Dog Walk
Whether you’re a full-fledged jigsaw junkie or an occasional, casual puzzler I’m sure you can relate. Sometimes it’s so easy to get absorbed in a puzzle that you lose all track of time. I tend to do this far more than I care to admit. Sometimes the only thing that breaks my puzzling reverie is the sound of muttering and mumbling by someone none too happy at being ignored. “Just a couple more pieces…” I answer, and when “a couple” invariably becomes ten or twenty pieces, the impatient mumbling turns into a few loud woofs from under my puzzle table. Bounce is clearly stating that it is—once again—long past time for his walk.
Almost without exception, every day is Walk the Dog Day at my house, but officially, National Walking the Dog Day lands on February 22nd every year. What better way to celebrate than by enjoying a dog walking themed puzzle after you’ve perambulated with your pup! Late February may still be a bit wintry in your part of the world, but no excuses! Bundle up yourself and your buddy and get going! You can use Baby It’s Cold Outside from New York Puzzle Company for inspiration. I particularly like the ear and nose warmers!
Baby It’s Cold Outside by New York Puzzle Company
Galison has such a great selection of puzzles featuring artist Joy LaForme’s whimsical designs. Snowy Night captures a wintry park scene with plenty of dog walkers, plus a few squirrels for the dogs to chase. The pink and purple skyline through the trees provides a bit of a challenge in this 500 piece image.
If you’re up for a real challenge, check out Anatolian’s Winter Woodland scene of a quiet walk in the woods with a best buddy. This 2000 piece puzzle will definitely keep you busy during the waning days of winter!
Just like jigsaw puzzles provide all kinds of mental benefits for people, walks are a great mental and physical activity for dogs. A daily walk that allows a dog to indulge in all the sights, sounds--and especially smells--of the great outdoors is crucial for their mental stimulation and socialization with both people and other dogs. A walk is the perfect opportunity to work on behavior training, tire out an active pup, and keep them—and you—at a healthy weight! I like how the 500 piece Dog Walkers puzzle from Dowdle Folk Art shows lots of those benefits, both in the artwork and on the back of the box.
Dog Walkers by Dowdle Folk Art
No dog? No problem! Walking dogs at your local shelter or rescue is one of the most rewarding ways to volunteer if you’re an animal lover. Getting homeless pets out of their cages for a walk does wonders to reduce their stress, improve their socialization, and increase their chances for adoption. And you might even find your new best friend! I’ve never walked a pack before, so I’ve got to admire the Dog Walker in this fun and challenging 1000 piece puzzle from Boardwalk with pups of all shapes and sizes—and a squirrel! A great quality puzzle and it comes in a beautiful, embossed magnetized box with a poster and storage bag.
Dog Walker by Boardwalk
You can turn your dog walking into a win, win, WIN by logging your miles to raise money for your favorite charity. Bounce and I recently walked 31 miles in 31 days to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Our local shelter hosts a huge dog walk fundraiser every fall. One of the largest and longest-running is Strut Your Mutt, started by Best Friends Animal Society. Since 1995, it’s raised nearly $14 million dollars for homeless pets in 17 cities around the country. Dowdle’s 300 piece Strut Your Mutt features 45 dog owners and their pets that were chosen among thousands submitted to artist Eric Dowdle, all listed on the back of the poster that’s included. With so many dogs, he even included the all-important poop bag dispenser! Now that’s attention to detail!
Strut Your Mutt by Dowdle Folk Art
Of course, as the New York Puzzle Company’s Local Fauna shows, you don’t have to limit yourself to walking only dogs. Any species will do! I couldn’t pass up adding this awesome illustration from artist Peter de Sève to my to-do stack. It just makes me smile!
Local Fauna by New York Puzzle Company
Dedicated to Coco and all my buddies who have been next to me over thousands of miles and whose pawprints are forever on my heart: Seven, Tulie, Elaine, Maverick, Ubu, Roo, Rita and now, Bounce.
Bounce!
Life is better with a dog at your side…
Dawn @5wolves
Beautiful puzzles and I think you should also have included "The Dog Walker" by Dean MacAdam from Ravensburger. Its a lovely illustration. ;)
I really loved putting together Baby It's Cold Outside! Well, maybe not the text, but those faces are great! Adding quite a few of the others to my wishlist....
