Tag Archives: fun

dogs vs sprinklers

Dogs vs. Sprinklers: The Battle

Fourth of July BBQs are the perfect opportunity to fire up the grill, turn up some tunes, and hang with friends & family. Looking to liven up the party? Simply add water. That’s right, we’re talking about the sprinkler.

The complicated relationship that exists between dog and sprinkler can only be defined as frenemy.
dogs-vs-sprinklers

Unable to resist a blast of cool water on a hot day but also unwilling to accept this inferior method of watering the lawn, pups in attendance of your friendly get-together will find hours of taunting entertainment in the sprinkler.

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You can thank us later. In the meantime, don’t forget to schedule summertime vacation care for your furry family!

Fun Denver events: Highlands Street Fair

OUG! at 31st Annual Highlands Street Fair: Denver Events

The Highlands Street Fair is one of our favorite Denver events! It was a super fun time, as always! We had perfect weather including a brief afternoon sun shower just to cool things down a bit. The event took place on Saturday June 15, 2013 in historic Northwest Denver.

Thanks to all of our friends, family, pet parents and guests who stopped by the OUG! booth. We loved getting such awesome feedback from our pet parents!

OUG! <3’s BBQ: Best Barbecue Recipes for this Summer!

Fire up the grill, pet parents!

We sniffed around for the best barbecue recipes and ideas this summer, and found these delicious Honey Chicken Kabobs! Sure to be a hit among your human friends and family, this recipe is perfect for outdoor summer gatherings! As with all culinary pursuits, take care to select your cook wisely

HONEY CHICKEN KABOBS WITH VEGGIES

Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes
Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 15 mins | Ready in: 2.5 hrs | Serves: 12

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • ⅓ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 8 skinless & boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 5 small onions, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 2 red bell peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • skewers

Directions:

Best Summer BBQ Recipes & Ideas

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, honey, soy sauce, and pepper. Before adding chicken, reserve a small amount of marinade to brush onto kabobs while cooking. Place the chicken, garlic, onions, and peppers in the bowl, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (the longer the better).

Preheat the grill for high heat.

Drain marinade from the chicken and vegetables, and discard marinade. Thread chicken and vegetables alternately onto the skewers.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Place skewers on the grill and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until chicken juices run clear. Turn and brush with reserved marinade frequently.

Bone appetit!

Salsa Party!

Blu - Weimaraner pup on a walk

One of my clients recently had a “Salsa Party”. Not a party with just salsa dip, a Salsa dancing party. She had me come over and stay with her pup Blu while she was getting set up and while the party was going on.

For the two hours before the party even started, I wore Blu out. We first played in the yard for about half an hour. Blu has lots and lots of energy and LOVES to play fetch! She doesn’t always want to drop the toy, so I make sure I have another one ready to throw when she brings the first one back. I won’t throw it unless she drops the first toy; an exchange. She is getting better about dropping because she really, really, really wants to play and if she manages to get both toys, I refuse to play until she gives me at least one. (Also, I won’t chase her… which she really wants me to do.)

Blu after a walk, BIG tongue!

Then we went for an hour long walk. Since I’ve been learning training techniques from Blu’s trainer, Charmaine with Collins Canines, I worked on some of those with Blu. Blu’s a very clever and curious girl with the attention span of a gnat so getting her to focus is quite a challenge! She has some fear, so we worked on making the world a much less fearful place with lots of praise and hotdog pieces as rewards. We also worked on her pulling. We did the “stop & start” method, which is just like it sounds. As soon as she starts pulling, I stop. Once she stops pulling, I start walking. This makes for a very slow walk. But since she wasn’t quite as hyper because we started with romping in the yard, she only pulled for a short while then decided to walk with me. She was still sniffing everything along the way, but beside me instead of trying to get to things miles ahead of us.

Once we got back to Blu’s house, her mom was all decked out and looking lovely. I took Blu in for some water, but we still had some more time as the DJ had just arrived and things were still being set up. Since I didn’t want to take her on another walk and the backyard was getting all ready for the party, I got the long leash out and we played for another half hour in the driveway and the front yard. I could tell that Blu, the pup with endless amounts of energy, was getting tired. We went inside & up to her mom’s room where we were going to be hanging out during the majority of the party. We played a tiny game of fetch with a toy that was up there, but she fell asleep almost immediately.

Blu cuddling her toy

She did have a few moments of waking up to a sudden noise downstairs a bit panicked, but I calmed her down and she fell back asleep. (And I got to work on some writing!) After about two hours, she woke on her own and needed to go out. Now her mom’s room is on the second floor, and while she has no problem getting up there, the stairs are steep and her mom usually carries her down. I decided to work on making the stairs less scary. I set hotdog bits on each stair and coaxed her down. It took about 15 minutes to get her to even start going down the stairs, but once she did, she made it all the way down.

We went out, she did her business and, since most everyone was sitting and talking, I decided it was a good time for her to meet the guests. Since part of her fears have to do with strangers, I led her around slowly while praising and let the party goers, who were willing, give her bits of hot dog. I continued to feed her treats too. She did so well!! By the last person, her tail was wagging and she was giving the offered hands lots of slobbery kisses. What a good girl!

Blu looking at butterflies

Doga Day for Charity is coming up fast on August 6th!!!

Out-U-Go! and Boulder’s Natural Animal hospital are teaming up again on an awesome event for charity!  Doga, otherwise known as Yoga for Doggies, will be featured.  On August 6th from 1pm – 4pm, we’ll all be hosting the Doga Day for Charity, a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley.  For just $5 you and your pooch get:

  • A Doga lesson with Yoga instructor, Steph Schwartz, of the Bali Yoga Retreat
  • A massage for your dog by certified canine massage therapist, Lisa Simmerman, of Stella Earth
  • Fresh-baked dog treats from Paws Barkery
  • Grilled hot dogs, sodas, water, chips, and treats for the humans

What a deal, right?!  

This will be a great time for pups and people regardless of doga or yoga abilities and experience 🙂

When:  Saturday, August 6th from 1 PM to 4 PM

Where:  Outside of Boulder’s Natural Animal Hospital at 685 S Broadway in the Table Mesa Shopping Center

Who:  Co-hosted by Boulder’s Natural Animal Hospital (www.bouldersnaturalanimal.com) and Out-U-Go! Boulder (www.OUTUGO.com)

What:  A cooky, crazy canine event to raise funds for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley

The Highlands Street Fair was AWESOME!

The Highlands Street Fair 2011 was a blast!  This event gets better every year which is why we were so happy to help our friends down the road at Out-U-Go! Denver host an awesome booth.

Thousands of local residents toured 32nd Street in the Highlands to visit with a lot of the businesses from the area.  The Out-U-Go! booth was very popular- hundreds of people enter our raffle to win free dogs!

We’re already looking forward to next year!

Stay tuned for information about Out-U-Go!’s next awesome event- DOGA for Charity 🙂

The Highlands Street Fair!!!

The Out-U-Go! Booth

Out-U-Go! at the Highlands Street Fair

Out-U-Go! Boulder is thrilled to help our friends down the road at Out-U-Go! Denver host a booth at this year’s Highlands Street Fair!  Held annually in the heart of NW Denver, the Highlands Street Fair has booths from hundreds of local businesses as well as 3 stages for music, food, drinks, dogs and fun.  Stop by our tent to say hello, enter our raffle and let us pass out tasty treats to your pup(s).

We are looking forward to our second year in a row at this awesome event!

The Highlands Street Fair is taking place all day long on Saturday, June 18th.  The street fair will be up and down 32nd Street in the Highlands in NW Denver.  You can find out more about the entire event here http://www.highlands-square.com/StreetFair/index.htm.

 

Awesome Fundraiser for Charity! “A Pampered Pooch Spaw Day”

 

 

 

We are thrilled to announce an AWESOME fundraiser for a great cause!  Out-U-Go! and Boulder’s Natural Animal are teaming up to co-host a fun, furry and hilarious event to help raise money for human and pet relief efforts in Japan following the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

With the help of many other local Boulder businesses, Out-U-G0! and Boulder’s Natural Animal are organizing a Pampered Pooch Spaw Day on April 16th, 2011 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm.  This event will take place outside of Boulder’ Natural Animal in South Boulder.

Bring your best, furry friend and come join us for an afternoon of fun times, tasty treats (for humans and pets), doggy massages, doggy pedicures, doggy nail painting, ice cream, food from the grill, music, laughs and an all around dog gone good time.

A $5 entrance ticket gets you and your pooch full access to our doggy “spaw” and all proceeds will be donated equally to the Red Cross for human help and to World Vets to help the animals affected.  What’s more, Out-U-Go! and Boulder’s Natural Animal will be matching all donations dollar for dollar!!!

If you’re a human, mark your calendars for April 16th, 2011 from 1:00pm – 4:00pm, cruise by Boulder’s Natural Animal in South Boulder for the spectacle that is A Pampered Pooch Spaw Day!  If you’re a dog, just try to remember 🙂

Awesome summer events in Colorado!

Farfel's Farm

Out-U-Go! Boulder will teaming up with our good friends at Farfel’s Farm to host a couple AWESOME get togethers this spring and summer!  On Saturday, May 7th at 10:00am we will be having a Tail Waggin Get Together at the North Boulder Community Dog Park.  All of our friends and family, human and furry alike, will be hanging out.  Coffee and goodies will be served for the humans and plenty of all natural dog treats will be supplied for the pups!  Our friends over at Paws Barkery will be providing the awesome doggy treats.

On Saturday, July 23rd, Out-U-Go! and Farfel’s Farm will be organizing a super fun group hike (well, it’s really a walk 🙂 at Dry Creek Open Space in East Boulder.  All our friends, family, staff, pet parent’s and their pups will be meeting at the trail head around 10:00am for an awesome walk through the beautiful Dry Creek trail.

Out-U-Go! plans to host booths at the Boulder Creek Festival in Boulder and the Highlands Street Fair in Denver, too, so look out for more details to come on those fun events!