A Night in Brodie's Happy Place

Fall camping at Jenny Jump State Forest!

Well with an Instagram name like BackwoodsBrodie, you can probably guess that Brodie's favorite thing to do is to be outside in the woods! Taking Brodie camping really shows his happiest side because its 24+ hours in his absolute happiest place! And as you can see, Dan and I love being out in the woods too! Dedicated time when we can just focus on family!

We camped with 2 of our closest friends, Nick and Matt! It was all of our first time camping at Jenny Jump State Forest. The campsites were clean and spacious enough for all 3 tents, plus all 3 cars! The site also had a lantern hook, picnic table, and the fire ring. We lucked out and had a site close to the bathroom! (Not that the men or Brodie cared, but I was happy!)

After getting everything all set up, we set out on a hike! Partially to exercise Brodie, but also because, who wouldn't want to take advantage of the beautiful views from the trails?! There's multiple trails to take around the state forest. We were able to start and end right at our campsite, which I have to say was AWESOME!

I'm (75%) sure we started on the red trail, moved to the yellow trail to see the scenic views, and then used the blue trail to get back to our campsite! Our hike was about 2.75 miles, the perfect hike to get Brodie to be tired enough to settle nicely by the campfire.

During our hike we had some...dog fails or training fails. You pick which one. Brodie showed some more extreme leash reactivity than he ever had before. He pulled and barked at a few humans. Something that had never really happened before. He was always OVERLY friendly. It opened our eye to his current fight with allergies and how they can effect his anxiety and behavior.

It's something that we are now full on addressing. Because how does a SUPER friendly dog have these completely random outbursts? They are never consistent. We're working on training and how to help in the best ways we can! Reactive Dogs are still good dogs and we are here to do our best for them! But on the positive side, at least we learned his allergies and have been able to combat those!!

Even though we had those couple of "fails," Brodie was SO much more settled and comfortable than our first camping trip for my birthday back in May. He chewed his bone, cuddled with my boot, and of course, tried to steal our dinners. We had a BLAST! He even slept through the night...the WHOLE night! No barking at noises he couldn't see, no trying to escape the tent! It was so cozy, cuddling all night long!

The next morning was so relaxing. We were up nice and early, got the coffee going and had a nice and toasty fire. If you haven't tried Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co, we HIGHLY recommend it! Their idea is that "great coffee can fuel a greater purpose." 20% of their profits are donated to various rescue organizations. Our favorites are the Loveable Blend, Italian Hazelnut, Good Boy, Rescue Roast (100% of the profits for this one goes to a different rescue each month!!), Camp Out, and in the summer we LOVE Sunny Spot cold brew! "Sip Coffee, Save Pups, Rub Bellies!"

Overall, it was an amazing overnight trip! I didn't hate the food as much as my first time camping, there was good coffee and good company. I don't think there could be a better way to kick off the fall season than with a camping trip!

We also learned that Brodie will do just about anything for his Sherpa blanket or his frisbee! They seem to be his FAVORITE things in the world and we're glad we brought them!

The cuddles, the fetch, and the laughter made for an incredible weekend...all which led to a VERY tired Brodie when we got home! I think he slept for almost 2 days after! They do say a tired dog is a happy dog, and after being in his happy place, he may have been the happiest dog out there!

Live life in your happy place...its better than the other options!