Wow, wow, wow….what a perfectly executed weekend! Katherine Vooys (holding the dog), the owner of The Crunchy Canine, is the organizer and host behind Dog Gone Fun Adventure Camp.
Location
The Camp took place at Ryerson Camp at Turkey Point Provincial Park. For us, it is about 3 hrs away (depending on traffic and the use of the 407). We took the 407 and it was not a bad drive at all. Katherine had sent the perfect amount of emails making sure we packed right and our expectations were on par! The last email had detailed directions for us as well! Of course, we had lots to bring but the dogs seemed comfortable!
Friday Night
Although the Camp started at 5 pm, with our day jobs were only able to get ther around 7 pm. Next year we will take half a day off to ensure we don’t miss anything!
At 5 pm there was an introduction to scent detection (as I said, we missed it but we were able to catch up), a pizza dinner, and a craft.
When we arrived at 7 pm they were just finishing up the scent detection talk. Thankfully we arrived just before dark so that we could unpack. The cabins have lights but as this is a Camp, it was very dark once the sun went down.
Once we settled in, we joined everyone at the camp fire and had a lovely evening enjoying the peace and quiet, smores and the beautiful starry night.
Saturday
The next morning we were up bright and early at 7 am! Our accomodation was camp bunks, nothing luxurious, just what you need to sleep. We brought our own sleeping bags and blankets and of course, our dogs had their own sleeping bags and beds but it didn’t stop them from trying to steal our beds!
Breakfast was served between 7 am and 9 am but really, Katherine made sure that there was food available at any given time of day. What I called the “Mess Hall” as a kid is where she served breakfast. Since there was about 35 people and about 20 or so dogs, we grabbed our food and ate outside at the picnic tables giving everyone a comfortable space for their dogs to chill while we ate.
The dogs ate breakfast with us as well. Both Maze & Nyx eat raw food and, of course, Katherine had anticipated some of us coming with raw food, so she made sure we had access to a fridge or freezer to store it! We had a great breakfast but didn’t dawdle as we didn’t want to miss yoga!
Yoga
Yoga was amazing! (especially after sleeping on camp beds! haha) Our pups found a nice spot beside us and our Yoga Instructor led the session for an hour. It wasn’t as tranquil as one would see in a studio, a few dogs (including our own) found their way to our faces for some kisses or wanted their own belly rubs while we stretched!
Hiking
After yoga it was hike time! Throughout the beautiful property are hiking trails. We had a cute little tour guide (Katherine’ young son) who knew the forest very well to guide us along. It was a beautiful hike!
Agility Course
Once we got back to the camp we were split up into two groups so we could learn about Agility and Rally-O! What fun! Our family was new to these events as were most people in our group. We were first assigned to the agility course. At the back of the property there was a whole course set up for us to learn. There were tunnels, jumps, unsteady boards, and rings to jump through. Agility quickly became my favorite.
Each dog has their different likes and dislikes. Nyx loved the tunnel and would run back and forth through it. Maze did not like the tunnel but we figured it out!
After everyone had a try at the course and getting their dogs to do what they needed to do, we switched with the other group over at Rally-O.
Rally-O
Rally-O as they call it, or Rally Obedience, is a fun way to test your dogs obedience! And it also tested my “lefts” and “rights” which the dogs are better at then I am! This station was over on the other part of the lawn and had a course set out with frames of each obedience test. For example, the first stop was to have your dog stop and sit on your left side and then lay down. You would then walk around the dog as they stayed laying down. It isn’t too bad as it cover’s basic commands but when Nyx was told to lay down, she though it best to be on her back to snag a possible belly rub halfway through the course. My daughter, Alexis, had Nyx to give the test a shot and they did amazing! As expected I kept going right when I was to go left and vice versa. Mike (my husband) sat this one out.
Lunch Break!
We worked hard and earned our lunch. I am pretty sure both Maze and Nyx were very full by this time as we were using our cookies for motivation and reward during all of this. Since Nyx has an array of allergies she can only have beef bits, thankfully I brought quite a bit with me (mental note for yourself if you go! Lot of treats!)
Katherine nailed lunch with a sandwich lunch box (different ones to choose from) with a salad. She also had other items out for us like chips, cookies (homemade – oh! and so was breakfasts zucchini bread!). It was a beautiful day so off to the picnic tables we went for a lovely lunch!
While on our lunch break, we checked out the selfie station that had been put up. OHMYGOSH – so cute! Check these pictures out!
We also went to the Mess Hall and updated our dog bandannas we got when we arrived (along with a full bag of treats and our amazing camp shirt!). We were able to add “badges” to the bandanna of the events we participated in and since we were doing EVERYTHING we loaded up! Katherine thought of ALL of the details!
Beach Time!
After lunch we headed to the Turkey Point Dog Beach. It was just a short drive from the camp. Unfortunately, although Katherine had planned for us to have paddle boards and kayaks it was just too windy to do it. Maybe next year! Trying to do paddle boarding and kayak with the dogs are definitely on my to do list!
We enjoyed a couple of hours playing in the water with the dogs. Maze & Nyx naturally love the water and I was trying to teach them to jump into the waves so they didn’t get a mouth full of water. Their life jackets were perfect for the day! Maze is a princess, as we know, so she just enjoyed hanging out with Alexis and floating. She could float for hours. Nyx is a little crazier so she swam and chased the waves. After a bit of swimming we enjoyed the view from the beach and let the dogs air dry for a bit before we headed back to camp.
Our Evening
The day started to get on by the time we got back to the camp but there was always something to do. We could practice Rally-O or the agility course anytime we wanted. Food was always out for a snack and of course, Katherine ensure we had crafts. We choose the craft!
Maze & Nyx got to make their own painting. It was very creative and a lot of fun. The human gets to put any color of paint on the paper in a design that they choose and then a staff member put it in a Ziploc bag. They then put either peanut butter or Cheese Whiz on the outside of the bag so the dogs tongue will move the paint around to create their own art piece!
Shortly after we were spoiled with a catered dinner by a local restaurant. It was so delicious! There was pull pork tacos, brisket, every salad you can imagine. We stuffed ourselves! Dessert was the best though. Remember how I said that there was no detail not thought of? Dessert was cookies celebrating the camp! How amazing is that! And of course, there were cookies for the dogs too!
After dinner we had live music! Yes, we had Leather & Lace perform for the evening. It was fantastic. I found myself singing along – caught Mike singing too! Even Alexis was caught singing to some of the songs! It was a perfect evening. We had our camp chairs and a blanket for us. We put a picnic blanket down with the dogs sleeping bags for the pups and we just sat and enjoyed. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. We were exhausted so we headed to be after but if anyone wanted to move to the bon fire it was roaring and ready to go!
Sunday
Sunday morning we were cuddled in our sleeping bags and our blankets and made it very hard for an early start! Breakfast was a 7 am again but this morning but we ate breakfast at 8 am and watched Yoga. Still participating right? After Yoga, there was a hike and then we had a fun competition. If you know me, I am competitive! Each participant had a chance to do the agility course and the Rally-O course which was timed (and adjusted based on how well you did). Alexis took Nyx and I had Maze. Mike enjoyed the show which, since we are all beginners at this, can be amusing at times!
Well….Maze and I got second! It was a perfect ending to an amazing weekend!
After the competition we had another amazing meal and packed up and headed home. We can’t wait to see what is in store for next year because you will definitely find us there!
Make sure you follow Dog Gone Adventure Camp’s Facebook. There is a ton of pictures of our weekend and there will be the information posted there for next years event. We hope you join us next year for a very fun weekend!
