Pro pups: 10 powder hounds that'll get your tail waggin'

The human-canine bond is filled with stronger emotions than a Mariah Carey love ballad. Just stare into the big, loving eyes of a pooch and you’re hooked. No one can escape their charm, not even the coolest of pro skiers. In fact, in many cases the four-legged gnar-pups are more radical than the pro skiers who pick up after them. Who’s the one with a plastic bag on their hand scooping up a steaming lawn log? It ain’t the dog, that’s for sure. So, in a nod to the skier’s best friend, we’ve taken this opportunity to highlight the stories of the best of the best furry woofers—with a smidge’ of love for their human counterparts, as well.

Dex

Dex is a different sort of beast, a tail-wagging, walking contradiction. She chooses at random whom she will cuddle up to and at whom she will growl. She will allow a pretentious poodle to trot through her front yard one moment and the next take off after a dopey retriever just going for a walk. Her owner, adventure extraordinaire and professional skier, Rory Bushfield, describes her temperament simply and perfectly: “Dex don’t give a f#ck!” Example: She loves to make jerky, sudden movements while towing Rory on a skateboard. Dex then howls with delight when she sends Rory flying off his board and into a tomahawk on the pavement.

“I wouldn’t say I own Dex. She’s more like my best friend. But she calls the shots,” Bushfield says of his relationship with his furry sidekick. Sarah Burke, Bushfield’s late wife, found the pooch on a reserve in Pemberton, British Columbia, and brought her home as a surprise. Bushfield was couch-ridden while nursing a concussion and Dex was just three weeks old, suffering from an ear infection and mange. “Bushy” looked at her through a punch drunk haze, cross-eyed and confused, and fell in love. They’ve been the best of compadres ever since.

Where Bushy goes, there is Dex. She is perhaps the most adventurous dog in all of North America. Dex has been to the top of 17,000-foot peaks and swam across Canada’s biggest rivers; she was nearly drowned by seals; she likes to ride on snowmobiles and motorbikes; she has dodged falling trees, as well as both boat and helicopter propellers; and Dex has skied with the world’s best snow sliders. Dex has also been on fire. She is 75 pounds of pure muscle and heart. Because she don’t give a f#ck, except for getting rad with the ones she loves.

Derek Tha Dawg

Tom Wallisch and girlfriend Steph Osborn decided to adopt a dog of small stature for its “travelability.” Derek often accompanies Wallisch— the X Games gold medalist and co-founder of Good Company—on ski trips and to various skiing events; he’s even been known to shred the snowy slopes himself while donning a steezy winter jacket and booties. Though tiny, this pooch has the personality of a dire wolf: bold, regal and fantastic. He loves to hike and play outside and thereby keeps Wallisch and Osborn from becoming couch potatoes. And just like Derek Zoolander, his namesake, everyone stops when he poses. It’s rumored he invented “Blue (Heeler) Steel.”

Taj

Seven years ago, Wiley Miller purchased Taj to have a constant travel companion on his big ski excursions. Taj travels everywhere with the pro skier, from Canada to the U.S. to Mexico, and considers himself a sporty tyke. He enjoys backpacking, mountain biking, snowmobiling and passing gas while being doted upon.

The Sochi Pups

Yes, Jake and Mishka are famous, but they think of themselves as normal dogs. Photo courtesy of Gus Kenworthy

Olympic medalist and ski star Gus Kenworthy along with ex-boyfriend, Robin Macdonald—who Gus credits for doing all the work—brought these pups back to the U.S. from Sochi, Russia, following the 2014 Winter Games. The entire world responded with a collective “awww.” Mama, the aptly-named mother of the Russian litter, lives with Kenworthy’s mom in Telluride, Colorado. “She loves that dog more than my brothers and I,” Kenworthy jokes. Jake and Mishka enjoyed their first year in America with Kenworthy, but now reside in Vancouver with Macdonald, where they spend their days being fabulous and famous.

Reese Benchetler-Fasani

Reese doesn’t understand why Chris feels the need to climb rocks. “Humans…” – Reese. Photo: Aaron Blatt

There have been recent reports of an abominable snow dog in the Eastern Sierra. Photo: Chris Benchetler

Though Reese is a mere 3.5-pound Yorkie, Chris Benchetler and wife Kimmy Fasani treat her as if she were a 40-pound monster. What else would you expect from the pro skier/snowboarder power couple? Reese is an avid climber, hiker, trail runner and is obsessed with playing fetch, despite it being difficult for her. Even though fetching her Frisbee is akin to a human carrying a garage-sized dinner plate, Reese can’t get enough. When this mighty mutt is tuckered out from a day of adventures, she loves to burrow into the sleeve of a puffy jacket for a restful slumber.

Theo Townsend-Saugstad

Owned by pro skiers Elyse Saugstad and Cody Townsend, Theo is about the size of a teacup and tips the scales at a woof over two pounds. He is essentially the smallest version of the most adorable thing ever. However, do not doubt the ferocity of this pooch. He is a fearless brute. Theo can often be found sending it off of Townsend and Saugstad’s couch, which is basically the human equivalent of a 700-foot cliff drop. Theo likes to hike the hills of Squaw Valley and generally loves running his humans around outside. But his true love is “falling asleep in laps after giving kisses.”

Gretel

This nine-year-old Australian cattle dog came into Ian Compton’s life about five years ago and has since become his shadow. All day, every day, Gretel stares at Compton or looks for him when he leaves. Every morning at 6 a.m., she accompanies the Vermont-based skiing icon while he checks on his chickens, not to keep guard, but rather, to score her favorite snack—chicken poop. After the fecal aperitif, Gretel helps Compton pick her breakfast from the garden. Yes, that’s right; Gretel only dines on raw greens and local beef. That is, of course, when she’s not eating poo.

Luna Tha Dawg

After injuries sidelined him last winter, Olympic gold medalist Joss Christensen decided he needed a pick-me-up. Since he was on crutches, Christensen chose to forego his desires to take up Capoeira—the art of Brazilian dance fighting—and get a pup. He quickly fell in love with Luna, who he credits with staving off the physical therapy blues. Luna loves to help Christensen polish his Sochi-branded medal but her favorite hobbies are taking selfies with her tongue out, chewing on anything and ignoring her owner when he calls. She’ll be traveling with Christensen all winter and is psyched to sniff international (canine) butts.

Slim

Slim is a very strange and special dog. He is constantly sleepy and possesses a permanently calm demeanor. But, when triggered by his humans returning home or proximity to doggy friends, his “chillness” is interrupted by short and extreme bursts of energy. According to slayer of insane backcountry lines, Parker White, Slim’s primary household duty is comic relief, which comes naturally because of his “salamander-like body and alien brain.” Slim has gone snowboarding through lightning storms in the Rockies and broken up woodland hippie séances in the Sierras. Because Slim loves the snow but Slim hates the hippies.

Cora Tha Explorer

While Andy Parry, star of the Line Traveling Circus, was in Australia, his fiancé Emily Tidwell decided their household, already overrun by furry feline friends and crusty ski socks, was in need of a dog. Enter Cora, now a standard two-year-old puppy—meaning she’s crazy and always buzzing with energy. Cora begins each day by rounding up Parry and Tidwell’s two cats and sneaking some of their Fancy Feast. She is a devoted skier and accompanies her two best friends on wintertime adventures. Tidwell, a pro photographer, often takes Cora with her on photo shoots, which explains Cora’s insanely charming, high-end Instagram account.

This story originally appeared in the January 2017 issue of FREESKIER (19.4) the Top Ten Issue. Click here to subscribe and receive copies of FREESKIER Magazine delivered right to your doorstep.