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!

the haul from Pet Expo

Dude check out all my frisbees we got for FREE at Pet Expo. Here is my full story posted at LowcountryDog.com. Zeke graciously gave that micro-disc to his little cousin Mojo.

Tomorrow mom and Zeke are heading out for a road trip! More on that later.

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.

more fun at the new house

Hanging out with some family over the weekend! Zeke and Christopher decided that a good game of tug was more interesting that football. I know a couple other people who would agree.

Dog Day Afternoon

We are back from the second ever Dog Day at Whirlin' Waters Water park, and it was was a great time. Lots of water lovin' pups out enjoying the Big Kahuna wave pool and the otter bay pool for the little pups. Zeke and mom even took a walk around the lazy river. This year they had signs up saying no people past this point in the water but as it started getting more crowded the line started creeping deeper into the pool.
Zeke probably would have swam till he exhausted himself, as it was we made him get out and take breaks
Another great turnout this year, and so much fun seeing all the dogs running around the water park.
Zeke enjoys taking the tough way out of the pool. I think he did it to impress chics.
And all the fruits of our labor are displayed in this tired puppy curled up under my desk.

New house!!!

Where the heck has Zeke the Lab been? Well he has been busy moving into his new house (complete with awesome back yard)!Zeke welcomes people at his new front door.
The yard has big trees and plenty of room for fetching.
All the packing, moving and unpacking has us all worn out. And Zeke is having to get adjusted to his new sleeping spot, but it won't take us long!

Sandy nose!

From swimming and playing at the lake.

Doggie-hawk

The latest in dog haircut trends. This guy got a doggie hawk before coming to the park. Very nice.

a dog park bonanza

Over the weekend we went to different dog parks on three consecutive days! Friday at James Island County Park, Saturday at Wannamaker and Sunday at the Summerville (Wassamasaw) Dog park. Zeke wore himself out swimming at James Island and then Sunday was fun because their dog friends were at the park - timing is everything.

jake's house

Sadie and Zeke got a chance to go visit their friend Jake and play with him at his house.
Jake digs his tennis balls.
Didn't take long to get tongues dragging from playing in the heat, but they had a great time.

Lab lover's morning

It was all labs at Wannamaker this morning. Met a new friend, Belle, who is two years old and loves to tug like Zeke. She is also very interested in whatever toy someone else has, but her and Zeke had a great time playing.
Then we met Tyson, 10 weeks, learning the ropes of being a big dog.
Cooling off at the water station. Tyson thought the bowl might be just the right size for a swim.

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.

Millbrook Dog Park Pictures up - finally!

I'm way behind on getting these pictures up, but when we went to the Duke Canine Cognition Center we spent the night with cousin Jenn and then went to check out the Millbrook Exchange Dog park. Which we have found listed on the top twenty dog parks in the country by two different publications -- so how could we miss such an opportunity.

At first, I thought 'well what is so special about this?', but once you get inside it's really very lovely. Nicely wooded and lots of room to spread out in the shade and enjoy some time with your puppy. Which was a treat because it was very hot the weekend we were there, but with so much coverage it was comfortable.
Zeke and mom made a complete tour of the park.

Interesting approach to waste management, this way I suppose the city park guys don't have to come into the dog area to haul away the trash bins.
An area in between the big dog section and little guy section was gated separately with a covered area and several picnic tables.
Zeke and his cousin Jenn, thanks for giving us a place to crash, we had a blast!

good weekend

Zeke had full and fun weekend. Saturday he went to the dog park and went running with mom while she rollerbladed. Then Saturday evening some family came over and he helped play a game of wiffle ball (he is an excellent fielder). On Sunday we got up and went for a swim and a short hike, then capped it all off with lunch at McAlister's Deli.