D.C. Metro Area Outings with You and Your Hounds

Hound dogs love to escape the confines of their houses and yards in search of a good scent.  Hounds love adventure, exploration, and novelty, just like people do!  Keeping your hound indoors all the time or only limiting them to a few areas can make them bored, listless, depressed, and out of shape.

Here are a few great places to take your hound in the D.C. metropolitan area to stimulate his olfactory cells and keep him happy.

Acres and acres of forested bliss, Rock Creek Park is a hound dog's haven.  It's a great place for a hound to wander and explore, filled with rich woodsy odors and the musky scent trails of critters like rodents, birds, insects, raccoons, beavers, and deer.

Just keep your wayward hound out of the way of cyclists, rollerbladers, joggers, and other people on the trails.  Also, stick to footpaths, clearings, and meadows and away from tall thickets of grass and brush to avoid ticks and other parasites.  Inspect your hound's coat for signs of any unwelcome stowaways.

Remember, the woods get darker at dusk sooner than open areas.  If you are in the woods in the late afternoon or early evening, you may want to take a flashlight and cell phone for safety.  Also, map out your trek whenever possible and take notice of landmarks and features to help avoid getting lost.

A beautiful oasis of plants, shrubs, and trees, the National Arboretum is often overlooked by tourists and out-of-towners.  Many people confuse this with the U.S. Botanical Garden, which is located downtown in the more tourist-infested area of the city.  The National Arboretum is one of the rare treasures of the District that is open to (leashed and well-behaved) dogs.  Unlike the Botanical Garden, which is a largely enclosed greenhouse that features tropical and exotic plants, the Arboretum is an open-air green space that primarily focuses on native North American specimens as well as non-native cultivars suitable for our local USDA zone range (5-6).

The National Arboretum even runs a few garden tours for dog-owners and their dogs ("Dog Days" events) where the focus is on your dog's responsible enjoyment of the grounds.  These run several dollars and require pre-registration.

If you take your hound here, please be sure to observe the commonsense rules they apply; we don't want them to revoke their policy of allowing dogs because of a few careless and inconsiderate dog owners!

The rules: Leash required at all times; pet waste clean-up is required; keep dogs mostly on paths, trails, and grass and away from plantings.  They may not urinate or defecate on garden beds or other planted features; this will burn and damage plants.  Dogs may not enter buildings and are not allowed in certain areas (e.g. the bonsai and penjing exhibits) because of the age and fragility of the specimens.

A Packing List:

Items That May Come In Handy for Your Houndy

• dog bed, cushion or mat  (preferably machine-washable!)
• dog blanket
• water sprayer/mister/atomizer
• flea/tick comb and rubbing alcohol
• Fido first aid kit

• a tie-out cable and corkscrew-style stake with ring*

  (The best cable tethers have a so-called "drawbar spring" on one end that absorbs some of the shock if your dog tries to snap the tether, e.g. by rushing towards a squirrel in the woods at top speed.)

• a well-fitted walking harness

  (This is helpful if your dog is very strong and you don't want to inadvertently choke him while restraining him.  Our stout and barrel-chested basset hound is much more manageable in his harness when he's in one of his stubborn moods.)

• a spray bottle with a "spray" or "squirt" setting

  (This sometimes works as a behavioral deterrent if your dog is averse to water, as our beagle is.)

• a breathable, well-fitted mesh muzzle**

  (A last resort if your hound gets particularly aggressive.)

Rocky Gap State Park is a beautiful setting for camping with your furry buddies.  There is one camping loop for dogs, called "Dogwood loop," of course!  This loop does not have individual electrical or water hookups; there are a half dozen communal water spigots spread throughout the loop and there's a bath house (for humans only).

Dogs are not allowed on the lakeshore beaches or picnic areas.  We were able to go hiking and canoeing with our hounds, though!  They loved it!

We have yet to stay at this park, but we hope to camp here next summer.  According to the park website, Browning, Beckman, and parts of Garrett loops are open to pets.

Dog parks can be a great place for your hounds to socialize with other dogs (and a good place for you to dog-watch, too!)  Many of the folks who frequent dog parks are crazy about dogs so it's fun to hang out with them and meet their canine companions.  These parks seem to be gaining in popularity so many local groups are successfully bringing them into neighborhoods.

1. Do not bring a highly aggressive or unsocialized animal.
2. Watch your dog vigilantly for signs of over-aggression or bullying; restrain and/or remove your dog if this happens.
3. Have a leash ready at all times; be prepared to control/lead your dog.
4. Do not bring too many dogs; there should be at least one person for every two dogs.
5. Do not bring a frail, sick, or unvaccinated animal.
6. Avoid bringing young puppies, very old, or very small dogs.
7. Do not bring a female dog in heat.
8. Avoid bringing an excessively "amorous" dog.
9. Watch your dog constantly so you notice whether he/she makes any waste; clean up immediately after your dog.

1. Bring cool water and a dish for your pet.  Be prepared to share.
2. On a hot day, bring a sprayer/mister/atomizer filled with chilled water to help cool down your pet.
3. Brace yourself for muddy pawprints; wear casual or frumpy clothes.  Also wear sneakers so you can easily chase down your hound.
4. Bring old towels, rags, or washcloths to pat down wet fur and clean muddy paws afterwards.
5. Bring your own baggies in case none are provided or the dispenser is empty.
6. Keep a first aid kit in the car just in case a human or hound is injured.

Located in a good, central location in Montgomery County, this park is an offshoot of Wheaton Regional Park.  It is a shady, fenced-in space with a mulch groundcover, right next to one of the ice rinks.

This Germantown park is a sunny, fenced-in space with grass groundcover.  It is rectangular in shape so there's always a pretty good line of sight to your dog.

At the end of the summer pool season — Labor Day or thereafter — most outdoor pools will be emptied.  But some pools host "doggie swim" events where dogs can splash and doggie paddle around before the pool is closed for servicing.

Recently, Clarence, O'Malley and Clarice spent part of a beautiful September weekend afternoon at Rockville Swim Center's Doggie Dip Day here in Maryland.  My dad is convinced that basset hounds have the perfect physique for swimming because of their short legs and huge, webbed paws — like canine flippers.  Our hounds' experiences seemed to bear this out.  And O'Malley also had the advantage of a buoyant layer of houndy blubber!

Much to our delight, we got lots of nice pictures of soggy doggies!  Here are a few of our own wet pets:

O'Malley swam like a fish!

Clarence was a reluctant, though very agile swimmer.

Clarice found that she could sometimes fall back on her longer legs and tippy-toe her way around.  Not here, though — she's actually paddling!