This is the time of year when pools across Colorado start closing for the season. But before many neighborhood pools put the cover on for fall, they have one last very important group of swimmers to accommodate: the dogs.
Many communities host an end-of-summer Doggie Splash Day, giving dogs a chance to take over the pool, splash with friends, chase toys and experience something completely outside their normal routine.
This weekend, Hike Club will be at Wag N’ Romp in Lone Tree, happening Saturday, September 12 at Cook Creek Pool. Dogs can swim, try the agility course, visit local pet vendors and generally enjoy having the pool to themselves for the day.
If you don’t live in Lone Tree, and your dog ins’t a hike doggie, check your own neighborhood, recreation district or community pool calendar. This is exactly the time of year when many pools host similar dog events before shutting down for the season.
Why experiences like this matter
A happy dog needs more than food, a comfortable home and a walk around the block.
Dogs experience the world largely through movement, scent, exploration and interaction. Giving them opportunities to encounter new places, surfaces, smells, people and other dogs provides a kind of mental stimulation that simply can’t be recreated by repeating the same neighborhood walk every day.
A pool party is a perfect example.
For us, it might just look like a dog jumping into a swimming pool. For the dog, it’s an entirely new environment: water, sounds, movement, unfamiliar smells, other dogs, toys and people—all being processed at once.
That’s enrichment.
And enrichment doesn’t have to mean complicated puzzles or elaborate activities. Sometimes it simply means giving your dog more opportunities to safely experience the world.
That’s also why we hike dogs
The same principle is at the heart of Hike Club.
A Hike Club day isn’t intended to be just a longer dog walk.
Dogs leave home, climb aboard the Doggie Bus, spend the day with a small group of compatible hiking buddies and head into the Colorado foothills. Along the way they’re experiencing changing terrain, wildlife scents, streams, trees, rocks, weather, sounds and an almost endless supply of things worth investigating with a dog’s nose.
They’re exercising their bodies, certainly. But they’re also exercising their brains.
And when they come home tired, it’s not simply because they logged some miles. They’ve had a day filled with stimulation, social interaction and new experiences.
That’s the difference between simply occupying a dog’s time and enriching a dog’s life.
Give them something new to sniff
So before summer officially disappears, look up your neighborhood pool and see whether they’re hosting a dog swim.
Take your dog somewhere different.
Let them get wet.
Let them sniff something new.
Let them have an adventure.
And if your dog finishes the day completely exhausted, exceptionally happy and ready for a very long nap?
That’s usually a pretty good sign they had a great day. 🎾💦🦮
