As I almost can’t express enough, Kuma and Balto do a better job of pulling me on the scooter then I ever hoped for.
When winter comes around, things get interesting on the dog scooter.
First of all, the colder it is, the more the dogs love it.
Dogs are not able to sweat like many animals, the main way they dissipate excess heat is by panting.
In fact overheating is something that has to be watched for with all working dogs.
Like an engine under load, dogs that are working generally need to get rid of more heat.
Dogs are also susceptible to heat stroke which is one reason they should not be left in cars in warm weather especially with strong sunshine.
Another aspect of keeping your dogs cool is making sure they are well hydrated with enough to drink.
That’s why some times I carried water on the scooter for the dogs.
Another factor is the kind of fur the dog has.
Golden Retriever
A warm climate dog usually has a single coat of fur or hair.
Toto is single coated and sometimes has to wear a dog coat we put on her in cold weather.
Kuma has a short but double coat. That means that under the top coat that you can see, he has another coat of down like fur.
Once a year in summer he “blows his coat” and the under coat is shed all over the place in addition to the regular full time shedding of his top coat.
Kuma has no trouble in below zero weather because of his undercoat.
We used to think that Kuma really shed a lot.
That was before Balto and then Remy showed us what shedding really is about!
Balto has a tremendous undercoat and a medium length topcoat.
He doesn’t care how cold it could get, after all he’s a husky.
He also blows his coat and sheds like a husky.
Remy is also double coated, but in a different way from the other dogs.
Part of her breeding was for a coat that was warm in water, especially very cold water.
Her coat carries a lot of water while staying warm and she also sheds big time.
She has zero concern with cold temps and is the most prone to overheating of our dogs.
So Kuma, Balto and Remy love the cold weather.
They can do more and over heat less in colder temperatures.
The rest of the year I don’t get the scooter out unless it’s cooler than 60 degrees F., or at least starting out at less than 60 deg.
Sooner or later in the winter months we’ll encounter snow.
The scooter does pretty well in snow up to maybe 6″. Wetter snow is a bit more difficult.
It seems to do better than a mountain bike in say 4-5″ of snow.
Dogs, people in winter
Being pulled seems to work better than trying to pedal your own wheel, at least in deeper snow.
Otherwise, good mountain bikes are usually faster in dry conditions.
At some point I asked the question: How can I get a similar experience to the scooter in deeper snow?
Other folks have asked a similar question and tried to adapt bicycles to deeper snow.
I’ve heard of bikes with nail studded tires for ice, but that doesn’t help in snow.
I’ve seen ‘balloon bikes”, with special balloon tires for snow that are good to about 6 inches.
but there’s really nothing I could find from the bike or wheeled world that would practically work in deeper snow.
I think part of the problem is that a wheeled concept is just not appropriate in the deeper snow.
So, what to do? Is there a concept that might work as well as the scooter in snow?
I think there is.
I won’t be able to say too much about it at this time as it has been under recent development.
We were able to develop a suitable device that doesn’t use wheels.
Kuma or Balto can pull it, or the rider can push it, while standing in a similar fashion as on the scooter.
It also has some cargo capacity and gives the rider a place to rest off the snow when taking a break.
Please STAY TUNED as we will be revealing this new vehicle to you shortly