Looking for the Weekend

I know the weekend is down there somewhere - Natasha

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Red Team plunging through the snow.

All those amazing greyhounds (and one German Shepherd) over at Houndstooth wanted to know, “Do you ever have to do anything to protect their feet in the winter? Also, how many times have they taken you down during those Siberian Wrestling Games?”

For normal snow hiking and walking, we do not need anything on our paws.  Siberian Huskies have a very compact paw that is well designed for walking in snow.  For longer distances, in icy weather or for walking on roads that have been treated against the frozen weather, we sometimes wear cordura booties.

Miss Kiska, however, has a unique challenge.  We Sibes have these thick coats that repel ice and water.  Kiska, however, has a wooly coat which works like velcro for picking up snow and creating those very painful ice balls.  The solution is very simple – her paws, legs and belly are all sprayed with any good non-stick cooking spray like Pam.  Yep, you read that correctly.  It works wonders in preventing ice and snow from clinging to her paws and fur.

The only problem we ever had with that is when we accidentally grabbed the butter flavored Pam and sprayed her down.  The rest of The Herd spent as much time as possible licking her.

Now that you know that (and are probably laughing so hard you can’t see straight), you really don’t care that we have knocked the hu-dad down about eleventy-seven bazillion times in the snow.  Knocking him down is half the fun.  The Siberian pile on top of him is the other half.

26 Comments

  1. Sonic on November 13, 2010 at 1:35 am

    Nothing more awesome than a pack of sibes bursting through the snow!

    If you put red team on a t-shirt, I bet it’ll sell really well on Amazon!

    Sonic

  2. Huffle Mawson on November 12, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    LOL at Kiska! Poor girl.

  3. siku marie on November 12, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    Cooking oil kisses and Siberian Pile On sound either like wrestling moves from TV or naughty movies…but fun nonetheless! Have a great weekend.

  4. The OP Pack on November 12, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    Great tip, Mom wishes she knew that when she had her two cockapoos – oh what a mess they were in the snow.

    If only all the rain we are having tonight were snow – SIGH!

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

  5. sychoberians on November 12, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    mmmmmm butter. We would like to be there when that happens again.

    Remy and Flash

    Great tip on the Pam for me, I am really, really Wooly and we plan to go to the snow this year.

    Remy

    Hopefully Dad uses butter flavored on Remy.

    Flash

  6. Sagira on November 12, 2010 at 4:58 pm

    You guys sure look good in all that snow. Keep it there PLEASE! 🙂

  7. The Army of Four on November 12, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    I’m just lost in your snow. Sigh. So beautiful.
    Love,
    Ammy

    PS: Sorry we’ve been MIA lately! We’ve been reading, just haven’t been able to comment!

  8. brooke & Darwin on November 12, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    buttered Sibe… hmmm.
    hahahaha

  9. Sammie, Avalon and Mom on November 12, 2010 at 11:40 am

    Keep diggin’! We are sure you will find the weekend down there somewhere! And Ma is cleaning off the puter screen covered with coffee, she laughed so hard! But a GREAT tip – we get those coat balls and Mom will try that to prevent them – thank you! I guess we are giggling the hardest over poor hu-dad lying in the snow, Herdpile atop him hee hee!
    Hugs xoxoxo
    Sammie and Avalon

  10. priscilla on November 12, 2010 at 10:47 am

    Wow, I didn’t know Pam was so useful other than just for cooking! You’re a genius!!!

    Have more wrestling fun on the snow!!! It’d be even better if there are some pictures to share with us, or may be some videos : ) Hope I’m not too greedy 🙂

  11. Mogley G. Retriever on November 12, 2010 at 10:34 am

    After you spray her with Pam, does she slide out of her bed? Can she slip out of her collar or harness?

    Inquiring minds want to know.

    Mogley G. Retriever

  12. KB on November 12, 2010 at 9:54 am

    And, do you Sibes steal his hat after knocking him down? That is our dogs’ specialty!

    Pam – I would have never thought of that. We have snow- and ice-ball problems under certain snow conditions, and the dogs find them to be very painful – they stand still holding up the affect paw until a human removes the iceball. We trim their paw fur to help, but now we’re going to try pam. But, NOT the butter-flavored kind! Laughs here in CO!

    Great photo of the red team!

  13. Minnie and Mack on November 12, 2010 at 9:52 am

    Another use of Pam that the makers sure didn’t think of! I wondered about the flavor thing. Very funny.
    Please picture of the Hu-dad snow pile.

    Drools and licks,
    Minnie and Mack

  14. moo & jack on November 12, 2010 at 9:19 am

    Woo-hoo! Will that cooking spray repel sisfur attacks too? Maybe I’ll slide right out of her paws & jaws! thanks!

    ~Jack

    PS – perhaps the Houndstooth pack would also like to know that huskies have partially webbed toes, fur on the bottom of our feety-feets and extra-heavy/sturdy nails to help with all that running on ice & snow?

  15. Sam on November 12, 2010 at 9:00 am

    It is common practice to spray the inside of your horses hooves with pam in the winter too. Mom doesn’t have much experience with this – she has heard it through the grapevine.

    Sam

  16. Houndstooth on November 12, 2010 at 8:23 am

    Oh wow! We’ve used Pam on the bottom of our sleds to make them go down the hill faster, but spraying a dog takes the prize for the most unique use of cooking spray that I’ve ever heard! I can just see them all poking her with their noses now. “Hmmm….tastes like buttah!” Thanks for answering the question!

    I swear I’m not laughing or wondering about why there are no videos the Siberian Hu-Dad Snow Pile! Okay, I am!

  17. Stumpy and Cyndi on November 12, 2010 at 8:16 am

    We have the opposite problem..protecting Stumpy’s feet from burning and thorns. She does not appreciate the boots!

    A video of the herd, enjoying a butter flavored Kiska, would be hilarious!

  18. Pamela on November 12, 2010 at 7:59 am

    Great tip about the Pam. One question: how does it make her fur feel? And does it fade quickly? Or do you need to wipe her down when you get back inside?

    It reminds me of the story of the amorous couple playing with oils who left some interesting grease prints all over their $300 a roll wallpaper.

    Do you have Kiska prints on your walls?

  19. Shawnee the Shepherd on November 12, 2010 at 7:55 am

    I will nefur trust my mom with a can of PAM in her hands again. Thanks fur putting that pikshure in my head.

  20. Pip on November 12, 2010 at 7:53 am

    Thanks for the morning chuckle!!!

    Your pal, Pip

  21. Carolyn on November 12, 2010 at 7:17 am

    Sorry, you are right, I’m giggling too much over the image of Kiska rolling around on the floor while the others grumble at her to hold still, they might miss a spot. LOL!! too funny!

  22. Martha and Bailey on November 12, 2010 at 6:53 am

    As long as nobody light the BBQ! Have a great weekend.
    love
    Martha and Bailey xxx

  23. Wild Dingo on November 12, 2010 at 4:35 am

    oh man… i’m crackin’ up… i’ve used Pam for a lot of things…but sadly they dont’ make it here! i have to do something about Loki’s feet if we go snow shoeing. and hopefully i won’t need to do anything for juno, but we’ll test and see.

    i can’t imagine being knocked down by 6 sibes. seriously. for all her dainty-ness, juno packs a pretty hard punch when she wants to and pushes me down. it’s quite shocking. when i come home she does it… of course its what every dog trainer tells you NOT to let them do, but i can’t help but love it so i let it slide. plus half the time her front paws land on Loki’s back and she’s using him as a stool to rest on as she licks my face. smart sibe…

  24. Kari on November 12, 2010 at 2:07 am

    I sure hope the weekend is there somewhere! And the Pam story is very funny

    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

  25. Dennis the Vizsla on November 12, 2010 at 2:05 am

    Tucker would lick her even with just the regular spray, I think.

  26. Khyra on November 12, 2010 at 1:17 am

    I hope woo find it!

    Thanks fur the tip – it will khome in handy fur Khousin Merdie – taking her fur a walk in the snow results in what woo pawed about Kiska!

    Of khourse, we did smile about the BUTTER!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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