Sunday, July 10th, 2016

Pepper was so happy to see everyone this morning. She was so cozy when I came to see her first thing in the morning, as she was curled up in her bed. She started to wag her tail then leaped up to greet me. After some cuddles we went outside. After that, it was time for her walk. She walked through the trails with her pal Jack. She lounged around after the walk, and thats when we did her extra attention. I sat on the ground with her and she cozied up right beside me. We cuddled for a bit, then she smelled some of the treats that were in my pocket. I got her to sit before I gave her one. After that I got her to give me a paw for a treat. And finally she did down for a treat. She sat with me and pawed at me for more treats. When the treats were all gone, we began to play. She continued to paw at me and we made it into a game. Pepper pounced around at me and I pretended to pounce back at her. She had so much fun! Then, it was time for another outdoor playtime. This time Pepper was in more of a playful mood. She wandered up to her pal Tinkerbell who was standing on a rock. They sniffed each other, then Tinkerbell started to playfully swat at Pepper. Pepper ran around happily. She played with her friends, Jake and Fergus. They enjoyed leaping around and chasing each other around. Bella and Jake had a great day. They were both jumping up and down with excitement to go outside. They loved running around and exploring. Jake occasionally came up and nestled up beside me to get cozy after walking around in the wet grass. Then, it was time for walks. As usual, Bella and Jake had a great walk together on the trails. Bella really seemed to enjoy exploring in the plants alongside of the trail. After their walk, they went outside again with their group. At first they ran around the yard greeting some friends together. Then, Jake went off to play with his friends, Fergus and and Pepper. They had lots of fun chasing each other all around the yard and pouncing and jumping all around. They seemed to really enjoy themselves! Meanwhile Bella had a nice time wandering around the yard.  Monty had a nice day. His little tail was wagging as he ran outside with his friends this morning. He wandered around the grassy part of the yard that was a little wet from the rain. He ran back over to the gravel part and shook off his fur a bit. When it was time for walks, Monty had a nice walk with his friend Tinkerbell. After his walk, we went outside again for playtime. This time he was quite playful and running up to his friends with his tail wagging. When he ran up to Jake and pounced at him, this started up a fun game of chase. After that, Monty wandered around in the grassy part of the yard. He came up to me for a cuddle every once in a while. Austin enjoyed spending time with me today. Bright and early in the morning during his first outdoor group, he was wandering around the yard. He leaped around through the green grass and stopped every once in a while to sniff something. Then, it was time for walks. He walked with his two friends, Mika and Fergus. He really seemed to enjoy their company. After his walk, we went outside again for playtime. The first thing he did was come up and greet me. He started to sniff my pocket and I realized that he was sniffing the smell of treats in my pocket that I had earlier. There happened to be one left, so I give him it. He seemed quite happy about that. Then, he wandered off into the grassy part of the yard and explored for a bit. He came over to me for a cuddle every once in a while. Mika had a very energetic mindset throughout the entire day. Right from the moment that I let her out for her very first outing, she was up and ready to go outside and play. For her first outing she trotted outside and immediately began greeting all of her friends in the group. Soon enough, she started play tackling and jumping around with a couple of her best friends. Once she was done with that she then came over to me for a bit of attention and love. Next up was her walk. Mika went out with two other small dogs that definitely kept her in her active mood. As soon as the three of them got outside it was like playtime all over again. Mika was racing from side to side of the trail in the field while bouncing on and over top of her two friends. They returned the gesture by play tackling with her until they all got a little bit tired. Mika spent the rest of her walk sniffing the middle of the trail or walking beside me. The part of Mika's day that she must've thought to be the funnest was her long outdoor play group. Since they had to stay inside for a good part of the day yesterday, Mika was ecstatic to be outside for as long as possible. During her outdoor play group time it seemed as if she was slowing down on the playing a little bit but in reality she just needed someone to play with! I brought out a little red toy for she and I to play with and she absolutely loved it! Mika was bouncing all over the place, trying to jump and get it out of my hand and was so proud every time she got it. We then enjoyed playing a game of fetch towards the end of her group. By the end of the  day she was a bit tuckered out and needed a good afternoon nap.    Kouza spent most if her day doing what she does best: cuddling and getting as much attention as her cute little face can get. She began this day with a relaxing and refreshing short walk on this cool summer day. As soon as Kouza knew it was her time to go on her walk she was so happy. I went to her kennel to put a leash on her and she tried to get out as soon as I opened her kennel door because she was so excited. She got to have another big dog join her for her short walk which was interesting to see since she's always just with little dogs during her stay. Once outside, Kouza seemed to have a little pep in her step as she was usually walking in front of me with her head held high. She loved getting the opportunity to let her nose go wild in the taller grass along the trail and spent a good amount of time roaming through it. After her walk she was ready to get all cuddled up amongst her bed and blanket, however she was always ready for another outing. Once it cane time for her outdoor play group, Kouza's ears shot up and she just knew it was time to get outside again. This time she trotted down the hallway right beside me and waited to get a treat for going outside. Soon after, she and I enjoyed sitting in the grass while she got a good back scratch and of course a chin rub that she absolutely adored. Every time I'd pull my hand away she'd start barking at me as if to tell me to keep going, funny little girl.  Caesar and Monte had a great day playing. In the morning it was a bit difficult for the boys to get out of their cozy beds. Once they were up, we went outside and they had a great time exploring together. When it was time for their walk, the boys walked together along with their friend Duke. After their walk, they were excited to be going outside with their group to play. Monte sprinted toward a red tennis ball he saw lying around in the yard. He picked it up and ran around with it to show it off a bit. Then he dropped it near my feet and began to bark. I picked it up and whipped it across the yard, and he ran very fast after it. We did this over and over until his friend Oban came over and started to play with Monte. Oban, Monte and Parker all began to play together. Meanwhile, Caesar was having a great time cuddling with me. We sat in the yard together and he nudged me with his head to get my attention. I made sure he got lots of cuddles. After that, Caesar saw how much fun Monte was having and joined in on them playing. Roxy, Trixie and Charlee were back to their fun-loving selves today after the damp and chilly day that we had yesterday. They began their morning on a walk that had a bit of everything within it. Charlee seemed as though she was a bit hesitant to come to me so that I could put her leash on at first. However, Roxy and Trixie must have noticed because they came over to me for their leashes to be put on and then to Charlee just to show her that everything was okay. After their gesture, Charlee quickly got up and moved over to me, shortly after that we were on our way. Once Charlee got outside I could see that she had eased up a lot and was able to enjoy herself. She followed Roxy and Trixie as they let their noses guide them through the beginning half of the walk. Roxy and Trixie always seemed to be going in opposite directions throughout the first half of their walk, whether they were following a scent or just searching through the tall grass alongside the field. This made it very confusing for Charlee as she wanted to follow both. She did her best to follow each of them at some point and always made sure she knew what they were up to. The first half of their walk was quite relaxing but once they saw other dogs in front of them, they were all determined to chase them! Charlee was actually the first one to notice them, which got her barking and showing off her voice. Trixie and Roxy noticed as well and the three of them were soon at the end of their leashes trying to constantly go faster. Once it came to their outdoor playgroup time Roxy and Trixie’s noses were at it again. They were completely enthralled with the smells around one big rock in the small dog yard and were beside it for almost the entire time. Charlee stayed on her own for a little bit, greeting her friends as they passed and taking her time to feel more comfortable in the yard. Eventually she joined me up onto the big rock that Trixie and Roxy were sniffing. She and I enjoyed some cuddle time before she started going from Roxy to Trixie and vice versa to see what they were doing around the rock. Trixie took a couple breaks from sniffing to go roll and scratch her back on the grass while Roxy became interested in a little toy but didn’t actually want to play with it. Leah and Poppy had a well rounded day that was full of energy, playing, and also, a bit of relaxing. Their morning started off with their fast paced walk on the trail around the field with their new fellow friend Splash. The girls met Splash yesterday during one of the long playgroup and the friendship sparked between the three of them immediately! Once I got them all on leashes and outside, the sniffing began. Apparently they hadn’t sniffed Splash for long enough yesterday that they had to give him a complete once over yet again before they started walking. Once they were ready, Splash took off like a bullet into the field, trying to get Poppy and Leah to follow him. Although they didn’t race as fast after him, they still caught up and got into the mood for some playtime. Leah and Poppy started right away. The two girls were jumping all over each other, play bowing to one another, and standing on their hind legs while trying to tackle each other. Splash was looking at first and remained on his own but once he saw them he just had to join! Splash raced over and immediately joined in on the fun. He enjoyed playing keep away from them, which he was actually pretty good at even though Leah would always end up catching him some how. Poppy was the first one to return back to the mindset of the walk and trotted down the trail while Splash and Leah got completely tangled up in their leashes. Eventually, the walk went back to normal and the three of them walk side by side at the end of their leashes. When it came to their outdoor playgroup time, these three musketeers were together once again! I could just tell that Splash was ecstatic to be with them again as he trotted out of the hallway into the yard to go see them as soon as possible. Another play fight took place between the three of them, which seemed to just be a greeting before they went to see their other friends. Splash was quite the playful little man today as he tried to play with almost each of his friends in the group. I tried to get him to play with the tennis ball and other toys in the yard but all he wanted to do was play with his friends. He’d go to each one and play bow or jump at them until they played back. Although not as many dogs wanted to play just yet, he still found a few that did and enjoyed running around with them. Leah and Poppy each went their separate ways for just a little while. Poppy stayed close to me, always checking in for an extra belly rub and head scratch. She seemed to always need to follow someone around but ironically; she also had a few friends following her to see what she was up to. Leah was more focused on the yard itself. She searched the yard for any sniff to follow and ended up almost doing an entire walk of the perimeter of two of our yards by just sniffing along the fence line. Poppy and Leah ended up side by side as per usual. They played for a little while but mostly enjoyed my company giving them a lot of attention towards the end of their group. Overall, these three musketeers had a wonderful day. Millie was certainly full of energy throughout the entire day today. She began her exciting, energy draining day with a very crazy walk that included another high-energy dog that she was friends with. She met her good friend out in the yard and it was immediately play time. Millie kept circling around him time after time until he finally leaped at her. They began play tackling each other and if it weren’t for her size, she definitely would’ve won! However she had a bit of a disadvantage against the big golden retriever. Once that little tackle scene was over, not even half a second after, they were both barreling through the gates and out into the yard with me jogging behind them. Once they got into the field the walk seemed to calm down for a little bit as Millie was overwhelmed by all of the smells. She had her nose buried in tall grass with her little tail sticking out and bum wagging as much as it could. I realized soon enough that we were still in for a crazy walk when Millie all of a sudden jumped out from the grass and sprinted to the end of her leash. The entire rest of the walk was a mixture of everything from stopping to sniff, getting tangled up in leashes, play tackling and even the nice occasional break where she’d come see me for a pet. What a whirlwind of a walk! After her walk, Millie could hardly to wait to get out of her kennel for her extra attention. Since she was in such a playful mood, we headed to the playroom to burn some energy before groups. Millie raced right through the door and immediately took a flying leap onto the couch. Hardly a second after that, she was off the couch and hurtling across the room. I picked one of the many toys lying around and offered it to her; Millie grabbed it right away and we had a brief tug-of-war in which she soon claimed victory. Running off with her prize in her mouth, Millie carried it over to the cot where she proceeded to chew it and shake it around until something else got her attention. We repeated the whole process with a different toy. Millie jumped onto the couch again and climbed onto the back of it. She heard some interesting sounds through the window and sat there for a moment with her ears perked, before she hopped down and jogged over to me. We played a few rounds of fetch and then cuddled for the last few minutes. During her outdoor play group time with her group of mainly huskies and our foster bloodhound, Duke, Millie kept up her energy and was racing along side all of the huskies. She was even still trying to play tackle them and follow them everywhere she went. By the end of the day I think it’s safe to say she needed a long nap. Feist had a nice day. She barked with excitement when she saw me this morning and I let her outside for her first group rotation. She happily explored around the yard with her friends. Then it was time for walks. Feist walked with her friend Parker. They had a great time together. After walks, she got to go outside again with her group. When I called her name, she came running over to me with her ears pinned back and tail wagging. I gave her lots of cuddles. She rubbed her head against my leg and sat at my feet.After walks this morning I got to spend some time with lovely Feist in her kennel. She was so excited to see me that she practically climbed into my lap as soon as I sat down. Right away Feist cuddled up to me while I pet her. Every time I took my hand away she would either nuzzle me or paw at my arm to get my attention. What a sweetheart! She rolled over onto her back and found that it was actually a very comfortable position, so she was sprawled like that for a bit while I rubbed her belly. Then I got Feist to show me all of her tricks. Without needing hardly any prompt from me, she sat and lay down perfectly. Her favorite was definitely “paw”. We cuddled for a bit more and then went for a nice stroll outside. Feist found a particularly interesting scent in the grass and spent some time investigating it. After jogging around a bit more Feist decided that everything had been sniffed to her satisfaction and she came to sit with me to bask in the attention before we headed inside again.