Every Day Is International Dog Day at Nat Hab

Czech-born creator Milan Kundera stated it greatest: “Dogs are our link to paradise.”

No one understands this higher than Natural Habitat Adventures, which is proud to rejoice International Dog Day (noticed annually on August 26). It’s one cause our journeys supply ample alternatives to commune with canines, from monitoring wild canine in Botswana to listening to wolves howl in Yellowstone.

It’s additionally why our Louisville, Colorado, workplace has all the time had an open-door coverage in the case of our workers’s furry buddies!

Lucky Dogs—and People: Benefits of a Dog-Friendly Office

Office visits present a bunch of advantages for fortunate Nat Hab canine, beginning with higher habits and socialization, says Senior Marketing Manager Kendal Bower. Bower co-chairs our Dog Squad to make sure everybody follows our official canine coverage and that everybody’s tails (canine and human) keep wagging. What’s extra, a close-by park connects to an open mesa the place workers “can just let their dogs run free and play” throughout breaks, she says.

The advantages prolong to people, too, says Bower, who repeatedly introduced her Black Lab, Hershel, to the workplace earlier than switching to distant work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And whereas different Nat Hab workers have adopted go well with, the canine homeowners who nonetheless work in our Louisville workplace needn’t splurge on doggie daycare or stress about their pups being left alone, she says. “Those walks on the mesa were also a time for colleagues to brainstorm projects or just bond and get to know each other personally,” she provides. “It was a really wonderful time.”

But Bower says an important profit of getting canine within the workplace is healthier psychological well being. “Every time I visit with Hershel, people light up when they see him because he’s such a popular dog there,” Bower says. “It just makes the atmosphere a little lighter. A little happier. There’s such a therapeutic benefit to having dogs around.”

Something to Celebrate: Bringing Dogs Back to the Office

Don Martinson, Nat Hab’s Director of Trade Relations and Dog Squad co-chair, concurs on all counts—besides which pup holds the title for Nat Hab’s hottest canine. “This is where I have to argue with Kendal, because Kona was the most beloved dog on the planet!” children Martinson, beaming whereas talking of his buddy, who sadly handed in 2019.

“Kona visited every single person in the office, and he actually made people that don’t like dogs like them,” he provides. One of 5 Martinson pups to frequent our workplace over the previous 15 years (“They’ve all had two families—our family and their Nat Hab family,” he says), Kona can be one among a dozen or so memorialized with plaques on an workplace wall dedicated to our dearly departed canine.

Martinson now brings his present canine, Kaia and Lui, to the workplace, although he laments the decrease variety of canine companions relative to pre-pandemic counts, when as many as 20 canine graced our halls on any given day. Fortunately, because the Nat Hab workforce grows and workers return to our workplace or make visits, extra canine are returning, too. This simply reinforces “the loving quality and special culture that Nat Hab has always had,” Martinson says.

So, right here’s to our enduring canine-friendly tradition and to celebrating each canine around the globe—together with a number of of our personal favourite pups, each previous and current. Thanks for all the time protecting us linked to paradise!

Meet a Few of Nat Hab’s Furry Friends

Atlas

Blue Merle Australian Shepherd | 5 years outdated

Best buddy: Hayley Oswald, Adventure Manager

Best (canine) buddy: Matzah, a 4-year-old Bernadoodle she’s performed with since puppyhood

Favorite phrases: canine park, stroll, deal with, toy, squirrel, ball 

Hitting the path: “Atlas is a big hiking fan in any season (including winter, when she gets covered in snowballs),” Oswald says. “She also loves playing in creeks in the summer and hasn’t met a trail she couldn’t finish yet!”

Social butterfly: “People are her favorite, and in Denver, she loves going to parks like Cheesman, Wash Park and City Park, where she gets countless pets.”

Brewer

Aussie & Border Collie | 4 months outdated

Best Friend: Emily Kleinburd, Adventure Director

Backstory: Brewer was labeled an Aussie and Border Collie combine by his adoption company, “but he’s a true mutt and really could be a mix of a lot of breeds,” says Kleinburd. A number of different guesses: Heeler, Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland….

Favorite meals: “High-value training treats like hot dogs—he’s loving those!”

Hide your sneakers: Kleinburd’s pup chews all the pieces in sight, so she usually seems to distract him with bully sticks.

Making a splash: Brewer likes to splash each paws in his water bowl whereas making “a big, adorable mess,” says Kleinburd. “We took him on a paddleboard for the first time, and he did great (while being held by Mom)! We’re hoping one day he’ll love to bike, run and hike with us as well as splash around!”

Cinnamon (aka Cinny)

Australian Shepherd | Dearly departed at 13 years outdated

Best buddy: Emily Kleinburd

A life effectively lived: Cinny handed in October 2022, “after a long, happy life with dog and human friends alike, spending her happiest days in the mountains, and of course, at Nat Hab with all her best friends,” Kleinburd says.

Day within the life: “Every day at exactly 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., she would stand up from her dog bed, ready for the daily walks on the mesa where she and all her friends could run free. When we’d return, the dogs would commence the ‘treat tour’ where they’d visit all the cubicles they knew had treats.”

Constant companion: “Cinnamon loved doing everything her humans did. She was a great camping companion, a backcountry ski enthusiast, and the best hiking buddy. She loved taking dips in mountain lakes and getting cuddles from all her favorite humans.”

Claim to fame: Her golden eyes that might stare proper into your soul.

Hershel

Black Lab | 9 years outdated

Best Friend: Kendal Bower, Senior Marketing Manager

Backstory: Hershel hails from Bower’s residence state of Iowa, the place he was born on the home of household buddies. When he was eight weeks outdated, Bower made the round-trip drive from Colorado to choose him up.

A positive signal: At beginning, Hershel and his littermates initially appeared so related that Bower’s sister and brother-in-law weren’t positive which pup to pick for her. “So, they took a step back and just observed,” she says, “and this puppy comes up with a little leaf in its mouth and sits in front of them and shows them the leaf. That was the one!”

Favorite meals: “He’s a lab, so he eats everything … and loves everything!”

Favorite exercise: Swimming. He first discovered easy methods to swim at Estes Park, and in traditional Lab trend, he picked it up instantly.

Cold play: Hershel’s second-favorite exercise is rolling round within the snow. “He’ll ‘Superman-out’ [like he’s flying] and just lay there,” says Bower. “I’m like, how are you not freezing?!”

Juniper

Saint Bernese | 9 years outdated

Best buddy: Kelly Faulkner, Operations Coordinator

Heart of gold: “Juniper loves all dogs and people and has no shortage of personality,” Faulkner says.

Favorite meals: A very good marrow bone. “When Juniper has gotten most of the good stuff out, she’ll come drop the bone in your lap (gross!) because she wants you to help dig out the hard-to-get marrow.”

Favorite exercise: Swimming—all year-round—irrespective of the wind, rain or snow.

Skye

Siberian Husky | 2 years outdated

Best buddy: Mark Jordahl, Conservation Travel Writer & Editor

Favorite meals: Pizza crusts

Favorite actions: Hiking and chewing on Jordahl’s fingers

Skye excessive: “Skye lives the ultimate dog life,” says Jordahl. “We live in a small town at 8,300 feet in the mountains outside Boulder, where she runs free all day.”

Unlikely animal buddies: Jordahl and his spouse fear at instances as a result of their space is residence to mountain lions, moose and bears—all three of which may pose a threat to canine. So, they had been stunned after they discovered {that a} neighbor noticed Skye mingling with a moose in a close-by meadow. “Days later, we were hiking in the same area and came upon a large moose,” he says. “Skye went right up to it, totally unconcerned … they hung out for about five minutes before the moose resumed eating and Skye continued on the trail. We worry less now about wildlife because we know Skye has a very large moose friend watching out for her.”

Lui

Swiss Mountain Dog & Labrador | 11 years outdated

Best buddy: Don Martinson, Director of Trade Relations

Backstory: The Martinson household first met Lui on a seaside on Kauai. “He had an ‘adopt me’ vest on and was with tourists volunteering with Kauai Humane Society’s Field Trips for Sheltered Dogs,” Martinson says. “We did the same a couple days later, then decided to bring Lui home to Colorado to live with our other two furry friends—Lola and Kona.”

Criminal mastermind: Lui as soon as ate an entire honey-baked ham and stole a cut up pea soup starter combine from a suitcase. “He takes them out our doggie door and hides the ‘evidence’ in the bushes!”

Favorite actions: Swimming, paddle boarding, fetching balls and bringing the newspaper in from the driveway

Strange however true: When individuals get excited or loud (for instance, whereas watching televised sports activities), Lui woofs and humps legs.

Claim to fame: Lui additionally goes wild every time he hears the “Happy Birthday” music!

Kaialani (aka Kaia)

Black Mouth Cur & Shepherd | 1.5 years outdated

Best buddy: Don Martinson

Backstory: Nat Hab’s former Marketing Director, Matt Kareus, fostered a mother (then referred to as Muffin) and her litter in December 2021, all rescued from a Navajo reservation in Arizona by Soul Dog Rescue in Colorado. “One of the females reminded Matt of my beloved Kona, who was an office pup from 2006 to 2019,” says Martinson. “Matt kept badgering my wife and me to take Muffin … and we soon brought her home. She immediately became part of the Martinson clan, and we changed her name to Kaialani, which means ‘ocean and heavens’ in Hawaiian.”

Favorite meals: Ice. “If an ice cube hits the floor, she gets it before we can pick it up!”

Scaredy cat … errr canine: During Kaia’s first tenting journey, “she was leery of the dome tent, but then tried to get in my mummy bag in the middle of the night.”

Cutest quirk: “She buries her muzzle in my neck when she’s on our bed. She’s a super snuggler!”

Bear

Tibetan Mastiff Mix | Dearly departed at 13 years outdated

Best buddy: Becky Pahl, Adventure Prep Director

Backstory: Bear had three homeowners in his first yr of life. “Then, we met,” says Pahl. “It’s impossible for me to comprehend why someone would give up such a special soul. He was an absolute love.”

Favorite exercise: Hiking. “He was a Colorado mountain dog through and through. We were constantly exploring the wonders of the Rocky Mountains together for almost 12 years until lymphoma took his life.”

Special expertise: Pahl discovered from a earlier proprietor that Bear was an escape artist, “which I witnessed myself when my 75-pound Bear-Bear climbed a chain link fence to follow me to my neighbor’s house.”

Psychic encounter: Pahl as soon as took Bear to a psychic who instructed her Bear knew she was contemplating changing his lumpy outdated mattress with a brand new one. “Well, said the psychic, Bear wanted me to know he liked the old one and wished I would keep it for him. I did.”

Clarence Oddbody

German Shepherd & Husky | 6 years outdated

Best buddy: Becky Pahl

Backstory: Clarence was born on a reservation in South Dakota and was left in a field together with his siblings to be picked up by a rescue. “My co-worker and friend, Mandy, saw Clarence’s picture on Facebook and forwarded it to me, thinking he might be the perfect fit. She was right.”

Biggest quirk: “He loses his mind when he sees a squirrel or a rabbit,” says Pahl. “I pretend not to know him when this happens!”

Loving life: Despite his quirks, “Clarence lives life with gusto and exuberance. He’s the most curious and alert dog I’ve ever met.”

Favorite actions: Hiking and fetch. “Clarence can fly through the air to catch a ball like nobody’s business. He’ll fetch for as long as someone throws the ball!”

Chena (Chee’-na)

Alaskan Malamute | 7 years outdated

Best buddy: Wendy Redal, Editorial Director

Backstory: Chena was born in rural southwest Virginia, “and while her heritage may be in the Arctic,” Redal says, “she loves living in Colorado, especially during the winter, since it gets cold enough to suit her. She’s really happy when it’s below freezing, and if it’s snowing, all the better!”

Namesake: Chena is Redal’s fourth Alaskan Malamute, and like her three predecessors, she’s named for a spot in Alaska, on this case, the Chena River and Chena Hot Springs close to Fairbanks. “Given that my career in travel started when I became a guide in Alaska, these sled dogs hold a special place in my heart.”

Favorite meals: Grilled salmon pores and skin

Infamous incident: During a pre-Covid stroll on the mesa, Redal let the famously impartial Chena run free to play with the opposite canine, “but I should have known better, because she was off like a shot down the hill to chase a herd of cows,” she says. “Chena also lured her Husky pal Shiloh—Art Director Mark Hickey’s dog—to follow her, and while Shiloh ultimately came back, it took me over an hour to catch Chena, who was far more interested in the cows than anything else. When I finally corralled her, she was panting, animated and filthy, her white paws covered in mud to the elbows.”

Nevertheless: Chena “may be trouble sometimes,” Redal provides, “but she’s fun and affectionate, and she has (or had) lots of fans at the office. In fact, I took her in over a year after we closed due to Covid, and even though my colleagues were all working remotely at that point, Chena still made a beeline for the empty desks of those who were especially generous with doggie treats.”

Can’t get sufficient canine? Discover Five Canines to See within the Wild on a Nat Hab Adventure!