If you’re looking for dog-friendly hikes in Tucson, you cannot get any better than the variety of hiking available at Catalina State Park. With spectacular views for you, and inviting sniffs for your dog, hiking year-round may be the best activity to strengthen your bond with your dog. Learn more about the 7 best hiking trails that allow dogs within Catalina State Park.

One of the McSquare Pack’s traditions is stopping for delicious burgers on road trips. Matthew and I began this habit a few years ago as we passed through Hatch, New Mexico. If you haven’t had a Sparky’s Green Chile Cheeseburger, you’re missing out!

Now whenever we plan a road trip, we check out our burger options. When we decided to visit Cochise’s Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains, we sniffed around for mealtime options and discovered Wicked Burgers.

Learning more about the history surrounding the places we live is a value Matthew and I share. After Thanksgiving, we drove out to the Coronado National Forest in the Dragoon Mountains to visit Cochise’s Stronghold.

Enticing October weather in Southern Arizona encourages people to explore a little farther from home. I discovered a socially conscious dog-friendly winery that Matthew and I knew we had to visit with our dogs.

Bernie and Lizzie were excited too since they’ve never been to a winery, but they anticipated bountiful sniffs on this adventure.

If you’re looking for someplace indoors to practice dog training in the real world, Bookmans welcomes well-behaved leashed dogs. Bernie and I spent another afternoon browsing at dog-friendly Bookmans while working on our Canine Good Citizen skills. Every Bookmans location offers interesting distractions like used books and novelty items plus friendly people.

Loop between Brandi Fenton Park and North Swan Road

Bernie, Lizzie, and I have a few walks that we just love. One of them is the 3.5 mile section of the Rillito River Park pathway between Brandi Fenton Memorial Park and N. Swan Road.

This pathway offers a nice mix of paved pathway and soft trail to help vary your route. There are also numerous features along the way that I like to use for training opportunities.

Sunday morning Bernie and I headed out to Oro Valley to meet up with the Blaker family for a Ruff House Pack Hike they had organized for clients.

As we walked toward the off-the-radar trail head, all of the dogs were on leash and getting to know one another. Bernie was in heaven with all of the new sniffs.

Bernie and I spent an engaging morning at Tucson's A Loyal Companion: Canine Swim & Recreation Center learning how to burn off the calories from yummy gourmet dog cookies. During the open house event, we learned more about canine fitness and the options available to us through this local facility.

For the past three weeks, Lizzie and I have been attending the simulcast of the Downtown Lecture Series at The Core Health and Wellness at LaEncantada.

The lecture series is hosted by the University of Arizona's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. For their fifth year, they chose the theme Truth and Trust in the Global Scene.

On Sunday, October 22, the McSquare Doodles walked the University of Arizona's Mall to support the Humane Society of Southern Arizona in their Sweat for Pets: Walk, Run & Roll. This 3K event included 800 human walkers and runners, and 400 dogs raising $47,765.

As the weather turned a little cooler in September, the McSquare Pack made an early evening trip over to Smiling Dog Ranch Dog Park, a park featuring two concrete tunnels, plenty of tennis balls, access to the Rillito River Walk/Path, and most importantly in Tucson...trees and shade!

From June through September, the Tucson Botanical Gardens opens their desert oasis to well-behaved leashed dogs for the Dog Days of Summer. Last Monday, the McSquare pack spent three hours meandering the pathways and enjoying breakfast at Cafe Botanica..