Dogs are man and woman’s  best friend and kids too! When you have had a hard day or a rough year you can count on your playful pup to lift your spirits. No matter what happens, your pup will greet you with a wagging tail and offer his affection. Our pups are truly there for us thru it all - so doesn’t your canine family member deserve to get in on the holiday festivities?

Our favorite holiday party is the Dog Paddling celebration! It’s fun for all us humans and a great way to celebrate our wonderful guides but the ones have the best time is all the pups! Jessie and her fellow DPA K9 guides enjoy a great hike thru the forest before we head back for some yummy (human grub) ofcourse we share with the pups too!

Here are some tips on how you can get your pup into the Holiday Spirit!

Special delivery

One of the most popular and easiest ways to get the pups involved with family tradition around Christmas is to include them in your holiday greeting cards. Special order Christmas cards with a family photo, including your barking buddy. Or, if your dog loves the spotlight, feature a card with your pet’s portrait. If your pooch is posh, jazz up his attire with festive doggie duds or a Santa hat. Why not take your dog to a local pet photographer and get a new portrait done! Makes a great greeting card and is a nice momento for you to keep! If you are in the GTA check out our favorite photographer Peter Organa

Christmas treats

Cookies, gingerbread, candy canes, chocolates and candies - Christmas time satisfies a sweet tooth with all its tasty treats. We get to indulge around the holidays, and so should our pets. Break up the boring milk bones your dog gets every day with holiday goodies that will get his tail wagging. Use holiday-shaped cookie cutters to cut festive shapes from your dog biscuit recipes. Or, purchase Christmas-themed doggie treats from your local dog bakery or pet shop. Even though they may not know it’s a Christmas treat, they will still excited, adding just a little more fun to the holiday season. Dogs notice their special desserts. Reward your dog for a year of being good (or, somewhat good) with a holiday indulgence.

Create a Stocking for your Pup
A canine Christmas stocking is a fun way to display your love for your pooch. Any stocking can be personalized with a dog’s name, and many stockings are designed specifically for dogs, with paw-print themes or portraits of your dog’s breed. Your mantle may be a bit more crowded, but your dog’s devotion earned that space.

Christmas Day
If your dog has a stocking, Santa wouldn’t dare leave it empty on Christmas Eve. Fill your furry friend’s stocking with toys and treats to enjoy on Christmas morning. Or, wrap up a present for your pup. They see everyone else opening packages, so why shouldn’t they get to? You may have to help him with the unwrapping, but as soon as he gets into his prize, his tail will be wagging with delight. As everyone else opens their gifts, your dog will be in puppy heaven playing with a plethora of new toys of his own. Why not add a Dog Paddling Gift Card (what could be better than a day out with your favorite pup)

Include every member of your family, including the furry ones, in your holiday festivities. Devoting special holiday attention to your dog only adds to the fun of the season. Your dog will relish being extra spoiled, and your Christmas spirit will be brightened by his smiling chops and swinging tail. This year, have a very merry canine Holiday Season!

We know Jessie will, woof woof!

Halloween is a fun time of year for the whole family - even your dog. Will you be dressing your dog up? Have you come up with a costume idea yet? At Dog Paddling we not only love Halloween we devote a day of hiking to it!! Our "Howl-een" hike is a day of hiking and fun - the best part is our costume contest! All the dogs dress up in their best costumes and prance around and ofcourse prizes are awarded for the most doggone cute costumes!

As fun as Halloween is there are a few tips to keep in mind for your dogs safety:

Halloween Treats

Remember that human treats are not usually good for dogs! Candy - especially chocolate- can be extremely toxic to your dog. Artificially sweetened candy, gum and other goodies may also contain xylitol, a highly toxic substance. Dogs may also ingest food wrappers, causing a risk of choking, upset stomach or gastrointestinal blockage. My suggestion is get some new doggy treats and have them handy to give to your pup while your kids are enjoying their treats! 

Halloween Decorations

Your pup is bound to be curious about new objects around the house, and that includes Halloween decorations. Be sure decorations are not in areas where your dog could ingest them or bump into them. Power cords trip your dog or lead to electrical shock if chewed. Be careful with the placement of jack-o-lanterns - have you ever seen a dog eat a whole pumpkin? Be careful of candles which can be knocked over, potentially burning your dog and/or starting a fire. Have fun and decorate - just think about your pup first!

Trick-or-Treaters

Though many dogs love visitors, some can become fearful of strangers. You may even find your dog will be afraid of people dressed up in costumes (Jessie has been freaked out many times!) The constant ringing of the doorbell can also get your dog over excited or stressed out.  Think about your dog’s typical reaction to visitors and take extra precautions for Halloween.  If your pup seems afraid of guests in costumes, think about taking them to another room or distracting them with a doggy toy! 

My advice is have fun and include your pup in the festivities! We always dress Jessie up (not always sure if she LOVES it) but what she loves is to be part of it all! We even take her out trick-or-treating with us for the first little while, we are lucky a few neighbours even give her doggy treats!!!

Send us your Halloween pics! We would love to see them!!

Happy "Howl-een"   Here is Jessie’s costume from last years hike! 

Thanksgiving weekend is here and as we all plan our special family dinners with loved ones we can’t forget about our favorite furry friends!

Our pups are faithful, friendly and fun and lets face it they make our lives fuller! As we celebrate and give thanks there are many ways to share this holiday with our pups!

HAVE SOME FUN!

We have a long weekend to enjoy, but most of us will be spending a lot of it with family and possibly having to leave our dogs at home.  Get out and enjoy the wonder of this beautiful Fall season for atleast part of the weekend and ofcourse bring your pup along for the fun! Today we packed up the truck and took Jessie for an all day hike, the kids and Jess had a great day!

Here are some fun suggestions!

1) Hide and Seek - use high piles of leaves, if possible!

2) Leaf romps - after you’re done hiding in the leaves, play in them - tossing them, throwing them in a fun way at your dog, rolling in them, etc. Some dogs go nuts when you throw leaves at them (its pretty cute to watch!)

3) Catch with any fun ball or Frisbee.

4) Go for a hike!  Look online for local conservation areas or try a new off leash park.  Try to pick somewhere new that your pup hasn’t been before.  Dog’s love to explore and sniff out new locations.  If you aren’t sure where to go you can always try one of our fall hikes or email us for some suggestions.

5) Take your pup with you to Thanksgiving dinner - our pups love first and foremost to be with us!!!

Enjoy a happy Thanksgiving with your pup!  We plan to spend the long weekend checking out new hiking locations and playing catch with our good buddy Jessie!  Here is how Jessie enjoyed her day!!

 How will you and your pup be spending Thanksgiving? Send us your stories and photos!!!

Kathryn

Hiking with your dog is a wonderful way to take your dog on the “walk” of their life.  It is a terrific way to bond with your best friend and give him/her a chance to get some great exercise while enjoying the beauty of the great outdoors. Visiting new locations also helps to relieve boredom which may set in for a dog that has a usual routine walk each day.

CAN ALL DOGS HIKE?

All dogs enjoy the new scents and sights of the trail, but some dogs are better suited to hiking than others. If you enjoy a long day of hiking its important to know that your K9 friend is able to keep up with you. Some dogs, such as border collies, can hike for an entire day and still want more. On the other hand, a bulldog will need lots of breaks throughout the day, and will likely be quite happy with a much shorter walk. However, all dogs totally love the experience, and being aware of your dog’s limitations (and your own!) will make your return trip that much more enjoyable.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A HIKE

 There are a few simple common sense things to remember before heading out on an afternoon or a day hike with your pup. A full water bottle for you both, a blanket and towel for your car’s protection against muddy paws, a leash, and some dog treats to help you with your recall from time to time on the trail to remind Fido that he still has to obey the rules. As well, knowing the weather and preparing accordingly with items such as sunscreen and a hat, or a toque and gloves. Remember, the weather at the hiking location may not be the same as it was at your house… if you’re unsure of an item, bring it and leave it in your car if you don’t need it once you arrive.

Fall is the perfect time of year to enjoy the outdoors with your pup!  It brings with it stunning and colourful scenery and a pensive, relaxed feel which prepares you for the winter months which lie ahead. Cool mornings turn into warm days, and the falling leaves provide the perfect backdrop for an awesome day.

TRUSTING YOUR DOG

The beauty of taking your dog into a forest for a hike is not having to worry about the road and dangers of cars. This is the perfect time to try walking off leash with your dog. Start by taking his leash off and allowing him to sniff and explore with you thru the trail. With lots of treats in hand use your recall tactics to occasionally call him back so he knows that he must keep you within paws reach. The more you trust your dog to enjoy his off leash time, the more he will reward you with great behaviour. If you see any animals or people walking by simply put the leash back until you have passed by. Trusting your dog off leash can be scary at first, but if you try it a little bit each time, you will develop a new and wonderful trust and bond with your dog that you never dreamed possible.

Still Not Sure?

Join us for  Dog Paddling hike this fall and see what all the hype is about! We have 6 wonderful remote locations to choose from all which are within a 1 hour drive from the GTA.  We choose quiet locations where we hardly see anyone but our group!  We form a great human pack while watch our dogs run off leash and have the time of their lives!!! We provide a yummy lunch (leftovers for the dogs ofcourse) doggy snacks and lots of snacks - dog and human!

For more info check out our Fall hiking schedule or see just how happy hiking makes our dog Jessie!

September may be here but the weather couldn’t feel more like Summer! Our Dog Paddlers are at the Haliburton Highlands enjoying 3 days of sunshine, paddling, swimming and hiking with their pups!

Our fall hikes begin in a few short weeks and are filling up fast!!

Hope to see you and your pup soon!

Happy Labour Day weekend

Woof Woof 

Jessie 

As our summer paddling season ends and our Fall season begins we seem to be getting better summer weather now than we had most days in July & August!  The good news is our Labour day weekend canoe trip is going to have perfect weather yahoo, we will then have 1 canoe trip left for 2009.  A wonderful 5 day adventure to Killarney Provincial Park! It is a gorgeous location, especially in the fall.

At DPA we are gearing up for our Fall hikes which begin Sept 20. Our first hike is almost full but not to worry there are lots more during the fall months!

We hope to see you all this fall!

WOOF WOOF

Jessie and the DPA Family!

Well my humans have told me that blogging and facebook isn’t enough now I have to Tweet? Didn’t know that dogs could tweet but what the hey I will try! So I have joined Twitter and am now following dog lovers all over the world. If you want to follow me and all my fun adventures check out http://twitter.com/Dogpaddling

So onto the fun stuff! They say summer is here (well almost) We have had 2 canoe trips so far, 1 was rainy and cold but still fun and the other gorgeous and sunny! Lets hope the warm weather arrives soon and stays.

We had a blast at Woofstock last weekend. I saw more dogs than I could imagine, got spooked out by some popping balloons and enjoyed a bite or 2 of my little humans hot dogs. All in all a successful weekend for me and Dog Paddling Adventures!

Im off to tweet and head to bed. Have you checked out our Summer schedule?! Trips are booking up fast but I think they are still a few spots left!

See you on the lake.

Jessie

Chief Dog Operator 

Yesterday was a great hike to Pigeon River! It was so nice to feel the sun shining and the warm temps…finally! I had so much fun with 15 other dogs and their humans. We hiked, we played, we ate and we had FUN!! Can’t wait for our next hike on April 4th to Copeland Forest!

Hope you can join us.

Woof Woof

Jessie 

My tail is wagging and the sun is shining!! Spring is here woof woof. I can’t wait to get hiking again.

I have a fun day planned for tomorrow, hiking to Pigeon River. A day of off leash hiking, exploring and meeting lots of new friends (human and K9) I can’t wait!!

Hope you will join me.

Jessie 

Well 2009 is here and Winter has officially arrived!! I for one can tell you I am wag tailing excited! Me and my humans have been enjoying all this snow by hiking, skijoring and snowshoeing! Well I mostly run off leash while Eren my Dad does all that fun stuff. Though I do help by skijoring with him from time to time!!

My little humans in the house love to play outside so they always want to go sledding or playing which means more fun for me in the snow!!

I can’t wait for our hike on Jan 24 so I can hang out with a bunch of doggy friends and their humans! Hiking, a hot lunch and fun what more could a dog ask for!!

Hope to see you and your humans this Winter!!!

WOOF WOOF

Jessie