kelpiegirl Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 hi everyone We are finally in the grips of winter temps, and frozen ground. Anyone have any opinions on any detriments to working dogs on frozen ground? Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I don't see a problem with it personally. I imagine there was plenty of frozen ground in the border regions of Scotland. That said, if it were icy, I'd be careful. And if you're talking about a young pup, I'd just be sure I wasn't overdoing it. But maybe someone from a more northern clime would have a different opinion or be able to speak from greater experience. Around here the really hard ground comes with the summer droughts.... J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitch Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 The only concern we have had so far is when we get ice - sliced pads are a potential problem then. If it gets icy or the snow too deep, W will call off the lesson. I feel comfortable going by his judgement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyF Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 You do have to be careful with ice as you don't want cut pads or to have the sheep injure their feet. Where are you located Julie?? Being that I deal with this every winter. I don't train my dogs if it starts getting below 15 degrees. It is also dependent upon wind chills and if the sun is out or not. I don't like training the dogs when the air temp starts getting that cold as I am thinking that the cold air being breathed in quickly could be hard on their lungs. Both the dog and the sheep. Now with that being said, I still "work" the dogs as far as doing chores as we do need the sheep held off of the feeders so that we don't get knocked down. I do admit to training the dog for just a few minutes while doing this. But I am not training them in the real cold weather for 20 minutes or longer. JMO Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiegirl Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 hi kathy First, just to clear up any question, I COMPLETELY trust my trainer in all capacities!!! This just hadn't come up and I was curious. I was thinking of a young dog and their zippiness and hardness on the joints etc. with the ground being so hard. Right now it is about 5 degrees outside- enough to make ME stay in.... Course, if I had sheep, I would have to be out, but can you say EFFICIENCY??? We would have it locked up in record speed! Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 We had a hard freeze last night and Cord really sliced a pad badly first thing this morning. Arrrggghhh. I forgot about that. Ben's got pads hard as rocks, even when he stays in a lot. I had another dog a few years ago with softer pads and had to watch both droughty weather and hard freezes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiegirl Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 wow, the cut pad thing I hadn't thought of. Do you think it's due to rocks/ice? julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 We haven't got any significant rocks here. It's frozen ground - maybe even frozen clumps of mown broomstraw in addition to the really hard ground. I wonder whether the temp itself factored in, too. He and Ben both live inside and as I said Ben never has a problem with his pads. Now, Ben will slab crack a nail when running on ice - I don't know how, it's not like he ever runs all that fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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