004: Dogs in Indy (Lauren Ursic as Guest) (Indianapolis, Indiana, Travel Locally, Pets)

Indy Unscripted welcomes their first guest, Lauren Ursic, who knows all of the great dog-friendly places in Indy. Lauren grew up in the Chicago area, but came to Indiana to go to school at Depauw, where it's commonly known that there are more pigs than people. After graduation she moved to the Northeast side of Indy and has lived in the area for 4 1/2 years now. One of the most important parts of Lauren's life is her pets -- with 3 dogs (Tucker, Duncan, and Cooper), 2 turtles (Mojo and DJ), 3 goldfish that survived (nameless), and 1 beta fish (Luigi) -- they keep her busy! Busy playing with them, cleaning their tanks, feeding them goldfish... Yeah. Turtles eat live goldfish. No one knows how to feel about it. Lauren and her husband Drew have made sure to train their dogs well in order to help erase the stigma of scary large dogs. All 3 of their dogs are on the bigger side, but they don't hesitate to bring them out and about! One place that is great for dogs is Spencer Farms . In the spring Spencer's offers strawberries and in the Fall they offer pumpkins and a hayride to the pumpkin patch. If you bring your dogs you won't be able to go on the hayride, but it's a short walk. Inside the shop, Spencer's has delicious pies, fudge, apple cider, and other delicious goodies to buy. The 3 Muttsketeers (as Lauren lovingly refers to them on her Instagram ), love to go anywhere they can stretch their legs -- but one of their all-time favorite places to go is 3 Dog Bakery . The workers behind the counter always give them a ton of treats. Other places they have learned to mooch treats are Lowe's and Home Depot . Not only are they dog-friendly stores, but the workers tend to carry dog treats with them or have them next to their cash registers. Tucker has learned to spot the worker's by their uniform and beg. Metazoa Brewing Company , Flat 12 Bierworks , Broadripple Brew Pub , and Chatham Tap in Fishers allow dogs. There are actually quite a few places that allow dogs! A few tips from Lauren on taking your pups to public places: call and ask to make sure they're allowed, keep them on leash, pick up after them, and make sure they're friendly to both dogs and people. Lauren prefers to keep her dogs away from dog parks because there are.... wait for it... other dogs. But really, no one knows how well the other dogs are trained, how well the owners are watching them, or what kind of creepy crawlies they have hanging out on them. It's better to let them run in your own backyard or another, more secluded place. If you're a fan of camping or hiking, don't be afraid to take the dogs with you! Clifty Falls in Madison, Indiana is known to have some dog-friendly cabins, or you could always let them hang out with you in your tent. A couple of other great outdoor places for dogs are Fort Harrison and Eagle Creek State Parks . There are tons of trails, water, and lots of different things to do that makes you feel like you have escaped the flat cornfields of Indiana. Lauren also takes her dogs to a lake house occasionally. They enjoy boating, swimming, and doing other typical frat-boy things. Lauren does live a life apart from her dogs. One part of that involves more dogs... and cats. As a volunteer at Heaven After Hell Rescue , she gets to care for tons of dogs on a weekly basis. Heaven After Hell is completely volunteer based and runs on donations alone. The dogs and cats they take are made up to date on their shots, trained, socialized, and then put up for adoption. This is the same place that De & her husband Chris got their cat, Sherlock. Heaven After Hell is always looking for donations -- not only monetary but also things like old blankets, cleaning supplies, or other pet related items. Truly aside from the animals, one of Lauren's favorite Indy restaurants is CR Heroes , which is a family restaurant and bar with amazing wings. It's a down-to-earth, calm environment that also offers up a lot of fun. But if she had to choose something to do with 24 hours of her time in Indy -- she would stick to downtown. She would explore Mass Ave. and eat at Ralston's DraftHouse . Then she'd go to Goodfella's Pizzeria and follow that up with her favorite cocktail (the Audrey Hepburn) at Wise Guy's , which is right behind Goodfella's. If you want to follow Lauren's tree climbing dogs, find them on Instagram @3.muttsketeers . And you can find Heaven After Hell Rescue on Facebook and Instagram . Links: Indyunscripted.com Spencer Farms -- Located in Noblesville, IN. Spencer Farms is a strawberry, blueberry, and pumpkin patch -- depending on the season. The Three Mutsketeers -- Tucker, Duncan, and Cooper's Instagram page! 3 Dog Bakery -- Locations in Broadripple, Downtown, and Noblesville. They bake up tons of tasty treats for dogs. Lowe's & Home Depot -- Big box, dog-friendly hardware and home improvement stores. Metazoa Brewing Company -- A dog-friendly brewery that donates 5% of profits to animal and wildlife organizations. Flat 12 Bierworks -- A craftbrewery with a dog-friendly patio. Broadripple Brew Pub -- Indiana's first brew pub -- it has a large dog-friendly patio. Chatham Tap -- An English soccer pub. The Fishers location allows dogs -- call and ask about the Mass Ave location. Clifty Falls State Park -- A state park in Madison, IN that has tons of hiking and beautiful scenery. Great for dogs! Fort Harrison State Park and Eagle Creek State Park -- Indianapolis State Parks that are great for hiking with your pups! Heaven After Hell Rescue -- A donation based, volunteer run rescue center for dogs and cats. Find them on Facebook and Instagram . CR Heroes -- A family restaurant and bar in Fishers, IN. Great wings! Ralston's DraftHouse -- A delicious Mass Ave. restaurant. Goodfella's Pizzeria -- A New York style pizzeria on Mass Ave. WiseGuy -- Connected to Goodfella's, a cool place with great cocktails.

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004: Dogs in Indy (Lauren Ursic as Guest) (Indianapolis, Indiana, Travel Locally, Pets) is an episode from Indy Unscripted.

This episode is 32:18 long.

This episode was published on Jan 4, 2018.

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