Adding A Little Excitement to Walking the Dog

For the first few weeks after we got our dog there was a lot of novelty in walking him.  He was also a puppy who couldn't walk very far.  Seven months later, Molly remains my number one dog walking buddy, whereas Jack needs a little extra motivation to accompany me on a lengthy walk.  The time Molly and I get during a walk to talk about everything from her day at school, to things that are bugging her, to her favourite SpongeBob characters (and why they're her favourites) - makes these walks amazing.

Most of the time, I walk Ted in the morning (after the kids have gone to school) and in the evening while Jack stays home with dad, Molly and I go out.  There are other times, like PA days, and when Chris is out of town when I need to take everyone on the road so Ted can get a good walk.

Since it was a beautiful day on Easter Monday when the kids didn't have school, I figured a lengthier hike was in order.  To keep things more fun (see to stop Jack from complaining every two minutes that he was tired, bored, or sweaty) I created nature and urban based scavenger hunt check lists for each child to fill out during our hike.

My make-shift scavenger hunt list

The result...A very tired puppy who slept for two hours straight, my kids working together on their lists (because they asked that each list be different), and a request from Jack to go out and do another scavenger hunt walk next weekend.

The kids checking off items

WIN WIN!

I'm going to be working on some urban scavenger hunts as well as nature trail ones...stay tuned for more details!