Time to Stop and Smell the Roses (or, An Excuse to Tell You What’s in My Treat Pouch)
By Ran Courant-Morgan, M.S., BCBA, LABA
On our walks this spring, I have, very literally, been stopping to smell the roses. Funnily enough, my dog Beacon often looks at me like, “What are we stopping for? We’re off to adventure!” despite the many, many, many stops we make for her to examine a particular blade of grass up and down and underneath. She stops short of actually putting the blade of grass in her nostril, but I frequently watch to see if today is the day it will happen, because it always looks like we’re just on the precipice of “grass up the nose.”
One of the many actual roses I have stopped to smell, and one of the very few I have photographed.
Stopping and smelling the roses, and the appreciation and pleasure that I have taken from that, has also spilled into stopping and listening to the birds, and, recently, stopping to look for those birds as well. There’s something incredibly grounding for me about standing still and just watching the birds be birds.
A few weeks ago, I was Influenced by Sophie Lucido Johnson. Sophie writes a brilliant, reassuring, and inspiring newsletter called You Are Doing a Good Enough Job, perhaps the only newsletter I pay to receive (though it has a free option; I pay $5/month just because I love it so much). She recently raved about binoculars. In the past, I have struggled with binoculars, always having a hard time holding them at the correct angle to see comfortably through them while wearing glasses, but Sophie’s recommendations have never steered me wrong. When I clicked on her link to Nocs Provisions, I learned that monoculars are a thing, and I bought a Zoom Tube. It is fantastic – just hold it up and look! I bought it with the goal of using it on a Puffins tour in May (which was super cool! And there were seals!).
My wife took this picture of the puffins *with her phone*
Now I’m back from the ocean in Maine, and it turns out that my Nocs fit perfectly in my favorite treat pouch, and I have seen so many birds! Earlier this week, I stopped to watch some birds while Beacon frolicked around me in the woods. What surprised me, though, was that when I stopped walking and started looking around, she stopped frolicking, and she looked around, too. I watched a little gray bird fly across the water and land on some lily pads; she sniffed around the base of a tree. We both stood and watched a pair of swans across the lake with their babies – seven of them, I determined, after careful observation with my Zoom Tube.
The Nocs – in real life!
Spotting the swans
The best my phone could do… the Nocs were far better!
It has been such a lovely addition to our walks that I wanted to share… which also made me think about what else is in my treat pouch, making my life better. So here’s the list:
First, the treat pouch itself! I use (and love) a Ruffwear Home Trail Hip Pack.I have gone through a few, but this one has stuck so far. I love all the space and the different sections, which are enough for me but not so many that I am overwhelmed.
On the outside of the pack, I have The Perfect Wipe Cloth from Trail Blazing Tails. I can’t believe how long I lived without having something like this! I use it to wipe my hands after managing a muddy leash or just after getting some dog slobber on my fingers. It’s easy to clip on and off, washable, and never gets in the way.
Inside the main compartment of my Hip Pack, I have a small, silicone bag for my treats. I absolutely love these ZipTop snack containers. They’re easy to reach into, stay open for easy access, zip closed when not in use, and – not that it matters – they’re very cute. I keep my dry treats in here.
Next to that, I have my Nocs (which come with a little carrying bag, so the actual monocular is safe from treat dust), along with my bug spray. I have long used Murphy’s Natural Insect Repellant, which works well but requires frequent reapplication. This month, after a recommendation from Wirecutter, I tried Sawyer Picaridin Insect Repellent. The bottle is a little larger, so it’s a bit snug in my pack, but I have had zero mosquito bites so far, no ticks, and two mosquitoes landed on me and then flew away. I’m sold.
In the back of the large pocket is a small divider, where I stash a cheese stick as a high value treat if I’m ever in need of something a little more enticing.
In the front zip pouch, I keep a couple extra poop bags (this is my stash if I suddenly run out of the roll and need a spare – highly recommend this method to avoid being caught without a bag!) as well as my silent dog whistle, which is what I use for emergency recalls, or if I’m somewhere loud where my dog can’t hear me. A few years ago, we were hiking near a waterfall, which completely drowned out my voice, and I realized I needed a sound that would carry over other noises and perhaps more distance. This whistle was recommended by Don at Running Dogs and I absolutely love it.
The back of the pack has a small padded opening that’s perfect for sliding in a phone, or a driver’s license (if I’m driving a few minutes away to a nearby hike and don’t need my full wallet), and – of course! Don’t leave home without it! – a small pocket guide to animal tracks.
That said, you don’t need any of these things to go on and enjoy a walk with your dog (though I do highly recommend always having treats on you, as well as poop bags!). But these are the things that help me enjoy our walks just a little bit more, allowing me to look a little closer and count the baby swans, or appreciate the speckles of a flicker, or recognize raccoon tracks across a bridge. My hands are clean(ish), my treats are organized(ish), and I’m ready to tackle wherever Beacon takes us.
