Dog friendly pubs / bar in Dublin

I need your help!
I am trying to find where I can go to drink something with friends, without leaving Jago at home.
 

Obviously I am not talking about going to Pub on Friday night, but maybe an afternoon tea / drink in a quiet place.
I am quite sure that there aren't places that would allow dogs inside.
But I found difficult also to sit at the tables outside!
So I am starting my research!

I've been eating a couple of times in Malahide, sitting at the tables outside without issues.
Same thing in Donabate.
I had instead problems around St. Stephen Green, where even places with tables outside wouldn't allow me to have Jago with me on leash.
Another dog friendly pub is Schoolhouse hotel in Dublin 4. There is an outside area quite big and they didn't complain when I was there with Jago.



Today I have been in Dalkey. In front of the church car park there is a pub/restaurant with tables outside. We could not sit there but they have a patio at the back of the building with tables where dogs are allowed (unfortunately it just stopped raining and it was all wet)

There is an interesting thread here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056882890

I will update this post when I will find more information, if you know any dog friendly place let me know!

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Games to play with your dog - TUG O'WAR

***Please note that I am NOT a dog trainer, so I am just sharing my experience with my own dogs.. 
I may be doing wrong things and I am open to suggestions :) ***


When I decided to adopt a dog my main concern was: I don't want him to be aggressive!
For this reason until few weeks ago I never played "Tug O'War" with him.
I was sure it was a game that would teach him to be aggressive, to show aggressive behavior.
Then I started reading about the subject and I found out that it's not like I thought.
If we follow some rules and the dog is not already showing aggressive behavior it's ok to play Tug O'War and it's even good!
Again, it will help to create a good relationship with our dog.
We can play everywhere, also indoor.
We will use a lot of energies.
We will teach playing some commands and he will learn when he has to stop and self-control.

You should teach your dog "drop" or "release" to be able to stop the game.
And playing tug o'war it's a funny way to practice the commands!

If for any reason the dog teeth touch your hand, immediately stop playing, yelp to make him understand it's not good and ignore him for few minutes.
It happened to me yesterday and I think Jago understood :)
Your dog might be growling, it's good for him to release his "roughness" playing a game in a safe way.

There are many dog toys that you can use for Tug O'War, try to find one that is long enough to allow a safe game.
While you are playing sometimes ask him to "drop" or "release", you have to control the game.
Don't forget to let him win sometimes, or it will not be fun!!

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The peach stone experience!

Jago loves eating everything.
He loves fruit as well.
Especially clementines, but also apples and banana.
I don't give him too much fruit, only sometimes.

I had the brilliant idea to give him a peach.
Argh.
Intelligent idea.
He started eating it all happy.
I was looking at him and sure to be able to stop him.... but he then finished swallowing everything.. also the peach stone (pit).
!!!!
Panic!!!

He is a crazy dog, but I am sometimes an anxious owner, so obviously I started googling for "dog ate peach stone".
And obviously I found a lot of threads about dog deaths after eating peach stone and so on.
I spent hours.. while jago was running around all happy!

The day after I called the vet and explained my concerns.
She said to keep an eye on him, as he is not that small the stone could pass without problems.
Two days of constant checking jago and jago ahem poo..
The second day while I was cooking I heard him chewing something.. guess what? It was the peach stone!!
Still entire!!

Jago is perfectly fine, but take care if your dogs are eating fruit, I've been really stressed for two days!!

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Games to play with your dog - FETCH

***Please note that I am NOT a dog trainer, so I am just sharing my experience with my own dogs.. 

I may be doing wrong things and I am open to suggestions :) ***


We all know that playing with our dog is very important.

It’s important to keep them busy, active, entertained, to avoid boredom and to build a good relationship with the owner.

It’s important to set rules and to use the play time also for training.. but.. don’t forget to HAVE FUN!

Jago is very active.. I would say hyperactive.. he is never tired to play and in the evening he runs around the house looking for some activities to do.

For this reason I am always looking for new ways to keep him entertained.

Games to play alone and to play with me.

His favorite game is obviously fetch!

Everybody thinks that fetch is an easy game, that all the dogs would be able to play naturally and would bring you back the ball or the stick.

It’s wrong!

I’ve never been able to play fetch properly with my first dog.

With Jago.. we are learning!

In the beginning he wanted me to chase him...

When he was a very young puppy he was just retrieving the toy and hiding in his bed.

He didn't let me play.

I was not running to take the toy, because it would reinforce the wrong behavior.

After a while he realized that was boring, if he was just protecting his toy the game would end.

So he started to bring back the toy, but not dropping.

I don’t know how many days and how many treats I've used to teach him to drop the ball.

We are not still perfect, but it’s going better!

Now he is dropping the ball... but always a bit far away from me.

If I am not trowing it again he starts complaining, but luckily not barking.

We play fetch with all sort of dog toys.

His favorite are tennis balls, but if not available any other toy will make the job.

Don’t use sticks or stones because it could be dangerous.

Try to use your dog's favorite toy, make it interesting, using your voice, moving it, playing a quick tug o’war with him, then throw the toy.

He should run and take it hopefully.

Then call him, see if he brings the toy back.

You can use treats, or have a second toy, maybe the same, to use as exchange.

I started with two tennis ball.

If he was coming back to me I was throwing the 2nd one.

After a while he realized my trick and he was just running for a little while to take the ball, but stopping and running back to me waiting that I would throw the 2nd one!

So I tried with treats, but I had to use fantastic treats!
If he was coming back to me with the ball, I was showing the treat.. if not interested made him sniffing the treat.

In this way he would drop the ball ( say “drop it” to teach the command) and we were ready to continue the game!

Now he is really obsessed with fetch and I am happy because he have a lot of fun and he can use his energies!

You will find more information here:

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-play-fetch

Do you play fetch with your dog?

Which difficulties do you find?

Do you have any suggestions or ideas to share with us?

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Dog walks - Malahide beach

One of the first Jago’s walk has been Malahide beach!

He was only a 3 months old puppy and it has been fantastic watching him enjoying and discovering the water!

Since then we are going to Malahide beach often.

Malahide village is 16 km from Dublin, on the North side.

I usually go by car, there is a free public parking with a lot of space.

The town is served also by the DART and some buses going there (42, 32 if I am not wrong).

There is a nice coastal walk from Malahide town to the beach, however you will need to keep the walk on leash because the path is near the road.

During the weekend if the weather is nice there could be many people on the beach, but there is a lot of space so I never had problem leaving Jago running free!

We always meet other dogs, so Jago can socialize and play with them!

He learnt swimming after a while, and now he really run into the water as soon as we arrive there.

He loves as well the sand dunes.

He starts walking, running, sniffing, hiding and discovering things around.

The funny thing is that after his swim he rolls in the sand... like a breaded dog!!

I will post later more information about Malahide and our review about Malahide park and Castle!

Have you been there? Do you have any suggestion / story to tell us?



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