How I became a Bark Ranger at Acadia National Park

By Danica Joy DSA

My Mom and Dad took me on an amazing adventure. They said I was going to become a Bark Ranger. I didn’t know what that was, but I was excited. They packed my Shark suit and all my favorite toys and treats. This was going to be fun.

It was a long boring drive to Maine. I don’t know where that is, but it was long and my shark suit was packed. The campground was fun, there were lots of squirrels to watch. The next morning I got to ride on a BUS! It was big and so much fun. Mom and Dad sat in the back with me instead of driving and I got all the snuggles. I love buses. I like to watch out the big windows, there was so much to see.

To become a BARK Ranger, I had to make sure my Mom and Dad learned the rules of BARK and that we did at least one of the activities together. We also had to get sworn in by a Park Ranger. I liked meeting the Park Ranger, she was really nice, but didn’t have treats in her pockets. Here I am with the Park Ranger and showing Mom the list of rules on my official BARK Ranger card. The Park Ranger signed my card.

The first activity we did was to hike a park trail, Mom chose the Jordan Pond trail. I loved hiking this trail with Dad, he made sure we followed all the rules. We are supposed to move out of the way to let other people and groups pass. Sometimes the walkway was really high and I had to jump to get off to let people pass.

We explored several other trails and areas of Acadia Park during our stay. I found so many new things to smell! I really loved walking the beach at low tide. Dad let me follow my nose and sniff EVERYTHING! I found seaweed and shells and crabs and birds. It was the best!

Mom and Dad took me to dinner with them. I’ve never been to a restaurant before. They had a special menu just for me! Mom said it had breakfast, lunch and dinner selections. I got the chicken. I love chicken. They even brought me my own bowl of cold water. I had so much fun hanging out with Mom and Dad at dinner. Dad even ordered me the ice cream, but I was too full to eat it.

Mom got me a new bandanna because I was being so good. Don’t I look special? Every puppy should go to Acadia Maine.

On November 6th 2015, Zora and I brought home a new addition to our little family.

Danica Joy!! She was a 6 month old, 11 pound, little puggle who was found wandering the streets of Norwich by Animal Control.

In the last year, she has become a wonderful part of our lives. Zora and Dani play together and have lots of new friends. Dani loves to play fetch and chew her nylabones. She loves to run and has a great drive for agility.

Dani and Zora had a great time meeting Santa last year. We had a really sweet family photo shoot too.

Within a few months, she earned her first title, Pack Dog. She has so much energy that we’ve been doing a LOT of hiking. Her little pack does nothing to slow her down.

We went to Michigan Dog Scout Camp in July. Dani earned her DSA and showed off her amazing swimming skills. She is fearless and loves the water. Dani earned puppy paddler, boating safety, beach buddies, art of shaping, Geocache 1 & 2, backpacking, and lure coursing.

Dani and I are training in agility. We are still working the basics, but she loves it. But she loves lure coursing even more. Her most recent accomplishment is her Coursing Ability title (CA). She completed three successful runs in her first ever trial. And an extra run just for fun!

Sparky’s Turkey Trot is a virtual race to fundraise for Dog Scouts of America, a national 501(c)3 non-profit – you can walk or run on your own time and you will receive a medallion for supporting this great cause!  

Run or walk a 5K, 10K or 1 Miler and be rewarded with the first ever Dog Scouts of America wooden medallion.

Register your K9 partner to walk or run with you. Registering your K9 partner(s) is free.

All proceeds from this race will go to furthering the mission of Dog Scouts of America.

Registration closes November 15^th. To earn your medallion, please run anytime during the week of Thanksgiving (November 22-29) and you will receive a medallion “on your honor” for supporting Dog Scouts and getting some miles in.  Medallions will be mailed out after the race.

During the setup of this race, we had to choose a location for the race to be based. The home base is the location of Michigan Dog Scout Camp, the happiest place on earth. But this race can be run from anywhere!

A virtual run is a fundraiser to bring people from all over the world to run together on their own time, in their own towns during the week of Thanksgiving.  You can run after work, on the weekend, at your park or on your treadmill. You can also walk!

https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/SaintHelen/SparkysTurkeyTrot

We got our first ATV ride at camp last week.

Zora was scared when Claudette first started the engine. Then it moved and she figured it was like a golf cart and stuck her head out to enjoy the ride.

Zora and I worked on her Messenger Dog badge at July Dog Scout camp last week. This is a fun badge to work on. She didn’t earn the badge, but we burned a LOT of calories working on it. The requirements for te badge can be found on the DSA website:

Messenger Dog

For the badge the dog is lead away from base camp by the Primary Handler (friend) to a secondary location 100 yards away. The Primary Handler then sends the dog back to the Secondary Handler (Mom) at base camp.

While the dog is going back to mom, the friend leaves a scent article (sock) at the secondary location and then hides in third location. The dog needs to lead Mom to the secondary location and find the sock. Next, the dog needs to lead Mom to the third location, tracking or air scenting.

A very strong recall is necessary for this badge.

We trained all of this using back chaining.

Day 1 in our training: Send dog between Mom and Friend, the friend should have the treats. The friend should hand the treats to Mom, with the dog watching, then Mom gives treats to the dog. This teaches the dog that they get treats when all three of them are together.

Work at progressively longer distances, starting at only 5-10 feet. Move to 50 feet or so and hide behind small trees. This is the find Mom, recall portion of the

1 – the Friend walks away with the dog

2 – the Dog recalls to Mom

3 – the dog and Mom return to the Friend to get the treats

For this day, we practiced hiding around the lodge in relatively open areas.

Day 2 in our training: Add the tracking portion of the test. The friend needs to bring a dirty sock for this part. Have the friend hide, then have the dog get scent from the sock and track to the friend’s hiding location. Start with small distances and work progressively longer distances.

For this part, we went out on the trails and hid in the woods. We only worked from the third location to the hiding location.

Day 3 in our training: Working the tracking portion from the second location to the fal hiding location. For this part, the distances are much longer and we had to learn how to read our dogs. Zora has different signals for scent work and barn hunt, so I expected a different signal for this too.

Day 4 was Testing: Zora didn’t pass the test, but she did burn lots of calories.

Leaving with the Primary Handler

Go find Mom!!

I found Mom!! Now I’m coming to Find Lynn.

Can you spot the Primary Handler (friend) hiding in the woods?

Where’s my cookie?

Zora’s 9th Birthday at Lover’s Leap

We celebrated Zora’s 9th Birthday with a picnic and a hike at Lover’s Leap State park on June 20th this year. The pups had pup-sicles and the people had carrot cake. Everyone had a party hat!!

Lover’s Leap was our 6th hike of the Sky’s the Limit Challenge. This awesome event was celebrated by Anita, Tree, Kayla, Havoc and HarlE.

Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced a great opportunity to win prizes for hiking Connecticut’s high peaks as part of a new program – “The Sky’s the Limit” 2015 Hiking Challenge, designed to promote hiking in Connecticut’s state parks and forests throughout 2015. Participants in this friendly competition have the opportunity to receive a medallion for hiking up 10 designated locations.

Troop 219 has taken on the challenge with the goal of reaching all 14 high peaks. To complete the challenge, we have to take selfies at each designated scenic location. We’ve already completed three challenges, Southford Falls, Sleeping Giant, West Rock Ridge, Hurd, Mount Misery and Lover’s Leap State Parks.

Southford Falls State Park with Anita, Tree, Laura, Elsie, Kayla, Havoc and HarlE

Sleeping Giant with Anita, Tree, Laura, Elsie, Kayla, Havoc and HarlE

West Rock Ridge State Park with Anita, Tree, Laura, Elsie, Kayla, Havoc and HarlE

Hurd State Park with Anita, Tree, Laura, Elsie, Kayla, Havoc and HarlE

Mount Misery State Park with Anita and Kayla

I have been remiss in posting the newest adventures of Zora Puggle lately.

On May 22, Zora found her 100th Geocache with the help of her friend Kayla. She also found her 99th, 101st and 102nd geocaches.

Zora and I ran in our first agility trial this weekend. It was SNEAK’s CPE trial. On Saturday, Zora ran standard in the morning and jumpers in the afternoon. She NQ’ed both runs, but was so happy and had a great time.

On Sunday, Zra ran colors and jumper sin the afternoon. She Q’ed both runs. She took 2nd place in Colors and 1st place in Jumpers. Woo!! I’m so proud of my little puggle.

Very happy puggle at agility trial.

Almost too many ribbons for a little puggle.

This is how I respond to people at work.

This is the appropriate response to morning meeting invites.

These are saved for any other emails.