Adventure Dog Blog

I thought you might enjoy seeing some photos from one of our adventures with Anna and Mr. Meaty. We were living in Yelapa, a small village near Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. We decided to take a day trip to a village named Quimixto, further North. We had to get onto a boat in the morning, returning by boat at supper time.

My big dog Anna doesn’t like boats, so I had a bit of a struggle getting her into the boat in the morning, but once we were settled, the trip was fine! Happy to leap off the boat, we had a great time exploring the village before tourists began arriving later in the day.

Anna and Mr. Meaty loved sniffing around the beach, playing in the water, exploring the village, and then cooling off by laying in the sand under a big tree.

The end of our adventure was a bit more adventure than I had bargained for. When the boat pulled up at the dock, I went to push Anna onto the boat but she refused. Then, as the boat pulled back on a wave, she thought it was leaving without us and decided to jump into the ocean and swim!! I was horrified, because the dock was too high for her to get back up, and the rocks at the edge were slippery and tall. There was a serious risk she may drown or get squished between the boat and the dock as the waves carried it around.

Luckily, I managed to coax her out of the water and onto the rocks, and when we tried again, I was able to get her to jump onto the boat!

Enjoy the photos!

For the most part, dogs will not drink ocean or salt water because, well… it’s salty!  However, some dogs are more stubborn than others (or maybe they have poor taste?), and will insist on sucking up half the ocean when you take them playing at the beach.

In Mexico, Mr. Meaty was notorious for rushing down to the water’s edge for a drink when he was thirsty.  The best way to combat this was by taking a large bottle of fresh water with us anytime we headed to the beach, and before, during and after playing, I would offer him a drink.  This helped reduce his salt water intake drastically.

What happens if a dog drinks too much salt water?  It makes them quite ill and can cause vomiting and  diarrhea.

One night, my dog Mr. Meaty became quite ill, and the only thing we could find wrong with him was that he had drank a significant amount of salt water earlier that day when we went to the beach.  From that night forward, I was even more careful to prevent him from drinking salt water.

Drinking too much salt water can be very dangerous for anyone, including your dogs, so don’t forget fresh water when you take that trip to the beach!

While running free in Mexico, my dogs drank from all kinds of water sources, including dirty rivers. It was important that they have all of their vaccinations, including one for Giardia, a parasite that can cause diarrhea and other symptoms.

However, it’s important to note that dogs can also pick up Giardia from any contaminated food or water source, even rivers running through your city. According to The Pet Center, “Giardia is transmitted from one dog to another through the ingestion of cysts in contaminated feed or drinking water. Cysts may also be found in streams or other water sources.”

Reading at GoLetAVet.com, I learned that Giardia “can be found anywhere from puddles and ponds to swimming pools and streams. Your pet can contract the disease by drinking contaminated water, or even by licking his paws after walking in an infected area!”

The Government of Alberta has a page that answers the basic questions you might have about Giardia, and your vet should be able to tell you about vaccinations and help you determine whether your dog needs them.

When we were in Mexico, we lived in the jungle along the coast. Our house had no screens on the windows, and we didn’t even have all four walls on our house. The dogs could come and go as they pleased, and they delighted in disappearing into the bush now and again to chase chickens.

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of ticks in the jungle, just like a lot of other places on Earth. If you live, or go adventuring, in an area that has ticks, you’re probably going to have to remove one from your dog sooner or later.

If your dog has been wandering around outdoors in tick country, it’s a good idea to check your dog for ticks everyday. You can do this by rubbing your fingers through their hair and along their skin. You want to feel their skin for any little lumps or bumps. Sometimes this is just dirt or a scratch, but other times it’s a tick. You’ll need to part the hair and get a good look.

Ticks tend to be brown in color, and are fairly small, with little legs sticking out from their sides. They are very flat before feeding, and quite swollen and fat after sucking blood. They excrete a substance from their mouth parts that acts like a glue to hold them tight to the skin, so they can be difficult to remove. Making it worse, they can bury their mouth parts under the skin and removal of the tick sometimes leaves these bits behind, leaving the body prone to infection.

When you are removing a tick, it is wisest to use a pair of tweezers if at all possible. If you squeeze the tick when it’s full of blood, it will just explode, leaving all kinds of bits behind under your dog’s skin. Gross but true. You need to gently grab the tick with the tweezers and PULL.

Now when I was in Mexico, I didn’t have any tweezers, and I removed any ticks we encountered with my fingers. However, it’s important to realize that ticks carry all kinds of diseases, some of which can be transferred to humans. Using tweezers really is the safest technique.

After you’ve removed the tick, don’t just dispose of it outdoors. Ticks can survive for months and months without feeding, and I’ve been told you can’t crush them to death even with a hammer! Now I’m not sure if that’s true, but your best course of action is to flush the tick down the toilet. That way, you can be sure the pest will never again attach itself to your dog’s skin.

If you live or adventure in places that are heavily populated by ticks, you might want to consider getting your dogs vaccinations against common tick diseases if available, and use a product like Revolution to repel ticks.

A tired dog is a happy dog, and a dog with a job must be even happier! Search and rescue is an incredible job, and according to the DogsWithJobs website, “one trained search and rescue dog is as effective as ten trained human searchers.”

While this sort of job can be very rewarding, it calls for a lot of time, training, and committment. Dog Play offers a description of what is involved in getting your dog into search and rescue, and a lot of helpful links.

Want a real adventure? Give your dog a job!

I was surfing online, looking at products for dogs, when I came across a link to this video. This dog apparently hates it’s own leg… really really really hates it!!!

click here for the video

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta Canada, the Johnston Canyon resort offers breathtakingly beautiful surroundings at their cabins and chalets.  Even better, they offer pet friendly lodging, charging ten dollars per night for your dog to stay with you.

As stated on their website, there are lots of activities nearby: “A short drive to Banff town or Lake Louise town takes you to a variety of activities such as swimming, horseback riding, climbing, biking, canoeing, a gondola ride or a short scenic hike. You may also want to consider visiting the remarkable Columbia Icefields or neighboring parks of Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper.”

The Rockies of course offer lots of opportunities for hiking, both on well worn trails and backcountry for the more adventurous at heart.

Visit the Johnston Canyon Resort website for rates and reservations!

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.