Life for an active dog in Chicago is pretty good. There’s 20+ dog parks, an awesome dog beach and plenty of dog-friendly green spaces. That said, there are just some things you can’t get in a city, and a massive dog-park with acres and acres to roam is one of those things. Luckily Chicago pups need only travel about thirty minutes outside of the city to find Prairie Wolf, a 44 acre dog preserve.
Emily and I took Eko to Prairie Wolf this past winter, but since we’ve had some balmy fall weather it seemed like the perfect weekend for another visit. We brought my brother and his pup along for the adventure as well.
The first thing we saw inside Prairie WOLF Park was this friendly…direwolf? Dog? Bear? (Side note: anyone have a guess as to what kind of dog this is? He was larger than Eko and very unique looking)
The second thing we saw was the dogs take off in flight. Penny was in heaven
Dutch was all smiles
As we walked the path the pups would dive into the brush looking for mischief
This was my view of Penny for most of the afternoon. Then I’d lose sight of her for a second, hear a rustle and…
Out she’d burst from the thicket
With Eko hot on her heels!
At one point, the trail curves out of sight. When I turned the bend just moments after the dogs had…
They were going absolutely crazy in this mud pit!
If scientists ever discover an exact formula for happiness, I’m positive a large component of it will be mud
But not to fear, Prairie Wolf also has a large lake where the pups washed off.
Penny and a little Yellow Lab had fun playing Clash of the Puppy Titans
Of course, after all my efforts this summer to get Eko and Penny swimming they decided to just go for it on their own in the lake.
Although it may appear Eko is smoking a stogie, that’s just a stick
So yeah, Prairie Wolf may not be in Chicago, but if you live in Chicago you absolutely must make the short trip with your dog. Come on, just look at this smile:
To see the pups this happy is worth every extra minute in the car, and then some
After the visit we had, you can be sure we’ll be back to Prairie Wolf soon!
We’re downstate a bit from you near Peoria and Bloomington, but that almost looks worth taking a road trip for!
If you ever find yourself in the area, definitely make an excuse to make the trip. Such an awesome place.
Wow I’ve seen happiness on dogs’ faces, but this is the best yet!! What a fun time! They must have been exhausted when they got home.
Very wolf looking body but a Malmute/Husky type face so maybe a cross? It looks like everyone had a blast! Don’t think that I would have wanted to be the Yellow’s owner, I am not sure that mud came off quite as well as it did on Penny and Eko.
I suppose it could be a malamute but a neighbor of mine at one time had a dog that was part wolf. Looks close to that.
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