Sunday, December 13th 2015

Rex was the most energetic out of everyone in his group today. As soon as he got outside he started to run around and burn off the energy he had. When he ran into the agility yard and quickly passed by me and the others he ran towards a red rope toy that was on the ground. The dirt didn’t bother him at all and he picked it right up for me to throw. I threw it across the yard and it turned into a game of fetch. He didn’t completely understand the concept of bringing it back to me though so I had to keep walking over to him to get it. After that he started to play tag with some of the dogs, mostly Magic and Brokk though, the only two that have as high of an energy level as him.

Duke was being such a nice boy, keeping quiet out in the yard until I started throwing the rope toy with Rex. It sure got Duke’s attention and his ears went straight up each time I tossed it. It didn’t take long before Duke started chasing after it in a race against Rex. Sadly, Duke would never get it because even when he did get to it before Rex, Duke didn’t pick it up, he would just start sniffing it until someone else picked it up. I called Duke over to me and he listened so well; he sat nicely for me as I took his photo, it was hard to get a good one with him looking at me because he gets distracted by the others easily.

Feist was way more active than Dexter out in the yard today, like most days. Feist likes to play a lot while Dexter would rather cuddle with you. As Feist was watching all the dogs running from one side of the yard to the other, she couldn’t keep to herself much longer and ran over to them and started to join in on all of their shenanigans. She got everyone to start a game of tag with her and was chasing a couple of dogs in circles for the entire time she was outside. Feist was always aware of where her brother, Dexter was, however, and checked in with him often. Dexter would run every now and then whenever a dog would go up and play bow at him to get him going. He didn't get too involved though; the other dogs' play entertained him enough and he was happy with doing that outside. Dexter would always come up to me and walk around me then sit right on my feet as he was watching, I think it was just for the cuddles he got when we were together.

Logan has been pretty playful on occasion this visit, but he decided to have a quieter day today. After a nice walk with Oliver, he had a short break to take it easy and then headed out with his group. He explored the yard, and as he moved around, slowly became aware of the other dogs in his group. His favourite groupmates are Sophie and Bentley and today Bentley invited Logan to play with a few well-timed playbows. The two engaged briefly with some bouncy hops and then decided they'd much rather explore some more together. 

Rocky and Maya were at completely different levels this morning during their walk. Maya ran straight out the door and had enough energy that she could have ran a marathon, instead she just ran the whole back to her kennel. But Rocky seemed to be way more relaxed so he walked behind us slowly tagging along. His legs are so small that even when he started to run to catch up he would just match it to the pace I was going. When we were outside Rocky stayed by the door like usual and just enjoyed the cool breeze we had today. He would walk over and peek his head around the side of the wall to see what we were doing for a second then run back to the door to wait to go back inside. Maya on the other hand was running around and wrestling with a couple of the dogs the entire time. I didn’t see her rest for one second that I was out with her. I saw that she was getting a little rough with one of the dogs so I threw a rope toy past her to get her attention and she completely stopped and ran to it to play with that instead. As she picked it up and started whipping it side to side one of our husky pups ran over and bit the other end of it to play tug of war. It was very cute and Maya was very gentle with him.

Benji just came in this morning and he is obviously very happy to be here. He had a bright big smile on his face every time I took a close up photo of him, with his little teeth showing. I couldn’t help but laugh. He was exploring when he was outside today going from one spot of the yard to the next when he decided to have a little fun and play with some of the dogs. At first he started going up to each little dog and sniffed them to see who was who. Once he had sorted everyone out, he was running around with our husky pup playing a little tag. The next thing on his agenda was some cuddles and he ran right over to me to get some pets and hugs.

Dexter A. is such a fast dog, and he loves to show it off by running everywhere he goes, teasing me that I can’t catch him! He was exploring around the yard and I was trying to go up and pet him but he would zip away in a second to continue exploring. He was making his way to the play structure when a big hole that was dug up caught his attention; he stuck his head in it to sniff around then decided to dig for himself. His paws got dirty but it was worth it. Dexter then ran to the play structure where he stood inside as the others came up to poke their heads in and say hi. He was having a fun morning.

Jake and Oliver have very much the same personalities. They are both very independent when they explore, friendly with people and love attention, especially attention that involves cuddling. I ended up giving them cuddles before sending them off in the yard. Oliver loved it so much he was giving me lots of kisses. Jake walked up to Oliver and gave him a sniff before continuing to walk around. They both took their time and explored the yard while the others played together. Neither Oliver nor Jake played much today unless I played with them one on one and got them hyper enough to chase me. Jake went to see me as I watched Oliver walk over to Fez and look at him affectionately. When Fez started to walk away Oliver followed. 

Karma is such a little guy, but he doesn’t like when you treat him like he is. He pretends he doesn't like cuddles but he secretly does. When I went to let their group outside this guy ran all the way to the end of the yard by the fence and started to stare out through the holes. He did this for a while before I called him over to me. Of course he didn’t come to me and ran right by me to see a few of the other dogs. He was looking a little cold so I started to pet him and warm him up,and he slowly moved onto his back with his feet in the air wanting more and more cuddles! Tough guy, eh, Karma?

Barney is such a funny guy, he went outside and started off slow, just exploring as he walked along the fence, at first sniffing the ground but then started sniffing the grass then came though the holes in the fence. Next thing I knew he was chewing on it. I called him over to me so he would stop and on the way over he found a plastic bone on the ground that he started laying down with to chew on and pass time. As he was laying down with it Nanook walked right by and snatched it from him then ran away really fast so he wouldn’t notice it was him. He had it for a while before dropping it off somewhere near my feet, I picked it up and as I did both Nanook and Barneys faces lit right up… I think somebody wanted the bone. I threw it across the yard and only Nanook took off right after it, he ran so fast I haven’t seen him have that much energy in a while. After that I threw it a few times for him but he slowly became less interested and went back to exploring and sniffing around. By the time we were going inside he was sniffing Barney a lot.

Kouza is such an independent dog and really enjoys just hanging out with the other dogs. She was walking around in the grass with her nose in the air, catching up on things since her last visit. Whenever she heard a noise her head would always turn directly towards it. I called her over to me because I wanted to pet her, and I was so happy when she came right over to get some love. I found a really long rope toy that I tossed to her and she started running in circles going crazy and barking at it. I was pulling the other end and we were having a mini tug a war game.

Winston wasn't in an outdoor kind of mood today and indicated that he'd rather be inside napping by waiting at the door.  I think it’s just because he knew it was Sunday and wanted to sleep for most of the day. When he ended up going back inside he plopped right down on his blanket and closed his eyes; it wasn’t even a minute before he fell asleep. Outside I was trying to get him to come over to me and the dogs to say hi and he did for a second but then quickly went back to sitting at the door.