ZENFULdog Cani-Trail members showed off their steadfast dedication to their pups and to the trails last Sunday, January 16th, when they embarked on a winter expedition through Summerstown Forest in Williamstown.
Summerstown is a breathtakingly beautiful forest that is meticulously kept up by volunteers. The Summerstown Trails website facilitates easy trail planning by indicating clearly which routes are available and accessible to walkers with pups. It is important to double-check before heading out though as conditions can change and the trails need to be compacted before people with boots can walk on them. Last Sunday, routes 14, 15, 23, 24, 25 and 26 were open to walkers.
Despite the chilly conditions—minus 15 degrees at take-off—15 member-pup teams out of the 17 that signed were present and excited to make the trek together. They all met in the parking lot and split into two groups based on walking speeds in order to respect covid safety protocols. Within each group, members also had plenty of space to keep two metres apart, especially with their dogs separating them naturally.
Warm-Up
Kendra led the teams in a warm-up in the parking lot with spins, back-up exercises, sits and downs. The warm-up helped the dogs get their blood flowing while she divided the teams into groups. Kendra made herself and Eva (with Ivy) the points of contact (with walkie-talkies) for each group. She was pleased that humans and dogs alike were dressed for the weather and for the endeavour. Dogs were wearing boots, jackets and paw balm and dogs with very little fur were in full slush snowsuits.
Take Off
The teams set out on trail 14 and returned on trail 15 an hour and a half later when the temperature had dropped to minus 20—but nobody was cold after all that exercise. It was a cold day for a trail, but it was sunny and the bush sheltered them from the wind.
It was even easier than expected to keep the dogs constantly going and warm without rushing them because they were so happy and excited. They were thoroughly enjoying the somewhat technical nature of the trails like the ups and downs and the weaving. Even the slippery downhill bits were an opportunity to practice heel-at-side (or behind) and slowing-down skills. They had countless opportunities to practice a ton of obedience skills as well as socialisation skills.
Working Together
As a large group of walkers with dogs, members were diligent about making sure to respect other trail users and were therefore very well-received by the community. When faster groups on skis, snowshoes and fat bikes needed to pass, Cani-Trail teams were able to move over to the side and put dogs in a nice ‘sit.’ Members stood in front of doggos who needed a little more help and then rewarded them with treats.
Several trail users stopped to greet ZENFULdog members. One woman walking in a couple even commented with a giant smile that seeing all of those dogs sitting for them was a dream come true like a reverse parade.
At mid-trail before returning, some dogs did parkour obstacles to practice across and under. There were also a few pauses to check paws for snowballs and remove them.
Success
There were numerous successes on this Cani-Trail outing. There were some new dogs that were extra excited and ended up forming bonds with other puppies. Kendra was also thrilled—while not surprised—to watch established members and their dogs going out of their way to support and welcome newcomers. They have big hearts and are a very special group of people who have become a family.
The trail ended where it started in the parking lot with lots of goodbyes and puppy kisses. This was one of the first longer technical winter trails for the ZENFULdog Cani-Trail team and Kendra is looking forward to the next one after the success of this one and with all this new snow!
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Meet ZENFULdog’s Blogger
BJ Mac is ZENFULdog’s Blog content writer. She is also a music reviewer for The Nash News and a medical and health writer for various online and print platforms including Montréal en Santé and My Health Teams. BJ graduated with an honour’s degree from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in professional writing.
BJ Mac is Kendra’s favourite blogger and is proud to also be her little sister. Her favourite things in life are being a mom to her amazing 8-year-old boy, being with her family, writing, reading and learning new things. BJ thinks that dogs are magical sentient beings and feels privileged and humbled to get to write about them. She welcomes your questions and suggestions for the blog and can be contacted at bjmacwrites@gmail.com.
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