Summer begins in KW!
For our first weekend in June ‘22, we kicked off summer with a multitude of activities!
Dog Friendly KW Pooch Party On Saturday, we attended Dog Friendly KW’s Summer Pooch Party on Gaukel St, Kitchener. There were many fun activities to take part in. We started at some of the charity stalls, learning about the great work of National Service Dogs, PAWS and DIBS Rescue. There was also live music by I, The Mountain to enjoy and jive to whilst browsing. Next we visited the DFKW stand and picked up a photo scavenger hunt checklist.
The Pack Walk, led by Rachel from New Collar Collective, consisted of a 45 minute jaunt around Victoria Park and the surrounding neighbourhood. It was a great opportunity for the dogs (and humans) to make new friends. After the walk, Rita cooled off in paddling pools filled courtesy of Kitchener Fire Department.
We had a delightful time browsing the vendor stalls. I picked up pretty earrings from Honey House Thrift, bought Rita healthy treats from Raff’s and we visited our friends Alison and Dudley at Ollie & Dud.
The day finished with some booze from TWB and poutine from The Crazy Canuck, whilst listening to a live recording of the launch of Season 5 of DFKW’s podcast.
Victor Rose Photography was on hand to capture memories of the day, with proceeds going to National Service Dogs. Rita was also celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this weekend.
Spoil the Dog’s 17th Birthday On Sunday, St Jacob’s one (and only!) dog bakery reached its 17th birthday and celebrated accordingly. We met at the bakery and allowed the dogs to splash in the paddling pool. Rita self-allocated herself the job of taking each of the tennis balls out of the pool and leaving one at each of the dogs’ noses! At 11am, we joined a Pack Walk led by Lili Romeo of Leader of the Pack. Although St Jacob’s promotes itself as a dog-friendly village, I’m not sure it had prepared itself for such a collection of dogs! We were warmly welcomed along the way, with one man bringing his dustbin out for our “deposits” and another lady providing a full water feature with at least 4 doggy bowls of water!
Back at the bakery, both humans and doggies enjoyed free cookie ice-cream, were able to enter a ballot and could avail of the special discounts in store.
Afterwards, a few of us headed to the riverside for a cooldown, and then to Village Biergarten for lunch. Check out my previous blog for more dog-friendly fun in St Jacobs.
Photo courtesy of @dogfriendlykw
Terrible Toby’s Our next stop was Terrible Toby’s in Kitchener. This is a feel-good pet shop which grew out of a fundraising mission, and they still donate a portion of their sales to charity. They are partnered with the (aforementioned) New Collar Collective, and on this particular day had a special pet portrait photography session, free but with suggested donation to the charity. Rita pulled her best poses…it wasn’t so hard as I was waving about a new ball I was about to purchase for her!
