• Ruffwear Approach Pack –link

• Kong K9 water bottle –link

• Chillydogs Trail Blazer and Great White North Jackets

One of our favorite jackets! Whiskey has an amazing nose that we have trained even further with sniff training but unfortunately that means she finds poop or smelly things to roll in much more than the regular dog. That means her jackets must stand countless washes while also fitting perfectly and looking great for photos. The fleece is extra thick in the brand and the shape is just wonderful. The Trail Blazer is warm and water proof and the Great White North has been through the deepest snow and trails where Whiskey is practically swimming. The price is high, but it’s worth it!

• Voyagers k9 Apparel Winter Coats and Raincoats

This breed-specific brand is great for those long and skinny dogs where nothing “regular” fits! The winter jacket is similar to the chillydogs brand (if you are in Canada, order the chillydogs, if you’re in the US order Voyagers for cheaper shipping) but the rainjacket is unique and super cute!

• Hurtta Jackets

This Finnish line is sort of like the “North Face” of dog clothing. They use reflective materials to trap in bodyheat in their Extreme Warmer and their leash is our favorite for hiking with woven reflectivity. Because their jackets are on the larger side, we can layer in a fleece if we are winter camping and everything has gone through the wash numerous times and have come out great. However, they don’t make breed specific clothes so if your V is extra lean or long I would go with one of the other brands. If you have a long-haired dog, I would check out the rest of their line, there’s so many amazing options!

• Bowser Beds

The best dog beds we have tried. When we got a new puppy, we were told to buy a cheap bed until she grew older but I couldn’t help it. Our doughnut bed has been washed countless times, been peed on, dug in, vomited in, ever since she was a puppy and most of it looks brand new. We have gone through several other cheaper dog beds but she’s made it abundantly clear this one is the best one. We’ve since gotten another for travel and love it just the same! Again, the beds are really expensive, but I found it’s totally worth it.

• Gundog Collars

 

We’ve had many collars and these are the ones we keep going back to. I hate tags jingling for a long hike (imagine how much they must annoy the dogs with their hearing!) and any cloth/strap/rope collar has not stood the test of rolling in bbq grease and poop. This one has the extra loop at the back for another place to connect a leash and the reflector is great in the rain and the short winter days. We did try a really expensive rope collar for a bit but after standing at the sink for ages scrubbing poop off, we decided to keep this one on for any long trips. The fancy collars are wonderful but if we are going on a long backcountry trip, we’re most likely going to bring one of these.

• Emu Shampoo

We love this Shampoo! It works triple duty as it repels fleas and it also smells amazing. We only ever need to give Whiskey a shower when she rolls in something extra foul so its’ great that it’s very gentle and she comes out smelling wonderful for a couple days. Since Whiskey is self-cleaning, we are still working on our first bottle.

• Antlers, Cheese, and bullysticks

Whiskey’s chew treats. Antlers are always avaliable and she still has the one from when she was a puppy. Since our little girl isn’t much of a chewer compared to other dogs, she takes a very long time to wear these down and we can afford to buy Himalayan Chews. The extra large pieces will last her a month, whereas it can last other Vizslas an hour or so. Bullysticks are only used when we absolutely need her to leave us alone for 20-30mins and we only let her work through a couple inches each time. We buy Bullysticks in packs of 25 or 50 extra extra large ones.

• Bumper

A really great alternative to a chuck-it ball. It’s large so you won’t lose it as easy and it floats. The string lets you throw it extra far and the texture is softer yet durable. I tend to bring several toys to the dog park in case one of her toys gets “stolen”, I can switch to a different shape while someone tracks down the “culprit”.

• Balls and chuckit, glow in the dark

A staple! I don’t use tennis balls as the material can wear down a dog’s teeth. I don’t like to play fetch too much as the back and forth isnt’ good for a dog’s joints over time but Whiskey will become obsessed with another dog’s ball so I do bring them sometimes. In the winter when it’s dark and rainy, I resort to playing fetch as the only way to get her to run instead of shivering miserably and hating me. We use a glow in the dark ball that I “charge up” at an outdoor light (hold it right next to the light for 30 seconds) and it lasts about 20 mins.

• Magical Green Frog

This thing is magical. There’s something about the way it bounces, or the texture but this is Whiskey’s ultimate prize. The squeaky and the bottom section is long gone but it’s still amazing. It’s the first thing she’s ever consistently fetched with intense focus and it only comes out on special occasions or as a reward for a good search-and-find. All the dogs want it at the park. It comes in small or large (we need large).

Fountain Lake

This is our 3rd yearly trip to camp at Fountain Lake as well as the first time I’m doing it without my better half sharing the driving and the tent. Fountain Lake is beyond Lillooet which is a long drive with our many stops (for food and pictures). We left at 3pm and arrived after 7pm just in time to set up our tents, start a fire and watch the light dying down in front of us. There was a little bit of drizzle as we drove in but the weather the rest of the weekend was just fantastic with passing clouds and a really warm days.

Cloudy coming in, stopping for a break at Duffey Lake

Stopping at Lillooet for a view

We’ve recently bought a car-camping kit with a gigantic tent you can stand in, foam sleeping pads that take up half the car space and the much-needed ice box and water jugs to go with our bbq. With a group of 10, we took over our normal camp-site next to the lake and spent the days floating on the lake, eating really really well and sitting in front of the campfire singing, laughing and just having the best of times.

gathering firewood

setting up the camp chairs

Around the campfire, taking my seat

Relaxing in the tent

Elly popped in for the second day!

Marshmellows and fire

On Saturday we even fit in a new hike- the Fountain Ridge Hike. As there was only a tiny description, we chanced it and once we found our way, the views were fantastic. We did get our friends’ van stuck and had a bit of an adventure but found our way back to camp for a quick swim before dinner.

summer days!

the view from our ridgewalk

lunchspot…may I have your sandwich?

views of the Fraser

heading back!

relaxing on the water

toast them up!

come play with me!

warming up at the fire

The next day we took it easy walking around the lake and floating a bit before heading back to town.

Happy days!

Walking around the lake

sharing the paddleboard and Ginger’s first try out!

floaties are for sharing right?

just hanging!

Ginger exploring the weeds

stopping at viewpoints on the way back again!

We just came back from a trip to the Sunshine Coast and luckily it was a trip we could take both our cat Moo and of course, Whiskey. Moo is a rescue cat that came to us months before we got Whiskey from her breeder. Unbeknownst to us, Moo had bad experiences with dogs before and was likely bullied by larger dogs before being rescued. It took us a couple months before we were able to pet her with Whiskey’s scent still on our hands and lots of patience on all our parts. Of course Whiskey has always been super friendly to everyone, and overtime Moo is getting more comfortable sleeping next to Whiskey, although she’ll fright easily with any motion or noise.

the ferry ride over, Moo roams around

checking out our new home

she loves the new windows

alright, let me out now!

Moo is a very unique cat in that she’s obsessed with food and is therefore easily trained. She sits, lies down, rolls over, gives paw, and comes on command. Moo is also trained to use the human toilet (that took a good year to do) and she’s also fearless in new places. This makes her a very easy cat to travel with, since we don’t need to worry about litter or the normal cat relocation adjustment period. The only downside is Moo’s smart enough to take off her collar in record time (it’s a safe break-away collar) and she slips out of harnesses and abhors a leash. Luckily she has her guardian dog Whiskey to follow her around outside and both have amazing recall (for a 2 year old dog and a cat).

exploring the gardens 2 m away from the house

not scared at all!

everyone keeps an eye on Moo

Moo hasn’t been in grass for a long while

Normally, we live in an apartment in downtown so Moo is never let outside. We only let her outside when we are in the country-side, and only then supervised. After letting them both explore their new Sunshine Coast home, we let Moo out. She always retreats back home within 15 mins and if we all go back inside and call her name, she’ll come back in for treats, and also because she doesn’t like to be left alone outside.

The kids get called inside

venturing out slightly further

Whiskey keeps tabs on her sister

Moo doesn’t seem to mind the company

Exploring together

Super cute!

This was the first trip we’ve seen Whiskey’s protective side of Moo. I’ve heard of dogs being protective of their cat siblings and vice versa but it’s so endearing to see with my own two. Even though she’s the younger sister, Whiskey will stay close to Moo and even follow her under the patio (about a 1 foot crawl space). I feel pretty safe letting these two sisters explore together and of course, Whiskey has already learned the command “where’s Moo?”. We use the same command “where’s daddy?” and “where’s mommy?” when we play hide and seek with her so she’ll immediately go look for Moo. I just feel so lucky with these two.

until next time!