Here are some fun and exciting events happening in the greater Seattle area in the next couple of weeks, if you’re in the area and have the time check them out with your Manor Lake Australian Labradoodle.

Pasado’s Bark of Seattle
August 1 • Seattle, Wash. 11 a.m.–6 p.m. at Seattle Center. Pasado’s Safe Haven is hosting Bark of Seattle, with live music, vendor booths, a dog walk, photos with your dog, an agility and fly ball course, and much more! Curt Kruse, with STAR 101.5 and his dog, Rina, are the special guests and help kick off this fun and exciting event. pasadosafehaven.org

Bark in the Park: Seattle Humane & Everett AquaSox team up for a dog-friendly ballgame
August 3 • Everett, Wash. Game starts at 7 p.m. Bring your dog and join Seattle Humane Society at Bark in the Park at Everett Memorial Stadium. This dog-friendly evening at the ballpark is fun for the whole family. Bring your furry friend along, or adopt one there! The MaxMobile, Seattle Humane Society’s mobile adoption unit, will be onsite full of adoptable dogs, cats and critters ready for on-the-spot adoptions. And don’t miss KOMO Newsradio’s Herb Weisbaum throwing the first pitch! To purchase tickets, click here.

Woofstock 2010
August 7 • Tacoma, Wash. 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m. This event, presented by the Dugan Foundation, will be held at Todd Field at the University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner Street. There will be rescue and adoption groups, merchants, non-profit animal welfare groups, informational booths and fun activities for the whole family. Admission is free, donations appreciated. For more information visit duganfoundation.org.

See more fun and exciting upcoming events at CityDog Magazine online.

The Bark is one of our favorite magazines, recently online they posted this fun article about camping with your pet, we thought it would be fun to share with our Manor Lake families. Summertime is of course the most ideal time of year for camping!

The Simple Life: Camping—The Ultimate Dog-Friendly Vacation
By Jenna Woginrich

I’m fairly certain there are few experiences that compare to a campfire, a good guitar, close friends and a great dog. A clear night with wood smoke circling up into the trees while your dog lies at your feet beats Walden Pond any day, hands down. Getting away from the office and streetlights and spending a few days as nomads under the Milky Way grants us dog owners a perfect summer vacation option — a chance to slow down and spend a lot of time with our favorite animals.

Camping is the original dog-friendly vacation. Unlike hotels and busy sightseeing jaunts, the great outdoors always provides respite for people who want to get away and bring the dog as well. Camping is also inexpensive, relatively close to home, and with a little planning can be pulled off without a hitch. Most owners used to traveling with their dogs are already hard-wired for the sort of preparations needed to jump into the wild. But there are some extra precautions one should take before letting Lucy off the leash.

First, make sure you can let Lucy off the leash. Some campers are shocked to discover that the dog-friendly campground they found online doesn’t allow their 15-year-old Golden Retriever off-leash, ever. It doesn’t matter if he’s a CGC-toting therapy dog or Cujo’s succubus — all dogs must be on leash at all times. If you planned on letting your dog leap off the docks into the lake, chase balls on a beach or sprawl in front of the campfire, you may end up with a pouting Les Miserables extra on a time out. So call ahead and make sure the park or property’s idea of camping with dogs matches your own.

Second, be aware that while some parks and campgrounds may not mention any prerequisites for canine reservations on their land, they may make certain demands when you show up. Make sure you have proof of rabies vaccination (vet documentation, not just tags) and any other paperwork that proves your animals are sound. Some parks demand it and will turn you away without it.
Third, keep in mind that even though you are staying in the wilderness for a few days, certain civilities still apply. When it comes to cleaning up after your dog, a good rule to follow is the public bathroom rule: If you are expected to use a toilet, then your dog is expected to have a plastic bag. If there hasn’t been a bathroom in sight for three days on a backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail, the Ziplocs can probably stay in your pack.

Most of all, enjoy this time with your dog. You may not realize it in your nature-loving haze, but by choosing to camp you’re giving your dog the gift of you. He can be around you all day—hitting the trails or cooking dinner back at HQ. The constant quality time, undistracted by cell phones and Facebook, will be savored by your companion. I have a hunch it will be savored by you as well. A little escape is good for the soul and great for your dog. After all, nothing comes between you and that tennis ball now.

To view this article online please click here.

Recently the Today Show came up with their top 5 most pet friendly hotels in America and The W Hotel in Seattle was one of them! They say that 72 million people have dogs and that about 16 million of them travel with their pets. If you’re thinking about a vacation maybe you want to consider one of these top 5 doggy destinations!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Doggone! 5 best pet-friendly hotels in America

Hotels offer amenities including doggie meals, massages and activities

Thank you Katrina for your awesome photo and update on Manor Lake Addie and Oliver, they look terrific!

Hi Kim and Mollie,

Attached is a photo of Oliver and Addison from this weekend.

They are doing wonderfully.  I am amazed at how much happier Oliver is with a sibling.  They love playing and running together.  It is so darn cute!  Oliver is working on agility training with me, and Addie is about to start her intro obedience class.  So they are both keeping busy with their training.  My cousins came for a visit this weekend – they had 3 kids under the age of 5.  Needless to say both doodles were very tired.  It was Addie’s first time meeting kids, and she did wonderfully.  Both of them had fun playing fetch and chase with the kids.  They are both great dogs and their personalities complement each other quite nicely.  Oliver is the cynic and Addie is my little optimist.  She still falls for air cookies, where as Oliver needs proof of treat before he does any of his tricks J.

I just wanted to send you picture of them and let you know they are doing great.  Thank you again for such great dogs!  I am totally hooked!

Katrina
Oregon

If you live in Washington and are in the Seattle area this weekend this festival may be fun to go to with your Manor Lake Australian Labradoodle!

Go Dog Go! Kirkland Canine Festival

July 24 • Kirkland, Wash. 10 a.m.–3 p.m. at Crestwoods Park, 1818 6th Street. Bring your family and dog for a howling good time! There will be contests and games, Canine Disk Competition, Flyball and Agility demonstrations, yoga with your dog, canine freestyle dancing, small dog fashion show, vendors, pet adoptions and food. Admission is free. Presented by the City of Kirkland, Kirkland Dog Off-Leash Group, and the Kirkland Downtown Association. For details about the event, go to kdog.org.

Cesar Millan also known as the Dog Whisperer has a really helpful and resourceful website (http://www.cesarsway.com/), there are a lot of articles about puppy training tips, how to master walking your dog, and even tips on nutrition. Below is an article we read through on his website and thought it would be helpful to our Manor Lake Australian Labradoodle families as many of them take their dogs with them to work.

How to bring a dog into an office pack

Companies all over the world are making their offices dog-friendly. People and dogs have strong bonds and it’s natural to want our canine companions with us every day. But it’s not always easy to incorporate dogs into an office pack. When the offices at Cesar Millan Inc. (CMI) opened, everyone was excited to bring their dogs to work, but it was – and still is – a work-in-progress to achieve and maintain harmony. The advantage is that we know what we need to do to be good pack leaders and we support each other through the process. If you are one of the fortunate ones who work in a dog-friendly office, use these tips as a guide to help make it a smooth and fun experience for everyone.

Communicate. Discuss with your co-workers if any dogs, including yours, have issues and support those who do. Don’t discourage others from bringing a dog with issues and don’t be discouraged if it’s your dog with the issues.

Walk together. For those sitting next to each other in the office, it would be ideal to come in early and do a pack walk together. Introduce the dogs in neutral territory outside the office where they can smell each other and walk together. During the day, join co-workers for a pack walk so the dogs can get a little exercise and eliminate if they need to.

Exercise. I always suggest starting the day with at least a 30 minute walk, but for those that need more exercise or to drain more energy, consider a bike ride or run before work or have the dog carry a backpack.

Know how to act with new dogs. Hopefully, the humans in the office will do what’s best. That means no touch, no talk, no eye contact.

Give the dog a place to feel safe, not territorial. As soon as you go into the office, have a destination and a place set up for the dog (a pillow or dog bed or even a crate). They feel safe when you direct and guide them and they know they have a place of their own. Don’t let them find their own place or they can become territorial. If you bring them to their place, they share the territory.

Exchange toys. One way to accelerate the friendship among dogs is to let them exchange toys, or share a toy that belongs to another office dog, for 20 to 30 minutes. This lets them get to know the scent of the other dog.

Share owners. If the dogs are balanced enough, you can even swap dogs with your neighbor for 10 to 15 minutes at a time – that allows the dog next to you to put his scent on your hands, clothes, and space, sharing the scent of both dogs and preventing them from becoming territorial.

No food or treats. In the beginning, don’t give the dogs bones or treats when another dog is present. In fact, don’t feed dogs in the office at all. A common water bowl area is a good idea.

Know your dog. If you do have a dog you don’t trust and everyone is supportive, you can try bringing him in with a muzzle, so you don’t miss the experience of a special day like “Take Your Dogs to Work Day.” Using a physical boundary like a muzzle or a baby gate in your office space doesn’t solve the problem, but it gives you the peace of mind that you may need to bring a dog with issues to the office.

Practice calm assertive leadership. Always maintain a calm assertive energy. It can be hard to do that in a stressful workplace, but it is what’s best for the dog AND you!

To view this article in full on Cesar’s website please click here.
Copyright 2010 Cesar Millan Inc. All rights reserved.

Thank you Jacque for the wonderful picture of Hogan and for your update, he looks so handsome!

Hi Kim/Mollie–

He has been such a wonderful puppy!!!  He is sweet and such a good listener!  He welcome our guests with a quick sniff and lots of love, and has been a wonderful addition to our family.  We talked about him so much that my husband’s brother also has a Manor Lake Labradoodles now!  So, we have a “cousin” close by for Hogan to play with!!!

Hogan has a girlfriend!  She is also a Labradoodle and they play together all the time.  He is very social with other dogs as well, and has lots of neighborhood “friends.”  All the kids love to pet him and they all think he is so soft!  I even had one little girl ask if he was a bear – but that was before he got his summer haircut

Thanks again- we LOVE him so so much! I have attached a recent photo of him at his “perch” – he likes to sit on the front yard grass when the kids get ready to leave for school.

The Jacque and family
Calabasas, CA

Thank you Liselotte for these wonderful pictures of Lex!

Hi Kim and Mollie,

Here a short update of Lex.  He’s doing really really well! He loves the other dogs in our house and ADORES water. He can swim as no other, really adorable to see! He loves mud too, so most of the time he is a parti doodle look a like;). His coat is a beautiful loose fleece and he has great confirmation. With 6,5 months he’s about 52 cm high and weighs 20 kg.

I hope all is well with you,

Love from Holland,

Liselotte and lex.

Whistler, BC is a great dog-friendly destination to travel to with your Manor Lake Australian Labradoodle. In Whistler there are miles and miles of great  trails,  dog-friendly beaches at local lakes,  even pet-friendly hotels and condos and dog walking services!

Some dog-friendly accomodations are-

Evolution Whistler
2020 London Lane
Whistler, British Columbia
VoN 1B3, Canada

We are so excited for the arrival of Abby and Mozart’s chocolate and creme miniature size Australian Labradoodle puppies at Manor Lake. Abby and the puppies are all doing very well and we can’t wait to watch these babies grow! We are currently accepting reservations for the darling puppies, please contact us at kim@manorlakelabradoodles.com or mollie@manorlakelabradoodles.com for information or visit our website by clicking here.