June 30 2026

Good morning, everybody. It's Tuesday. It's hot Tuesday. It is Canada Day Eve, if that's a thing. It's probably not, but I feel like in the middle of the week it could be a thing. We actually got really lucky. We're in the middle of sort of like a heat wave here in Ottawa. Nova in front, please, honey. Thank you. Yeah, you too. Go, go. Um, so I've taken my usual precautions. Walk earlier, make sure there's water, things like that. Um, but we're really lucky today because it's overcast. What are you doing, bae? Being creepy. Um, good girl. Oh, are we warm? Please hold. Oh, no, we're done? Okay, fine. Um, it's overcast and it's a bit breezy, so it's actually like I'm wearing a, uh, an overshirt. Not because I need to, but it helps me get, like, if I'm getting really hot in this, I can always take it off and just attach it to my pack, but it gives me an idea. If I'm really hot, they're going to be even more hot, if that makes sense. It also helps shelter me from bugs and sun, and specifically bugs, because I tend to spray my outerwear with, um, I was gonna say bug detergent. That's not right. Uh, bug spray because I don't love putting it on my skin, so I spray my hat. I usually have a long-sleeve shirt like the one I'm wearing. I douse that, and, uh, usually I wear leggings, like, full-length leggings, and I douse that in bug spray, too. Just that way it's on fabric and not on me. Um, anyways, okay, before I get completely sidetracked for- really? Bailey, come on! For those who like a head count, I've got nine today, small group. Um, a couple of dogs off. I figure, like, whenever you have a- that holiday in the middle of the week, it's weird, but I'm thankful for it because it allows me to do one pack walk, um, earlier in the morning to sort of guarantee it's cool. Anyways, we've got Newton, who's on a mission. I don't know where he's going. Archie and Stella, Rory, uh, Rowan, Bailey, Nova, Hamish, and Loomy. Loomy! Get with the group. I understand there was a good smell. We will investigate it later. Okay, let's go. Um, and even though it is, like, my car said it was about 25 before I got out, um, which is not bad if there's no humidity and it's overcast. However, I'm still walking way slower than I normally do. I'm letting the dogs set the pace. Loomy in front. There we go. Um, and again, watching them for signs of heat because even though it feels kind of cooler, especially with the breeze, it's a kind of sneaky hot with the humidity. Oh my god. As you can see by Rowan's feet, Loomy! I will attach you to me. Get going. Rhymes, so it must be true. Um, the water is really low here. So this is probably the last week that I will walk here when it's really hot out. Um, we might still walk if it's cooler, but it's about time for us to switch over to the creek. Um, and I guess that's what I'll talk about this week is, uh, alternative things you can do when it's really hot out. Like, because in ideal conditions, I take them, I do a one hour walk. Um, but heat is one of those. It's not an ideal condition. Um, so there are things that I do too. Oh, and you might notice Kronk's not here because he's really been struggling with the heat. Um, also he has a vet appointment later, so I want to make sure that he's... Loomy! Ma'am. Hi. Let's go. I can literally lose her in the tall grass. I need, I don't know if you guys have seen this, but on Instagram they have this thing where they put on people on their short friends when they're going shopping or something, a headband that has an arrow pointing at them, which you can see above the rocks, which I thought is hysterical. Hey ma'am. Thank you. Um, I need a version of those for the dogs that are shorter than the grass. Like, for the taller dogs, especially when they have their tails up, I can see their tails and it's not a big deal, but for the smaller ones, sometimes I have to, uh, just look for the movement in the grass and hope for the best. Anyways. Um, so things that I do, I walk earlier in the morning at home with my guys and boarders. I walk later at night. Bailey, that is really rude and you know it. Uh, Newton, not a chance. Thank you. Oh, sorry, sorry, Loomy. Sorry, sorry. Go, go. I stepped on her long line there. Um, anyhow, I try to take advantage of rain. So if it's going to rain in a day, I aim to walk in the rain. Um, when I'm at home with my guys, I will wet them down completely before we go anywhere. I keep water in the car. I have this little automatic shower thingy. Um, I could not tell you where I got it. I assume most like camp stores and stuff like that. Hold on a second. Newton, no. Good. Rowan, no. Good. No. I see you. Bailey, no. This is usually a water space. It is completely mud and smells rink. So that's a hard pass for me. Or are we all done? I mean, Stella's not. Um, I'll also walk shorter distances. So instead of the full two kilometers, I might do one kilometer, just a lot slower and with more training drills and stuff. So it's still engaging and still enriching and still tiring. It's just not as long distance, maybe not as long time. Like I might do, again, this is my own personal dogs. Obviously pack walk is different, but I might do two 15 minute walks instead of an hour walk. Um, if it's too hot. And again, wetting them down completely. I do not use a, uh, Oh, excuse me. Hold on. Thank you. Thank you. Bailey. Don't take advantage of my sneezing. Newton, still no. Yeah. I see you. Thank you. Um, also a water spot that is now a mud pit. This is why we practice new 10 Newton. Thank you. Um, this is why we practice impulse control when they're still nice. So that if they blow through the command, they don't get bad. And I know that I need to work on it anyway. So yeah, so I went my guys down completely with the hose or I'll wet them down. I have a, uh, like one of those blue camping water things. Hi Archie. Um, and this, I, I don't know what to call it. It's like a little pump that has a shower, like a small shower connection on it. And, uh, I will use that and my hand to make sure like the water is getting in their coat. I also try to walk places where they can either go for a swim partway or at the very least get their feet wet. Um, because that's how they keep cool is their feet. And basically everybody except those two are telling me they're done here. No, Mr. Rowan, Stella. Thank you. Oh, you guys can't see. Go ahead. Yep. Go ahead. Good. Much better guys. I think I told you a couple of videos ago that I'm working on a slower. There we go. Hi. Yeah. Hi. You're with us kids. Um, I'm working on a better, a slower turnaround and you saw there, they're not as chippy. They're not shouldering each other. They're being relatively respectful of each other's space, which is what I'm looking for. Anyways. Um, right. I wet them down. I do shorter walks. I do more engagement stuff with them typically. So like in the morning, if I know that we're not going outside, I make them work for their breakfast or I will, um, freeze their breakfast completely. So I take, I've got, um, I think the brand is Westpaw West, West coast, Westpaw, something like that. Um, I have their wobbler, which I really like. And, uh, I have two of the big, big ones and their breakfast. I actually, they have oats, uh, frozen beans, whatever supplements that we're giving them. Stella truly. Um, as well as their kibbles. When I freeze it, I also add like bone broth or something liquid, uh, sometimes pumpkin, sometimes canned food. I just watch the calories and, uh, subtract some kibbles if I'm using canned food to sort of balance it out. Um, and I mix that all together, which be forewarned, gross smells, disgusting dogs are gross. Um, and then I put that in the wobbler. I freeze it overnight. Um, and it takes them a good 20 minutes to get through, which I appreciate. Uh, so we do that for breakfast. I also do, um, nose work with them, which is more effective with one dog than the other. But so I'll take them outside typically on my deck and, uh, I make them sit and wait and I will put little piles of food, not sneaky. Like I going to say, I'm going to hide piles of food, but that's not strictly accurate. Newton, not there, buddy. Good boy. Sorry. There was dead, um, porcupine there earlier in the year. So every time I see them go over there, I'm like, no, I don't want to dig quills out of anybody. Um, anyway, so yeah, different enrichment, things like that. Oh, right. So I'll put little piles out on the deck on the chair. Like I want them to be obvious, um, but also to work at it. Newton and Bailey. I know there's also a mud hole there. We're going to not partake in that. Thank you. Lumi, you're killing me, honey. People want to see you on camera. They like seeing you free. Free Lumi. Here we go. She's just going to hide behind me again in a second. Um, right. So those sorts of things. I also do like quick training sessions with them. Again, I'll grab a handful of kibbles or I'll grab a handful of low calorie treats, uh, like from crunchy O's Northern biscuit minis. Uh, I tend to lean towards those things, or even if I haven't given them their beans, like if I give them fresh beans instead of frozen beans, just depending on availability and stuff, um, I will actually just cut up the beans and use those as treats. And they love that. Nova in front, please. You're influencing Lumi. Lumi, go ahead. I understand, but she thinks because you're behind me, she can be behind me. And the people want to see you guys. Um, oh goodness, this video is getting long. Sorry, guys. Anyway, so small training sessions, either work on something new or if it's really, really hot, well, Stella, absolutely not. Thank you. There's water slash mud slash rotting pumpkin there. I always love the logic of people dumping their stuff. Like in Ottawa, we have a green bin program. You can legitimately just take your pumpkin, put it in a green bin once a week, household, uh, compost gets picked up. No problem. But instead, we walk like here. I don't, yeah, I know you're there, Lumi. Go, go. Anyhow, so small training sessions are great. Um, if you have a yard, a scatter feed can be fun too. Bailey, thank you. Um, and that's basically where you take their kibbles and you scatter them in the grass, in the interlock, whatever. And because they're engaging their nose and their brain and things like that to get their food, it is very tiring for them. Like I do a scatter feed on the deck for Rowan. It takes him a good 10, 15 minutes to get all of the kibbies. And afterwards he just wants to lay down. Like he just wants to go to sleep. So that's a good one too. Um, yeah. And then of course doing tricks for treats. If your dog is a little bit amped, something you can try and it's really hot out and you don't want to go outside. Um, something you can try is just like go through all their tricks. How many tricks can they do in a row before you give them a treat? Like, and then start off with one and go to two and go to three and go to four and go to five until you build up like quite the repertoire. Um, and as far as tricks go, like go on YouTube, look up how to teach whatever dog trick. And there's lots of good teachings out there for absolutely free. Um, and another thing, like if you know, especially during summer, the weather is going to be bleh. Uh, at least it is here. Sign yourself up for like an obedience class or an agility class or a fly ball class. Like it doesn't have to be serious. You don't have to completely dive into the sport dog life. Um, but just doing something fun and engaging and something that they can like succeed in. And it's honestly good to take your dog to these sorts of classes, no matter how old they are, but it helps them, um, learn and retain impulse control, right? Because you're not allowed to go see the other dogs. The purpose is to ignore the other dogs and focus on their handler. And that's going to help your relationship too. So like all of these sort of have, but they're also indoors, generally speaking, um, which is good for beating the heat. Anyways, on that note. Oh, okay. I have one more suggestion, uh, especially cause again, it's going to take us a hot minute to get back to the car. Um, something that I do with pack dogs and my own dogs, you guys might've noticed on the Instagram is, uh, I take posed photos of them. Sometimes I don't, sometimes I take just natural photos of them. Uh, there's a word for that. I can't remember cause my brain is fried. No, it's not coming to me, but sometimes I do post photos and I do post photos with like headbands on and costumes on and wreaths around their necks and stuff like that. And it's the same as any other training. Like I build up to it, right? So teaching them a, how to do that with you. And then B once you get that photo that you're really trying, absolutely not. No. Do you fly? Go away. I'm coming. I need more hands. I'm coming. No, there's tons of time. Stella, go on. Go. Where are you going? Go. Thank you. Um, yeah. So teaching them to hold a duration sit or duration down or duration stand. Teach them how to step, but only one step forward. Teach them how to pose on things like get up on a bench, pose, look at the camera. Like all of these things are skills that they can learn using their brains, hiring them out. Um, and you can do them inside or outside. It doesn't matter. And whether or not you get a good photo, like that's secondary to the, to the teaching of everything. Um, yeah. So those are just some suggestions. There will be more in the future. Um, I'm off for the next little bit. I'll try to post a video next week of the boys and I on the beach. We'll see if I, if I remember. And if I take my phone out of airplane mode, debatable, but here we are. That's why I gave you guys a longer video this week is to hopefully tide you over or like, maybe I'll take one before we go and just premiere it. I don't know, whatever this is. You might not get a video next week. That's why. Come on, let's go. Yeah. I don't trust that. Get a move on. Um, so if you are Canadian, happy Canada day Eve, happy Canada day tomorrow. As always, if you have any questions about this or any other video, you know what to do. If you have a second to like comment and, or subscribe, it is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you soon. Cheers.