Thanks to Canine Adventure, a new alternative to offer canines long hikes for pet owners (and even some rescue dogs) is now an option in Richmond and Charlottesville, VA, and Baltimore, MD to help with Unlocking Your Pet’s Potential.
Personal Pets:
If you live in a city apartment, work a 9-5 job, and/or travel frequently, chances are that your pet dog’s time outdoors is fairly limited. While a good diet and regular medical checkups are crucial to your dog’s health and happiness, exercise and socialization are too.
Is your dog restless despite her walk around the block twice a day? Do you see your pooch down and low in spite of spending the day at your city’s best doggy day care? If your answer is yes, maybe your dog needs more than just the basics.
Here’s where Canine Adventure can help.
Canine Adventure (henceforth referred to as CA) is a “professional dog care provider” that offers the standard dog walking and pet sitting services. But what makes them stand out are their – “ Adventure Walks, which are long hikes in local parks that often include leash work, off leash playtime, swimming, exploring, and doing all sorts of stuff that dogs love!”. Typically, each hike is 2 hours long and dogs are taken on them individually or in small packs of 2-3 depending on their needs and temperament. Each hike is carefully structured to your pet’s needs so that it can engage his/her curiosity, sense of adventure, and love for the outdoors.
The “crew” at CA consists of professionally trained staff members certified in pet first aid, CPR, and working with special needs animals. Prior to each hike they work with pet owners/ shelter staff to incorporate obedience training and bonding time in order to reinforce all that you’re already working on with your dog.
“At Canine Adventure, we believe that dogs thrive on human interaction. Unfortunately, in today’s busy human world, dogs often can’t get the human time they really need to thrive. We’re here to help! Our highly trained crew members are squarely focused on giving your dog the best experience possible during every appointment. We work to advance good behavioral patterns and reinforce training you’re probably working on already. We work to ensure that each outing is a safe experience. We get to know your dog and tailor our time together to ensure that we’re scratching them right where they itch!”
How it All Began:
CA was founded in October 2008 by Josh Rickey of Richmond, Virginia. The inspiration behind a flagship adventure provider was Rickey’s own rescue dog Marshall. Rickey, an avid rock climber, discovered a hunting dog chained to a tree and left for dead on one of his own hikes. He took him home and named him Marshall. But Marshall didn’t immediately adjust to domestication. Walking around the block three times a day just wasn’t enough for him [Richmond BizSense interview, July 2011]. As Rickey recalls, “I realized I had a wild animal in my house […] and I needed to start training him.” [The Hook interview with Matthew Fay, September 2013].
Photo Courtesy: Richmond Pet Lovers
So Rickey worked on teaching Marshall manners and obedience, and took him out on five- and six-mile hikes every weekend and in the evenings. This vastly improved Marshall’s behavior. Rickey’s friends noticed this and asked him to take their dogs out too. That’s when Rickey realized that doggy daycare and standard 30 minute walks in the neighborhood is not enough socialization and exercise for some dogs. Online research showed him that no dog-walking services in the area offered trail walking or outdoor adventure to their clients. So in November 2008, Rickey quit his job as an insurance claims adjuster, set up a website, bought a vehicle to transport the dogs, and had Canine Adventure up and running for about $4,000.
Today the company has grown from 2 clients to servicing roughly 400 families regularly, many of them multi-dog households. Their staff is comprised of 38 handlers across all three cities and CA completes approximately 130 walks on any given weekday. Pricing starts at about $37-$41 per adventure walk and differs across cities. Multiple dogs from the same house get a $5.00 per dog discount and there is also a 10% discount for veterinary office dogs.
Program for rescue dogs!
CA also offers sponsored rescue/shelter dog walks in their service areas. This makes them doubly amazing because:
1. Shelter dogs get to enjoy the outdoors and the personal attention and time lavished on them during these walks which might be rare for them on regular days at the shelter.
2. They get featured on CA’s YouTube channel feature “Rescue Walk of the Week” and on their Facebook page with a detailed description of the hike and pictures. This increases their chances of quickly connecting to their forever homes and human families best suited to their needs.
Check out how much fun Freeway, and Beauty Queen had in the videos below, along with pics from Fenwick, George’s adventure walks.
Freeway
Rescue Walk of the Week – Freeway (RAL)
Meet Freeway! Freeway is our Rescue Walk of the Week, coming to us from Richmond Animal League! She was ADOPTED before we could even get a chance to show her to one of you potential adopters, but once you see the video, you'll see exactly why! Freeway is full of energy, and loved being around people and being in constant contact with them. She kept to herself at first, but once she was introduced to the beach sand and water, she exploded with excitement and couldn't get enough! Her eyes lit up and she ran to her heart's content! When she was taken to World of Mirth, she calmed down a whole lot to take in the sights and sounds and became a model indoor dog for all. Freeway got to try some of the wacky hats on and meet the awesome staff at this Carytown gem!Though Freeway has been adopted, she and others benefit from these walks SO much, so we thank Richmond Animal League for taking great care of her before she crossed paths with her forever family, and a big thank you to World Of Mirth in Carytown, Freeway's sponsor! They specialize in out-there gifts and toys for minds that think outside the box; think 'kids of all ages'! There's always something cool or weird to catch your attention at World Of Mirth!Congrats to Freeway's new family! As always, if you or one of your responsible friends decide you want to adopt one of our featured Rescue Walk of the Week dogs, let the shelter know that you saw the dog through us and we will be happy to pay the full adoption fees on your behalf!
Posted by Canine Adventure on Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Beauty Queen
“Meet Beauty Queen! She is our featured “Rescue Walk of the Week”, coming to us from Richmond Animal Care and Control. She’s about fifty pounds and a little over two years old, at least, but has the curiosity of a puppy! As you can see in the video, she ran, sniffed, dug and kept her tail wagging during her Adventure Walk! She’s eager to learn and eager to please anyone that gives her even a second of attention, so be prepared to be loved on by her. Her natural coloring and that face will guarantee a lifetime of zero bad pictures!
Thank you to her sponsors, Project Local, a Richmond-based charitable organization who raise and donate money to various small, local charities! They do great work and help other great organizations in town, so follow them and stay on top of their events, as they do great things in fun ways! Recently, they have helped raise awareness for our friends at Eastern Herding Dog Rescue, who we have had the pleasure of showcasing one of their dogs as a Rescue Walk of the Week in the past!
Thank you to Richmond Animal Care & Control, who are the city’s only open-admission shelter, which means they take EVERYBODY in, and get them the medical care they need and the food and warmth they deserve until somebody can adopt them! We know Beauty Queen is being spoiled rotten during her residency with RACC!
If you are interested in adopting any of our featured Rescue Walk of the Week dogs, let the shelter know you saw them through Canine Adventure, and we will happily cover the full adoption fees on your behalf!”
Below is a post from CA Baltimore’s FB page about a sponsored walk for “Fenwick”, a rescue dog with Maryland Animal Sanctuary & Rescue (MAS)
Baltimore MAS Rescue’s “Fenwick” Loves All Things Fall
Hi, Karen:
Thanks so much for sponsoring a hike for a rescue dog with Canine Adventure! Today I had the pleasure of hiking with Fenwick, a pint-sized pup who’s being fostered with MAS Rescue.
Fenwick is a little whirlwind of fluff. From the moment I picked him up, he was nonstop tail-wagging and energy. He hopped right in my car with no hesitation, and we made our way to Cromwell Valley Park. Fenwick had a blast sniffing everything, burrowing under uprooted trees, and romping through piles of leaves. He’s a very bright, curious dude
While he’s not one for sitting still, Fenwick will gladly do so for a treat. He’s also super snuggly, and crawled into my lap at every chance he got. But for most of the hike he was a determined explorer. He got onto the scent of something at the edge of the woods, sniffing and burying his head in the brush, his tail wagging.
We got back to the car and Fenwick actually laid down for a bit on our drive back to Academy Animal Hospital, where he’s being boarded. Little Fenwick would love a forever family to snuggle with, and maybe a yard for him to do crazy zoomies in. Whoever does take this guy home will be one lucky adopter! You can see photos from our hike today by clicking the link in my signature below.
Thanks again for your gift of sponsorship!
Happy New Year,
Sarah
Testimonials:
It’s not just wagging tails and twitching noses that love Canine Adventure. Clients vouch for the program and CA crew members as well.
Richmond resident Sam Leach writes in his Facebook testimonial :
“Canine Adventure is amazing! I turned to these guys when I realized my super shy pittie, Bee, needed a confidence booster. Gabrielle [CA professional] has been phenomenal—her patience and calm energy have really brought my girl out of her shell to trust more people and dogs! We even got to see Gabrielle at Bee’s obedience class. Bee’s excited butt wiggle seeing her Canine Adventure buddy said volumes about the bond they had! The pictures and detailed description I get of her adventures are an awesome part of the package as well. I so look forward to them on days Bee goes on her adventure. […] Its also awesome to go back to her first few walks and see the huge change in her body language—from tucked tail and wide eyes to that huge, happy pit smile! Gabrielle also was a lifesaver when we needed some last minute dog sitting- it was such a relief knowing my pups were in good hands during my time out of town. Thank you!! I cannot recommend Canine Adventure enough!”.
Nina Bradley is all praise for CA – Baltimore and how Kasey takes such good care of her high energy puppy, Dempsey.
“We unfortunately[…] have strict work schedules. When it’s Dempsey’s adventure day, I know she will be cared for, get exercise, actively think about what she sees on the trail, and be tired when we get home after a long day.
Dempsey’s Day Out!
The pictures Kasey sends are the highlight of our week and we always go through them all as well as what she writes about the adventure. Canine Adventure is personal and that’s what we really love about it. Kasey gets to know your dog quickly and truly takes care of them as if they are her own. She is responsible, on time, and very professional. We highly recommend this wonderful program to anyone!!” (Facebook testimonial).
New Year’s Resolution to Your Canine (or sponsor a Rescue Walk)
If your dog is looking for that extra workout or sense of adventure and you are near one of the Canine Adventure locations you might just check them out!
See him/her thrive in the outdoors, make new friends, and shine in new ways. After all, a few miles extra could go a long way in the long run in keeping your pet healthy, happy, and fulfilled.
If you are interested in sponsoring a rescue walk in one of their three cities click here!
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