The Pacific Spirit Park is one of those amazing parks in the center of the city that makes you love Vancouver so much. Like Stanley park, it’s easily accessible and intersected by roads while also giving visitors the feeling of being in a real forest just steps away from home. Whenever we’re feeling lazy (or it’s threatening to rain heavily) we zip over to the park for a short walk.
our puppy is getting older!
whiskey looking for the stick we threw
getting better with her jumping aim
The park connects with one of the best dog beaches in the city -Spanish Banks with an amazing view of West/North Vancouver as well as the downtown city. From here we turned into the forest for a long loop. We’ve also done loops further in the park without going to the beach (so many options!).
The view from Spanish Banks on a rainy day
Whiskey loves her stumps
happiest place for a vizsla
There is a surprising variation in the paths and terrain you can experience. We’ve also had less altercations with unruly/aggressive dogs here than Stanley park. Whiskey loves the amount of sticks here to chase after and of course we had to take some photos to share.
she doesn’t retrieve yet, she runs with it and chews it
While during the summer it’s the hippie nudist hangout, in the winter Wreck Beach is pretty much empty and inviting to energetic off-leash Vizslas. We met up again with Whiskey’s sister Millie (and Millie’s owner) and let them race up and down the beach for several hours.
It was raining the entire time but you can’t even tell from the photos and the happy puppies. Just a small warning there are only garbage bins at the top of the stairs (not at the bottom during the winter) so it’s easier if you can wait until your dog takes a poop before you head down.
We were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving up on Sunshine Coast with new friends this year. There were a couple knitters in the group who helped me finish my first little project: a snood/neck-warmer for Whiskey. I just ordered some knitting needles so I can learn over the winter.
Whiskey modelling my incomplete project
We had a great time outdoors and Whiskey made a new friend: Sam, the Australian Shepherd. The two spent the weekend chasing each other and guarding the cabin. There were a couple of hikes we fit in before it got too rainy. Afterwards, we set to work creating Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.
heading over on the ferry
sunset at Kent beach
with Sam the Australian Shepherd
ripping up the beach with fun
more new friends
someone is getting real heavy!
Sunshine Coast has beautiful trails
lots of bridges here
off leash for the weekend
we saw a bunch of bears fishing salmon (dogs were in the car)
someone thinks she’s a person
The rains started the last day and poor Whiskey gets so cold that I’m going to have to get her (or knit her) a nice winter jacket soon.
Over the last couple weeks we’ve been trying different options for when we’re both working during the day. We both work from 9-6 and bike to work so it’s actually 8:45-6:20 we are out of the house. At first I thought it was really expensive for dog services but over time I’m seeing how much it makes sense and how much happier Whiskey is if she gets the exercise. For all the options we still walk her in the morning for 30-45mins (with most of it off leash) and also another walk as soon as we come home. This is our experience so far:
Dog hiking (1.5 hours hiking, 3 hours out) $22
It’s actually difficult to find a very good company with openings because they’re usually scheduled with regulars so we’ve had to use two different companies so far. We give them the key and they come at around 12-12:30 and bring her back around 3-3:30. I found some “hikes” were actually to a beach and park so we prefer the one company that actually hikes. All hikes are off-leash and regulated to max 6 dogs. Both companies have reported that Whiskey has been great and has really good recall. She’s been “one of the easiest puppies” which is great to hear! The downside is she’s locked in her crate the rest of the day.
sample picture of usual hikes with company #1
of course she’s on a log!
At the park (not always a hike with company#2)
Daycare $22 +($25 in car rental)
We’ve only tried this twice and it was the most difficult because we need to grab a Car2go each time (we are working on buying a car soon). Driving in rush hour traffic to drop her off and pick her up is also frustrating. Mix that with potential carsickness, parking, and the daycare closes at 6:30- it became our last option. The daycare itself was great though and she was happy to lie down when she came home.
Whiskey with “Bruce Wayne”
someone is a tired puppy
rubber floors so they don’t slip and hurt joints
Petsitting $35
We found someone on Dogvacay (think AirBnB but for dogs) who lives pretty close so we’ve been dropping her off once a week there. It’s more expensive but it means no crate time, one on one attention, petting, and a home environment. She gets to sleep in the bed and go out for a long walk to the park.
Coming home at lunchtime $0
Cheapest option but much more work! We need to bike home at lunch and because the biking takes up half our lunch, we tag-team taking Whiskey to the park and getting her some outside time. It’s great to spend more time with her and she’s always so happy! It’s much harder on rainy days though, and we live in Vancouver (Raincouver)
Our current schedule is Monday: hike Tuesday: hike Wednesday: petsitting Thursday: hike Friday: come home
I think in the end I would like to leave Whiskey in the bedroom (we only have 2 rooms in our loft) and have her hike everyday.
We play with Whiskey throughout the day, flipping her over and tumbling all around with her. The other day I saw some red spots around her arm and leg ‘pits’ and after a quick check, discovered she had picked up fleas from a dog at the park (most likely). She’s currently on Sentinel, although she was just overdue for her monthly pill so I wasn’t 100% sure if the pill was still active. Sentinel mainly kills heart and tummy worms but is also a flea preventative: it doesn’t kill adult fleas – it causes the adult fleas to become infertile, so as to avoid infestations.
Immediate treatment
As soon as I found the spots I rubbed her coat with a vinegar/lemon mix. I also boiled her collar (with some rosemary sprigs) and found a bunch of fleas in the water confirming my fears. I suppose because I had covered her in vinegar, that the fleas must have jumped on the collar. Those were the only fleas I ever found. I set out a flea trap at night (soapy water in a pan with a light) and caught none. Thankfully, cat also showed no signs of fleas. I don’t even want to think about attempting a bath with our very overconfident cat. It was very late when we noticed the bumps so we didn’t get to clean the house until the morning.
boiling her collar
This is what floated up from the water! gross!
day 2 photos
her armpits
poor girl!
Day after
The next day, we cleaned all dog and human bedding, vacuumed the house very well, and gave her a bath with her emu oil shampoo (it’s supposed to repel fleas). Also, after the first day we saw no signs of more bites so I think we caught them early, or the Senntinal was working. I also vacuumed the house that evening, and everyday for a week. Crossing fingers, we avoided an infestation. In two days we already saw improvement in her rashes and bites.
day 3 photos
no more new bites, but old ones are poofy
heeling already
you would have never known from her sweet temperament
Flea pills
I had been going back and forth about giving Whiskey a dewormer/flea preventative monthly as it’s basically like putting chemicals and poison in them. The problem is we live downtown, and the dog parks are not very clean. There are homeless dogs around, and we meet around 100 dogs a week. There is old poop every foot in the city. We are also going to start daycare soon, and many daycares require preventatives so I guess our decision is made. Sometimes the treatment to kill fleas and worms can be worse than the preventative. Especially flea infestations!
More bumps!
In hindsight I think it was just bad luck with bad timing, but while her flea bites were healing she got another kind of bumps all over her tummy. When it rains, it pours I guess! These were different bumps. They were evenly spotted over her tummy and upper legs and were not itchy or red. They were hard and raised and after some research I was pretty confident they were allergy bumps (actually I had seen them on forums before so I wasn’t panicked). I wasn’t as concerned because we seemed to have dealt with the fleas ok, so I figured I’d delay a trip to the vet until the bumps bothered her, or got worse. The bumps came and went over the next week and these were our very amateur guesses at what caused it:
-chicken (she normally does not get chicken and I had given her some the night before)
-bedding detergent (I had finished an old jug of non-environmentally friendly detergent I don’t normally use)
-water from the beach
allergy bumps on her tummy
Allergies
The bumps are now mostly gone after coming and going for a week and a half. I’ve ruled out bedding detergent, but the fact that they weren’t on her back makes us suspicious that something could have been in the water at the beach she frequents. She usually wades in to her tummy and doesn’t go fully in. Food allergies are super tough since symptoms can come several weeks after the dog has eaten the problem food, and symptoms can last several weeks after the dog has digested it. Also dogs can get allergic to something they seem to have been fine with, but they only show symptoms after their body has tolerated too much. The detective work needed is frustrating and Whiskey has been eating a huge variety of food. In general it’s tricky with puppies too since their immune system is still growing, so with luck she won’t keep this allergy (if that’s what it is). Since the bumps have been going away, I’ll just keep an eye out for them when we give her tummy rubs.
you can see bumps are just on her tummy but are getting fewer
This week I’m off work, and I’m really looking forward to relaxing at home with the pets. Since we don’t own a car, we decided to rent from a car share a couple times this week to get out of the city.
Today we tried out Jug Island in Coquitlam. It’s a short little hike with minimal incline and a great way to start the day. The highlight of the hike is a little beach that faces the Indian Arm and Jug Island. We caught (and released) some tiny crabs, talked to kayakers and just chilled. As a joke, Thierry tossed a stick in quite far into the water and Whiskey actually retrieved it! She swam out further than she’s ever been before, although it was a bit of a panicky swim back. We were so proud!
working on our agility (yes they made it to the top!)
our hiking group
Whiskey fetches and swims!
catching small crabs
we are going higher and higher with this little girl
On the way back we popped into a wild game butcher for pet and human meats (kangaroo, bison, venison, elk, ostrich, wild boar). I think we’re stocked for awhile now! At the moment I’m trying out various foods for Whiskey so we’ll let you know how our experimentation goes. We’ve got tons of kibble and even raw samples from Petapalooza.
a bison heart is enormous!
Continuing on our day, after we dropped the meat home, we took Whiskey off to the vet for her last set of shots (Rabies and Lepto). She was amazing and even got a little handkerchief. As long as she’s eating a snack, she doesn’t even feel the needles. So as far as Whiskey understands, the vet means lots of attention, pets, and snacks! I wonder if she’ll wise up eventually. The cat is under no such illusions.
Whiskey has no idea she’s getting a shot
After the vet, we drove to the off-leash dog area of Spanish banks where we met the cutest German Shepherd puppy. Whiskey was pretty tired but perked up for some glorious playtime, digging and sniffing. Then it was back home for a dinner of turkey hearts and gizzards, and we all fell asleep really early (except for Moo who then demanded attention).
It seems like we’re always on the ‘go’ these days. We just got back from a weekend on BC’s Sunshine Coast where we had a fantastic time with Whiskey and a group of friends. At the moment I’m exhausted, the dog is happy, we’ve got a ton of stuff to unpack and a dirty house to clean. Here’s how it went:
Ferry ride We had our first ferry ride with a dog. Unfortunately dogs aren’t allowed past the car deck so our top-deck photo-ops are over. We did however walk all around the parking level saying hi to everyone and sniffing all the ropes. Good thing it was a 40 min ride otherwise we might have gone for a poop though. Whiskey’s been great with the car these days although we make a big effort to make sure she’s tired before a long ride.
our little poser
I wonder who peed here?
Blackberry season It’s blackberry season and boy are they everywhere! Every stop we made whether it be a scenic view or pit-stop there were heavy bushes waiting to be picked. Here we are waiting for the ferry, collecting and eating our fill. Whiskey is a fan of sweet ones and gobbles them up from my fingers.
it pays to be tall!
sooo many wild blackberries!
On-leash campground It was a dog-friendly campground, much less rugged than our last trip though a clear downside was that dogs had to be leashed at all times. There were RVs, tents, yurts, cabins, and a motel section along with a dock. It was really hard to keep her on a leash while doing all our activities and we still needed to give her all the exercise she required. It was half as productive (putting up the tent, cleaning, cooking, eating, packing) and half as relaxing. On the upside it was good to have her on-leash when there were deer around. I’ve never had her pull so much before!
Whiskey helps rearrange firewood
Lakes Whiskey is still too scared to dive into water from a dock. She’ll fetch up to her tummy, and maybe take one step further, but beyond that she’s whining and stressed when we ask her to do more. So it was a big shock when we were hanging out on a little platform and our little Whiskey took a couple steps backwards, falling in the water! She was only in for a second before we fished her out, but was shivering for an hour afterwards, even with a towel-down and lying in the sun. I guess she was just stressed.
Come on in! The water’s great. *lots of whining*
shivering and miserable in the sun
overseeing activities on the lake
Dog limitations We ended up at Alice Lake just past Squamish on our way back. Little did we know, dogs must be leashed and are not allowed on the grass, paths, or beach areas (so where are they allowed??). It’s frustrating when you’re with a group of friends but have to chose the dog. We ended up taking a hike while the rest of the group sunbathed, swam, and relaxed by the beach.
Hikes
We did one hike on Sunshine Coast: Mt Daniel as well as another one at Alice Lake: the Four Lake Trail. Mt. Daniel is about 6km and 440m climb which is the most we’ve tried with Whiskey. She was running until the end! Alice Lake was unplanned but was absolutely gorgeous. The trail was easy and beautiful (around 6km) and the landscape was astounding for a rainforest. For both hikes we had loads of fun. Sometimes I can’t believe my luck when I go hiking with Whiskey. She never fails to make me laugh and smile and she’s just so fearless and silly. I’m addicted!
Today Vancouver had its quarterly meetup at Spanish Banks. This is one of the reasons why I really wanted a Vizsla -the community is exceptional and everyone that owns one of these beautiful dogs is so proud and happy to meet others. It’s a rare time for the dogs to run together, and for the owners to swap stories and check up on how each other are doing. There were lots of tips I’ve picked up (mainly don’t stop the training!!) and we’ve had so many comments on how good Whiskey’s temperament has been and also how she’s a very fearless, yet mellow (mellow for a Vizsla is using a different yardstick). She had tons of fun running around, playing, and learning Vizsla etiquette. Other times she would just sit and watch the action or say hello to the humans.
There were Vizslas from all over North America (even one from Hungary) of all ages and sizes. All looked super happy to be frolicking with other speed demons although some were not so happy to share toys. I’m pretty happy how Whiskey doesn’t stray far from us and usually comes when we call, even in the middle of playing with other dogs. She’s also getting over her fear of water but since it was low tide we didn’t have a chance to swim.
Towards the end of the two hour playtime, when we headed back to the car, she did the strangest thing: she sat down in the middle of walking! We’ve never had this happen before. I guess she was hot and tired from all the play. Success!
Oh boy oh boy!
I already can’t wait for next time.
Whiskey tries to figure this 2 dog one stick thing
having a conversation through barks
I took more pictures of dogs than owners
There weren’t too many sugar faced Vizslas out today
Low tide makes for a playground. The Vs are spread thin
Boy oh boy! At first I wasn’t so sure about camping but I knew that if it worked out, Whiskey would be the happiest little Vizsla. We had a couple hurdles to overcome but leapt over each and everyone of them:
So we were supposed to start our trip at noon, but our driver was having her car fixed and it seemed like they took extra long with something. Finally, we ended up leaving the city at 5:30 during rush hour, a bit behind schedule. I was worried about Whiskey’s car sickness but she seemed fine after two walks, ginger gravol (the all natural one), and only a small lunch. We made a stop in Whistler where she was happily running up and down the lift area, then headed off to the camp site at Fountain Lake.
Once past Pemberton, there was a steady climb on the highway and that was where we started having car troubles. The car was losing traction, smelling bad, and smoking underneath the body. Over the next couple hours it got worse and worse. Finally, we were almost at the camp site, past the last town, Lillooet. At this point we were barely making it up inclines, and this was where the car just gave up. It was midnight when we lost all traction and the car rolled back down the incline with absolutely no power. After contemplating walking the rest of the way to the site, we realized we weren’t sure how close we were to the campsite (no cell reception), we had a puppy with us, and there were bears here. We were able to roll (and push) the car back to the Xaxli’p Native community so we weren’t in complete wilderness, then set up tent by the side of the road and went to sleep.
Five minutes later we were woken up by a concerned resident who was walking home. He insisted we camp on his property for safety reasons (camping by the side of the road wasn’t very safe) and also for protection against bears. Apparently a woman had been attacked not too long ago! The whole time, Whiskey had been quiet and took everything in-stride but this property had two large dogs and she wasn’t quite comfortable with these outside our tent. While we were sleeping, any noise outside would evict a growl from her, which we had never heard her do. She was on constant alert the whole night guarding us!
The next morning we found another helpful Native man that was kind enough to take us and our gear to the campsite where we finally hooked up with the rest of our group. After that, we had a wonderful trip. Within the first hour, we saw a mother bear and her 3 cubs pass really close (we kept Whiskey on a leash) and took a dip in the lake. When the bears weren’t close-by we let her go off leash and wander around, chewing on sticks, stalking ants, frogs and dragonflies, meeting horses, and (trying to) beg food from our friends. She had two other doggy friends on the campgrounds and they had loads of fun running around.
a family of bears
We had no problems sleeping together in the tent. It was a bit chilly at night and Whiskey would snuggle inside our sleeping bags, making her way down to the bottom section and sleep at our toes. I have no idea how she managed to breathe but she seemed quite happy and warm there. She also experienced her first thunderstorm (napped through it), developed an obsession for steak (medium rare please), and managed to jump high enough to catch half a raw chicken from an unsuspecting victim. Other activities included cleaning up some unguarded plates and rearranging firewood, shoes and socks to her liking. Fun times! We even got her swimming a little, fetching sticks from the water, and floating on rafts.
retrieving sticks in shallow water
All things considered, I can’t wait to go camping again with her. It’s amazing to see her so happy off leash, running, swimming, fetching, discovering, and just being a happy puppy. Of course, as soon as we came home to unpack, we turned our heads, and there she was peeing on her bowser bed.
whiskey had no problem with a tent as a home
Fountain Lake
sometimes she’d go in, then remember she didn’t like water
