Showing posts with label Things to do in Chicago with Dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things to do in Chicago with Dogs. Show all posts

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Things to do in the City with Dogs: Strolling Down Michigan Avenue

Almost every time I go on vacation I marvel at the people who are lucky enough to be residents of that city. I imagine that if I lived there I would spend every weekend having pier picnics or lounging in famous gardens.
The funny thing is, we live in a pretty amazing city also. And a lot of people spend a lot of money to experience the things we take for granted. 
We spend a lot of our time just out with the pups walking, and even though we live a mere 2 miles from the heart of downtown, we rarely go. So we went. 
I don't think people are used to seeing large dogs downtown because a lot of people would look at us like we were walking camels. They also asked what kinds of dogs they were.
As our dogs are older its not as easy to do the 2 miles there and back, so we found 2 other easy ways to get downtown with our pups.
We discovered the app Spothero which has helped us find cheaper downtown parking. We used this to get downtown for the St Patrick's Day festivities where we found parking for only $10, which is amazing since downtown parking is normally $20-40.
We have also learned how to take taxi's with our pups and we wrote more about it here. 
Has anyone else been venturing on any new walks lately?

Also:
Vacation-like.
Our picks.
Deja vu.
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and storylines beyond the blog.

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Pooches: Miss M and Mr B Bring Happiness to the 2014 Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade

Before I adopted Miss M, I really didn't want a pit bull-type dog.  
But the truth is, I had such strong feelings when I had never even met a pit bull before. 
It was only after meeting my first pit bull-type dog at an adoption event--then my second, then my third-- that I realized they really are just like any other type of dog (though I now think even more amazing!).
Once in costume, Mr. B falls into character
Part of the fun of our adventures around the city is letting other people meet pit bull-type dog for the first time. This weekend we hit up Chicago's Downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade, which is such a huge event, the city even dyes the river green. The parade draws people from around the country, and even from other countries. A lot of people who met the pups wanted to know what kinds of dogs they were, and a couple of people even reveled in their own 'first time they met a pit bull' experience.
As one man from another country said "This is Pitbull? Pitbull is good!".
Mr. B brought along his camera to document the experience from his point-of-view. My favorite part is the paparazzi on the bridge.
Here are the pups bringing happiness to St. Patrick's Day revelers,with appropriate accompanying music.
Also:
Did you know it has been proven watching cute pet videos really does make people happier and increase productivity at work? Feel free to check out this one (the one on Vimeo), this one, and this one too.
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and storylines beyond the blog.

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Things to do in Chicago with Dogs: Watching CHIditarod

One of the best parts of living in the city is you really never know what you might run into.
During some of our walks we have run into such unlikely events as a Snuggie pub crawl, a Zombie flashmob, and our latest: CHIditarod shopping cart race.
Part food drive, part costume contest, part drinking event, this annual race has been held in the Wicker Park area for the past 9 years. Teams dress in themes and pull decorated shopping carts, filled with food to donate stopping at several bar checkpoints. The race route is about 4 miles and it is held regardless of the weather.
After being cooped up this winter, we were excited to get out in this "tropical" 20 degree weather. Seeing CHIditarod as an added bonus.
The pups were excited to have so many people out that they could meet. One of the carts even had a grill on it, and they were nice enough to give the pups a taste.
Though Mr. B was a bit confused by some of the costumes.

Also:
We're counting down the days until we can do this again.
Walking like a city dog
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and storylines beyond the blog.

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Things to Do with your Dog In Chicago: Dog-Friendly Shopping

The hardest part of the Chicago winters is that the pups go from having daily adventures, meeting crowds of people, to walking the streets in isolation.
Miss M especially thrives on human attention and will often seek out that other lone person trudging through the streets hoping that they will pet her. You can probably imagine how over-excited she becomes once everyone digs out of hibernation and she is able to see people again.
To ease the transition, and keep up our city skills, we have learned about several indoor dog-friendly  areas where the pups can ease their cabin-fever and we can stay consistent with training.

Even with these stores being dog-friendly, we are always aware that some people just don't like dogs and we need to be considerate to them. We don't allow our pups to approach people unless the people ask, and if the space becomes to small, they are not behaving, or it just doesn't seem appropriate for them we will leave.
Here are some of the pups' favorites:

Home Depot:
It seems we've been needing to go here a lot, and it's nice that we can run this errand even with the pups. Home Depot is an easy indoor place to take the pups, even if they've never been inside before,  because there are few things to break, aisles are extra wide and there is just a lot of space.

Shops at Northbridge (aka: The downtown Nordstrom's Mall):
I never would have expected these stores right downtown would be dog-friendly, but as we were walking by with our pups the Security Guard told us we should come inside. Dogs are allowed in all of the areas with the exception of the floor that has the food court. They even have a dog treat dispenser and water bowls near the customer service area. We also heard it rumored the Bloomingdales building is dog-friendly. Is it true?

Local Stores on our Walk:
We joke that when we walk through Wicker Park (which has made its way into many guidebooks) Miss M thinks its old news saying "I've been in that store, and that store, and that one...". While it depends on the store owners, in Chicago dogs are legally allowed in any store that doesn't serve food. Often if we're walking by, or window gazing, stores will encourage us to come inside with the pups, and the pups have hit many of the destination spots in the Wicker Park area. The pups are frequent visitors at Chrome store (they know them there!), Lomography store, Nike, St. Alfred's and even wine stores Lush and Noble Grape.

Where we don't go:
Strangely enough, even though they sell dog-gear, REI is not pet-friendly. Even if you want to try on any of the dog coats we've needed to work with a salesperson allowing us to take the merchandise outside to try on. Also, when we were fostering little Jack Frost I used to carry him in my bag and when I tried to go into Joanne's Fabric, I was asked to leave.
The one dog-friendly place that we try not to take the dogs: pet stores. With all of the food, smells, and other dogs, it's just too distracting and over-stimulating.

What are some other experiences people have had with dog-friendly stores?

Also:
City Dogs in Training
After the thaw
Mr. B helps out with the groceries
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and story lines beyond the blog.

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Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Miss M and Mr. B do the West Town Art Walk

Since we do need to be out there for our Daily Walks each day, we are always looking for fun ways to switch it up. This past weekend our neighborhood was hosting the West Town Art Walk, which just happened to be along one of our favorite walking routes. The art walk partners local businesses with local artists; you can just pop in as you're strolling down the street.
They also had performance artists and rickshaws and a trolley to take you from one end to the other:
Many of the shops that aren't serving food are dog-friendly, though E and I would take turns popping in as the dogs mysteriously looked on.
The pups loved the extra attention, and we loved some new discoveries.
We were very excited to see a new storefront,  Epic Spices, had just opened and was participating in the Art Walk. While it seems to be a smaller storefront, there is actually a large facility in the back which houses and grinds whole fresh spices. When I was talking to the owner, he said it is intended to work like a bakery where you stop by to get the fresh-ground spices when you need them instead of letting them sit in your cabinets losing flavor. They just opened and are continuing to add inventory, but they expect to have as many as 130 spices. While I was there they had Black Hawaiian sea salt, Pink Himalayan sea salt, and grey salt. We are so excited to have discovered them, and add them along with this tradition of ours.

Also:
Have we told you how our pups love art?
This kind too.
And we're excited to do more of this.

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Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Miss M and Mr B go to the "Secret" Chicago Air and Water Show

We know every Chicago transplant has a story about the first time they realized the slew of planes flying mysteriously close to our homes and downtown were actually one of Chicago's biggest attractions: The Air & Water show. This event brings in stunt pilots and military planes (typically) with crowds starting to gather as early as 6 am (I know because these were always some of my big training days).
One secret that we've learned to avoid the crowds: we go on the Friday during their practice session. They have everything set up like the real show complete with announcer and food trucks without the large crowds. Luckily for us, this year had mild temperatures, and our pups aren't deterred by loud noises, so we set up a picnic spot a bit further up from North Avenue Beach to watch the show along the backdrop of the Chicago Skyline.
Unfortunately with this years sequester, the show was missing a few key acts, including the USAF Thunderbirds, but Mr. B was thoroughly impressed and loved the acrobatics of the biplanes.
Even Miss M enjoyed herself, cracking a smile for the camera, as she enjoyed our grilled cheese foodtruck picnic, the nice weather, and the rare sight of spotting biplanes flying in the city. And being the center of attention in photos.
Also:
We are also looking forward to this city tradition. And our all-time favorite.
Plus, check our Facebook page for photos and storylines beyond the blog.

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Things to do with Your Dogs in Chicago: West Fest Neighborhood Festival

While Chicago is filled with all types of neighborhood streetfests during the summer, our favorite one is West Fest. Maybe we're biased because this is our neighborhood festival, but this is also the most pet (and pit!) friendly festival we've been to. Besides the two music stages it also has breakdancing, graffiti exhibits, and a separate dog-themed area complete with dog baths and treats. 
Miss M can only take baths in the most dramatic fashion:
Afterwards, the pups were excited to spy the Fido to Go dog treat truck. They even got to eat it twice: lamb asiago flavor and bacon cheeseburger flavor. We found out Miss M's favorite flavor was whatever Mr. B was already eating.
As always, the pups were so excited to meet people, and they even met a lot of people who only knew them from the blog (thanks everyone for saying hi!). We also were able to spend some time with adoptable Ruby from Project Rescue (lower corner photo!). If you know anyone looking for a sweet, laid back pup, she would be a great fit!
Has anyone else been out at the street festivals? Or do you have other summer traditions with your pups?

PS. Remember to check this post to win a Date with Your Dog Canine Cruise Giveaway!

Also:
How we prepare our pups for street festivals
Deja Vu
Baths

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Dog Gear: Mr B's View of the Pride Parade

While we are all attending the same events, we are always curious about how the pups' views differ from what we see. Since then, Mr. B has gotten into photography and he has started documenting how he views the world. 
Mr. B took his camera out to last weekend's Pride Parade where he captured the parade from his view. E also added images from his camera from the human view, and they collaborated to make this mash-up of the parade with the dogs complete with catchy soundtrack. 
Can you tell what parts Mr. B filmed and what parts E filmed?
My favorite parts are seeing the pooches get 'beaded' by people in the parade, seeing Miss M's train of thought as she actually watches the parade, close-up of a hairy chest and being used as a pillow and public.
And check out what the girl holding the banner at  3:37 does.
Watch the video here:
We also have a recap of the pups and their friends at this year's parade here.
Mr B wears his camera on a Go Pro chest mount (the chesty) strapped to his back. E also hacked a front mount to wear the camera on his chest. We wrote more about Mr. B's camera here. 
What was your favorite part of the video? 
Miss M thinks she didn't get enough footage
In case you missed it:
This happened. 
And the colder version.
If you ever doubted people love pitbulls and pitbulls love people
The pups' view of a Chicago vacation

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Things to do in Chicago with Dogs: Chicago's Annual Gay Pride Parade 2013

It's always important for us to support ideas of equality, and our highlight of the summer is attending Chicago's Annual Gay Pride Parade. We love seeing so much of the community banding together, and this year was one of the largest; an estimated 1 million people took to the streets of Lakeview to celebrate.
 People celebrate from rooftops, balconies and the street complete with outrageous costumes, feathers and beads. The parade draws local celebrities like Bozo the Clown and Mayor Emanuel (who actually walked by and awkwardly forced us to shake his hand). Plus all the floats complete with dancers and thumping music. And of course, the dancing cowboys. That's where Mr. B gets his costume inspiration.
We were joined by our pitbull friends: Aggie and Phil (fellow NLOL alumni!). So many people loved seeing the four of them sitting so nicely in a row. Plus, a couple of human friends we ran into.
The pooches' favorite part was when people jumped out of the parade to come meet them.
How do you think the pooches scored all those beads? Their secret is revealed below:
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post where Mr. B shares the video he took from his camera.
Did anyone else go to Pride Events in Chicago or your city?

Also:
This also happened
Deja Vu.  And live!
Keeping it safe.

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Things to do in Chicago with Dogs: Pride Fest

We joke that the Pride Parade is the pooches' favorite event of the year. Since pets are not allowed to march in parades in Chicago, we have to participate on the sidelines.
This year they decided to stretch out the Pride festivities having the Pride Fest street festival last weekend and the big parade this coming weekend.
Then we discovered that Miss Foozie hosts a mini-Pup Parade during Pride Fest which occurred this past weekend, she also hosts the Pup Parade that the pooches participate in during Halloween.
This was a good chance for the pups to practice in some costumes before their big debut this weekend. Mr. B wore his favorite fedora and some beads as he documented the Pup Parade with his camera.
Miss M couldn't decide between dressing up as a fairy or a ballerina, but she remembered that she could  go as a ballerina for the Pup Parade and dress up as a fairy for the Pride Parade.   
Miss M was so excited that her current boyfriend, Vegas (unbeknownst to Vegas), was able to join her in the Miss M Pup Parade.
For her dog's hard work filming her parade, Miss M purchased ice cream for her and her dog.
Here is the video Mr. B took from his perspective:
In case you missed it:
Remember how excited Miss M was to march in this parade?
Preparations
Looking forward to this

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City Dogs: Unexpected Places in the City

Most people don't realize this, but even though we live in a city with millions of people, all stacked up in the tall buildings, there are still so many quiet hidden gems in the city.
I've lived here nearly 15 years (E for longer), but it has really taken having dogs to get out and explore all the pockets of our city. Sure we love being in a crowd, but sometimes it's just nice to have some quiet, nature-filled walks. After seeing this from our friends over at  Peaceful Dog, we thought we would share some of our favorite unexpected places in the city:

Humboldt Park
Around the turn-of-the-century, the city designed a series of parks to create a refuge from hectic city life. The park is over 200 acres which includes a boat house, lagoon, butterfly and bird gardens, a small beach, tennis courts, several baseball diamonds and a lot of walking paths. The wide open spaces and boat house feel very Gatsby-esque, and it's a fun place to explore with our pups. We tend to go earlier in the morning as it has become a popular place for off-leash dogs.

North Channel Trail
Even though we have 18 miles of beautiful lakefront trails, those can become extra crowded. We like this stretch of the Northshore Channel Trail which snakes along the river and has so much foliage you forget you are smack dab in the middle of the city. The area where we start has a dog park, which means we often encounter the off-leash crew that plays outside of the designated dog park. Though we really love taking this walk during the winter where it all seems extra quiet.

Milton Lee Olive Park
So much of the lakefront trail is congested with bikers and runners passing and weaving through, it can be difficult and scary for dogs. We discovered this scenic path by chance when we were on this vacation. It's located downtown behind Oak Street Beach and it's the perfect blend of scenic views without the crowds. We were out walking during the day, and we were basically the only ones out there despite being located right on the edge of downtown.

Have other people found unexpected places while out exploring with your pup?

Also:
If you happen to have 36 hours...
Making the park like our vacation
Learning to walk in the city

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Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Hyde Park Farmer's Market

Since we were bachelorettes together, Miss M and I always had a tradition of going to Farmer's Markets together. I go for the flowers; she goes for all of the attention. 
And after so many months of this, we were excited to get back out there when we heard about this new-to-us market in Hyde Park (managed by one of our very own SociaBulls members!).
We loved that this market was not overly packed, like some markets, which did make it very dog-friendly. There is also a large green space on the side where you can sit and eat some of the pre-made food; there was even a food demonstration when we were there.
We were also joined by some of our other SociaBulls friends: Vegas and Zoe. 
With the nicer weather, what types of things are you doing with your pups?

Also:
How to have a successful trip to the Farmer's Market with your pup
Feeling European
She makes these decisions

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Things to Do in Chicago with Dogs: Navy Pier

During one of our last big vacations we realized that one of the best parts of traveling is figuring out our favorite things to do on a vacation and incorporating them into our daily lives.
While including our dogs.
Since we were on break last week, we thought we would spend our time off becoming real tourists. We packed up our bags, took a cab 2 miles east, and all four of us stayed at a pup-friendly hotel in the heart of downtown Chicago.
Being immersed among all of the tourists and their excitement made us feel like tourists ourselves.
We began to see the city in a new way. Which meant we needed to head out to Chicago's #1 Tourist Attraction: Navy Pier.
The original idea behind Navy Pier was to create a public space that people from all socio-economic areas can enjoy. It has the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, the Children's Museum, a huge Ferris Wheel, and boat tours.
But we usually tell people it's not worth going. If you're not going to do any of those things, it's just filled with trinket shops, over-priced chain restaurants, and huge crowds.
Until we came this last trip.
Walking over early in the morning with the cooler temperatures, and all of us snugly wrapped up in scarfs, we missed the huge crowds and we realized how relaxing and beautiful the view was.
With plenty of photo opps.
It actually reminded us a lot of this.
And it was actually a perfect vacation area to hang out with our pups with the never-ending lakefront and skyline views.
Mr. B brought his camera to share his dog-eye view of visiting Navy Pier. From walking out of the hotel (thank you doorman!) to heading to the pier, looking at the views and meeting people.
My favorite parts are his leaping sequences, meeting people who knew the pups from online (thanks for saying hi!), and seeing spider-Miss M coming down the stairs.
Plus seeing the photos we took from Mr. B's point-of-view:
It's so funny to see it from the pups' point-of-view. 
What are your favorite parts of Mr. B's video?

Also:
We were able to do a bit of this, though it wasn't quite warm enough to do this.
We are looking forward to doing this again this summer.
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