Canine Exhaust-O-Matic Travel Guide to Vermont-Adjacent Vacationlands
June 2, 2023 11:14 AM Subscribe
I am a 1-year-old Irish setter who really, really wants to go on vacation with my two humans this July. But if you know any setters my age, you know that I require one of three things out of every day: to chase other dogs with great abandon around a large, happy enclosure, to run free in the woods, or to drive my humans crazy.
In short, I am a huge fan of blissful exhaustion. Please recommend your favorite dog parks and other dog-friendly open spaces in northern New England and adjacent provinces--places where my humans can retreat from the relentless rat race of Central Vermont and I can really get my run on. It's my only hope, because I don't think the crazy thing is compatible with human vacationing. And you know I want to be with my people.
In short, I am a huge fan of blissful exhaustion. Please recommend your favorite dog parks and other dog-friendly open spaces in northern New England and adjacent provinces--places where my humans can retreat from the relentless rat race of Central Vermont and I can really get my run on. It's my only hope, because I don't think the crazy thing is compatible with human vacationing. And you know I want to be with my people.
Best answer: Back in 2016 I asked for dog-friendly recommendations around Bar Harbor and Winter Harbor in Maine and got some good ones! Little Long Pond in particular was a wonderful time for our hound mixes. Our mostly white dog joyfully ran through some mud at the edge of the pond and happily bounced up to children in a scene we still refer to as "that time Freda wore mudpants." The posters in that question thread of mine were right: Nearly everything in and around Bar Harbor and Winter Harbor are extremely dog friendly. In fact our AirBnB hosts in Winter Harbor pressured us to let our scent hounds offleash, saying everyone on that peninsula does with their own dogs. So we did. Cue the Benny Hill theme music: Our mutts marauded across a very chi-chi Winter Harbor golf course in heavy use and only turned around to run back in our direction when they reached the ocean.
On the drive up there from Baltimore, we stopped and searched out dog parks in Portland so the dogs could run off some energy. I don't remember which one we went to (link to list of them on Yelp), but it was wooded and large enough--at least several acres--that they definitely got in a great run with some super chill dogs and owners also in attendance.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 12:24 PM on June 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
On the drive up there from Baltimore, we stopped and searched out dog parks in Portland so the dogs could run off some energy. I don't remember which one we went to (link to list of them on Yelp), but it was wooded and large enough--at least several acres--that they definitely got in a great run with some super chill dogs and owners also in attendance.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 12:24 PM on June 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
We need a picture of you!
posted by Melismata at 2:49 PM on June 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 2:49 PM on June 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
Response by poster: "We need a picture of you!" - Melismata
Aw shucks. Here I am in my favorite human chair. Thanks for your help, everyone!
posted by baseballpajamas at 5:02 AM on June 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
Aw shucks. Here I am in my favorite human chair. Thanks for your help, everyone!
posted by baseballpajamas at 5:02 AM on June 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: I will close this out with a recommendation: We ended up vacationing in Southeastern Ontario--at Hay Bay on Lake Ontario--and we found a great fenced dog park in Picton. Lots of room to run, varied terrain, sun and shade, a good number of friendly dogs to run with. It's a bit of a drive (and a short ferry ride) from where we are staying, but well worth it.
posted by baseballpajamas at 6:28 AM on July 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by baseballpajamas at 6:28 AM on July 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:36 AM on June 2, 2023 [1 favorite]