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Team Ruff Wear Dirty Dawgs took 9th place (of 53 teams) in the Business/Service category in the Pole, Pedal, Paddle last Saturday. For those of you who don’t live in Bend, it’s a super fun, multi-sport race that begins at Mt. Bachelor and finishes in the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend, OR.
Here’s how our race played out: The race starts with a 200 foot sprint uphill to your skis. Chelsea, our downhill skier, flew down the Leeway run at mach 5. At the West Village lodge, Chelsea tags off to the XC skier (me). I got to skate ski in the slush for about 8k, with the last 2.5k all up hill. I finished at the Nordic lodge and ran, skis in hand, to Jesse who jumped on his bike. Jesse rode 22 mostly downhill miles back to town. At the next exchange, our runner, Rocco, took off for a 5 mile run along the Deschutes River. Rocco handed off to Will, who after being dumped in the river (oops!), kayaked a 2k out-and-back course. After his paddle, Will tagged off to Rocco, who sprinted (in under 3 minutes) to the finish line. We finished in just under 2 1/2 hours! Afterwards, we kicked back at one of the biggest parties in Bend, for well deserved beverages.
What a fun day for all!
March Dog Tale of the Month – Cross-country Skiing at Wanoga Sno Park
from: Amber, Ruff Wear Social Media and Marketing Research Analyst
location: Wanoga Sno Park
There are two things that make Ruff Wear a particularly great place to work. The first is two “field days” a year, in which each employee is given a paid day off work to recreate in the outdoors with their dog while testing out Ruff Wear gear. The second is “Lunch and Learn” seminars—an hour long, hosted lunch seminar once a month presenting topics of importance to our company, such as the environment, the outdoors, nutrition…you name it!
It was at one of these Lunch and Learn seminars that we had a presenter from the DogPac (an off-leash access advocacy group) who spoke about cross-country skiing with his dog at Wanoga Sno Park in the Deschutes National Forest. His stories about his cross-country adventures with his dog inspired the Marketing Team to embark on a tail-wagging snow day on skis.
Despite our lack of experience on cross-country skis, we anticipated a fall-free day due to our downhill skiing skills and the assistance of Greg, a ski instructor at Mt. Bachelor and seasoned Nordic skier. I learned that was a bit of an overzealous assumption within the first five minutes of the trip when I fell while trying to grab for my runaway dog, Jack. A QuickDraw™ leash attached to his WebMaster™ harness proved to be invaluable solution to maintaining control of the wolf, and the adventure continued.
Greg led the pack around the tracks, teaching us along the way. The dogs must have sensed his competence on skis, because all three stayed close by his side, as if he had filled his ski pants with dog treats. In fact, the dogs followed Greg so closely they kept stepping on his skis, which was probably the only way the rest of us managed to keep up with him!
Susan also seemed to have the hang of it. She helped us rally, dress, and call the three dogs throughout the day.
Leanne brought along the oldest member of the pack, Sage, an overstuffed yellow lab. Sage had a blast going along for the ride, and in true Lab fashion, immediately stuck his face in the snow and rolled around making snow dogs (the canine version of snow angels)—backpack and all!
Sage managed to stay out of Leanne’s away most the way, however I did not. While racing down one of the declines, Leanne yelled “Left” and so I moved to the left, rather than letting Leanne go the left, causing a collision.
Despite the unanticipated learning curve, our cross-country ski day was fun, inspiring, beautiful, and a perfect way to spend a Friday. Being given the opportunity to try out a new sport with the resources to do it and ski instructor at our fingertips keeps us active and willing to try new things in the outdoors. It was a great, tail-wagging experience.
With flu season clinging on, and an influx of articles about dogs and swine flu, a natural question is, “Can dogs catch colds from humans?”
The answer: Generally, no. Research suggests that dogs do not catch human colds (aka rhinoviruses) because their genetics are not susceptible to the same strings of viruses as humans. However, dogs have their own virus strings, such as Kennel Cough—a highly contagious, cold-like dog virus that resonates high-density dog populations such as kennels and shelters—and even their own string of swine flu (H3N8).
Most diseases are species-specific, so dogs only spread germs among dogs, cats among cats, and humans among humans. There are rare exceptions, however, such as H1N1, which is a pig virus that mixed with a human virus and mutated into a human-to-human virus.
Though dogs and humans do not pass viruses back and forth to each other, they are susceptible to some of the same bacterial infections and parasites (ring worm, intestinal worm and rabies), which can sometimes lead to cold or flu-like symptoms. So it’s always good practice to wash your hands when cleaning up or dealing with animals.
Conclusion: You are probably safe if your dog sneaks in a lick on the face while either of you are suffering from a flu or cold.
“To date, there is no evidence of transmission of canine influenza virus from dogs to people and there has not been a single reported case of human infection with the canine influenza virus…Influenza viruses are constantly changing and it is possible for a virus to change so that it could infect humans and spread easily between humans”—The CDC Key Fact Sheet.
February Dog Tale of the Month – Tumalo Falls Snow Shoe
from: Debbie, Ruff Wear Product Tester and Hank (aka “The Professor)
location: Tumalo Falls, Oregon
Me, Hank, and six others set out on a 6 mile-plus snow shoeing and running adventure up the Tumalo Falls trails, testing the Ruff Wear Cloud Chaser™ jacket. I love the light weight and sleek look. It allows for fast running in cold weather.
I love the color of Hank’s Cloud Chaser™, but wish I would have gotten it in black—a more manly color. The reflective trim and light loop are awesome.
We tested the Cloud Chaser™ on snow packed trails with icy and crusty snow in parts–three miles on the trail and three miles on a snow covered road.
I was extremely pleased with the Cloud Chaser™. The fit is stellar, no rubbing or chafing. It definitely kept Hank more warm and comfortable on our 4-1/2 hour adventure. The Portland folks we ran with were really impressed with Hank’s gear. Most of them work for NIKE and they were really impressed with the high quality.
While we were at the falls, our Portland crew had a snack of fancy cheese and Kippers. Hank doesn’t normally get fed people food, but the Portlanders fed him the Kippers and he loved them. He liked the fancy can, too.
January Ruff Wear Featured Comment of the Month
From: Judy
Location: Sterling, Alaska
After trying 3-4 different types of booties, these (Ruff Wear Grip Trex™ boots) have worked the best for our Aussie. He’s highly active and LOVES bounding in the deep snow.
Started with the booties last year when we first got him as our winter was bitterly cold and he still wanted to play outside. Tried some fleece booties and they ice up due to his hot little pads. They were also very slippery on hard packed snow. It was a chore to take him on walks or play and keep him from trying to rip them off of his feet. I also had to try the coban to help keep them on. Tried some leather soled booties with more padding and an elastic “sock” that came up higher on the leg. These didn’t stay on for beans. Tried nylon booties (similar in make to the fleece ones) and had problems with the booties icing up from the heat of the dog’s pads. They also wouldn’t stay on. Then tried the ones with the “skins” on the soles, and came up higher on the leg. These stayed on for all of 1 minute once the boy got out the door.
This summer I bought these Ruffwear booties. Tried them with the first snow and once he got used to the hard sole, he LOVES them! I can now play fetch with him in the snow and he doesn’t stop to try and tear them off his feet (couldn’t do that with any other type). I can also take him on walks with them without him even skipping a beat. We’ve had the deep snow with the icky crusty layer on the top this season. He loves to punch through it to go exploring and we haven’t lost a bootie yet. I just have to make sure to tighten the velcro strap tight enough.
I’ve been super pleased with these booties so far this winter and am looking to buy another pair for our other new Aussie. They both are high energy and highly active dogs. We walk, run, ski, snowshoe and snowmachine with them. With the booties, the kids can play in the snow and the cold with us without freezing their pads or collecting the ice balls between them.
The vibram sole takes a little bit for the kids to get used to. It’s great entertainment the first time you put them on. But for us, when the snow gets hard-packed & icy, these give the kids more traction than any other bootie I’ve found. Even when I got the ones with the skins on the sole to stay on their feet, the kids slipped all over the place.
I would recommend these to anyone with highly active dogs!
february comment of the month – alan and bodhi
February 1, 2010 in Cold Weather Activities, Playtime, What's New at Ruff Wear | Tags: customer comments, grip trex | by ruffwear | Leave a comment
From: Alan Bau
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
We spent Christmas Holiday in Santa Fe and our Labradoodle named “Bodhi” caught a lot of attention from literally hundreds. Everyone who saw us commented on the Bark’ n Boots; many asked where we purchased them (REI Inc.) and what brand they were, and even asked to photograph our dog. Bodhi brought many smiles to everyone.
I had purchased the Bark’ n Boots because we knew temperatures were going to be in the single digits overnight, and with an abundance of ice on the sidewalks, the city and local merchants were liberally de-icing the sidewalks with rock salt, sno-melt etc. The boots were perfect for protecting Bodhi’s paw pads from the cold temperatures and even harsher chemicals.
Thank you for your product.