15 Things to Do with your Dog this Summer
This post was sponsored by Just Right by Purina. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support Hey There, Chelsie.
I’ve been dreaming of summer for months and months and it FINALLY feels like it’s almost here. The sun has been shining, we’ve been getting a fair amount of afternoon thunderstorms, we’ve been mowing the lawn (and fighting the never-ending battle against the dandelions) and we’ve already hosted two BBQs in our backyard. I think it’s safe to say that summer is here and I’m SO stoked because summer means lots of adventures with our pups.
Winter is harsh here in Utah – we get a lot of snow and it is bitterly cold. Rosie and Teddy don’t spend a lot of time outside from November to March because it’s too cold to do anything but go potty. We always make it a goal to spend as much time taking them on as many adventures as possible once the days start getting warmer to make it up to them. I used to wonder what there was to do with dogs besides take them on walks, but now that we’ve had Rosie for four and a half years (and Ted for one) we’ve learned that there are SO many things we can do with them beyond a simple neighborhood walk. It’s an absolute joy to watch them experience new things every year, to become braver and to try new things.
One of the very first summer adventures we took with Rosie is one of my favorite memories ever. It was our last summer in Rexburg and we decided to go out with our best friends (who also had dogs) to Warm Slough – which was a camping area on the horseshoe bend of a river. You could get into the river on one end of the horseshoe and float all the way around it, get out, walk across the campground and do it again. Rosie had finally decided she enjoyed being in the water so we got her a lifejacket and we all floated the river together for hours. She had a BLAST floating, swimming, being held by me while I floated, chasing ducks, and splashing in the water. She was the happiest girl in the world and Dustin and I knew that we would spend every summer after that taking her on adventures and filling her life with as many fun experiences as possible.
Now that we have Teddy, we get to spend this summer taking him on new adventures. He only had a small handful of adventures last summer since he was still a puppy and didn’t have all his shots until the end of summer, so this will be the first summer we can really take him out and about. A few weeks ago, we took him on his second nature walk ever along the Jordan River Parkway in Salt Lake County. He was definitely a little nervous at first – there were a lot of new sounds, textures, and smells for him to investigate. He wanted to be by Rosie as much as possible because it was all so new to him. He was REALLY concerned about crossing the bridge for the first time and only looked at the water for a few minutes before he wanted to walk away. But, I’m so proud of him because by the end of the walk, he was definitely feeling a bit more comfortable and not as scared. I took him for a one-on-one mommy/puppy walk a few days later (you might have caught that on Instagram stories) and he was even MORE relaxed and eager to check things out. I can’t wait to take him for his first swim of the summer later this month – I have a feeling he’s going to LOVE the water.
Fuel Your Dog With the Right Food
We’ve been feeding Rosie and Teddy Just Right by Purina kibble for three months now and I don’t think we will ever switch to another kibble. We’ve seen SUCH amazing improvements in each of them individually: Rosie’s coat is looking a lot shinier and feels softer and Teddy’s poops are much healthier looking (sorry if that’s TMI, but when you are a dog mama, you really worry about the state of your dogs poops.)
Since we’re getting ready to spend more time outside this summer, I’ve been reading up more on Natural Dog food and trying to figure out how exactly this kibble is making such huge improvements in the quality of my dogs’ lives. This article from Just Right by Purina does a great job explaining Natural Nutrition in dog food. In order for pet food to be able to claim that they are natural, every ingredient they use cannot be man-made (with the exception of some amino acids or vitamins that are synthetic since they aren’t made in the quantity dogs need in natural ingredients.) I’ve shared before how important it is to LOOK at the ingredients in the food you choose for your dog – because no one wants to feed their dogs animal by-product. Here are some questions Just Right by Purina suggests asking when evaluating how Natural a dog food brand is:
- Is the formula 100% complete and balanced for my dog’s life stage?
- How is the word “natural” used on the label? Does it describe the entire formula or just an ingredient or two?
- Does the formula contain any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives?
- Is real, high-quality meat, poultry or fish the first ingredient?
- Does it contain other ingredients you want to avoid, such as wheat, corn or soy?
- Is it made by a brand/company that you know and trust?
To learn more about natural dog food, check out this article!
I love love love that our dogs are on Just Right by Purina kibble now because I have a say in what ingredients go into their food. Each bag of kibble has been completely personalized to each one of my dogs. Rosie has grain-free, Salmon-based kibble to help support her coat and Teddy has chicken-based kibble to support his growing body. I know that each of my dogs has the proper nutrition to help them get through all our summer adventures this year and love that I can trust Just Right by Purina to deliver safe and natural kibble to us every time.
Ready to get out there this summer with your furry pal? Here’s a list of adventures to experience with your best pup this summer to help you start planning things to do!
15 Things to Do With your Dog This Summer:
- Go for a nature walk
- Go for a smell walk (where you let your dog stop and smell whatever he or she wants)
- Run an agility course together
- Go for a swim in the local creek
- Go to a dog park and make some doggy friends
- Play fetch in an open field
- Go off-roading (and take your dog as your co-pilot)
- Go for an overnight campout (make sure to bring a puppy bed for your dog!)
- Go out for an ice cream cone (and ask for whipped cream in a cup for your pup!)
- Go to the beach and play in the waves
- Play in the sprinklers together
- Go eat dinner on the patio of a dog-friendly restaurant (and share some fries!)
- Blow bubbles for your dog to chase
- Go to a dog-friendly fair or festival together!
- Try dock-jumping
Let me know what your favorite activity is to do with your dog during the summer in the comments below! And hey – if this post was helpful to you, I’d love it if you would PIN it to Pinterest using the image below.
