Are you part of the Squamish Adventure Dog Club? Find out how your can become a member?

After a year of planning, we moved into a larger, brighter, cleaner, and brand-new warehouse space. It was our dream come true, and we added two private custom-made dog baths to boot. The dog baths have been a lot of fun. We get to see more of our customers’ dogs and interact with them in a whole new way. We thought it was important to add these to our new shop because Squamish dogs are notoriously dirty. There, I said it! Well, they really are. We are surrounded by so much natural beauty, and let’s face it, no matter where you live in Squamish, you cannot escape the trails.

We live in Brackendale, and even in our residential area, we have the creek, the Ray Peters trails, and, of course, Fisherman’s Park. I avoid Fisherman’s Park from December to March. My dogs don’t appreciate it, but my nose and family do. If you know, you know, but if you don’t, this is a friendly blog to bring you up to speed and explain the reason why we added dog baths to our new location.

Fisherman’s Trail runs through unceded territory along the Squamish River. The river is home to steelhead, chinook, coho, chum, and pink salmon. Brackendale Eagles Park lies in the Squamish River watershed and is accessed from Government Road by The Brackendale Bean. We love walking our dogs along the watershed to view the wintering eagles. It’s a quieter time compared to summer and a nice place to retreat to quickly.

Brackendale residents are no strangers to eagle and salmon encounters. We love it when we see the eagles swooping down to the river and marvel at the moment when they soar overhead. We imagine we are in a live filming of Planet Earth, witnessing animals doing their animal things in their habitat. They are huge, regal, magnificent birds. I see them and get a little nervous about my smallest dog, who is part Chihuahua. An eagle is easily four times her size, and to support that massive body mass, they need to consume a lot of calories. Salmon is the eagle’s preferred choice for meals, and I am good with this. I love good salmon sashimi too.

It’s only natural that where we live, we want to spend our free time outdoors with our best furry friends. It’s really a win-win situation where we get exercise, our daily dose of Vitamin D, bond with our dog, get away from our screens, and be in nature. What could go wrong? Well, it’s inevitable that if you live in Squamish, you will experience the “Salmon Dog.” You might ask, “We were nowhere near the water, how did my dog find salmon to roll in?” Here’s how it works: an eagle sees salmon, the eagle catches salmon, eagles can carry up to 2/3 of their weight, the eagle flies away to eat its salmon in peace, and when it’s done, it leaves the carcass where it consumed it, which could be a couple of kilometers away from where it caught it.

Dogs that know about salmon are smart and sneaky about it. They know that salmon is out there, they know that they are not allowed to roll in it as it will result in a cold bath with lots of scolding. So, what do they do? They wait. It’s easy; they just have to wait. It’s only a matter of time. You will soon become preoccupied with a meaningful conversation with the person you are walking with or be checking your phone. It’s just a matter of time, and your dog knows it. He knows where the salmon carcass is; he smelled it two minutes ago. He is just waiting for the right opportunity so he can double back. So, he waits patiently, and when he sees the opportunity, he bolts. And once he does it, it’s too late; you cannot catch him or call him back. (Now, before anyone gets mad at me and makes this about an off-leash dog conversation, I am assuming that you only let your dog off-leash if he is socially well-behaved, you are in a safe off-leash area, your dog is non-reactive, and he is a well-trained dog that has great recall.) Unfortunately, no matter how great his recall, he will not come back, not when there is a one-week-old, slimy, half-eaten decaying stinky salmon carcass out there for him to roll in. No way. That dog is not coming back. I don’t care how well-trained he is—it’s not going to happen.

And so there you are, just you and your stinky salmon dog. Congrats, you have now been initiated into an elite club—you are now an official Squamish Adventure Dog owner. It doesn’t matter if your dog has done the Chief ascent a dozen times. I don’t care what others say; you are not a Squamish dog owner until you have had a Salmon Dog. And there he is, happy with his tail wagging as proud as can be. I can hear him now: “Mom, Dad, I did it! It was hiding about 300 meters away under moldy wet leaves and in a big mud pile, but I found the salmon! And I rolled in it to make sure my scent covered it, or was it because I wanted to cover myself in it smell? Oh, I can’t remember, woof, I am just so excited to have it on me! Aren’t you proud of me? Um, why do you look so mad at me?”

So great, you earned your local badge. Now what? You love your dog; you would do anything for him. You would jump into traffic to save him; you feed him organic, open pasture raised small batch dog food; you would give your kidney to save your dog. But right now, he is dripping with fish scales, decaying salmon guts, and covered in a glistening smear that reeks like garbage. You can’t touch him, let alone go near him without gagging.

We too are part of this elite Squamish Adventure Dog club, and this is why we built our baths. Two things you need to do. Get here and get here fast. We have seen it all and smelled it all. There will be no judgment, no shame, and we promise we will try not to gag when you enter. The hardest part will be the drive to our shop; just roll down all the windows and persevere. Maybe even call us to make sure the baths are available, and we will try our best to keep one clear for your Salmon Dog. The other owners will understand, especially if they too have a Squamish Adventure Dog. When you get here, we recommend coming to the back of the shop; we will welcome your Salmon Dog with open arms and all the Dirty Dog Degreasing Shampoo you can handle. But once it’s all said and done, your desire to cuddle, smooch, and kiss your Squamish Adventure dog will return, we promise. Then you can leave with your head held high and can now be part of the elite club that most Squamish locals with dogs are part of. And what you do next is up to you. You either avoid certain areas between the months of December and March or keep our phone number on speed dial for Squamish Salmon Dog emergencies.