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Nature Dog
A new doggy adventure service brings beasts back to nature.
Nature Dog
Pet owners’ guilt over leaving their furry babies home all day can lead to odd displays of overcompensation (think “holistic” pet food, Louis Vuitton accessories and private counseling sessions with animal psychics). But at the end of the indulgence, pups still spend eight lonely, inactive hours at home. Nature Dog, a new canine adventure company launched by former marketing man Kyle Wortham, promises to put well-meaning pet owners’ money to better use with exercise-filled half-day, off-leash beach or forest outings.
Wortham, who grew up with dogs on a farm outside Kansas City, hatched the idea for Nature Dog while working long hours as a Pabst marketing director. “I felt guilty leaving my dog at home for ten hours a day, and I realized pretty quickly that doggy day cares are not all they’re cracked up to be,” he says. “It’s basically just a huge warehouse full of dogs running around. I think it can be stressful.”
Remembering how much his farm dogs loved running free outdoors, Wortham started planning his doggy day camp.
The only service of its kind in the Chicago area, Nature Dog picks up canines at their homes for either a morning or afternoon session, and transports them in a roomy van where they socialize and bond in groups of about six. Upon arrival at either Montrose Beach or Prairie Wolf Dog Exercise Run in Lake Forest, the dogs are set loose. Two handlers oversee them at all times, while Wortham’s Labrador retriever, Pacho, acts as junior camp counselor, leading the pack and demonstrating the possibilities: For the forest run, this means swimming and playing fetch in the pond, leaping through tall grass, running on trails and splashing in mud pits. Owners don’t have to worry about dirty dogs, though: All pups are rinsed off under the van’s custom dog shower and towel dried before returning home, where they can almost guarantee they had more fun than you did at your desk job.
Nature Dog serves Old Town, River North, River West, West Town/Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park and Bucktown (773-332-2542). $44–$49; discounts for 4 or 12 outings.
