Does your dog love the water?
Then check out the new Pooch Pool School, located at 2202 Herd Rd. in North Cowichan.
With its 40-foot dock and 50-foot pool, the PPS is the only official sized dock-diving facility for dogs that is sanctioned by the North America Diving Dogs organization in B.C.
The facility is available for teaching dogs to dock dive, and provides dock-diving training practice.
Diving dogs is a canine sport in which dogs are enticed to run the length of a dock and leap as far out into the water as possible to compete for the distance they land in the water.
Dock diving is one of the fastest growing sports for dogs and the North America Diving Dogs organization has enhanced the sport by working with dock-diving facilities and competitors across North America, including the PPS.
PPS founder and instructor Kim Sirett said the school had been operating in Nanaimo for more than three years before moving to the Cowichan Valley at the beginning of July.
She said the location on Herd Road is better than the one they operated from in Nanaimo, and the Municipality of North Cowichan has been very helpful and supportive in helping the school set up here.
Sirett said people and their dogs come from all over Vancouver Island and beyond to the facility to train for NADD-sanctioned events, and 58 dogs of all breeds attended the latest training sessions that were held July 25-28.
“The only requirement is that the dogs like water,” she said. “PPS can be booked for the use of fitness, swim lessons and aqua therapy as well.”
Email info@poochpoolscschool.ca, or call 250-619-8241 for more information.
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Cobble Hill’s new Holocene Distilling Project is hosting its first ever Cocktails & Courses event on Aug. 31.
Cocktails & Courses is a long-table style dinner that will have pairings of six custom cocktails from Holocene with five unique food courses prepared by the Midnight Tea Party, a catering service operated by Sadie Marquis, a private chef based in Victoria.
Dorian Redden, who co-owns Holocene along with Aisling Goodman, said the partners just opened the distillery at 1134 Chapman Rd. in Cobble Hill nine months ago, and it currently distills six products, including a vodka, gin and four types of liqueurs.
He said Cocktails & Courses, which begins at 6 p.m. and will be preceded by a tour of the distillery, is Holocene’s first event of this nature, and plans are for more to be held.
It will be held outdoors, and under tents if it rains, and there are only 20 tickets available so interested people may want to get one fast before the tickets, which are $165 each, are sold out.
The first course consists of prawn toast and wasabi pear dip paired with wasabi pear martini, and the second course will be fermented baby bok choy and candied peanuts paired with greena colada.
To see what the other three courses and pairings are at the Cocktails & Courses event, and to buy tickets, go to Holocene’s web page at holocenedistillingproject.com, click on SHOP in the headings and then click on Cocktails & Courses.
“We’re looking forward to hosting Cocktails & Courses and meeting people in our community,” Redden said.
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It’s Miracle Treat Day again at Duncan’s Dairy Queen on Aug. 8.
During that day, net proceeds from every Blizzard Treat sold at the Duncan Dairy Queen, and other DQs across the province, will go to BC Children's Hospital Foundation for medical research, innovations in treatment and care, child-centred healing spaces and more.
It’s the 22nd annual Miracle Treat Day for DQ, and the 40th anniversary of the partnership DQ has with the Children’s Miracle Network.
Travis Berthiaume, owner of Duncan’s DQ located at 328 Trans-Canada Hwy., was recognized as DQ’s Miracle Maker Award recipient for 2023 earlier this year.
Each year, the Miracle Maker Award is presented to a Canadian franchisee and/or operator who has gone above and beyond in their fundraising efforts to support their local Children’s Miracle Network hospital.
Over the years, Berthiaume has raised more than $147,000 in support of the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation through Miracle Treat Day and other fundraising activities year-round.
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The Downtown Duncan Business Improvement Area is inviting its members to attend the Safety and Security Initiative Presentation on Aug. 8.
With the participation of more than 150 members, invaluable feedback and insights have been provided on the DDBIA’s Safety and Security Benchmark Study, and a detailed review of the results will be made at the presentation.
“We are thrilled to announce the completion of our study,” the DDBIA said.
“We extend our heartfelt thanks to every member who contributed their time to this important study. We look forward to your participation and continued support."
People will have two options to attend the presentation, which will be held at the Cowichan Community Centre.
The first runs from noon to 1:30 p.m., and the second will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
