We started our visit to South Lake Tahoe, California with a hike along the Upper Truckee River. Huxley's cracked paw is healed but I still chose an easy, leashed dog friendly hike. The Hawley Grade Trail had everything we forest starved Cascadian Nomads needed from river wading to meadow wrestling. We all enjoyed the cool breeze, tree filtered sunlight and gorgeous views.
Phoenix To Seattle Road Trip With 3 Dogs & A Cockatoo Day 3: A Sparkling River, Beach & Volcano5/16/2014 Typist: Bethany We started our visit to South Lake Tahoe, California with a hike along the Upper Truckee River. Huxley's cracked paw is healed but I still chose an easy, leashed dog friendly hike. The Hawley Grade Trail had everything we forest starved Cascadian Nomads needed from river wading to meadow wrestling. We all enjoyed the cool breeze, tree filtered sunlight and gorgeous views. Of course, our first day in California wouldn't be complete without some time at the beach. There are only a few beaches in South Lake Tahoe that allow dogs. We walked down to leashed dog friendly Kavi Beach (though Wilhelm, Brychwyn and Huxley were the only dogs on leashes- and likely the only dogs traveling almost 800 miles from home.) The beach was fabulous fun and the panorama views were stunning. And our visit to a lovely, sandy California beach seemed the perfect time to add the last state of this epic journey to the dogs "States I've Visited" shirts. Day three of driving back to Seattle from the Southwest made me a little bit sad to plan. It had so far been an exciting road trip full of highways I had never driven before. But on this day, once we got to Reno, we would be on roads I have driven many, many times the rest of the way home. All of that sadness was erased though, once I smelled the sage covered hills just past Bordertown. When we entered Lassen National Forest and the warm, large pine stands, meadows and marshes whizzed past us, I wondered why I don't drive through here more often. This short and splendid drive ended in one of my favorite places in the whole world: Mt Shasta, California. We arrived in time for a pleasant walk, sunset and full moonrise all with the extraordinary volcanic peaks of Mount Shasta and Shastina in view. I can tell that the pets are growing weary of being on the road but I think my excitement about being back in Cascadia as well as in this spectacular place reinvigorated them a little. While we are still over 500 miles from our house, technically we are home. Please forgive any & all rough spots in this post as it has been done on mobile from the road! We will be reading and enjoying your comments but, due to being on the road, it will be difficult for us to respond right away. Thanks for understanding and for coming along on our adventure.
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Volunteer Park Via Washington Park Arboretum & Interlaken Park: Seattle Urban Hike With Dogs4/25/2014 Typist: Bethany Variety is always what the dogs and I are after in any adventure we embark on. So yesterday we set out on a dog friendly Seattle urban hike that began at the Washington Park Arboretum, through the trails of Interlaken and Louisa Boren Parks to Volunteer Park and back again. Our entire hike was less than six miles but we walked on every type of terrain and had incredible diversity in scenery. Our fit dog journey began at the Washington Park Arboretum which is, despite my hometown bias, one of the loveliest arboretums I have ever visited. Plus our arboretum allows leashed dogs on all of the outdoor trails with the exception of the Japanese Garden. The landscape design is meticulously set to make hikers feel as if they are trekking through a natural habitat. Most of the trails are gravel, dirt and grass but there is a closed to the public road that can be safely traveled by arboretum visitors on two or four feet as well. From the Washington Park Arboretum we traveled up and West via East Interlaken Boulevard. The first part we hiked on this quiet, narrow road is open to traffic but because it is a thin, neighborhood street, cars go slow enough to make it safe and pleasant for humans and canines.
We turned off the dirt trail back onto the paved closed road that eventually lead us out of the park to again share East Interlaken Boulevard with cars. Our urban hike ended back down the hill when we returned to the Washington Park Arboretum. We had truly enjoyed a variety of sights, sounds and smells. This wonderful urban hike had also offered wonderfully diverse terrain. I think it's clear that the dogs appreciated the fit dog time and if they're happy, I'm happy. A to Z Challenge: Yesterday was Under: A Search For The Best Cat Food Under The Sun Became #WeruvaPets Dog Food, tomorrow is W for Wilhelm: The Most Wonderful Weiner Dog. Typist: Bethany Running with your dog is wonderful! It is great exercise for both of you, wonderful bonding time and just plain fun. Seeing more and more and more people out and about with their dogs when spring is in full bloom makes me very happy. I especially like to see runners with dogs. Correction. I like to see people out for a run with a dog if they are swinging a bag full of poop or they are visibly carrying a bag and are prepared for the inevitable. Nothing spoils fitness time with my own dogs than having to dodge piles of poop scattered along the sidewalk. And I know it is runners. How do I know? Well, these perfectly spaced dog droppings are almost always on popular running routes and trails. The volume of these movement dispersed dog poops increase during nice weather and during local marathon training times. So there you go runners. I know it's you. Everyone does. We're glad you are exercising with your dog. But stop messing up the neighborhood. Start scooping that poop! As a former personal trainer and current fitness instructor, I know that no one wants their trial time wrecked or their workout wasted. But you don't have to spoil your workout to clean up after you dog while running. You can obey the law, take care of environment and be a good neighbor while actually improving your fitness level and running time. Here's how: 1. Give your dog a chance to poop before your run. If you warm-up properly with a brisk walk or jog and ask your dog to go, you improve your conditioning and allow yourself the chance scoop that poop before catching your stride. Maybe your dog needs time in the yard before your run. But even then... 2. Always bring more than enough poop bags. Bags are light. They take up minimal space in the tiny pockets of your running tights or jersey. There is no excuse not to have plenty of bags on you every time you run. I always carry at least three bags per dog every single time I leave the house, whether my dog has pooped recently or not. 3. Pay attention: I haven't personally seen it happen but I have a feeling that most runners don't clean up after their dogs because they don't notice their dogs lag a bit and drop poops while running. Fit dog time is always great but it should also be together time. 4. Lunge: stretch your hip flexors, increase leg strength and your stride width by lunging as you scoop that poop. Make sure you get a wide enough stance that your front knee stays behind your toes (a good measure is to be sure you can see your front toes around your knee.) Engage your abdominal muscles and keep your back flat as you stoop to pick up after your dog. Keep your head above your heart. Lunges are a great way to go back and get scattered droppings; you get a lunge on each side with a big sweeping step in between; excellent strength training! Stride length and, hence, running speed is always improved by lunges.
Always consult a veterinarian before beginning a new exercise with your dog or prior to changing your dogs exercise routine. Always consult with a doctor before beginning a new exercise or prior to changing your exercise routine. I always recommend having a fitness professional check your form on any sport you do, running, strength training, stretching, etc. Poor posture while doing any kind of work out can cause more harm to your body than good. Do you run or workout with your dog? What ways do you add to your exercise routine while you clean up after you dog? A to Z Challenge: Saturday was Q for Quality: The #PawNatural Challenge To Improve Air Quality, Water Quality, Pet Health Quality, tomorrow is Earth Day and S for Seattle: Sunrise, Story Totem, Skunk Cabbage, Chief Sealth, Sunset.
There are a lot of resources on how to make your own agility, obedience and flyball jumps but I have never seen the need to spend money to make a jump when a jump can be made out of just about anything. Yesterday afternoon, our do-it-yourself jump was a bamboo pole on top of the dogs outdoor toy bin and a planter. Wilhelm, Brychwyn** and Huxley had a blast leaping the stick. Then they had fun tugging and chewing the bamboo. To practice the "over" command, I can make a low jump out of a variety of objects. Yesterdays do-it-yourself flat jump was simply the lid of a large container placed on the ground. I have used my backpack or a blanket as an "over" jump as well. "Over" is a leap I like the dogs to practice frequently because it comes in very useful when we encounter Cascadian puddles on our walks. Jumps for your dog certainly don't need to be made by you. Cities have plenty of jumps to offer like curbs, walls, planters and breaks in the sidewalk. But nature offers the most available variety of jumps in the forms of roots, logs, limbs, shrubs, streams, rocks and, as mentioned before, our personal favorite, puddles. Jumps will increase your dogs heart rate* as well as add strength training and mental stimulation to any of your fit dog time. It is so easy to get in some extra fit dog time in your yard or while out on a walk with so many jumping options everywhere. Dogs can jump anytime, anywhere and they'll be joyfully fit too. *Always consult with your veterinarian before beginning a new exercise routine with your dog or changing your dogs exercise routine. We recommend consulting with a professional dog trainer to make sure that a jump is the appropriate height and width for your dogs size, age and fitness level. For the dogs safety, frequent jumping and jump training should be done on soft surfaces like wood chips, saw dust, rubber mats, grass, sand, dirt, etc. **I am very careful about the height of Brychwyn's jumps and how many he does so as not to aggravate his limp. You can learn about using target training to teach your dog to go over jumps here. Besides leaping onto people or the furniture, does your dog jump? A to Z Challenge: Yesterday was I for Individuals: Tailor Training To Each Dogs Unique Personality, tomorrow is K for Kit: Updating Our Perfectly Complete Do-It-Yourself Pet First Aid Kit. |
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