BostonZest

Dog Day Out in Boston

Time to plan a day out in the city. You can do this with friends if you normally walk with a group or you can make arrangements with another dog family to run errands together.

Why not plan a long amble with a group of dogs and their people. Pick a day, destination, a place for the people to grab lunch, spots for a few breaks for those who need them, and you're on your way.

The Greenway ...

... has become one of our favorite summertime destinations. Yes it can use more shade and seating, but it has a lot of advantages for a dog day out. There are nice wide walkways that are supposed to be free of bikes and skateboards. It has food trucks and nearby restrooms for the humans in the pack. It offers great people watching.

The Esplanade ...

... is a great destination for a doggie afternoon or evening. You do have to walk with care to avoid the bikers and skaters who leave the bike path to speed by on the pedestrian paths. Still, there are plenty of benches and open space to spread a blanket and relax once the dogs have walked enough to be tired. And the Hatch Shell has regular concerts and other entertainment events that are dog-friendly. (Note that the July 4th concerts prohibit dogs in the secured areas.)

The Boston Harborwalk ...

... is another perfect destination for your dog day outing. You can jump on-and-off from many spots along the way from parks in the North End to Caste Hill in Dorchester. You can find all the details on where you can go and what you can do at the new website www.bostonharbornow.org that represents the merger of The Boston Harbor Association and the Boston Harbor Island Alliance.

 

Summertime promises a full schedule of activities to enjoy along this walking path. Consider a stop at James Hook & Company for a lobster roll that you can take to one of the tables in front of the Intercontinental Hotel for a dog-friendly dining experience.

Over the years, we have come to appreciate the advantages of having a canine ambassador on the end of a leash. You meet more people and become more engaged in the local community. Visitors to Boston often stop to visit with Poppy and give us the opportunity to answer any questions they might have about our city.

You get more exercise and explore more aspects of a neighborhood when you share it with a dog. And you become more creative at solving the small problems that come from being in a world that is not as dog-friendly as you would like it to be.

 

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)

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Fog Can Be a Great Editor. Sometimes We Need the Fog....

Yesterday the morning fog edited out the "high spine" of the Back Bay and reminded us of a former view from the Public Garden. 

Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves that all of life is not black and white.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

About Photo Tales & Quotes: We keep hearing that people miss our cover photos that ran for years in the Back Bay Sun. That assignment was to provide a photo that showed what the week was like in the neighborhood. Often the photos illustrated favorite quotations. Photo Tales & Quotes is an occasional offering to our BostonZest readers featuring photos along the same theme but taken wherever we happen to be.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny Cherubino  

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The Emerald Necklace Conservancy Has the Perfect City Walks for Spring Days

When we only have a few hours and want to get back to nature, we often choose to walk the parks and paths supported by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. We're making that organization our Friday Link today.

Their website has many resources for exploring the parklands. You can pull up maps, find recreational facilities, history, and beautiful settings.

If you would like to become a part of the preservation and restoration of these parks, they have links to opportunities to participate in those aspects as well.

Explore the site some rainy day and then take advantage of all the information about where to go, how to get there, and what to see and do when you arrive.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

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Where Would You Find This Snarling Lion Face?

Go lion hunting on your next walk. Here are a few clues to help you find this guy and a few of his pack. 

• Head to The Fenway.
• By that we mean the parkland, not the baseball place.
• Be careful crossing the street, there are lions everywhere.
• This structure has something in common with the Museum of Fine Arts.

Ready? Click through to find the answer.

 

Make Room for More Plants on Your Plate

Is a large piece of meat the centerpiece of your plate? Is eating the recommended daily serving of fruits and vegetables a chore for you? Maybe it’s time to make room for more plants on your personal menu. With so many people opting for alternatives to the meat-heavy American diet, it’s becoming easier to enjoy healthier produce-heavy recipes at home and away.

Chefs Leading the Way

For inspiration on the creative use of fruits and vegetables in main courses, I look at menus at small, local restaurants where a chef is creating new recipes to tempt diners. One great example is a lobster salad that has been on the menu the last few months at Select Oyster Bar (shown in the photos above).

Like many New Englanders, I love lobster. But for me a whole lobster meal or hot buttery lobster roll has to be an occasional treat. The lobster salad that Chef Michael Serpa created is something that I’m comfortable eating more often. He has loaded it with vegetables; dressed it with a light, zingy dressing; and used a generous amount of lobster as a part of a more complex and, in the end, more interesting dish.

Chef Jody Adams’ new restaurant Porto in the Prudential Center complex tempted me with a meatless meal made up of a wonderful salad and delightful pasta dish. Adding figs, pecorino cheese, and crispy, thin croutons to an arugula salad made it fun, filling, and delicious. That and a plate of pasta (campanelle with feta, soft herbs, pine nuts, and tomato) were all I needed for Sunday brunch. I didn’t realize, until I looked back on it, that I had selected a meatless meal.

Meat as a Condiment in Ethnic Favorites

If you are looking to boost your veggie intake, think about some of your favorite ethnic meals, especially from places where those dishes are less Americanized. A takeout order from a more traditional Chinese restaurant like Gourmet Dumpling in Chinatown or their sister restaurant Dumpling Palace on Massachusetts Avenue can easily be vegetable-forward.

I usually add an all-vegetable dish like sautéed string beans to our order. But many of the dishes that do include meat use that protein as a condiment rather than as the majority of the meal. With a more traditional, less Chinese/American approach, even a dish like Kung Pao Chicken has more vegetables than meat in these hands.

Think of your favorite noodle and rice dishes like the Bun Thit Nuong from Pho Basil shown above. How much meat vs rice or noodles do they contain? 

 

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of her Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

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Use Hand Signals and Body Language to Communicate with Your Dog

If you watch dogs interact with one another in their daily lives, you’ll notice a lot of body language and rituals. Yes you will hear an occasional bark and, during friendly play, you might hear some rumbles and play growls. But, for the most part, dogs communicate non-verbally.

You may know that dog actors are cued from off-camera by a trainer using hand signals. If you watch agility trials, you might hear some encouraging words from the human half of the team, but the directions the dog is taking are actually coming from the handler’s body language.

As we walk about the city, we seldom see people giving hand signals to their dogs. Occasionally we’ll see someone teaching a young pup to sit before crossing a street using both vocal and hand commands. But, by the time the pup is grown, the humans have reverted to their own native, verbal language without considering the canine preference for gestures.

Studying the Issue

As dogs take on more and more service and working roles in our society, researchers are studying the effectiveness of various communication methods. Linda P. Case, from “The Science Dog,” recently reported on a study conducted on 25 certified water rescue dogs to compare their response to verbal and gestural cues.

She summarized the results saying, “This pilot study suggests that when dogs are trained to both hand signals and verbal commands, they will respond most consistently to hand signals.” As a side note, it was also found that, “Female dogs showed a strong preference for responding to hand gesture cues, while males were more likely to respond equally to both types of cue.”

Pointing

You can use the standard, accepted hand signals or invent your own. All three of our dogs have responded to me pointing at people, places, or things. This can be wonderfully helpful. When in the midst of a conversation with a friend, we can point to a park bench and Poppy will jump up and settle down.

We’ll also point to a favorite person coming down the sidewalk so that Poppy can enjoy both the anticipation and the reality of seeing someone. (It also means that the person is treated to a, “Wow, I’m so glad you are here,” welcome from Poppy.)

If Poppy is barking in response to a noisy dog or neighbor in our building, we tell her to go to her settle spot, using elaborate hand gestures that look like we’re directing an airliner to its gate. Our hands reinforce the direction we want her to take and where we want her to be. It looks silly, but it seems to work. Sometimes the gestures have to be big and exaggerated to command the attention of an excited pup.

For professional trainers – those who work with service dogs; first responders handling K9 partners trained to detect guns, bombs, drugs, or find criminals; or someone like me out for a walk with my dog – hand signals, gestures, and body language can be more effective than repeating words over and over to get a dog to perform. It’s time we considered using canine language to communicate with our dogs.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)

Check Out The Trustees Calendar of Places to Go & Things to Do!

For our Friday Link today, we're sending you to a spring and summer of fun places to go and things to do with the Trustees of Reservations, now going by the simple title of The Trustees!

As members, we keep our seasonal copy of Special Places around.

It contains a calendar of events that are handy for times when a beautiful day tempts us to get outdoors or a rainy day would be perfect for taking in a Trustees event at The Kitchen inside the Boston Public Market.

While all this information is available on the site, we like this format because we can highlight things of interest and add them to our calendars.

Joining this great organization is your ticket to new adventures in the months ahead.

And, remember dog lovers, this is one organization that has worked to arrange access for you and your dog at some of their properties. Here are some of their Tail Wagging Destinations.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screenshots courtesy of The Trustess