Dogtown & the Babson Boulders
Now that the weather is changing it's a great time to hit the trails with your pup! Check out one of our favorite spots! This fun hike comes with some local lore to make it a little more mysterious. Once a community settled by farmers, Dogtown was abandoned during the War of 1812. Legend is that fleeing families left their dogs behind, fueling the area’s lasting nickname. Make sure to check the many boulders that have inspirational quotes carved into them. During the Great Depression, Roger Babson hired unemployed stonecutters to carve inspirational mottoes into boulders all throughout Dogtown.
Meet Our Pack | Danny & Ollie
These are the two that started us down the path of creating Happy Tails Adventures! They are best friends that love to explore the outdoors, greet every day with happiness and curiosity, and show us how much fun you can have doing everyday things. They start every morning with a play date and end their day by crashing on the couch ready for some Netflix and bully sticks. Danny & Ollie are our hiking buddies, and they would love to take your dog out along their favorite trails too!
Day Hike - What We Pack | The Necessities
We are always thinking of ways that we can be safer and more prepared when we are out on a hike with our dogs. We have a few items that we always pack and keep handy during our outings. Before heading out each day we check out packs for all of these essentials:
Water for us and the dogs
Collapsible water bowls
Bug spray and cedar spray
Bandanna
First aid kit
Extra collar
Slip lead
Poop bags for waste
Plastic bag for any trash
Carabiners
Flashlight
We update our supplies as needed and may change them as the seasons change. During the summer we are sure to carry rubbing alcohol to help with possible heat stroke and in the winter, we are paying close attention to keeping our pups warm and pads free of salt. We want to get outside and explore while maintaining the safety of your best bud our number one priority. We are happy to bring treats, extra food, or a favorite toy along on our hikes as well!
Canine Enrichment | What is canine enrichment anyway?
Did you know... Animal enrichment was born through the actions of zookeepers from around the world and is considered to be synonymous with being “more like nature”? It's true! Zoo staff has long recognized that animals in captivity need activities that mimic their lives in the wild. Activities to keep them physically active, emotionally and mentally stimulated, and—above all—healthy.
Having a sense of smell that is approximately 40 times greater than us humans—our dogs love to sniff! Replicating their needs (as closely as possible) to how they would be in the wild empowers them to engage in species-specific behaviors in healthy and appropriate ways. Sometimes this can be a little tricky though as our dogs have been domesticated for quite some time and their favorite natural habit may be your couch!
The best thing we can do is look back at their natural behaviors before domestication to gain a few ideas of what they instinctually need. Sensory stimulation is a great way to do this! What are some of these sensory enrichments? We don’t need to look farther than their nose. Olfactory stimulation is enrichment through the sense of smell, which we can easily provide daily with activities like:
Time outside to explore. During our adventure hikes, we leave lots of time for our pups to explore all the trees, leaves, and flowers to take in the layers of scents that we cannot even begin to perceive with our own noses. This is one of the things we love so much about our hiking services!
Pull out a snuffle mat and fill it with food. This is great for your dog to forage for his food, using his nose and brain to search for his meal. You can also do this on your walks by taking a handful of treats or food and scattering it in the grass.
Beginner nose work is a fun way to get your pup actively searching for food. Start out making it very easy. Let them see you place some treats in an empty box and when they take the treat out praise them. You can continually make it harder by flipping the box over, hiding it in different places, and changing up the treats. Make sure it is always fun and that you don’t make it too hard too quickly. This is a wonderful way to tire out an active dog if exercise alone is not doing the trick.
Happy Tails Treats | Banana & Oats Dog Treats
We love to spend our days out hiking the trails, but we also enjoy a nice day at home baking up some treats! We had a bunch of bananas on the counter waiting to be baked into a sweet treat, so we found this recipe at www.spoiledhounds.com and gave it a try!
Banana & Oats Dog Treats
Ingredients
2 cups Rolled Oats
2 cups Oat Flour
1 Egg
3 Ripe Bananas
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Coconut Oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mash bananas with a fork.
Blend or stir the egg and melted coconut oil into the banana mixture.
Use a hand mixer or a spoon for this step.
Add the rolled oats, oat flour,maintaining and cinnamon a little at a time and combine well until a dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a smooth surface.
Flatten the dough evenly with your hands or a rolling pin to about ¼ to ½ inch thickness.
Using a cookie cutter, cut out the dog treats and place them on a greased baking sheet or use parchment paper to cover the baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Place the baked treats on a wire rack to cool.
Share your pup enjoying these treats on social media... and don't forget to tag/mention us @happytailsadv #happytailsadventures
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