Saturday January 23rd 2016

Macie had an overall great day today! She was very excited to go out for her walk this morning and was jumping right up at her kennel door while waiting to go out. She and one of her best friends, our husky Justice, walked this morning in the back trails. The two of them were especially good at getting all caught up around trees due to all of the exploring they did. They would each take turns leading one another through the forest, most times straying from the path to follow a certain scent. When it came for Macie's outdoor group time, she raced right out of her kennel and into the yard with her good pal Justice once again following behind. The two of the enjoyed bouncing around for a little while but Justice soon decided he wanted to go explore in the yard which left Macie and I to play. I brought out a pink rope toy and she absolutely loved it. We played tug-of-war with it, fetch, as well as her playing keep away from me.

Boris and Tasha both had an excellent as well as energy-filled day. They were very excited to go outside this morning and were almost hopping over each other to get out and race around the yard. As soon as they got outside that’s what they did. Boris took the lead with Tasha right on his tail as they sprinted around the agility yard after one another. They seemed to get a huge amount of energy out and were quite content to come back inside for something to eat. However once it was time for their walk, they were just as happy to get outside and chase each other. The two of them bounced out and were on their way as soon as possible. They spent most of their walk side by side while sniffing for anything they could possibly find. Boris kept getting caught up around the trees while Tasha just watched him as if she was laughing at him. During their outdoor group time, they were always moving. Boris began chasing our husky Magic around and it never seemed to stop. Soon enough Tasha was involved and the three of them went crazy! They were sprinted after each other from yard to yard while also tackling one another. Tasha would stop every so often if something else caught her eye but Boris and Magic never gave up. When it came time for their enhanced work, the two of them were loving every minute of it. Of course Tasha enjoyed all of her snuggles that she got. I sat in with her for a while and gave her a good belly rub, she never wanted it to end! Boris is starting to excel at his basic training and looks forward to it every day. I brought him out front on an extra-long leash and we practiced his recall. The first couple times he was a bit slow at responding but soon enough he got the hang of it and was coming back right away. I also tried to work on getting him to not jump up as much but he didn’t really seem to in the yard, so I think it’s already working. Finally we went into the front playroom and practiced his sits and downs. He did an excellent job with the sits but was a bit slower with the downs.

Ripley was another popular playful friend for Tasha, Boris and Magic. She was always right in the middle of all the action when they were playing games. She especially enjoyed tackling Boris and would follow him around even when they weren’t all chasing each other. Another of Ripley's favorites was our eldest husky Merlin. Merlin was also quite interested in playing with Ripley. The two of them would constantly paw at one another as if it was a little game. When she was all tuckered out from playing, Ripley wandered around the yard until she found me, and we ended up cuddling for almost the rest of her group time. She was very cuddly all throughout the day even in her groups later that day. Her obsession today seemed to be a bum rub as she would always turn around so I could give her one!

Max was a very playful and well-mannered boy throughout the entire day. He started off his morning on a one on one walk to try and ensure he did a good job of not jumping and also controlling his excitement when it came to people. He did an excellent job! As soon as we went out he jumped up once but once he was corrected he didn’t do it again during his walk. Throughout his walk, Max was quite the explorer and he definitely wanted to move faster than I was going. He was always at the end of his leash trying to explore further and often times tried to stray off of the path to follow his nose. I also worked on his jumping when it came to his group time. Since he was much more excited, he did jump up a bit more but with a few corrections he calmed down quite a bit and instead put his energy towards playing with the other dogs. He loved absolutely everyone in his group and had a great time playing with each and every one of them. He especially liked getting a bum rub towards the end of the group while we cuddled.

Hobart is such a silly guy. He was very excited to get outside and go on his walk today and bounced right out of his kennel. However, he walked with a volunteer that he didn’t know so he was bouncing all around him when he first saw him. He looked so funny on the trail as he was trying to get attention from him but at the same time was trying to hop away. This made for a pretty eventful and tiring walk for the two of them. By the time they got back inside, Hobart trotted back into his kennel and laid right down to have a short nap. When it came for his outdoor play time, he loved to sit in the sun and soak it all up. For the most part he stayed by himself as he roamed around the yard but towards the end of the group he got a ton of attention from me, which he just couldn’t get enough of. He would constantly nudge his head against my leg in order for me to give him as many pets as possible.

Bandit is getting so much more comfortable inside! He’s always such a happy and playful boy outside but seems to become a little shy once he gets through the door. However this is slowly getting much better. He stepped right out of his kennel and trotted outside today for his walk. He seemed so excited to get out into the field and start his walk with one of his good friends. He was very content walking right beside me and always seemed to be looking up for a pat on the head. During his outdoor play group he was just as confident to get outside and immediately began playing with each and every dog in his group. When one dog needed a break, Bandit quickly hopped to the next friend he could find. By the end of the group time, he decided he wanted to play tag with me and would constantly jump around me until I tried to pet him then would run away. He was always looking back at me as if to say catch me if you can!

Rupert and Oliver both had an awesome first day back here at Tails & Trails. Rupert was very excited to be back as soon as he headed towards his kennel. He immediately began sniffing all the dogs through their kennel doors before settling onto his bed. When it came time for his walk, Rupert was paired up with our foster bloodhound, Scarlett. The two of them were friends right from the beginning. I think Scarlett added an extra pep in both mine and Rupert’s step as she raced outside and was at the end of her leash for most of the walk. This kept Rupert walking pretty fast but he still stopped occasionally to sniff out a few things along the way. During his outdoor play group, Rupert met up with one of his old friends, Oliver, and the two of them stuck fairly close together for most of the time. They each weren’t very interested in playing with the other dogs, but would instead just sniff them in greeting as they walked by. Rupert was quite the attention hog at some points during the day as he would come right up to me and wait for me to pet him as he stared up at me. Oliver did a thorough check of the yard before picking the best spot for sniffing. Oliver’s nose must have been going crazy during the whole group time as he was constantly moving all around the yard trying to sniff out various different smells. This was also the case on his walk this morning. He got a special one on one walk with one of our volunteers around the back forest. This seemed like heaven to Oliver as there were so many different smells for him to investigate and for the quality time he got to spend with our volunteer.

Shyla and Maverick, what an exciting pair! They were both glad to get outside for their walk this morning and trotted out side by side once I put their leashes on. Maverick quickly took the lead as he explored everything at the end of his leash. Shyla, on the other hand, stayed very close to me or wandered behind me as she usually would stop to smell a branch on the ground or another dogs tracks. She was very calm today at the beginning of her walk but slowly caught up to Maverick’s pace and stayed beside him. When it came time for their outdoor group time, Maverick was the most playful one in the group! He was always making sure to get involved with anything that happened and followed each and every dog around in his group until he found a playmate. I made his search easy by grabbing a pink rope toy and offering to play with him myself. Maverick bounced over and grabbed one end of the toy, which caught Shyla's attention. The two of them had their ears perked right up and were waiting with anticipation for me to throw the rope for them to chase. Once I did, Maverick took off like a bullet after the toy to ensure that he was the one to catch it. Although most of the time it worked, there were also a few times where one of his friends caught the toy before him and he would run circles around them until they dropped it, then he’d pick it up and continue on with the game. Shyla was very interested in the game and loved chasing after everyone who chased after the toy, but she didn’t really care for the toy itself. Instead she mostly watched all the dogs chasing it and joined in the occasional run. Whenever she wasn’t watching Maverick and the others, she usually roamed around the yard trying to smell all the different smells.

Jake walked outside and immediately started to look for someone to play with. He would walk up to each dog and jump around them to see their reaction. A few of the dogs started getting excited and jumped around with him, which quickly turned into a game of tag out in the snow. Jake was loving the attention and was running around with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. When the dogs were chasing him he would only run in small circles so they all looked like they were lost! Bella was glued to Jake's hip outside; she loves being around him. On their walk this morning they both had so much to say! Bella kept on howling at the dogs ahead of us and really wanted to go up to see them. During groups she took her time exploring the yard and wandering around near Jake. Bella was not quite as energetic as Jake, but she certainly seemed happy to watch everyone play.

Miko really wanted me to play with him today more than any of the dogs. He ran back and forth across the yard, getting his zoomies out, and then started inviting me to play. Every time I would approach him to give him some attention or take a picture, he'd start teasing me, encouraging me to chase him. Eventually Miko settled on playing with a tennis ball he dug out of the snow. He walked around with it very proudly, showing off his treasure to the other dogs.

Mac thought that Olive was the most interesting gal in the group today and followed her everywhere. Although Olive wasn't that interested in actually playing with the young pup, she didn't seem to mind his company, especially once he gave up on the play idea and just accompanied her in her explorations around the yard.  When Olive came over to see me, I gave her lots of cuddles to help warm her up and then it was time to go into the indoor playroom.

CATS

Chef was his usual cuddly self, lounging in the cat tree, with not a worry in the world! He also got some exciting action with the laser pointer today, which was so fun for him. He was laying in the cat tree when the laser pointer caught his attention. I pointed it right in front of his paws, which got his curiosity swirling. After that, I quickly moved it around and that got him right off his feet and he leapt down to the ground to catch the mysterious red dot. After a few attempts to catch the dot, Chief took a break to go curl back up in his favourite spot: the hammock on the cat tree.

Misty was the first one of the day to enjoy the cat room. She no doubt sat at the window and watched the pretty sun come up this morning! That sure is her favorite place to lay! She then took it upon herself to explore the entire room after she'd had enough window gazing. She looked in the cabinet at all the nifty things that were lying around. She then went to the cat tree and took a little sit in the cubbie hole before returning to her window perch. She laid down for a while while the sun was still out. After, she returned to her condo and retired for the day, with a long cat nap.

Ziggy and Chief are becoming pretty good friends! Today he spent most of the time sleeping in his condo, until Chef thought that he could use a little pick me up and then wandered in to see what Ziggy was up to. Ziggy was lured out into the common area by Chief, after some persuasion. These two wandered around the room, passing by each other as they went. Ziggy then curled up in the cat tree, in Chief's favorite spot: the hammock. Chief wasn't too happy about this at first, but he decided to let his friend enjoy the spot for the day.