Adventures of Chloe Rue: Learning How to Skijor

It’s story time! For those who are new here, I have kept a record of Chloe’s and my adventures during our travels! I write and publish these about a year after they happen, for various reasons, but mostly per my grandma’s advice. And I don’t know about you, but you ALWAYS listen to your Grandma’s advice- they know. Here we Go! Brace yourselves, it’s time for an enticing, incredible, thrilling and heart wrenching: A Tail of Chloe Rue (I know its tale, I just can’t help it).

We must chase our dreams. Even if our dreams are the wildest, most far fetched adventures imaginable- our lives are completely obtainable, if we allow them to be. In this case, my far fetched adventure dream involved a set of cross country skis and a dog, named Chloe. I hoped to skijor around the boundary waters, and watch the northern lights from a home-made igloo. Can you imagine the fire roaring, the igloo keeping me warm with the northern lights shooting across the sky? Well, you might also be able to imagine the adventure that it was to teach a dog how to skijor, and the unpredictability of a midwestern winter. May the story begin where we left off- from fall, to winter in Fargo (read about our last adventure post here!)

Two Small Things

First, let me apologize for the staggering lack of actual skijoring photography. I am not the best at cross country skiing to begin with; so when a happy dog pulling is added to the mix, things get pretty wild! I’m happy to keep holding on to my ski poles! If we do more this year I’ll be sure to update the social medias- keep a sharp eye out for more skijoring images!

Second, if you’re wondering what on earth this whole post is about: let’s explain Skijoring. Skijoring is a Nordic/winter/midwestern activity involving hooking your dog up to a harness, then yourself, and wearing cross country skis. Then your dog pulls you around with the wildest grin on their face, knowing they are taking you miles further than you could normally ski yourself. Chloe LOVES to learn new skills, so we began our new challenge: learning the commands, and getting used to cross country skis.

Skijoring Commands

Most dogs (especially if you keep tabs on our blog here about traveling) know how to recall, how to ‘leave it’ and how to sit and stay. Chloe had to learn a few more tricks, including her lefts, rights, Go!, and Stop. I also decided to teach her ‘slow, slow, slow’ in case there was something unpredictable that lay ahead. Finding a place to skijor was fairly easy in the midwest since there is snow everywhere however it was important to learn that you really shouldn’t skijor on groomed ski trails.

To start our training, Chloe and I spent time inside learning the different commands. She caught on well to right and left; since she already kind of knew them from training to heel on both sides. Her favorite to learn though, was definitely the ‘go’ command. Whenever I’d tell her to “hike hike hike!” she would get REALLY excited, knowing a massive amount of treats would end in her endeavors! Chloe thought her different harness, coat and winter boots were strange, but she gradually got more used to them.

This is not her pulling harness, just her boots ♡

My mom had my grandparents’ old cross country skis that she was willing to lend to me. They did require some tender loving care; however it was amazing to have something that was passed down. I remember my grandma Inez telling me stories about cross country ski adventures she and my grandpa had at Turtle River state park in Grand Forks. She loved to have the opportunity to be in nature, and so did my grandpa! Though they aren’t brand new or in ‘tip top shape’ I really needed a pair for Chloe to become used to, and have her be familiar with something dragging behind her.

Thus began our next set of training: Pulling. It is a fun fact to know that dogs should be a certain amount of weight in order to pull a human (I believe skijoring is 35 pounds), but be sure to check with your veterinarian before allowing your dog to pull you around on a bike or on skis. It is also helpful to be mindful of their joints. Using fish oil or any other recommended supplement that helps joint care is important for dogs who are working their bodies on an extreme level.

Learning How to Skijor

I began by hooking Chloe up to her harness and then hooking her up to myself, and prancing around the snow in our back yard! We stomped an amazing path through the snow that was a nice circle. Chloe had a habit of becoming distracted by the many, large sticks in our path! She improved with her learning everyday, and you could tell she loved it!

Next I had her pull a small amount of weight on the skis. Honestly, it was probably more difficult to pull me walking behind her, than it was to pull the weight on the skis. It was still good practice though, because Chloe was rather alarmed by being hooked up to something following her around! Using positive reinforcement, encouragement and gentle exposure she began to put it together, that I would eventually step into the skis.

Finally after Chloe had understood the difference between “walk” “heel”, and “Hike hike hike!” I felt comfortable allowing her to pull me around. We stayed in our back yard, on the treaded ground we had been training on at first- and that was quite the good idea because I am not the best skier. I am more familiar with a snowboard; definitely. Chloe thought it was funny to witness my struggle; and I promise that little dog was laughing everytime I let out an “ope!” from hitting a bump. She would come running back to me if I fell and immediately start licking my face; clearly making sure I was okay before running to chew on a nearby stick, inevitably.

The training process was amazing to build the bond between girl and dog. Chloe does an amazing job listening when she is pulling; and yes squirrels, dogs and sticks prove to be difficult distractions. I was pretty proud of my good girl, doing wonderfully with her job of pulling me in our new activity of skijoring.

Broadening our scope from our backyard was the next task, and we had a blast skijoring on the frozen lake across the street from where we lived. However, we had a dream in mind, and that dream was next on our list of adventures.

Voyagers National Park on Christmas

Though Chloe and I dreamt of Northern Lights at the boundary waters; we never quite made it to those frozen lands. We did however, make it to Voyagers National Park on the Canadian Boarder of Minnesota (not far from the Boundary Waters actually). As a traveling health care professional, it is not always possible to be with family on Christmas. I had enjoyed multiple Christmases in various locations on my own, including the White Mountains of New Hampshire (near a little town called Bethlehem if you can believe that), and one Christmas watching whales on the beautiful coast of Oregon. While I love family Christmases; there was something special about spending time with myself on the holidays too, with my tiny family, that is me and my dog. We love to hike, savor snow, and enjoy nature in the beautiful season of giving. It’s like an opportunity for our beautiful world to give to us- and we simply have to take the chance to enjoy it.

While I was definitely planning to spend actual Christmas with my family since they were nearby, I also wanted to enjoy some time the weekend prior to Christmas with just myself and Chloe. Therefore, we planned our very first skijoring adventure to Voyagers National Park in northern Minnesota. We found a peaceful, quiet campground inside the park that was free in the winter and easy to access with my truck. Using our favorite winter camping skills we learned from Nature of the North (the bouldering/outdoor gym in Fargo), we built an upside down fire and settled in for a peaceful night, before a day of adventure in the morrow.

The Morning Visitor

Naturally, it was nearly daybreak when I woke up to Chloe’s very quiet alert bark. Chloe was never trained to alert me to danger in this way- honestly I feel pretty lucky to have such a smart dog- but whenever there is something dangerous, or something she notices and she wants to let me know about, all I get is a very quiet whisper “woof.” That’s exactly what it sounds like too, a very low pitched, whisper whoof and I swear she practically breathes it.

Chloe has alerted me to a human walking up behind me, a heard of elk next to our camper, deer on the road; and countless other animals in this way- but on this Merry Christmas adventure, I had no idea what she was alerting me to, because it was not quite daylight. It was that perfectly silent moment before daylight- basically the opposite side of twilight- and I could tell there was something massive, large, with loud breathing directly outside our door. I could hear it chewing, this crunching, watery noise. I froze as Chloe was still and silent; and we waited until the world turned from navy, to gray to gold. And there it was; a massive, hairy, antlered moose chewing its cud directly outside our door.

Chloe and I stared; and I very slowly pulled out my camera; hoping and praying to snap a picture that might turn out. I love moose, though a powerful creature like that could also be very dangerous in such close proximity. Thankfully, he must have sensed my photo attempts, and meandered away. It sounded like there were multiple; and though I could not see them clearly, and the photo definitely did not turn out, it was an amazing Christmas gift.

My second failed moose photo opportunity in Montana this year.

Skijoring Time!

Chloe and I rested until dawn officially became day. It was time to skijor! I have not yet figured out how to use my phone, while I am also holding cross country skis and I apologize for the lack of photos of us skijoring. Though I wanted to skijor to a waterfall across the frozen lakes; I was warned by multiple signs that the lake was not frozen and definitely not safe to cross by foot. Chloe and I were able to enjoy a few trails in the woods, where we hiked first for regular relaxation and exercise; and skijored second.

The week I had wanted to explore the Boundary Waters was in February, when I hoped Chloe and I would be in tip – top shape for a multiple day frozen adventure. Unfortunately, that was also a period of time that was -30 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit); and we were not excited to unfreeze water constantly during that type of an adventure. And while we adjusted our plans for April/March when the northern lights would be at their peak; I suddenly found myself with an amazing offer to return to Oregon in the spring. But that my friends, is another adventure, for another day.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas story of when Chloe and I found a Moose at Voyagers National park and learned how to skijor! Stay tuned for more stories, and adventure tales. What new commands have you taught your dog this winter? And what crazy dream do you have in mind to pursue this year? In the meantime, many happy trails, and happy tails to you all.

Barking Embarkers