Explore the Okanagan! with your best furry friend

July 19, 2016

All of us at Pandosy Village Vet are active and love getting out with our dogs. Having a dog along on our weekend adventures encourages us to spend more time outdoors, exploring nature and appreciating this gorgeous place we call home. Here are some of our favourite summer parks and beaches, copious pictures of Tully our wolfhound, and an insider's amazing day trip!

Our favourite dog park: Ellison Off Leash Park

Ellison Dog Park, located behind the Kelowna airport, is everything a dog-friendly park should be! In the huge fenced space, it has lots of shrubs and bushes for shade, trails for exploring, saskatoon berries for munching, table and benches for resting, and most importantly, a huge circuit for walking. We love that the park is designed for being active with your dog. Since you are walking a circuit and there are so many things to sniff and discover, there is less congestion/aggression than the urban dog park mosh pits. Little and ancient dogs even have their own spacious zone separate from the biggies.

Our favourite dog beach: Sun-Oka in Summerland

The picture is of Tully when he was a puppy, but we've been back to Sun-Oka dog beach a million times since. Just a short drive from Kelowna, Sun-Oka has a huge dog beach... just look for the sign from the parking lot that leads you through the woods. The dogs have lots of room to splash, and the beach is swimming friendly for the rest of the family. After a good swim and shake, you can leash your dog and have a BBQ back on the picnic side of the parking lot. It's a great afternoon outing.

Our favourite dog and kids park: Naramata's Manitou Park

When you have dogs and kids, it stinks to have to choose between them! That's why we love Manitou Park in Naramata. While your kids play on the playground and splash in the water, you can sit in the grass just beside the beach with your dog. Dogs need to be leashed and they stay on the grass (no water time) but the fact that you can mind your kids and have your dog along in a safe cool place is, well, pretty cool. We recently went on an overnight staycation with Tully our wolfhound and Maggie our ancient cocker spaniel. The little village was one of the easiest dog+kid-friendly places we've been in BC.

Our new favourite day trip: Revelstoke's Illecillewaet Greenbelt Trails

Cruising back from the mountains last weekend, we stopped in Revelstoke to give Tully a run (and munch some tacos from a food truck - also recommended!) At the tourist booth they told us about the riverside greenbelt trails - all off leash for dogs, and it was only a minute from downtown. We drove up to the Centennial ball fields parking lot, walked across the on-leash paved trail, and hit the off-leash dirt trails beside the river. Well, it's the most beautiful walk we've taken Tully on this year! Breathtaking wildflowers, small eddy beaches in the powerful Columbia river, and towering trees. Next time you are passing through, be sure to stop for a walk! Next time, we'll be sure to take our camera! Directions

Stay cool, hot dogs!

If you are out and about with your dog in the summer heat, a Hurtta cooling vest can make a huge difference to help your bff stay cool. Just dip the vest in cool water, wring out and zip onto the dog. The little sizes even double as harnesses! We have one for our wolfhound and it's a lifesaver.

Hurtta cooling vests $38-43