hosts sled dog races each winter, but this year they decided to mix it up a little bit and include ice climbing events, a snowshoe race, chili cook off and beer tasting.

The dog lovers in the crowd still got some great action with the addition of a skijoring clinic. Skijoring is a combination of nordic skiing and dog mushing, where the people and the dogs work as a team (you hope) to traverse the snow. The sport has tradition in Scandanavia where is has long been used as a means of winter transport.

Louisa Morrissey, owner of Skijor-n-More in Silverthorne, CO, helped organize the event. Participants brought their own skis and dogs,and Louisa provided the dog harnesses, bungee lines and tethers.

 

After the dogs were harnessed up, it was time to get on the track. There wasn't a lot of time for instruction; just keep your dog moving ahead, stay untangled and try to avoid other skiers and dogs.

I skied with both Elsie and Porter separately before I worked them together as a team. Elsie's drive to run and be in front helped her to pick up on it right away. She loved it! Porter was a little less enthused about the control aspect. As a team they did GREAT. It helped that they already know basic commands like whoa, high-on (to go), come around (to turn), etc. There is a whole set of commands for ski joring, but bird dog commands worked well too.

 

 
 
The day was a lot of fun and there were lots of participants and tail wagging dogs. As far as I know, no one got hurt. Below is Louisa skiing. She was on skate skis, which looked like it had an advantage over classic skis.

 

 
 Check out the rest of my images from the Redstone Winterfest to see some of the other fun activities.

SHOT Show 2010 in Las Vegas & Columbia Sportswear

SHOT Show 2010 was a Success

These last couple weeks were very busy ones for me and the rest of the outdoor industry. I attended the 2010 SHOT Show in Las Vegas from January 19-21st. SHOT stands for Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference.

The SHOT Show is owned and sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). According to the NSSF, overall attendance was 58,444, only several hundred shy of the show’s all-time record set at the 2008 Las Vegas Show and more than 11,000 above last year’s show in Orlando. The show attracted an all-time high of 31,280 buyers, and the 1,804 media professionals attending established a new record. Impressive for a country living in recession.

View photos of the SHOT Show here.

Melus Outdoors, LLC Working with Columbia Sportswear

I was stoked to ink a deal with Columbia Sportswear just prior to the show to help them with their hunting and fishing public relations efforts. I spent most of my time in the Columbia booth at SHOT Show in appointments with the hunting industry media. Always a good time to meet new people and catch up with my friends in the industry.

Columbia Sportswear Launched Omni-Heat Technology

Columbia launched it's new patent pending Omni-Heat Technology to the media at the show. The Omni-heat technology combines a new thermal reflective technology that is breathable and wicking, a new Omni-heat insulation that surpasses comparable insulation on the market and a super cool new Omni-heat electric technology that is available in boots. I am very excited to work with Columbia to bring this new technology to the hunting market July 1, 2010.

The SHOT Show was followed by the Safari Club International Annual Hunter's Conference in Reno, NV from January 20 - 23rd, 2010. The ski, snowboard and general outdoor recreation show, known as OR SHOW, was also held just after SHOT in Salt Lake City, UT.

Personalized Dog Collars and Microchip for Dogs

When I'm walking my dogs at the local dog park here in Carbondale, I get a lot of comments on the personalized dog collars that I have for Elsie and Porter. They are the colored plastic collars on which I have the personalized brass name plates. I actually have two name plates. One for my contact info and the other is for their microchip number. The reason I have both is simply because more contact info is better.

Make it easy for your lost dog to be returned

The microchip works in two ways. First, if one of my dogs gets lost or, God forbid, stolen, the microchip can be used by vets or dog shelters to identify who the owner is by scanning over the top of my dog's shoulder blades with a special scanner. Second, if my dog is found by a upstanding citizen who is attempting to return it to me, then they can either call my cell phone directly or call the Pet Retrieval System 1-800 number and read the microchip number off to the service and then the service has all all of my contact info, backup contacts and emergency numbers that I have provided them. This is very important if for some reason I am not reachable by my cell phone.

Microchips for dogs are a smart investment

The microchips company is called HomeAgain. Ask your vet for more information. Expect to pay about $75 dollars for the chip and installation at your vet. I would highly recommend the service, especially if you plan to hunt or travel with your dogs. I make a specific request to HomeAgain to not let them disclose the name of my dog to someone who finds it. It's much harder for someone to steal a hunting dog if they don't know its name.

Personalized dog collars help identify your dog

I get the collars at a dog supply company that I often use called Lion County Supply. The collars and the brass name plates are inexpensive which makes this one of the best investments I can make for the protection of my dogs if for some reason they are separated from me. I also like the fact that the brass name plates are affixed to their collars and don't make a lot of noise like dangling identification tags do on most dog collars.