Paws for Reaction

Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts

Paws For Reaction 8th anniversary: What's new and what's next?

This month Paws For Reaction is celebrating 8 years! I'm so excited for the next chapter of my blog and am looking forward to lots more fun and informative content. For many of my longtime readers, you will have noticed a change to the blog. For my newer readers, I'd like to fill you in!

Go fetch: Dogs catching balls

Photo by Eileen McFall

Great Outdoors Month: Canada's protected areas

June is National Great Outdoors Month! Did you order your free passes to Canada's National Parks for Canada 150? June is a great month to plan some National and Provincial parks visits. Do you know how much of Canada's wilderness is legally protected? Find out- Canadian Geographic has a map that shows protected land and marine areas in Canada. You may be surprised at what you learn! Have fun playing outside this month! Happy Canada 150!

June is Great Outdoors Month: Canada's protected areas

World Environment Day: Connecting people to nature
How do you connect to nature? That's the inspiration for the theme of the 2017 World Environment Day: Connecting People to Nature. How often do you connect with nature? Spending time outdoors can help de-stress after a hard day. The sun's rays can help fight depression, and many plants offer natural remedies for our many ailments. But what does a connection to nature mean to you? And do you connect often enough? There are ways that I connect to nature, and I hope you will share some of your own ways with me, by tweeting @PawsForReaction

World Environment Day: Connecting people to nature June 5

#WorldEnvironmentDay
Photo by Stacey McIntyre-Gonzalez Copyright©

How I connect to nature

National Trails Day: Favourite hiking trails in the Ottawa Valley

June 3, 2017- It's time to hit the trail because today is National Trails Day! I really enjoy hiking with my fur-family here in the Ottawa Valley because we are surrounded by some of the most beautiful parks in Ontario. The photo below shows favourite parks and hiking trails in the Ottawa Valley.

Algonquin Provincial Park is by far my favourite park to visit. The photo below shows my two favourite trails in Algonquin Achray: Barron Canyon trail and High Falls. Barron Canyon trail is a shorter hike, but the view is breathtaking. The trail overlooks the Baron Canyon. High Falls is a longer hike that leads to a beautiful water fall and a natural rock waterslide. It's a great swimming spot. My dog Keira loves swimming in the large pools of water speckled across the tops of the rocks.

Last week's birding photos: Ontario birds
on display in the Ottawa Valley

House Finch bird in Pembroke, Ontario

National Pet Week: Celebrating some of my favourite dogs

May 7 - 13 is National Pet Week, a week to celebrate your furry family members. These are some of my favourite dogs in my life! Happy National Pet Week!

Get Outside: Birding and bio-diversity in my backyard

Today was a beautiful day in Ontario and I spent it bird watching, listening to the sounds of nature. This woodpecker was one of the friends I made today. According to Nature Canada, climate change is affecting birds in many different ways. Climate change can "alter distribution, abundance, behaviour, and even the genetic composition" of birds, and it also affects their breeding and migration habits.

This month I'm celebrating the Paws For Reaction 5 year Blog-iversary!

Wooden background photo- Created by Graphictwister Freepik.com

Leaf photo- winnichip flickr

Design- Stacey McIntyre-Gonzalez

April 21, 2017 marks the five year anniversary of Paws For Reaction! It's hard to believe it's been five years since I started this journey. I began this journey at the same time as I was looking for the perfect dog. I found Keira, and she was one of the best decisions I ever made. She inspired me to write about pets, and has since then inspired me to connect with nature. Her love of nature has made me want to protect it. She is my best friend.

Paws For Reaction has opened so many doors for me, and has lead me to meeting some incredible people. I've also been fortunate to tell the stories of some amazing pets. I hope that my readers have been as inspired reading, as I have writing. In the beginning Paws For Reaction was just about pets and pet nutrition, but now it's about so much more! This year marked the launch of the Green Living section- an archive of content created with nature and the environment in mind. The Green Living section celebrates sustainability, wildlife and the great outdoors, and educates about climate change. I've really enjoyed this transformation, and I hope you all have too. Thank you for coming along with me as I seek eco-friendly solutions for everyday life!

Two years ago we brought home little Hazel, and the plan was to launch a puppy section on Paws For Reaction. Unfortunately Hazel's health has been complicated, and I didn't have your average puppy owner problems to write about. Instead, I wrote the series Dealing with a Doggy Disability which I'm really proud of. It was a difficult time, but I hope my experiences were able to help someone who may have been in a similar position.

I'm so excited to move forward with the evolution of Paws For Reaction! After the first five years I have to say I'm just as excited as the first day! Thank you for reading and engaging! Cheers to the next five years!

To celebrate 5 years Paws For Reaction launched a new logo design!

Stacey McIntyre-Gonzalez became a certified Climate Reality Leader in 2017

New look on Paws for Reaction!

Happy International Women's Day!

Be strong! Be brave! Be the change!

National Walk Your Dog Week: October 1 -7

National Walk Your Dog Week kicked off yesterday and this fun awareness week is a great excuse to get in a few extra walks with your furry family member. Enjoy this week of being active and bonding with your pooch!

Greta's Organic Gardens seeds
Photos by Stacey McIntyre-Gonzalez

Organic Week: Greta's Organic Gardens seed

Hey Paws peeps, since it is Organic Week I want to give a shout out to Greta's Organic Gardens. I purchased my seed exclusively from Greta this year at the Ottawa Valley Seedy Sunday event. Greta's seeds are organic and non-GMO.

Every year we plant an eight foot vegetable garden and it grows very well here in Ontario, Canada. A lot of Greta's seed is heirloom seed, harvested locally by organic farmers and passed down from generation to generation. Our garden now belongs to that historical network of farmers who are trying to preserve our organic agriculture.

For me, planting a garden is not just a way to save money at harvest time, it is also great for the environment and fights against large agribusiness farms and their unethical practices. Even a small garden in your backyard can make a positive impact the environment. Over the next few months as my garden sprouts and grows, I will be sharing with my readers some of the organic and non-GMO products I love, as well as some local food from farmers in our area. How does this relate to pets? Bettering our environment positively affects every aspect of our lives- including our pets!

Hazel helps out in the garden

Ask Felix: Mystery road trip takes us to Madawaska Valley to see local art

Last summer while Robert and I were garage sale hunting we came across an old Felix the Cat toy from the 1990s'. You "Ask Felix" a question and spin the cat around, and he tells you your fortune- similar to a magic eight ball. I fell in love with this toy cat, and we started taking him on road trips, spinning Felix and allowing him to decide our route- and often our fate. Felix took us to the fair in Renfrew where we rode a Ferris Wheel and drank fresh lemonade. He took us to a man's home in Jacksonville who was a picker; he had one arm and the largest comic book collection I have ever seen. He took us to Stitsville to the Barbie museum and the best-used bookstore. EVER! He took us to a chip truck called Pong's Poutine where we ate the BEST poutine! Those who follow me on Instagram may remember my Felix adventures. If you want to see how the Felix toy works head to my Instagram and watch the video.

Today we dusted off Felix and he took us on yet another road trip. This time we started at the Cobden fair and ended up all the way in the Madawaska Valley. We explored and acted like tourists. We asked Felix and he directed us on our way to a day filled with adventure and shenanigans. This is Ask Felix: Travel to the Madawaska Valley, our day in photos.

World Environment Day: What is your Eco Friendly Routine

The environment is something that is very important to me and my fur family, and it is something that I try to promote on Paws For Reaction. Today is World Environment Day and what I love about this day is that everyone across the globe is sharing their love for the environment and what they do to preserve this beautiful green planet of ours. Today on Twitter I will be tweeting #MyEcoFriendlyRoutine on my personal twitter account @GonzoTheFacey with some of the things I do to recycle, promote a sustainable environment and battle climate change.

What are some of the things you do as part of your eco friendly routine? Please tweet me @GonzoTheFacey or @PawsForReaction and let me know! I can't wait to retweet all of your tips!!

Pet parasite protection: Heartworm, tick and flea education for dog and cat owners

It's that time of year again. Parasite season! I have a lot of fun doing the social media for the Pembroke Animal Hospital (PAH) and every once in a while I like to share some things I create. The information in these posts was provided by My Vet Store and I just love the three pets in these graphics so much- one especially because she's mine! I'm sure you recognize Keira my Saint Bernese. You may even recognize my buddy Waldo from the North Fetch post. Bruce is a friends cat and although we haven't met in person I have seen many pictures he looks like a cool dude. Check out the PAH Facebook posts I created for parasite season and protect your pet! Prevention is the best medicine!

Photos by Stacey McIntyre-Gonzalez

Pool side Victoria Day with Hazel the Saint Bernese

Wishing you a Happy Victoria Day from Hazel!

Greta's Organic Gardens seeds
Photos by Stacey McIntyre-Gonzalez

Shout out: Greta's Organic Gardens

Hey Paws peeps, I want to give a shout out to Greta's Organic Gardens. I purchased my seed exclusively from Greta this year at the Ottawa Valley Seedy Sunday event. Greta's seeds are organic and non-GMO.

Every year we plant an eight foot vegetable garden and it grows very well here in Ontario, Canada. A lot of Greta's seed is heirloom seed, harvested locally by organic farmers and passed down from generation to generation. Our garden now belongs to that historical network of farmers who are trying to preserve our organic agriculture.

For me, planting a garden is not just a way to save money at harvest time, it is also great for the environment and fights against large agribusiness farms and their unethical practices. Even a small garden in your backyard can make a positive impact the environment. Over the next few months as my garden sprouts and grows, I will be sharing with my readers some of the organic and non-GMO products I love, as well as some local food from farmers in our area. How does this relate to pets? Bettering our environment positively affects every aspect of our lives- including our pets!

Hazel helps out in the garden

Photos: Hiking trip with our Chihuahua friend Yoshi

How to prevent fleas and ticks from biting your pet because #NoBiteIsRight

This post is sponsored by No Bite is RIght and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer NetworkTM. I am being compensated to help create awareness about Summer Safety and Protecting Pets against fleas and ticks but Paws For Reaction only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Paws For Reaction is responsible for the contents and not the sponsors mentioned above.

I remember when Keira got her first tick. It was three years ago. I couldn’t believe I had missed it. It was right on the top of her head! I totally freaked out! It was a fully engorged, disgusting Brown Dog Tick. My veterinarian recommended I wait six weeks, and then bring Keira in for her annual Heartworm and Lyme test. It was an agonizing six weeks. I was relieved when she tested negative for Lyme disease, but I couldn’t believe she even had a tick in the first place. Are there really ticks in the Ottawa Valley? How can I prevent ticks from biting my dogs?

Photos: Snow dogs enjoying winter weather