Graham Thompson

GT – Trail’s technical editor for over 25 years – is our walking gear guru, and a qualified animal behaviourist. Many dogs enjoy a run around the park in a thin dusting of snow before settling down in a warm house by the fire. But going onto the winter hills with dogs is a more serious scenario as it will be potentially less safe than a low-level walk. A lot depends on owners' ability to manage themselves and their dogs, as well as their dogs' ability to manage themselves – so it is a little like asking if it is safe to take young children on the hills in winter. If we assume an owner can manage in a white-out, then we need to ask if on top of all that if he or she can also carry the dog over any obstacles that may appear, such as a rock step covered in snow, a deep snowdrift or a steep slope. Big dogs are hard to pick up so owners will be reliant on them being able to negotiate obstacles on their own. Small dogs can be picked up easily but they may spend their whole day neck-deep in snow, which will be very tiring and chilling for them if nothing else. In a white-out, dogs struggle to see cliff edges so they need to be walking at their owner’s side, which then comes down to how much control owners have over their dogs. Snow can also easily stick to a dog’s coat and cake up one side of its face when walking in wilder conditions, which is stressful for the dog at the very least. As it’s impossible to predict the conditions 2,000ft to 3,000ft up a winter hill, dog owners must be prepared to turn back if they or their pet are struggling in any way.

Is it safe for me to take my dog out in winter? Oli Beaumont, Glossop