Tails & Ales draws crowds to Lake George for cold beer, live music and dogs, dogs, dogs

This weekend, May 18 – 19, Saratoga had a Brewfest and Glens Falls held their Pet Fest, but for beer-drinking dog owners that couldn’t decide between the two, Lake George Tails & Ales was the place to be. Rat terriers mingled with rottweilers and bloodhounds socialized with boxers while their owners enjoyed music, drank craft brew, cheered-on diving dogs and browsed the goods offered by dozens of vendors. Tails & Ales is a joint venture of The Dog Cabin and Adirondack Brewery.

This is the first year for the event, which was held in the field behind Biscotti Brothers on Canada Street (across from Wood Park.) While organizers say it was difficult to measure the crowd size, it appears several hundred people, and many dogs, attended the event.

“We prayed for good weather,” says Chas Giknis, whose wife Lisa operates The Dog Cabin, and after several rainy weekends, their prayers were answered. The skies over Lake George were blue and the temperature rose to near 80 degrees Saturday afternoon. The event featured dogs competing in diving competitions, a dog lure course (sort of an Urban Assault run for canines,) live music, K-9 Unit demonstrations, the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, craft beer and Adirondack Brew Pub’s food wagon.

Tails & Ales proceeds will benefit Woofs for Warriors, Guiding Eyes for the blind and local animal shelters. Woofs for Warriors, a Queensbury-based organization, locates rescue dogs from a countrywide network and trains them to serve as assistance/service dogs for veterans coping with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other issues. Paul Argento, who, with Roberta VanDerzee, staffed the Woofs for Warriors information booth at Tails & Ales, says the difference the right dog can make it the life of someone suffering emotional problems is remarkable, and the Veterans Administration often refers vets to the organization.

Woofs for Warriors takes great care when pairing a dog with a vet, “personalities must match,” explains Argento, and they may travel across the country to locate the right dog. He tells of traveling to North Carolina to pick-up an underweight, flea-bitten rescue dog that turned out to be the perfect match for a veteran seeking help. VanDerzee says that while there are many fine organizations that do this type of work, a “huge benefit” of this program is that vets do not need to prove their disabilities are combat-related, an often difficult task.