Thursday, July 30, 2009

Week of July 26 - August 1 - It's getting HOT HOT HOT

Animal Adventures

Dog Walking & Pet Sitting Service
Come on an urban adventure with us today!

Visit our website for more details about Animal Adventures and the services that we offer http://www.animaladventures.ca/

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The theme for this week is humidity and rain! Regardless we've had a great week and enjoy hanging out with our new 4 legged friends.


Monday


No walks today


Tuesday


We started out the day doing a test walk with a beautiful German Sheppard named Belle. It was love at first sight. We hit it off and had a great walk through Sherwood Park and now we will be spending time together most days of the week. I can't wait!


The next outing was an activity session with a family of 4 darling dogs who I call "the kids" named Sushi, Sake, Missy and my favourite (don't tell the rest) Mr Big. We went for a stroll around the reservoir at Yonge and St. Clair and then spent some time getting to know each other playing and rolling around on the grass. It was a great session, they are so precious!


Finally we picked up Riley for our first 1 hr group walk. We decided to take it slow for the first day and went to Sunnybrook where we could get to know each other and still have room to run and play. Casey and him took a little while, but they were chasing each other around by the end of the session.


We were lucky that the rain held off the whole day so there was less clean up at the end of our sessions.


It's been a great start and I can't wait to add more dogs to the Animal Adventures family!!!!


Meet the pack:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/contactme.animaladventures/AHotHumidSummerDayWithAnimalAdventures?feat=directlink


Wednesday


Bring on the RAIN! So the weather forecast was not in our favour for our walks today, but we were ready with raincoats and umbrellas to deal with what ever mother nature had to throw at us.


We started the day with our 1 hr group walk which included a new dog Radar. Him, Riley and Casey got along great. We decided to stretch our legs during this session. We started at the south end of Sunnybrook park and hiked down to the field behind the Ontario Science Center. It POURED RAIN for the first part of the walk then thankfully it stopped. Once we got to the park, we took a break and played for the remainder of the session. Radar was playing fetch while Casey and Riley chased each other in big giant circles through the LONG un-cut grass. Everyone was tired, soaked and dirty by the time we got in the car but you could tell they had a great time!


Next we went and picked up Belle for our second walk of the day. The rain had stopped which was great because that meant less luggage ;-) We decided to take a walk along the Belt Line trail from Spadina to Yonge. I have never walked that trail before and it was great, Belle was so good and enjoyed all the new sights and smells. We watched the subway rumble under the bridge and the traffic whiz by on Yonge. Henry and Casey picked us up at Yonge St. and I think Belle had a good workout!


Finally we visited "the kids" in the early evening so they could do their business and have dinner before we called it a day. It's so great to see them, they are so cute and excited and they LOVE to cuddle.


Another great day can't wait for tomorrow to start.


Thursday


Today was a beautiful summer day in T.O. For our first walk of the day we only had Riley and Casey so we decided to go to Sherwood Park to explore the wilderness and get out of the sun. Casey and Riley had a great time running around chasing each other and saying hello to all the other dogs in the Forrest. It was such a nice relaxing day after yesterdays torrential downpour. Casey was being a good guide for Riley, she was always one steps ahead of him but always let him catch up. It was really cute.

The second walk of the day, we picked up Belle and headed down Bayview to the Don Valley Brick Works. It was the perfect day for it. Henry and Casey sat in the shade while we went exploring. I have never walked around the park and it is a little piece of heaven in the middle of the city. The park is an old quarry that now has ponds and paths and a really really REALLY big hill (since it's an old quarry). We saw people up on the top and after a bit of back and forth between Belle and myself we decided to give it a go.

There are a couple problems with this decision:
1. I'm out of shape
2. I'm out of shape
3. I'm extremely out of SHAPE

There is a little cow trail up the side of the steep hill so we start out slowly going up the hill. Belle was great, she went nice and slow and as a any good sled dog would do... she pulled my but up the hill. We got half way up and had to take a break so I could put my lungs back into my chest. Belle waited patiently rolling her eyes occasionally at my lack of athletic prowess.


We started back up again slowly climbing up the hill. About 20 steps from the top I tripped and rolled into the long grass and started to slide down the hill. Belle jumped over and stopped me from sliding and then sat with me until I got up and and put my lungs back into me chest... again.



Finally at the top we went over to a look out that is located on the corner of the hill and rejoiced in our achievement!!! We waved at Casey and Henry from above and soaked in the scenery.


Then we had to start our way down. Again Belle went really slowly walking in front of me until we came to a fork in the road... Belle wanted to go right but left looks much more of a gentle slope so unfortunately we went my way. Mental note, listen to the dog next time.


Since we've had so much rain lately the cow path was really just a muddy rain run off trail. 1/2 way down I started to slide down the hill and proceeded to fall on my but at least 3 times. Belle just sat and waited for me to get up then we would continue on. Finally the end was near and I could see the path and I started to slide really badly then... I fell again and rolled down the hill...again. Belle jumped down in the grass and sat with me until I got up and we could finally get down onto the trail.


Well I have never laughed so much in my life!! If it wasn't for Belle I would still be sitting in the grass stuck on the side of a hill.


We had a fantastic and eventful day and I've decided that we are going to do something much more low key tomorrow.


Check out our pictures:


http://picasaweb.google.com/contactme.animaladventures/DonValleyBrickWorksToronto?feat=directlink


Friday


After a busy week of "Animal Adventuring" we decided to take it easy and enjoy this beautiful summer day.


For the first walk of the day (que Beach Boys music) we decided to hit the beach!!!!! Riley hit the sand and ran straight down and into the water to splash around. Casey is far more cautious. She likes to watch the others play rather then jump right in.


It was so hot she actually did decided to wade into the water to cool herself down. After their swimming session it was time to dig.


Casey LOVES to dig in the sand and Riley got into the action as well. I wasn't sure if we were going to have to call the fire department to get them out of their deep hole or not. I was happy when they decided to relax for a bit and watch the other dogs play.


Before we left we gave them both a dunk and carried them back to the car so they weren't toooooo dirty for the ride home. They both fell asleep on the way home, nothing like a day at the beach to ware you out!


For the second walk of the day I picked up Belle and we headed down to Yonge and St.Clair to the reservoir to walk around. We were wandering along the ravine side of the park and kept looking down the various stairs and pathways admiring the view of the ravine but we decided NOT to go too crazy after yesterday's activities. We'll leave that for another day ;-)


We got about 1/2 way around and she decided it was time to turn back so we worked our way around and up onto the top of the reservoir. We went over to the reflecting pool and Belle jumped right in and waded around. There were a bunch of dogs jumping in and laying around trying to cool off. After "reflecting" for a little while it was time to head home.


Belle had her head hanging out the window with her ears blowing in the wind and a huge smile on her face. What a great way to end a fun week.


Check out some pics from our day at the beach:


http://picasaweb.google.com/contactme.animaladventures/HotFunInTheSummertime?feat=directlink


We are spending the rest of the holiday weekend cat sitting two lovely kitties named Casper and Kit Kat. I'm looking forward to some kitty cat cuddles while their mommy and the kids are away for the weekend.


Can't wait to do it all again next week!


Have a safe and happy long weekend!


Vanessa, Henry & Casey