Adventure Dog Blog

I was disappointed when I realized I had missed a chance to attend Woofstock 2006, a festival for dogs held in Toronto Canada at the St. Lawrence Market. However, I’ve been told that next year, the festival will be held again at the same location in June!

Woofstock is an outdoor festival for dogs, with free admission, where you will find companies offering the latest in “food, fashion, furnishings and unique serices”, contests, the Ms. and Mr. Canine Canada Pageant, a canine fashion show, a trick contest, and more.

Visit the website for more details on the 2006 festival, and keep an eyeball for details on the 2007 festival!

Taking my dogs with me to Mexico was an incredibly stressful experience for everyone involved. Packing my dogs into kennels, checking them in as baggage, and then wondering if they were going to transfer planes safely and make it to our destination was almost more than I could handle.

When travelling by air, you have to worry about finding an airline that packs your dogs into a cargo area that is pressurized and temperature controlled just like the passenger cabin. When I was flying, there was only one airline that offered this comfort for dogs. As Mr. Meaty is a pug, he cannot travel in a compartment that is not temperature controlled as heat can be very dangerous due to possible breathing difficulties.

If all of this sounds like a nightmare, you might be happy to know that a new airline is soon to make it’s debut who lets your dogs (pets) fly in a special cabin designed just for them. During flight, one animal at a time is allowed to come visit their humans if needed.

Operating on flexible scheduling and working with smaller airports and jet-prop aircraft, Companion Air will be able to offer pet owners faster more comfortable travel with their pets.

Companion Air is hoping to launch within a few months, so keep an eyeball on their website if this service intrigues you.

My dog Anna has always loved the water and anything to do with it.  Not only does she love to swim, but if there’s a puddle anywhere to be found, she’ll lay down in it.  When we were in Mexico, she loved playing in the surf and swimming in the waves.

Something I wanted to do while there was learn to surf, but I didn’t think there would be anywhere to take my dogs.  Today I was surfing around online and was super surprised to find a resort hotel that offers a special surf package for people and their dogs.

At Loews Coronado Bay Resort, they offer a camp package with the following description:

“Hang 20 with Man’s Best Friend! With the Su’ruff Camp package at Loews Coronado Bay Resort & Spa, dogs don board shorts for surfing lessons with Coronado Surfing Academy at Coronado’s Dog Beach. Starting at $300, the one-night package also includes water view accommodations and a copy of “The Dog’s Guide to Surfing,” a unique book about the surf dog lifestyle. Surf dogs chow down on a surf `n’ turf supper, and can choose between doggie board shorts or a surfer bandana from Lucky Dog, San Diego’s premier dog boutique.”

It sounds like a pretty sweet package!  You can check availability on the Loews Hotels website.

When I took my dogs to live in a small village along the coast in Mexico, I didn’t realize that swimming in the ocean with a collar on was going to prevent problems. My big dog Anna is a real water dog, she’s always in the water if she can be. Living near the ocean meant she was always wet, almost 24/7.

Soon, I noticed my dog smelled terrible, like something was dying. It took almost a week to discover a spreading rash beneath her collar. The vet said it had started because the collar was wet and keeping her skin beneath it moist all the time, a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

In Mexico, I was able to just remove Anna’s collar for the duration of our stay, but had we been adventuring somewhere that she needed to wear one, it may have become a problem.

At ActiveK9.com I found a neat product called the Spiffy Dog Collar and it might have been nice to have one when we were in Mexico.

The Spiffy Dog Collar is made with small air chambers, designed to wick away water and cause the collar to dry faster when wet.

If you have a dog that loves the water, you might want to give a collar like this a try. You can find it, and other products, at ActiveK9.com.

A dog camp located North of Toronto Canada, at Camp Dog Wood North you’ll find activities like Animal Communication, Freestyle, Agility, Search and Rescue, Tellington Touch, K9 First Aid, Disc Dog and more.

Offering informative speakers, activities, demonstrations, a complimentary wine & cheese meet and greet, opportunities to have your dog(s) herding instinct and as a Canine Good Neighbor, a mini craft show, and onsite photography sessions.

This year’s camp (2006) is from September 15th through to the 17th. Visit Camp Dog Wood North’s Website for more details!

My dog Anna has a huge nose, I mean immense! I can only imagine how much she can smell in one sniff. And of course, if you own dogs, you know that sniffing is really natural and fun for dogs.

Tracking is when a dog uses their nose to follow a scent trail. You’ve probably heard of police using dogs to track crimminals. Well tracking is an awesome activity that you can enjoy with your dogs!

According to The Tracking Page, any dog can learn to track while some are easier to train than others. On their page, you can also find tracking logs on how the webmaster trained various dogs to track. There’s also information about books on tracking, links to websites on tracking, a glossary of tracking terms, and a section of sample tracks you can use with your dogs!

Visit The Tracking Page for more information on teaching your dogs tracking!

In an earlier post, I wrote about a dog pack that carries water so you don’t have to carry it for your dog. Now I’d like to tell you about Dog Packing!

Dog packing is when you use a backpack on your dog so that he/she can help you carry the load when hiking and adventuring.

Dogs are strong and according to the Guide to Dog Packing, they can carry about one quarter of their own body weight! That’s a lot if you have a huge dog like Anna around. She weighs around ninety pounds at the moment, so that means she could easily carry twenty pounds in a dog pack.

I bet she could carry Mr. Meaty in a backpack on her back!

Read the Guide to Dog Packing for information on training a dog to wear a pack, fitting a dog with a pack properly, trail etiquette and where to get further information for planning your trip.j

Go hiking with your dogs and go Dog Packing!

Considering I’ve taken my dogs adventuring in Mexico and spent lots of time with them on the beaches, by the rivers, and in the jungle, I don’t feel a lot of concern when I think about taking them camping.

However, camping with dogs in North America probably means a lot of on-leash activities and being careful about proximity with other dogs, and children. There are other hazards as well such as ticks and heat exhaustion.

If you’re thinking of going camping, this useful article titled “Camping With Your Dog(s)” will help you to cover all the bases and have a wonderful camping experience.  Don’t be afraid to go camping with your dogs!

I’ve always loved teaching my dogs tricks and I’m always on the lookout for new things. I attended an obedience class once where the teacher had taught her dog some “dance” moves. I thought it was a pretty cute idea, but I didn’t realize that dancing with dogs is a whole sport of it’s own.

According to Wikipedia, Musical Canine Freestyle is “is a modern dog sport that is a mixture of obedience, tricks, and dance that allows for creative interaction between dogs and their owners.”

You can find out more information on the sport, find online classes, and find links at the Musical Dog Sports Association.  Dance with your dogs!

Something I’ve always found difficult when adventuring with my dogs is having to carry a massive water supply. My dogs drink a lot of water, so when hiking, I can easily find myself carrying two litre pop bottles of water. Considering how heavy water can get, I was pretty excited when I saw this item on the ActiveK9.com website.

The H2O On the Go Hydration System Dog Pack is a backpack your dog can wear that carries water. This way, your dog can carry his/her own water supply when hiking or adventuring. The custom designed valves provide water for pets AND people, so you could even have your dog carry water for you as well. The pack holds 56oz of water.

I’m giggling just thinking about tricking my dogs into carrying MY water now!

Visit ActiveK9.com and make your dogs carry water too!