Wednesday April 27th, 2016

Max and Sadie were both very eager this morning to go out for their walk. They were bouncing all around their kennel until I opened the door then they ran out and waited until I got their leashes hooked on to go outside. At first they were both so excited as they started walking. All Max wanted to do was play, while Sadie was running around him in circles but they quickly calmed down and were on their best behaviour during the rest of their walk. Outside during group, they were both very calm at first. All they wanted to do was explore and that’s what they did. Sadie sniffed around the yard while Max ran around sniffing with her, making sure to smell all the dogs. It didn’t take long before Max got excited and started running around and playing. He ran up to Sadie and jumped up on her back and she flung around and began to chase him.

Ranger was watching Max and Sadie as they started to play. Max zoomed past him, so Ranger decided to find a sunny spot off to the side where he could sit and watch. He didn’t join in with them as they were running around much, but he did socialize with Max and Sadie for a little while before they started playing. When he wasn’t hanging around Max and Sadie, Ranger was off on his own in the further yard sniffing along the fence. He liked to dig in the rocks that were there and he moved them all around so they were spread out instead of in a pile. He came up to me when I called him over and I gave him a nice big back scratch. He started to smile as I pet him so you could really tell he enjoyed it.

Nymeria is getting used to her commands during her enhanced training. She knows how to sit, give paw and lay down but she still has difficulty with it when she gets excited. She has a harder time concentrating and likes to jump up a lot but once she settles down, she is a lot better. I was teaching her how to be more gentle when I give her treats, taking it nice and slowly each time. Outside during group she had a crazy fun day with all of her friends in her group, including Finnigan. Finnigan was interested in Nymeria right away and as soon as they walked out the door, he ran up to her and started to sniff her and say hi before he chased her all the way into the further yard. They began to wrestle with each other all over the grass as the others ran up to join in with them. Finnigan came across an old Frisbee and picked it up right away then took it to a corner in the yard to chew on it. Nymeria ran over and tried to steal it from him but he just wasn’t about to give it up and he took off. Nymeria started to chase him around the yard in circles before he went to lay back down with his prized toy. Nymeria was having a blast running through the agility tunnels today while they were playing, she ran through them at least 5 times in a row.

Charlotte started her day with a trail walk with her golden retriever buddy, Tucker. Later, during group time, Charlotte very much wanted to play with Tucker but he was busy sniffing around. She ran into the further yard with Tucker and they began to explore on either ends of the yard. They were both sniffing along the fence until they met up with the other dogs in the middle when everyone began to play. Charlotte was so happy that the other dogs were ready to play! She started to run around with all the dogs and wrestled with them. She sat in a big hole one of the dogs dug while another dog was above her trying to play. She just sat there the whole time and relaxed as they were trying to get her to come out. When she did, she began to chase after Tucker, who had still been exploring, but she was determined to get her friend to play. He chased her back into the further yard and they ran in circles for a bit before she jumped on his back and started wrestling him. Charlotte's wrestling buddy decided to take a break for some pets, and although Charlotte ran back over to get his attention, all Tucker wanted was cuddles.

Sophie went for a shorter, more leisurely stroll in the field with her friend Jax this morning. She likes to roam in the long grass and take her time to follow her nose and stretch her legs. She was a very calm girl today, when she first walked outside for group she stood at the door for a minute and stared at all the dogs as they ran out behind her. She stayed in her place as they were squeezing by and gave her a sniff before they went on to play. She didn’t run after them as they went into the other yard, but instead she toured around the gravel yard and explored on her own. Since she’s a little older she doesn’t like to play too much with the younger and more energetic dogs but she still loves attention. She kept walking by me and nudging her head on my leg for me to pet her, and that’s exactly what I did!

Baxter was such a playful boy today and was being very generous about the toys he was playing with outside in the yard. Usually he likes to keep his toys to himself and makes a game out of playing keep-away, but that wasn't the case today! When he first got outside, Baxter ran around with Kyah and seemed to be very interested in her right from the start. Kyah seemed to be very calm today and kept things casual during her group. She walked around a little bit and let all the other dogs come up to her to say hi before sitting in the sun to enjoy the weather. It wasn’t until it was just about time to go back inside that she began to play with some of the other dogs. They managed to get a quick game of tag in before they ran back inside. Baxter was extremely happy with his bone and kept showing it off to everyone including me. He ran up and kept showing me so I tried to grab it to play fetch with him but it turned into a game of tug-a-war, which he won of course. He let go of it eventually as another dog ran by and scooped it up, and he began to chase them around the yard playfully until he managed to get it back.

Bella was very playful out in the yard today while Oakley was a lot calmer. They both took off to explore when they got outside. Bella ran all the way to the other end of the yard and started to sniff there while Oakley stayed on the gravel with me. When I made my way across the yard to see all the others, Oakley followed closely behind me. When we came up to all of the dogs, Bella ran over and jumped up on Oakley’s back to say hi. Oakley wagged her tail but decided to stick by my side, so Bella ran around her looking for a playmate. She did laps around the yard walking up to each dog to say hi and sniff them before picking who she wanted to play with. She took turns playing with just about everyone before she ran back to try to play with Oakley again. This time Oakley seemed to be more excited about it and hopped up as she came over and wrestled with her. She didn’t play for too long before the others joined in and she decided to leave them to it. Oakley followed me around everywhere I went and just wanted cuddles, she’s such a sweet girl. Later during the afternoon group outing, Oakley had a blast playing and wrestling with Justice the husky. She really loves him!