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This week, two lucky Chicago Parent readers will win a set of passes for two adults, two kids and two dogs for a Canine Cruise, courtesy of Mercury, Chicago’s Skyline Cruiseline. To win, tell us your family’s favorite adventure featuring the family dog. Once you have posted, e-mail your answer, name and your Chicago Parent ID to e-dition@chicagoparent.com. In submitting your comments, you are granting Chicago Parent permission to run them now or in the future. You must post and e-mail us for your answer to be counted. We will not release your information-it is purely for contact purposes. Winners will be chosen at random and may have no affiliation with Wednesday Journal Inc. or its employees.

This contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated.

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Kate Pancero
Assistant Editor/Weekend E-dition Editor
FabMama columnist
Chicago Parent

Our favorite adventure with our dog Diamond is going on an animal hunt through the Forest Reserve.  Our dog is always sniffing out other animals from either underground or in trees.  We usually follow him while at the Forest Reserve to see what he will sniff out next.  

Thanks,

momw4kids

It's hard to pick just one!  Our two labs- Revo (black) and Dixie (chocolate) go everywhere with us!  From a weekend at a cabin in Wisconsin to a road trip from Chicago to Okoboji, Iowa, these dogs never get left behind.  Not even when we go to work during the day- our office is dog friendly and they both spend the day lounging on the couch in my boyfriend's office (I have a cubicle so I just visit whenever I have the urge!).

I guess my favorite trip with the dogs would have to be a couple of months ago when we made the trip to Iowa for a family reunion/wedding reception.  Revo and Dixie ended up taking off for a little while (they're not used to having such wide open spaces to run in!) and by the time they got back they were covered in, what I can only describe as, "sewer mud"!  That's when we got our first introduction to a car/pet wash!  No joke!  There was a separate room at the car wash for dogs- our son and I watched through the window while Dad gave the pups a good washing!  A necessity for us was delightful entertainment for Masyn...and of course the dogs loved it too! 

We don't have a dog.  Maybe now I'll get one.

Uno, the crazy canine, has so many adventures. The one reoccuring adventure is when Uno manages to escape out the back door without his lease. We spend 10-30 minutes attempting to get him back to the house. This includes bribery with tennis balls, hot dogs,  footballs, and a game of cat and mouse. Once Uno gets tired enough and realizes that we are not going to chase him, he finally lays down and lets us attach the lease. He thinks the whole event is fun.

Our family's favorite adventure with our family dog Tessa occurred even before we brought her home.  We had our older dog put down in November due to cancer.  It took us until the following April to be ready to get another dog.  We visited the humane society many times until we found this boxer/labrador mix pup.  She already had two names on her so we were unable to pick her.  We asked if they would put us on a waiting list.  It was meant to be because we got a call a week later that we could have her if we still wanted.  Of course we all said, "Yes!"  She had developed a respiratory infection and needed to get spayed so she stayed at the humane society for another few weeks until she got a clean bill of health.  That was a long wait for all of us but we went and visited about every day.  She would see us coming and get all excited so we knew that we were familiar to her.  Finally, we were able to bring her home and that was the best celebration of all!  We look forward to many more adventures with our fun-loving dog Tessa!

Our dog is named Tyson and my kids love him so much! We have had so many adventures with Tyson. He loves to go everywhere with us and loves riding in the car. We take him camping with us, which he loves. The kids love throwing sticks into the water and watching the dog jump in and splash around to get the sticks! It cracks them up everytime! We also love taking him for walks and how the bunnies and squirrels scare him, instead of them being afraid of him!!

 

We have a black lab (Smokey), a yellow lab (Sadie) and a shi-zu (Beanie) and our favorite adventure so far is taking them camping with us and they love go for walks and play around the campsite!

I am not sure if it is my favorite, but definitely the most memorable adventures was geocaching with the pups.  They don't follow GPS coordinates very well.  Their noses seem to take over.  It was an experience none of us will forget.  Since then just 2 legged family members look for caches.

Our second dog came to us as a pup in July of 2007.  We had waited for 11 months after the passing of our previous dog.  Soni (meaning Gold, beautiful, or darling) was a delightful pup and the last yellow lab in the litter to be picked.  We brought her home in a basket and she was so curious and inquisitive on the 40 minute car ride home that she went upstairs to take a nap!  With a house full of people the dog took a nap! 

Well, she has made up for that in her last year with us.  Whether it is to nudge us to take her for a walk, or 'shoot' baskets with my older son or 'kick' the kong ball soccer-style with my younger son; she has been a delight!  The only time that she ever destroyed anything was my brand new shoes!  When chastised about it, Soni started snuffling earning her hugs and kisses from the kids and me! 

She has been boating with us once where she peered so deep in to the depths of the water, we thought she was going to leap in and join the fish!  And she enjoyed the Chicago dog beach the one time she rode with us.  Her first raindrops, her first snowflakes, her first snowstorm, her first time going down the slide.....A single adventure with this loving, loyal and likeable Lab is hard to focus on!  Everyday is an adventure with her!

Our favorite would be our most recent trip. We went camping at the Ozarks in MO.  Family included, two adults, two kids, two dogs.  We went "tubing" down the current river in Big Springs and my husband had the two dogs, himself and my 5 yr old son with him in a blow up raft boat.  Remy our girl dog loves the water and was constantly jumping in and out of the water, where her litter mate brother Louie does not like water at all and would wait till he could jump onto land before he got out of the boat.  Well needless to say at one time during the trip all 4 of them almost ran into a low hanging tree branch and almost landed in the water.  Funny to look back now but not at the time.

 

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Stacy, Aurora

My kids love racing with Hunter, throwing sticks, and singing songs with him.  

Our favorite activity is camping.  It's fun to have the dog take part in family traditions.

Congratulations to the following Chicago Parent readers. They are the winners of a set of passes for two adults, two kids and two dogs for a Canine Cruise, courtesy of Mercury, Chicago's Skyline Cruiseline. Thanks to everyone who participated, we wish you all the best of luck in future contests.

jamiesummer
melodymurphy

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Kate Pancero
Assistant Editor/Weekend E-dition Editor
FabMama columnist
Chicago Parent