Road trip: Hilton Head Island

Mom and Zeke got a spur of the moment chance to head to Hilton Head to visit with family and play at the beach, how do you say no to that?!?We got up to see the sunrise and play during the early morning off-leash hours. The sun was a little hidden by the clouds but still very beautiful.
And yes, it's return of McGruber to ZekeTheLab.com, he was waiting for us in Hilton Head.
You couldn't ask for better weather and the water felt great.
We also took the opportunity to check out HHI's local dog park in Chaplin Community Park.
Then we hit up one of several dog friendly eating establishment's on the Island. The folks at Main Street Cafe & Pub were all very nice. They brought out a BIG bowl of water and asked if the pups preferred ice or not. And just about every one of the wait staff came out to say hi to McGruber and Zeke.

After such a long day of playing hard and swimming, the guys were ready to crash, but what a fun trip!

jake the boxer

Met Jake at the Dog park yesterday, he was a very fast runner. Also while there Sadie and Zeke got ambushed by some little mops masquerading as dogs. Maybe the sectioned off area for the under 25lb crowd is actually for the safety of the big kids.

Yappy Hour!

Zeke went to Yappy Hour at O'Brion's last week. They do a weekly thing to benefit Pet Helpers.
Traditional pub fare, that tasted awesome!
Some of the dogs there available for adoption (Willie up front)
Afterwards we went to the big dog park on James Island, where we met Dez - a chocolate lab-and his new dad Pierre. His neighbor had to move and asked him if he wanted their dog and he took him and turned out to be a real prize. Dez is a smart boy with a great launch into the water for a tennis ball.

Just a Swingin

Zeke and Sadie went to Wannamaker dog park this morning, then we walked around the park some to check out some of the newly opened nature trails. Along the red trail someone had the foresight to hang up a swing, so we all took a short break to relax and do some swangin'.
Zeke decided that he should get up on the swing with Dad and Sadie but with limited space he ended up sitting on Sadie.

Great 4th of July weekend!

So Zeke and his mom have been a little slack with posting, but that's only because we have been having such a fun time.Zeke got a new squeaky toy! (And surprisingly has yet to destroy the squeaker part)

Dad was off with the long weekend so we went to two different dog parks! Above Zeke meets a Saint Bernard who was trying to enjoy a cooler than normal morning at Wassamasaw park.

Zeke eventually wore out the evening we went to Wannamaker Park and decided resting on the picnic table offered the best view.

We also logged another 3 miles on the Swamp Fox passage. Scheduled for today is baths and nail grinding (not fun but necessary) .

And TOMORROW! Zeke is going to the Raleigh/Durham area. First his is going to be a participant in the studies at the Duke Canine Cognition Center. Then we are going to celebrate a belated birthday with our cousin Jennifer and maybe check out one of the top dog parks in the nation. So we hope to have lots to share when we get back from that trip.

Saturday in the (dog) park

This morning we loaded up and headed for Wannamaker Dog Park. And man did we luck out, got to meet two really cool labs.
This is Cocoa, a 4 month old chocolate lab baby girl. She had no fear of running with the big dogs and loved to splash in the water bowl.
Cocoa did not like having her picture taken, but the lab paparazzi was determined to get a photo of her interacting with her older male doppelganger Zeke.
Then we met Doug the black lab, who was from Lowcountry Lab Rescue just like Sadie. But how he found his mom was such a great story: he was at the beach with his foster and got free and ran right up to this stranger, his foster parent came up apologized and asked if she wanted to adopt him. They got the opportunity to play some more and every time Doug got called back he came straight to her and sat at her feet. So he new who needed to be his new mom!
We just had to get an alumni shot to post on the LLR facebook page.

dog parks, lunch and swimming

Today Zeke went to Wannamaker dog park and played with Darwin the Airedale and his sister Abbey, but he didn't get to go in the water area (AKA mud hole) with them. Shortly after we got there a guy brought in his corgi sized dog who had every dog in the big dog section chasing after her, but she was super quick and agile no one could catch her. It was like her game, eventually everyone gave up and then her and her dad left. Kinda random, but funny to watch.

Then we picked up BBQ to go from Willie Jewel's and had lunch with dad. Zeke found out he likes corn fritters, what's not to love really. After that we had a quick swim to cool off and headed back home for nap time!

ROAD TRIP: Myrtle Beach Barc Parc

Got a call to take our friend Sarah to Myrtle Beach to the airport. We used the excursion as an excuse to check out the Barc Parc, the Grand Strand's dog park we had read about. It is pretty large and our favorite part was the loop around the lake allowed you to take an off leash stroll without being in the mix of all the other dogs that were playing. There were plenty of "pickup stations" and benches to sit and relax. There was an odd separate fenced section, that we at first assumed was for smaller dogs but that wasn't the case -- there were dogs of all size. That area did have a few obstacles set up that might have been an attempt at an agility area but it wasn't very complete.

All in all a good road trip. Zeke slept on the way back.

rumored dog parks

We ended up at the dog park at Palmetto Islands County Park and everyone had a blast, but our intention this morning was to check out the 'dog park' at the new Waterfront Park in Mount Pleasant. None could be found, so we asked the visitor center lady if there was a dog park and her reply was 'well, you can have your dog here at the park'. Hmmm.. not what we had in mind. Anyway, some pictures from this morning.
Traffic jam!
Sadie and a sweet goldie
Zeke and Gumball

snowmageddon

Whilst it seems as though everyone else we know is getting piled on with snow, its just been REALLY cold and rainy here (seriously freezing cold) in coastal South Carolina. Never fear, snow is predicted today, so bring on the frenzied panic! Zeke and mom tried to avoid the mess and bundled up to head up to the forest for a hike, we made it to the lake and stopped for swimming. Then this golden retriever kinda comes up from out of nowhere, but she was just ahead of her dad. She and Zeke played for a little bit and then they continued on their way. We passed them again on the way back out, they also had a Boykin - state dog of south carolina!

Yesterday Sadie and Zeke went to Wannamaker dog park and got to hang out with Xyla (we met her before, a Belgian Malmois) and Brody the GSD. Zeke had to go in time out because he was feeling very amorous towards Xyla.

score at the dog park

One of our favorite places to walk in town has been having some pipe work done since DECEMBER! Sometimes we have to hope the local Wassamasaw dog park has some pups to play with.

Today we were in luck; two huskies and and little GSD girl names Kayla were there to play with!

New Dog park friends

We went to the Wassamasaw Dog Park (Summerville) today, and usually when we go during the day there is no one to play with. Today we hit the jackpot: we had two beautiful german shepherds to play with, Cody and Bella!

catching up

Bewteen the holidays and our road trip, Zeke's blogging has been falling behind. So here are a few wrap up pictures, and a hope that 2010 is a labberiffic year. While in WV, Zeke didn't find too many dog friends, but he did take up with Sunshine: Aunt Robin's aged golden retriever. Too bad Sunshine tried to turn Zeke into a railroad hobo.

This is Zeke at Aunt Carol's... the Christmas choo choo around the tree kinda freaked him out a little bit.

We're going to hike the Swamp Fox passage of the Palmetto trail this year! Here we started the year out January 3rd in horribly cold conditions around trail marker #42.

We also have made a couple trips to the dog park, met some cool dog friends and learned how to jump on picnic tables.

So at the end of 2009, Zeke has resigned from his position as greeter at Fox Music, so mom can go back to school for another degree. School starts monday for mom, so that will be an adjustment for Zeke, but in theory it should give more time for training and playing. Zeke's got a birthday coming up at the end of the month, he will be 2 years old! Have to start planning for his party now.

Wassamassaw Dog Park

After work today, Zeke went to the dog park at Wassamassaw Park, which is closest to home. It is conveniently located in Summerville (turn at the stop light on 78 across from Alston Middle School) but maybe because of its newness it is some times empty or not many dogs for Zeke to play with. Many pups and people we run into there are still trying to determine when is the best time of day or day of the week to come to play.

Zeke and Sadie are up to the task. Need us to check out a dog park? We're on it!

Wassamassaw's Dog park offers a separate area for smaller dogs, that is just as large as the big dog section. It has a tall chain link fence around the entirety and a sturdy gate with transition area for re-leashing.

Here is a wide shot from outside the dog park, it is probably about 60 yards long not super wide.

Inside has several large trees which Zeke says are excellent for peeing on. While its not huge, this park definitely offers plenty of room to run. There are two benches inside for owner sitting along with two "pick up" stations. Drainage seems to function fairly well as we have been here after some wet times, there is a storm drain in the middle of the park.

The one thing we would change is that the watering bowl, while nice, it located on the outside of the dog area. It can be inconvenient. We have seen several people bring bowls in, but once its empty you have to go back outside the fenced area to refill it.