I like to save money. I also like my dog. Surprisingly, these two concepts blend together quite well. Today I am excited to share with you some summer fun times with your dog, while saving money. Thankfully most of these are also great ideas for family and friends to join in!
- Hiking, Biking, and maybe unicycling
I’ll be honest- I’ve never taken Chloe on a unicycle. However, hiking is our favorite free past time year round! We love to use our all-trails app, which has a ton of dog friendly trails available in the areas nearest to us. With summertime coming in hot, we find hikes along rivers or venture toward lakes. Chloe is still rather nervous around water, so I try to inspire her using the most beautiful scenes we can find!
Bike trails are also a great place for dogs, as long as they are not nervous around bikes! Many smaller dogs ride along, but it is excellent exercise to train your dog to run alongside your bike, (Zak George has a video about it) and most bike trails are free! In Fargo, North Dakota the shade is limited but there are bike trails all over the city! Thankfully Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and many bike trails around the world offer shade for the summer days. In my world with Chloe, we can walk and run around bikes, but I don’t own a bike to try out. Maybe we can give it a go this summer. We have tried kayaking, which is yet another great way to spend time together for free!
Watkins Glen State Park in New York 
Confidently playing in a waterfall
- Dog Barks and Off Leash Areas
I did that on purpose. Did you catch it? Dog Barks, Dog Parks… I think I’m funny. Anyway, Dog Barks are many and plentiful! I use “Bring Fido.com” to find dog friendly barks near me! Unfortunately, many barks aren’t labeled in smaller towns, and it is necessary to drive around town or ask the locals to find Dog Barks. Campgrounds, rest areas, and town parks are usually the best places to look! Many parks offer off leash areas, and some places even have fountains and agility training areas to play and train with your pup! Personally, I am all about the Dog Barks in the summer, because Chloe loves to run around with dogs. We find off leash areas perfect for training time, as they are usually less crowded.
- Dog Friendly Stores, Malls and more
Fair warning- If you walk into Pet Smart with your dog, it might not be free. Because they might find a toy simply irresistible, and then you decide you should spoil your pup, and then you let her pick out her favorite bone too, because you are already there… But you can choose to not spend money and just spend time looking at the cool supplies too. Most stores that do not sell food, are pet friendly. Lowes, Home Depot, Cabela’s, Scheels, Farm Stores, Outdoor Stores, Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Mechanic Shops are all typically dog friendly but it always is helpful to ask before entering, because you may be taken by surprise. For example, Menards sells food, and therefore most Menards stores are not pet friendly.
Please be sure your dog is social and enjoys the busy environment before dragging him or her into one of these stores. I like to work on training Chloe when we visit these stores, so she can practice visiting people, ignoring other dogs or cats, and I can look at the awesome supplies. It is a great free way to bond when it is too hot or too cold for outdoor adventures.
My favorite story is about the Bridgeport Village Mall near Tualatin Oregon (just south of Portland). This is a puppy heaven. There are vendors selling food outside, puppies in a training class, clothing shops that are pet friendly- pretty much every store offers treats. It was amazing. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend walking through the cobblestone streets with your pup.
- Lakes with Cakes, and Ocean Dates
Cape Flattery, WA 
By Cakes, I mean Dairy Queen. Going through a drive through dairy queen and ordering a pup-cup for Chloe and a small cookie dough blizzard for myself is one of my favorite pastimes with Chloe. We sit either outside or in my truck and slurp away on our dairy queen delight. It’s great.
Lakes and Oceans are another FREE and wonderful way to spend time with your pup! Chloe loves to run around, dig in the sand, roll around in it too and looks forward to these days just as much as any child! Whenever I lay down in the sun, she usually likes to join me too. She also likes to tip over umbrellas. It’s a great way to meet new friends!
Outdoor Restaurants
Our last recommendation for money friendly puppy adventures is- take your dog on a date. Yes, I am being serious. We love doing this. There is nothing as great as getting a burger at J.L. Beers in Fargo (or Grand Forks, Sioux Falls, etc) and eating it while your dog sits at your feet, munching on a bone. Of course, in restaurants you sit outside with permission; and the best way to save money is ordering water and getting a burger without the fries. I also like to use bringfido.com for these adventures, as there are many pup friendly restaurants around, and bringfido knows most of them!
I hope you all enjoyed reading our post today! We hope you have some excellent ideas for spending time with your pup while also saving money this summer! Have you ever tried unicycling with a dog? What other ways do you all save money while bonding with your pup? Thanks for reading! Happy Trails and Happy Tails to you all.