Have You Taken Your Dog To Yappy Hour At The Ritz Carlton?

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Are you the type of person who loves taking your dog everywhere with you?  If so, then I’m sure you’ve been to at least one Yappy Hour with your canine.   What?  You haven’t?  Well let me tell you a little bit about Yappy Hour at the Ritz Carlton?

A few weeks back some of our puppy raising friends told us all about their experience at the Ritz Carlton Yappy Hour.  It was actually our first time hearing about Yappy Hours and sounded like a wonderful chance to let our dogs socialize with their fellow canines.

Yappy Hour At The Ritz Carlton

I must say Yappy Hour was pretty cool!  There were a ton of people and their dogs happily mingling with each other.  As far as we saw all the dogs were well-behaved and on leash.  Linus who is sometimes dog reactive did very well himself!

You actually can’t see it in this picture, but there were a ton of dog’s at Yappy Hour from big to small, black to white, fluffy to…not so fluffy.  And different dog breeds galore…Labs and Goldens, Weimaraners, Yorkies, Shih Tzu, Australian Shepherds, and of course the mixed breed MUTT!

Training A Reactive Dog Like Linus

Yappy Hour at the Ritz Carlton was a great opportunity to work with Linus on his training and reactivity towards other dogs.  When we arrived we saw our friends Cici and Mocha.  Linus announced his arrival by barking at his two buddies.  The good news was it was only one of two times Linus barked at other dogs all day.  The bad news was that we didn’t control his dog reactivity right from the start.

I brought my treat pouch full of you guessed it…treats!  Linus got a treat every time he was well-behaved around all the other dogs.  If he just watched a dog walk by without reaction…”Good boy” and treat.  If another dog approached and he just sniffed them…”Good boy” and a treat.   We navigated through crowds of people and dogs.  Linus walked through like an absolute gentleman…”Good boy” another treat.  We even walked passed several dogs on a narrow path…”Good boy” another treat.  We were sitting on lawn chairs when several Labs approached and joined our group.  Linus gave them a good sniff and came back…”Good boy” and a treat.

After a while Linus relaxed and just lied down in the grass…”Good boy” another treat.  By the end of the day I think Linus’ belly may have been full from all of his treats.  He was very well behaved and deserved them all.  Of course Stetson got a few treats as well 🙂

Special Drinks For Humans And Dogs Alike!

Guess what guys and gals!  Yappy Hour has a full bar including beer, wine, and mixed drinks!  A great time to wind down and relax with your dog.  Now you might say: “What about my dog? He worked hard all day.  What special drink does he get?”  No worries.  Check out these water bottles:

You might think that’s bottled Iced Tea on the left, water in the middle, and lemonade on the right.  Au contraire!  This is Yappy Hour and it’s all (well almost) about the dogs!  If you can make out the little signs here’s what they say:

• Beef Water
• Bacon Water
• Chicken Water

It may sound nasty to you, but our boys sipped it up like there was no tomorrow.  None of the humans were man or woman enough to take a sip.

The Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel has one of the best views on the coast and Yappy Hour is situated with a perfect view of the sunset and a faint outline of Catalina Island.  Take a look for yourself:

It’s a was a little difficult getting a good picture of the view (of course we had to have one of the doggies in all of our pics) especially with the sun setting in the background.  Here’s one of Stetson and the beach down below:

You can kind of see a golden hue in that picture since the sun was just starting to set.

When Can We Go To The Next Yappy Hour?

ABOUT RITZ CARLTON YAPPY HOUR

Follow Fido to Yappy Hour, a monthly cocktail party for canines and their companions at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel. It’s a “big” dog party with pooches, hounds and pups romping and playing on The Dana Lawn. Canines enjoy complimentary hand-made dog biscuits and lapping up refreshing libations, thanks to bacon, chicken, cheese, beef and liver flavored water, while their companions can purchase burgers, brews and wines, with proceeds going to support the Laguna Beach Animal Shelter.

Now that you’ve seen the pictures and heard all about Yappy Hour I know you’re wondering: “When can we go hang out at the Ritz Carlton Yappy Hour?”  Well, there are two more Yappy Hours scheduled at the Ritz Carlton between now and the end of the year.  Here’s the info on the upcoming Yappy Hours:

HOWL-O-WEEN YAPPY HOUR

WHAT:
Howl-O-Ween Yappy Hour
WHEN:
Thursday, October 25th, 2012 – 4-7pm
WHERE:
Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel
One Ritz-Carlton Drive
Dana Point, California 92629 USA
DESCRIPTION: 
Join us for tricks and treats as our canine guests bark at the moon in celebration of Howl-O-Ween. This special Yappy Hour celebration, kick back and relax while your pup struts his stuff in his favorite costume. Dogs will enjoy lapping up water in his favorite flavor – Beastly Bacon, Creepy Chicken, Frightful Cheese, Ghoulish Beef and Ghostly Liver. A panel of judges will determine which canine will take home the prize in the costume categories of Scariest, Funniest, Most Glamorous and, of course, Best in Show. Cost to enter the costume contest is $10 per canine.

_____________________________

YAPPY HOUR HOWL-IDAYS

WHAT:
Yappy Hour Howl-idays
WHEN:
Saturday, December 1st, 2012 – 11am-2pm
WHERE:
Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel
One Ritz-Carlton Drive
Dana Point, California 92629 USA
DESCRIPTION: 
Celebrate the Howl-idays with your pup at Yappy Hour. In the spirit of the season, we are requesting guests to bring dry or canned dog food or treats to be donated to the shelter. Photos with Santa are $10 per canine.

There was no fee to get into Yappy Hour at the Ritz Carlton and we parked across the street which cost $1 an hour.  On our way out we grabbed a Yappy parking pass that gets us free valet parking 🙂

Will You Be Attending Yappy Hour?

Unfortunately we will be in Atlanta, GA on October 25th at the Barkworld Pet Expo to learn more about pet blogging and social media.  We do hope to make it to the Yappy Hour Howl-idays festivities on December 1st.  We hope to see you all there!

One thing I would recommend is to keep your dog on a short leash and beware of the many other dogs at Yappy Hour.  Your dog may be well behaved, but that doesn’t necessarily mean all the dogs at Yappy Hour are well behaved.

How about you?  Have you taken your dog to Yappy Hour at the Ritz Carlton or any yappy hours in general?  How was your experience?

Top Picks For Our Puppies

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   We Like: Beef Collagen Sticks - All of our pups love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Collagen Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors.
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   We Like: Crazy Dog Train-Me Treats - We use these as our high-value treats for our guide dog puppies.
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Check out more of our favorites on our New Puppy Checklist.