Gracie and I headed out to the front yard to start practicing her tricks. While we were working on the usual basic commands, Katie came outside accompanied by another dog for their training session. This provided Gracie and I with a good distraction to put Gracie's skills to the test. She was very intent on going to greet the other dog, but after a moment she was ready to work regardless. Gracie and I worked on her basics at first and then moved onto some recall. I waited until Gracie was busy sniffing something before I called her over and she came running and sat patiently at my feet. To finish off our session, I got out some toys! Gracie sniffed the rope toy but decided she'd rather play with the frisbee instead. We had lots of fun playing fetch until it was time to head back in. Once back inside, I sat down for a few minutes with Gracie on her big bed and gave her the rest of her treats.
I decided to do something a little different for Rio's training today. We headed outside for a nice, long structured walk. Rio was a little confused at first as to why we were walking on the trail on a short leash, but she soon understood what I was asking. We went around the loop practing her walking by my side on a loose leash and watching me. We did a few change of directions to make sure she was focusing, as well as some sit and stays. She is such a bright puppy, improivng every day.
Tasha is always ready to work. We headed out front and started with a structured walk, which Tasha knows the drill by heart. After we finished that I noticed I was a little low on treats so Tasha had to do her work without. She didn't mind and is always ready to please. We did some "place" work on the rubber mat in the grass with some sit, stays and downs, which she did as quickly as possible. I think she would win a speed basic obedience contest! I then let her have some time to just sniff around and enjoy her out of kennel time away from Boris. She was happy to get back to her son though after our training session.
Boris had a great training session with the e-collar. We started inside with some focus work, sit's and down's. Once Boris seemed to be focused and ready to work we went outside and started with a structured walk. He got a little distracted in the freshly cut grass wanting to sniff everything. I got his attention back by getting him to do some extra sit and comes. We then headed over towards the grass training area where I got him to start of in a place command on the rubber mat. He showed off his quick sit and down commands on the mat. After we finished a few of those we worked on his recall. He was quick to come when called and stayed focused for the rest of his training session. After all that hard work Boris had a bath and got all squeaky clean!
Groups
Boris had another wonderful day with us. His days are pretty set in stone routine wise. He knows the schedule here very well. As usual he was very excited to see me this morning, and get outside with his group. Every dog in his group was trying to do their morning business, but Boris wanted to get playing right away. He darted from dog to dog trying to get someone to play with him. Once Magic was ready to go she found Boris on the other side of the yard and their games began. Their silly shenanigans carried on from sunrise, to sunset. Boris absolutely loves the hard time Magic gives him. She bosses him around, chases him, tackles him, and wrestles with him. In between each play session he makes his way to the pool where he can cool off. Magic always gives him a minute to catch his breath, and then leaps on him looking for another round. Tasha was a little more laid back today while Boris was going bananas. She spent a large amount of time in the yard by my side. She throughly enjoys get pet and scratched. Right now her coat is starting to come out, so she enjoys being brushed. After I brushed her for only a couple minutes, the yard looked like the middle of January; full of white fluff, almost like snow. Tasha will feel so light and fresh after her groom tomorrow.
Dougie is such a great guy to have around. He has such a psotiive attitude, which rubs off on all the dogs he hangs around. He was keen to get out the door for his walk this morning and motoroed along the trail like the speedster he is. In the yard he was pleasantly surpirsed to be accompanied by all his husky friends again. He spent the first portion of play tme supervising their intense play. He would pace back and forth beside them, and then slowly run in circles around them. It was almost as if he was getting to know their individual play styles, and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. After a bit of time he finally dove in on the action and began wrestling around with his buddies. Dougie adores Boris and Justice, two of the male huskies. He alternates between the two of them, pouncing on them and begging to be chased. Both of them are more than happy to sprint around the yard with him and dash through the tunnel. Dougie loves cooling off in the pool, but he usually waits for the pack of huskies to clear the water before he hops in. He likes the whole pool to himself so that he can splash around and paw at the water.
Rio is such a sweet little girl. She is currently at my feet under the desk gobbling up her lunch. I'm sure when she's done she will make her way over to the toy bin and pull out her favourite rope toy or the colourful stuffed caterpillar. I wasn't surprised at all to watch Rio and Harvey meet up in the yard and instantly become best friends. These two are about the same age, and have very similar, goofy personalities. The instantly began romping around. The lack of co-ordination young dogs have is so funny to watch. Their paws were flying everywhere and they were using their mouths as the main playing tool. They danced around and then boxed up in the air for quite some time until Rio took off across the yard looking for a chase. Rio is such a speedy girl, she was on the other side of the yard before Harvey even noticed she had run off. Harvey was quick to pick up the speed and bolt after her. Harvey made his way into the tunnel, which confused Rio and got her sprinting in circles around it. Harvey came out one end while Rio was around the other end and the two ended up sprinting in circles around the tunnel numerous times trying to chase one another, it was so cute to watch. Finally Harvey stopped right in his tracks and sat down, letting Rio catch up to him. They were both so excited to be by one anothers side again it was as if they had been seperated for ages. After they said their hellos to one another all over again they made their way over to the pool side by side. Harvey was quick to leap in the pool and splash around while gulping up some water. Rio wasn't too sure about the water so she paced around the pool watching Harveys every move. She slowly realized the pool wasn't so scary and put her two front paws in. She stood there for a minute, then leaped out. Harvey took this as a cue to start chasing her again, so he leaped out of the pool after her and the two began running around again. After numerous more laps, Harvey met up with his pal Timbit while Rio went off to explore on her own. Harvey got into some mischevious trouble with Timbits. These two practically dug their way to China, helping each other out along the way.
Coco is such a funny girl. She is sweet, with a little bit of spice. She spent the first portion of her time outside saying hello to all the other dogs and hanging out with me. She loves being scratched behind her ears, she will lean into it wiggle her whole body against you as you scratch. Timbits kept very busy in the yard today. He was very interested in little Dobby at the beginning of play groups. Dobby wasn't interested in playing so Timbits followed her around for a while while. When Harvey bumped into Timbits while chasing Rio around, Timbits was quick to turn around and join in on the puppy fun. Rio and Harvey are a bit bigger and faster than Timbits, but this didn't stop him at all. He did a couple laps around the yard staying right on their tails. He was soon distracted by myself playing fetch with Charmayne. Timbits then came flying at me, leaping through the air, trying to catch the rope toy in my hand. He put all his energy into keeping up with Charmayne, and he put in quite the good fight for that toy. Once Charmayne lost interest, Timbits lost interest too. He then headed over to a hole where he and Harvey teamed up to get as dirty as possible and send as much dirt flying across the yard as possible. Coco supervised her brother's crazy antics for a while, then finally dove in on his action. These two then began wrestling around the yard like they usually do. Letting out howls as they tackle each other down to the ground and roll through the grass. This kept them busy for the remainder of group time.
It was lovely to have Charmayne and Dobby in for daycare today. It's been a while since I last saw Charmayne, and it was lovely to meet little Dobby. Charmayne was so excited to be here and hang out with us. Dobby did pretty well for her first day. She was a bit nervous at first, but slowly as the day went on she opened up to the other dogs. She is definetly a people dog, always coming to my feet looking for pets and cuddles. The other dogs in her group were very interested in her and continued to invite her to play, however she was much happier sniffing and exploring on her own. Every once in a while she would check up on Charmayne to see what she was up to, but would then carry on checking the facility out. Charmayne, on the other hand, showed her inner puppy today. She was so full of beans and couldn't get enough of the playing that was going on in the yard. Charmayne loved playing fetch with Timbits, a young beagle. She would dash after the rope toy and pick ot up then drag it back to me. Timbits would try hard to play tug with her, but his strength wasn't as strong as hers. She was very kind and let him carry it a couple times. Charmayne also loved to sprint around the yard with a young weimaraner. She would watch Rio run around and around then would bolt in on the action. She did numerous laps with Rio and then made her way to the pool where she briefly tested out the waters to cool off.
Max and Sadie had a much more relaxed day than usual. They were very excited to get here in the morning, of course. They couldn't wait to get out on the trail for their morning walk and sniff all the smells they missed out on yesterday. Both Max and Sadie motored along the trail with their noses down as fast as possible. Later on when it was time for their main group outing, both Max and Sadie broke off in their own directions and spent the main chunk of play time sniffing and exploring. I really wanted them to get running around so I began sprinting across the yard to get the party started. Of course Max immediately spotted me and came flying across the yard headed right for me. I had to quickly leap up on a rock to prevent being run over by the goofy man. It wasn't long before Sadie and Magic were on Max's toes. These three had a brief chase around the yard then wrestled for a little bit. Max noticed Kyah and Justice on the picnic table across the yard and bee-lined it towards them. He invited them to play but they didn't show much interest. Max was quick to motor back into the grassy yard where he met back up with Magic and Sadie and finished off their games. After they burned some energy they all went back to sniffing and exploring the yard before it was time to head in.
Zak noticed the pool as soon as he got outside. Unfortunately it hadn’t been filled yet, so he had to wait a few minutes before it was ready. Finnigan caught Zak's attention by rolling around in the far yard. Wondering what he was up to, Zak headed over to check it out. When he was done, Zak headed off to check out more of the yard. Zak came running over to me wanting some attention. After some pets and scratches he went right back to exploring. Zak’s attention was soon captured by Finnigan and I playing with a rope toy. He came charging over and stole Finnigan away. The two of them were soon having a blast wrestling and running around while Kaos tagged along. I showed them the rope toy. They ran over and Finnigan was quick to snatch and end and was about to run off so the others would chase him, but Zak had other plans. It wans’t long before they were having an epic tug-o-war game going on. In the end Zak, I have to assume, let Finnigan win. Zak then ran off to play in the tunnel with Kaos. He then became aware that there was now water in the pool. Zak was quick to go racing over and jump in. After having some fun in the pool and cooling off Zak was ready to race around some more and did just that.
Bella started her morning off a little quiet. She headed out and got right to exploring. Bella took a quick break from that to check on Finnigan who was rolling like a crazy in the grass. When that was done she was quick to get right back to her explorations. Bella made her way all over the yard with her nose barely ever leaving the ground. She paused once more to check on Finnigan, but now he was chewing on a bone. Curiosity satisfied, Bella continued on her way. She ended up making her way over to the far fence. Bella continued her explorations while also helping herself to some of the grass growing there. Once Bella had thoroughly checked on the far yard she headed to the main yard where the others were now playing in the pool. She did a little more exploring in the grass before making her way over to the pool to help herself to a drink. It quickly turned into Bella getting in the pool and lying down as best she could. When the others started to race around Bella feeling all frisky from the water, went chasing after them.
Kaos made sure to stop and say hi to me before she headed out to do anything. With that done she went running out to the far yard to join the rest of the group. Kaos checked in on them and what they were up to. She then headed off to do a little exploring around the yard. Kaos was soon back wanting more love which I was more than happy to give her. When Zak and Finnigan started to wrestle and run around, Kaos was quick to go chasing after them not wanting to miss out on any of the fun. Kaos was a little disappointed when the boys started to play with a rope toy. It didn’t really leave much room for her, but she kept vigilent and waited for an opening. Finnigan eventually got the toy so Kaos and Zak ran off to play in the tunnel. Zak ended up running off to go and play in the pool. Kaos ran after him and watched while he splashed in the pool. She didn’t seem too thrilled with the water and so went off to see what Bella was up to. When Zak had gotten out of the pool and wasn’t splashing Kaos headed back to the pool and helped herself to some water and even stuck a couple paws in. Feeling refreshed, she was ready for when Zak took off running with the rest of the group.
Finnigan wasted no time in running out to the far yard. He found himself a bone almost as soon as he got out there. Being the goof that he is, Finnigan started to roll around with the bone. His antics soon caused him to being out by Bella and Zak. Worried they might steal his bone, Finnigan got up to find a new spot to chew on the bone. Since all he seemed to want to do was chew on the bone I took it away and showed him the rope toy. Finnigan hopped around trying to snatch it away from me. Zak noticed this and came running over to steal Finnigan away. Soon they were wrestling and racing around the yard. Kaos not wanting to miss out tagged along. I showed them the rope toy and Finnigan came racing over to snatch it away. I think he planned to run off with it so they could chase him, but Zak took a hold of the toy and soon they were having a game of tug-o-war. Finnegan ended up winning the game and was quite happy to prance around with his prize. Finnigan ended up ditching that rope toy to go and play with another, but when he noticed Zak in the pool he ditched that one as well. Finnigan headed over to the pool to spend some time with first Zak and then Bella. When Zak started to race around once more he was quick to racing after him.
Kai looked like she was determined to make her way out to the centre of the yard. She soon became distracted by one of the big rocks and stopped to give it a thorough once over. When that was done she made her way over to check in with me. Kai then noticed Gracie exploring the fence along the entrance. Curious about what she was looking at, Kai decided to tag along and do her exploring. After she’d checked out everything she wanted to, Kai made her way out to the far part of the yard where there is lots of grass. Kai seemed very determined to find something. She kept her nose just barely brushing the ground and followed an invisible path. Kai finished up with the grass and decided it was time to play in the tunnel. She ran through a couple times before heading off to see what was going on on the other side of the far fence. The sounds soon lost Kai’s interest so she figured it was time for a visit with me for lots of pets. When she’d had enough, Kai left me to go and join Gracie, who was now staring out beyond the far fence.
Duke started his morning off with some exploring. He went trotting out into the yard with determination. Some grass soon caught Duke’s attention and he to give it a very thorough sniff. That done he headed out to check out more of the yard. Duke spotted me and decided to pay me a visit. He was quite happy to receive lots of pets and attention while also giving me some kisses. Duke then left me when he noticed Riley lying down with toy. Wondering what she was up to he went trotting over to check it out. Shortly after she got up to go do a little exploring so Duke tagged along. Duke didn’t stay with Riley for very long and was soon off following his nose around the yard.
Gracie wasted no time in getting started on her exploring. She was quick to climb up onto the rocks by the fence and try to explore in their crevices. After Gracie was sure everyone had made their way into the yard she headed over to the section of fence along the entrance. Kai decided to tag along and explore with Gracie. Gracie was apparently all about the fence rocks and grass. After she finished with everything near the entrance Gracie made her way along the fence pausing only when something really caught her attention. She eventually left the fence line and went to join Kai in exploring in the grassy section. Gracie took a break from exploring to just trot around the yard seeing what everyone was up to. When I started playing a game of fetch with Riley, Gracie tagged along though she didn’t really try to get the toy. Her attention was then captured by some noises on the other side of the fence. Gracie went trotting over to investigate. Kai soon joined her. After her curiosity was satisfied she made her way over to me for some love.
Ranger headed out with the rest of the group to the agility yard. His attention was soon caught by one of the big rocks. Ranger made his way over and started to give it a thorough once over. Max curious as to what Ranger was looking at, made his way over to join him. Ranger didn’t seem to mind the company. Once the rock had no more secrets Ranger made his way out to the grassy section. He kept his nose to the ground and set off to see what all he could find. Ranger moved on from the grassy section to make his way over to the greenery growing from the rocks by the fence. He then became aware of the pool not too far away. Ranger made his way over and hopped right in. He let his feet get nice and wet before he hopped out to go and see what the golden girls were up to.
