Happy Dogs at Gunflint Lodge

May 1st, 2019

Text and Pictures by John Silliman: Head Naturalist of Gunflint Lodge

Last weekend, we had a Dog Lover’s Weekend at Gunflint Lodge. Dogs are always welcome at this resort, but the Dog Lover’s Weekend brings the the canine fun to a whole new level. We have special trainers, dog socials, dog walks, and even a K-9 Olympics.

Our trainer this last weekend was Alison Schramel from the Animal Human Society. She did a workshop called Four on the Floor on Friday, in which dogs learned to stop jumping on people.

A popular activity is the Dog Social. We met on the beach in front of the lodge, and the various dogs got to socialize and run around. They got a little muddy on Friday but stayed cleaner on Saturday since they found it fun to run out on the standing water on top of the ice.

On Saturday, we had a K-9 Olympics. It is our woodsy version of an agility course. We have a pole weave, ramp, jump, table top exercise, and hoop. All dogs were welcome to join in the fun.

The Gunflint Nature Center has a lot of squirrels living around it. Red squirrels seem to take delight in setting the dogs off, so we decided to put the Tricks Workshop on Saturday in the Conference Center.

Alison worked with the dogs on a variety of tricks including: sit pretty, down, roll over, weave, and crawl. The dogs had fewer distractions, so they were able to focus a lot more than the previous day. By the end of the workshop, they all looked physically and mentally exhausted.

The Dog Lover’s Weekend was great fun! Alison did a wonderful job with the training, and we hope to see her again in the future!