What an incredibly touching moment...

Man being reunited with his beloved pet. Captured by Mari Yamashita 

Things we LOVE!

and use often....

Busy Buddy - Twist and Treat 

We feed Gus part of his breakfast and dinner in this. Gus is a working dog breed and they need jobs, I think all dogs need jobs, this makes him work for his dinner. He loves it, it turns eating into a game, it slows him down so he doesn't inhale his food, and he has to use his brain to figure out how to get the food to come out. It didn't take him log to figure this one out. It's hilarious watching him roll it around!

Extreme Kong

We stuff this full of Gus's favorite treats, peanut butter, food, meat etc and then freeze it. It keeps him busy when we leave him alone. He had fairly bad separation anxiety when we first got him, we have worked very hard with him over the past 6 months and I am very proud to say he is doing much better but still needs and loves his kong! He actually gets happy and excited when we leave him because he knows he gets his kong!

I've heard lots of stories of pooches ripping the top off the regular kongs so I would recommend the extreme kong for all those heavy/determined chewers out there! Make sure to chose the right size for your dog.

Kong Wobbler

Kong wobbler is a similar idea to the twist and treat. You put the food inside and your dog has to figure out how get it out. The nice thing about the wobbler is that is wobbles all over the place so your dog can't predict where the food will come out. I will say that this is easier to figure out then the twist and treat and since Gus had already mastered the twist and treat it was really easy for him BUT it is still loads of fun for him and keeps him busy! He also uses his paws as well as his nose to move it around. It's made of hard plastic so is louder on our concrete floors then the rubber twist and treat.

Orijen Dog Food

Orijen is different from conventional pet food, Orijen is biologically appropriate, grain free, protein-rich and includes a variety of fresh meats. They are sustainably farmed, fished and ranched within our region and use free-run poultry, wild-caught fish and free-range red meat. Gus's coat is soooo shiney and healthy looking, his eyes are clearer, his teeth are whiter, he just is just so much more healthy overall. We highly recommend this dog food. I think the only thing better would be a BARF or RAW diet!

The Springer

This is my favorite product EVER! Having a high energy pointer is loads of fun but a simple walk around the block does not cut it as far as exercise goes! He needs to run, and run and...well you get it. We received this as a present from my parents for Christmas, best gift ever! It's an attachment for your bike that allows you to safely bike with your dog. We hook Gus up with his harness and off we run, we can ride the whole seawall with out getting pulled over and even when he does jump out at another dog or try to go in the other direction he is just steered right back to going forward and the rider doesn't feel a thing! I wish I had a better photo of Gus on his Springer, check out their website for more photo's and info. I will post more about our adventures with the springer soon, and maybe even a video. The other thing I love about this company is that they give a springer away to a rescue every month! The give away is called Springer to the rescue and happens on their Facebook page, all you have to do is like them and then nominate your favorite rescue, three of mine have won!

Gus

I haven't written a post about my rescue dog Gus yet. We rescued Gus on September 15th from a high kill shelter in Utah. A high kill shelter is a shelter that puts many dogs to sleep due to "space". Most of them hold dogs for around 72 hours to see if  their owners claim them and after that they are available for adoption, sometimes only for a few days before they put them to sleep - I will fill you in on my thoughts about this in another post and about the no kill movement - Gus was a lucky one, we saw his photo online, fell instantly in love and went to work to find out how to spring him from jail and the horrible fate of so many dogs.

Luckily we found Marylin at Utah's Perfect Pointers and she went and met Gus, did a temperament test, and got him outta there! She had him neutered, fully vetted and then flew him up to us.  Marylin knew exactly what we were looking for in our furry companion and knew that he would fit our lifestyle perfectly, which he did! 

He was only around 8 or 9 months old. 

Marylin works closely with dogwood and cross our paws rescues in Vancouver, in fact many of the pointers that you see around Vancouver are actually all the way from Utah!

Gus is such a great dog! German shorthaired and wirehaired pointers are my two favorite breeds but I wouldn't recommend a pointer for any of you couch potatoes out there, they need LOTS of exercise! If you love hiking, biking, running or agility and are looking for a dog to do these activities with a pointer may be the breed for you too! 

Monday's Rescue Dog!

                                                                    Meet Friar!

Friar is about one and a half years old and full of energy. He is looking for an active pack with a strong leader: you can't get too intense for Friar.

As a working breed, he appreciates direction and lots of structured activity. 

He is great with kids, and the two girls (3 years and 4 years old) he has lived with can climb all over him and he is as happy as can be. 

He likes small dogs too (Phillipo is snuggled under his chin, and has found his forever home!) but is a little too interested in chickens and cats (he's a birding dog, what can you expect?) 

He has learned recall well, but still pulls on this walks without a strong leader on the other end of the leash. Friar flakes out well, and sleeps like a log after his runs. This young handsome fellow needs his permanent home!

To learn more about Friar contact Dogwood Rescue

Golden Ears Park!

We took Gus out to Golden Ears National Park this weekend. We decided to walk the Lower Falls trail. This is an easy walk through a beautiful forest. The trail runs along gold creek. 


About 20 minutes in there is a great rocky beach where the dogs can stop for a drink and swim before continuing on to the falls.  


Beautiful views of the mountains, lots of off leash dogs,  this is a great walk! It's about 3 kms each way. 


Gus had and absolute blast running at top speed through the forest. He was leaping over fallen trees, chasing other dogs, having the time of his life! 


We have also noticed that he is really starting to listen better and stick a bit closer while we are out on walks! Yay!

If Golden Ears Park was closer we would be doing this walk all of the time!