Tunnel Time

It's springtime and that means the parks are open! We explored Stocksdale Park in Liberty Missouri. This park is great! It includes 1 playground for kids, a disc golf course, soccer fields, a mountain bike trail as well as a paved trail and various shelters. The dog park is a 3 acre sectioned off area for dog friends to run and play. Stocksdale dog park provides a water spigot with access to public water, benches and waste bags. I love that they have a fire hydrant for fun and a newly installed agility obstacle course. Meatball enjoyed the tunnel and hopefully will be interested in trying some agility activities. This will definitely be our "go to" place to burn off some puppy energy and socialize with other pups! Where do you go to socialize your pup? What are some of your favorite dog parks? I'm always up to adding more places to our list! 

Making friends! He especially liked playing chase with the beagle,Maya.

Practice Run

We are struggling to reach spring time weather here in Kansas City. Of course we had to take the new RV for a practice run and Meatball did great.Have you heard the phrase "home is where your family is"?…so true! No electronics just kept ourselves entertained inside since it was raining and enjoyed the beautiful views. We went to Crows Creek in Smithville Lake and found the perfect spot with lake views. Now we are planning the next one during sunny weather! 

St. Patricks Day

It's time for Snake Saturday Parade! This year we were in the parade in North Kansas City. We walked with NAWS/Boston terrier group of KC. Naws is Northland Animal Welfare Society which is a local clinic that provides spay and neuter services. It was a rainy morning in Kansas City and Meatball was not in the mood to walk but we enjoyed wearing our green, talking to other boston terrier owners and Meatball made lots of friends.

Happy St. Patricks Day!
He had many fans at the parade excited to see such a little guy. Meatball is now 11 weeks old and weighs 4 pounds. He is learning and exploring something new everyday. I'm thinking about puppy classes but not sure if I'm better off reading books and trying to train him myself. Hmmm? What's your experience with puppy training? any places you would recommend? Any "must train" strategies?! Leave me a comment and let me know! 

Museum Adventure

Meatball's day at the museum…well on the lawn anyway! The Nelson-Atkins Museum has a lawn that is open for anyone to come play and picnic. (click on the link to find out more!)I was surprised as to all the people that came out to enjoy the beautiful day! I love people watching and this was the place to be. I saw a man propose to his girlfriend (his friend popped out of the bushes to take their picture!) and a couple doing some unique Yoga moves while balancing on each other. There were lots of dogs, kids, kites, balls, tourists and artists. We saw a picnic birthday party and a couple who were expecting having a gender reveal photo session. 

Nelson-Atkins lawn, a great view of the city, in a few months the grass will be lush & green! 

Of course The Nelson Atkins is a great place inside as well with activities for kids and more than 35,000 works of art. Established in 1933 the museum has added on to the original building. Something interesting I didn't know is that it gets its name from the original founder of the Kansas City Star, William Rockhill Nelson and a teacher Mary Atkins who both left their money and estates for art education and a museum for the people of Kansas City when they passed away. It was voted best museum in the U.S. by Yelp so stop by when you are in the area! 

Theis Park right next to the museum lawn

Dog Friendly Please

Top cities that are dog friendly? According to a Huffington Post article the #1 dog friendly city is Portland, Oregon followed by SanDiego California then Seattle Washington. Click here to read the article and see what other cities made the cut. Not Kansas City unfortunately. We are having a hard time finding dog friendly activities here. My family and I took Meatball out to enjoy the city.

Walking around the streets of Kansas City. Forever Royal!

We stopped for lunch at Grinders in the Crossroads Arts District in downtown Kansas City. Yes, they are dog friendly!!

We love this place! It has a great artsy relaxed feel with awesome death wings, New York style pizza and Philly sandwiches. They are also known for the "kick ass" tots. They have been on Diners,Drive-ins and Dives show so check them out! My favorite is the pizza and BLT's! The fun part is their dog friendly backyard area which is a great place for summer concerts and great food & drinks.

Got bones?

Meatball's a chewer right now! He's got those sharp puppy teeth! Did you know that when dog's chew for just 30 minutes it benefits their oral and mental health? Bones keep those puppies content, busy, and away from other items you don't want them chewing on! According to Petexpertise.com the best bones are healthy, tasty, long lasting and naturally safe for them.

We found this ginormous bone at the hardware store! He wasn't sure what to think but sniffed around it.

So here's the top of the list for chewing puppies source: pet expertise.com: 

Bully sticks(yup, dried bull penises!)

Himilayan Dog Chews(cheesy)

Antler Chews (deer antlers last a long time)

Kong Rubber Chews (easy to fill with a treat)

Not recommended for chewing: 

Real bones(like the one pictured!),treats or fast eating chews, rawhides that go thru chemical processing, pig ears or cow hooves, corn starch chews, and Nylabones nylon chews (this surprised me because they are always advertised and sold everywhere! but Pet Expertise and other websites say they have no nutritional value and can't be digested)

So Meatball will be working on chewing on his bully stick for now and avoiding our shoes!