Tuesday June 7th, 2016

Cats

Allie was feeling so affectionate today! She was happy when I came in to see her this morning and she hopped up on the windowsill and rubbed her face on my side, looking for some pets. I scratched her chin and she climbed up onto my back again, kneading away at my sweater. I carried Allie over to the cat tree and she hopped off of my back so I could go and get her breakfast. When I came back, Allie was more eager for pets than her food! I came back a little later and she was curled up in the basket on the windowsill, looking around out the window. She was happy to have more pets and attention. 

Training

Today I had the pleasure of working with Rio for the first time, and my oh my was I impressed by this girls performance! Rio was quick to realize what we were doing as I hooked her up to a leash. She knew right off the bat it was time for some one on one attention and training. Rio was speedy to show off her sit and lay down. It didn't take any bribing for her to do this. I started to try "paw" with her, which was definitely something new and more difficult to perfect. She finally got the hang of it after a couple minutes and finally began slapping her paw in my hand (but only for a treat of course). This will take some more work to master. Rio was keen to sniff and explore the property out front. This makes for a great distraction with her recall training. She discovered a new nook to sniff about and this was very difficult for her to leave alone to come to me. We worked on her coming to me with this large distraction over and over again. She slowly got the hang of it. She thoroughly enjoys coming to me while I'm on my knees saying her name with my arms open. Sometimes she prefers cuddles as a reward and other times she much prefers a yummy snack.

Groups

Shyla and Maverick were quick to go trotting out to the far yard and bury their noses in the grass. They were both very intent on finding something interesting hidden on the ground. After a little while Shyla ended up meeting up with Molly. It quickly turned into the two of them racing around together. Molly ended up branching off to play with a toy so Shyla went back to exploring with Maverick. A little while later we ended up in the shady portion of the main yard. Shyla was then hit with the need to play and started to bounce around and talking at me. We played for a little while until Shyla went to see what Maverick was looking at. Maverick had followed us into the main yard, but he wasn’t ready to relax in the shade. Instead he continued trotting around looking for anything of interest. Shyla was quick to make her way back over to me wanting to play some more. Maverick was finally hit with the playful bug as well and went racing off with Percy. Shyla and I headed over to watch their antics. Maverick spotted me and came bouncing over to lean against my leg and ask for some pets. When he had had enough he went off to run around once more. This time Shyla went with him. The two of them went tearing off around the yard having a great time.

Molly set out with a very determined air about her. She made a beeline right over to the fence and stared at the frisbee on the other side. When I wouldn’t grab it for her she went off around the yard with her nose to the ground in search of another toy.  I found a rope toy and showed it to her, but she wasn’t interested. Molly continued around the yard checking things out. She then met up with Shyla. Pretty soon it turned into the two of them tearing around the yard. They raced past the fence where the Frisbee was and Molly stopped to stare once more. This time I went and got the Frisbee. In about a second I had Molly and Percy sitting waiting impatiently for me to give it a toss. I let it fly and they went racing after it. Molly got there first and quickly snatched it up. She quickly brought it back and we played a few more times. Eventually Molly wanted a break and went trotting off to relax in the shade and have a nice little chew on the Frisbee. When Molly noticed Percy and Maverick running around, she went trotting out to join in. She ended up just standing with her Frisbee and watching.

Percy went charging out into the yard ready to get his day going.  He went over to each dog checking on what they were up to and seeing if maybe he might want to join in. Percy then wandered off to do a little exploring in the grass. When he was finished he went bouncing over to check on Molly. Percy then went running around the yard again seeing if anything had changed. I found a rope toy and showed it to him. Percy got all excited and couldn’t wait for me to throw it. I gave it a toss and he want racing after it, picked it up then quickly dropped it. I found anther rope toy to try, but with the same results. Next I went and got a Frisbee. This had a much more exciting affect. Percy and Molly sat waiting impatiently for me to throw it. Molly ended up getting to it first so Percy just tagged along behind her waiting for an opportunity to steal it away. After a couple more throws Molly headed off to chew on the Frisbee. Percy then decided to relax a bit and just see what the others were up to. After a little while Percy was full of energy once more. He met up with Maverick and the two of them went tearing around the yard.

Kai was the first to make her way out to the middle of the yard. She then put her nose to the ground and set off following interesting scents. Kai ended up making her way over the hole. She gave it a once over before decided to lie down next to it and have herself a nice roll. This caught the eye of Drew, who came over to see what Kai was up to. When Kai had had enough of rolling she went trotting off to do some more exploring around the yard. Once she had done a couple laps she made her way over to the tunnel. Kai entered the tunnel then stopped about half way. Eventually she made it all the way through. Kai’s attention was then caught by some noises coming from the parking lot. She went trotting over to the fence to see if she could see what was going on. With her curiosity satisfied, Kai went to watch the others in the pool.

Teddy and Kizmet made their way out to the agility yard. Kizmet’s attention was quickly captured by something in the grass near the entrance. Teddy didn’t seem to notice and continued on his way out to the yard. He quickly noticed his brother wasn’t behind him and turned around to see what was going on. Teddy and Kizmet then set off to do some exploring around the yard. They met up with Titan and spent some time exploring with him. Teddy and Kizmet then went off to check out a different part of the yard together. Kizmet was quite happy to be exploring in the grass now. He alternated between sniffing something and have a sample of the grass. Teddy left his brother to it and made his way over to visit with me. He leaned against my legs and was quite happy to receive lots of love. When he’d had enough Teddy headed out to do some more exploring. Teddy spotted Kai looking out beyond the fence and went to join her. Kizmet continued on exploring and sampling in the grass. Teddy then noticed George and Titan hanging out by the pool. Realizing there was now water in it, he went over and quickly hopped in. Kizmet eventually lifted his head from the grass and spotted Teddy in the pool. When Teddy got out Kizmet headed over for his turn.

George and Titan were all about the exploring once more today. Titan was quick to stop and exploring in the grass leading out to the agility yard. George got a few more steps in before deciding to do the same. Titan quickly finished with that section of the yard and went trotting out to see what was going on by the kennel and the big rock. Kizmet and Teddy joined him. They spent some time exploring together until Titan moved on once more. George finished up with the entrance grass and went to check out the grass by the lounge. Once he was done with that he moved on to the grass by the main building. Titan was curious about what George had been looking at by the lounge and went to go and check it out for himself. He finished up with his exploring and made his way over to me for a little visit. Once he’d had enough pets Titan headed back out to do some more exploring. George noticed the pool in the process of filling up and made his way over to have himself a drink. Not too long after that Titan noticed. He didn’t stop at just a drink though, he climbed right in and got his feet wet. Once they were feeling nice and refreshed they headed out to do some more exploring. They didn’t stay away from the pool long and were soon back to cool off once more.

Issy and Mocha came in this morning and went straight to the staff room. They both love being in there and Merida kept them company all day. Mocha stayed underneath the table the entire time and slept. During groups outside, Issy and Mocha both ran into the agility yard and began to explore. Issy wandered around the entire yard and sniffed whatever she could find along the fence. Meanwhile, Mocha took her time and trotted around in circles while sniffing the ground. As Issy made her way over to the grass area to check it out, Mocha walked up to me and greeted me with a kiss and sat right next to my feet. She then got up and wandered around more when Justice came up to her to say hi. Mocha got playful all of a sudden and started to jump around him. This only lasted for a second before she laid down on the ground and relaxed in the sun. After Issy was done exploring the whole yard she went over by the door to hangout for a bit before she walked back over to join everyone and socialize.

Miko had so much energy as he went outside today! This little man ran out the door as fast as he could and began to run around and say hi to each dog before he picked his playmate. He wanted to play with Merlin right away and ran into the further yard where Merlin stopped what he was doing and went to go and follow Miko. Once they were on the grass they both couldn’t help but to put a pause on playing at first so they could wander around and explore through the grass, although it wasn’t long before all that was on Miko’s mind was a game of tag. He ran up to Merlin once again as he was sniffing along the fence and the two began their game of tag. Merlin wasn’t as into it as Miko and kept on wandering off on his own to sniff around but Miko always found a way to bring him back, as he would run around and jump up on his back if he started to settle down.  Merlin was really enjoying the time they spent whenever they played though but once he got tired he decided to take it easy for the rest of play time. Whenever he saw me pet another dog he would get very jealous and run up and started to bark at him until I reached down to pet him as well. 

Rio was a little shy when she first got out of her kennel this morning but once she walked out the door she opened up to everyone very well. All the dogs ran up to sniff her and she stood there and waited until they left then bolted into the further yard. Charlotte saw her run over there and began to chase her. Once they were running around the grass Rio decided to have some fun with the agility equipment and ran in and out of the agility tunnel as Charlotte stood at the other end and watched. After Rio was done running through it a bunch of times, Charlotte started to chase her and the two of them began to play a game of tag around the yard. They were both having so much fun and whenever either of them caught up to each other they would start to wrestle on the ground until they broke free and continue on with their game. Since they are bigger than all of the others in their group they made a great match. Their game only lasted for a short while before Rio went off on her own to say hello to the other dogs. Meanwhile, Charlotte was still in full play mode and went to find another partner in crime right away. It didn’t take long before she found Timbits and the two started to play with each other as well. When I picked up a frisbee Charlotte ran straight toward me and tried to jump up and catch it out of my hand but she missed as I threw it across the yard. She chased after it as Rio watched from the other side of the yard.

Coco kept it calm during group time while Timbits went running around all across the yard. When they walked out the door Timbits ran out to the further yard to start sniffing around while Coco stayed near the door to sniff around. I called Coco to come and see me and she made her way out to join me in the grassy yard. Timbits was running around the grass and hopped from one dog to the other to say hi while exploring at the same time. It took him a while before he began to get playful with the other dogs but he was very energetic the whole time he was outside. When Coco came over to explore, she and Timbits started to sniff along the rocks together before she headed back over to the door area to hang around all of the quieter dogs. Timbits was way too playful to do that and started to chase around Rio and Charlotte who were playing a very intense game of tag. Timbits followed the two in the grass as they stopped to roll around and wrestle. He didn’t join in with them but always stood near them to wait as he ran around in circles a bunch of times. As they were all happily playing I walked over to the door and took a seat on the picnic table when Coco walked over for some attention. I picked her up and she sat next to me for some love.

Duke was being a little bit nervous in his new surroundings this morning but seemed to find comfort in his other bloodhound friends as well as Riley the golden retriever and Ricky the husky. Riley and the others ran up to him to greet him and as they sniffed him, Duke stood there and waited patiently until they were done to start sniffing them. Once they all ran out to the further yard, Duke started to socialize with all of the dogs as Riley took his time to begin exploring around the grass. He sniffed around the whole fence as he looked for something to dig up from above the grass. Riley watched as the others ran around and played; He was happy to stick by my side and get lots of attention. When I went to go sit on the picnic table he ran right over and hopped up so I would give him lots of kisses and pets and the others all crowded around to get their turn. Duke ran up with a confused look on his face as if her was saying, “What about me?”. Duke was being very playful outside and once he started to play with Wally and Glory the three couldn’t stop. I was throwing around a frisbee and playing fetch with them until I threw it a little too far and it went over the fence, so instead we played fetch with a rope toy. Duke never caught it but he chased after it behind the other dogs and wrestled around with them in the grass before wandering around more. He ran up to me with a bunch of drool hanging down from his mouth and stood up on the table with Glory. The two sniffed each other for a while then ran off together to keep playing.