Tails and Ales is back with craft brews and diving dogs

After a two-year hiatus, the Tails and Ales festival returned to Lake George this weekend, May 21-22. The event, a joint effort of  The Dog Cabin and Adirondack Brewery, is a dog-centric festival that highlights the region’s robust craft beverage industry. The festival is held on the grounds adjacent to the Adirondack Pub and Brewery at 1 Canada Street.  

In addition to craft beer, attendees could purchase food from the Adirondack Pub and Brewery food truck, shop for themselves and their dogs at merchandise vendor booths, see K-9 demonstrations and enjoy live music and the entertainment of DJ Chaz Giknis of Absolute Sound. Dogs could show off their athletic abilities at the Dog Lovers Days lure course, an obstacle course that has dogs chasing a lure around a track, leaping over pipes and running through hoops.

Green Mountain Dock Dogs filled the center of the festival grounds with its speed and distance competitions. Dogs would take a running leap into a large pool of water, swim the pool’s length, retrieve a bone and return it to their owner on the dock.  

The inaugural Tails and Ales was held in May 2019 and proved that dogs and beer are a popular combination. The event brought out a large crowd of people and dogs of all breeds and sizes. While organizers planned to hold the event each May, Tails and Ales 2020 and 2021 were canceled due to the pandemic.

Dog Cabin owner Lisa Giknis says this year they had 25 vendors and good attendance on Saturday. Attendance dropped on Sunday, which she attributes to the extreme heat and threats of stormy weather. John Carr of the Adirondack Pub and Brewery says they hope to grow the event each year and perhaps move it across the street to the Festival Commons if it becomes too large for its current location.

Admission cost is a $5 per person donation. Those who donate $20 or more receive an event t-shirt. Proceeds benefit Woofs for Warriors and the North Country Humane Society, formally known as the Warren County SPCA.

Woofs for Warriors, based in Queensbury, New York, trains rescue dogs to serve as assistance and service dogs for veterans coping with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other issues.

North Country Humane Society works to promote the humane treatment of animals through education and service. Jenn Howse of NCHS explained the organization changed its name from Warren County SPCA to reflect its new emphasis on working with groups beyond Warren County.

The Society recently donated a microchip scanner to Brett Moulton, who is the Animal Control Officer for Warrensburg, Bolton, Thurman, Lake George and Lake Luzerne. Carr says this is an important tool for the animal control officer because, without a microchip scanner, he would have to bring loose dogs to a pound, where they may have to stay over a weekend before they are identified. With the scanner, dogs that are microchipped can be quickly reunited with their owners. The North Country Humane Society also plans to donate a microchip scanner to the Glens Falls Police Department.