Tuesday August 9th, 2016

 Extra Attention

Bauer was more than ready to head up front for some extra attention. As soon as we got there he had his face in the toy bin. Once all the toys had been thoroughly investigated Bauer went off to check out more of the room. Satisfied he’d seen everything Bauer headed over to me for some pets and attention. As soon as I sat down in a chair he plopped himself down on my feet and demanded all the pets and attention I could give him, which I was very happy to give him.

As soon as walks were over, I went and got Bella from her kennel and she was jumping with joy when she saw me. I took her up front to the playroom where she was excited to be! This morning, all the toys were stacked in a neat pile on the green table in there, and Bella went through the entire pile, looking for the perfect toy to play with. She rummaged through there for a while and I ended up picking the toy since it seemed like she just couldn't decide! I picked up the mini, red, deflated soccer ball. At first I thought Bella wouldn't want it because it was deflated, but it made her even more interested in it! I threw it across the room and she ran after it, leaping right onto it and bringing it back over to me. She would play tug-of-war with it with me a couple times before letting me throw it again. We played with it for a while before She wanted to play with a different toy. This time, she picked up a round rubber toy and I threw it. She raced after it, and since it was round, it hit the wall right when Bella caught up to it, and went spinning the other way. Bella raced after it and pounced on it as soon as she could! It was very cute to watch. Once she was all played out, we sat down on the couch together and Bella enjoyed some nice snuggles and even cuddled up onto my lap while I rubbed her ears. Once it was time to go back, she gladly went and napped after enjoying a yummy Milkbone.

Miko had a very eventful morning! After his walk with Sherman and Rufus, he joined me at the front and we both hung out there for a while, joined by Bella, Jake and Syarah. Miko explored around the room first and had a big smile on his face as he walked around and said hello to everyone. He sat on my lap while we sat in the big chair, and then sat in front of me, gladly enjoying a good back scratch while we sat on the floor. After we hung out in the front for a bit, we said goodbye to all his friends and ventured out the front door to the front field, where I hooked up Miko to the really long leash outside so he could explore the grass freely. He was curious at first but eventually, he just wanted to snuggle and sit by my side while I pet his head and scratched all down his back. Eventually, I got him to lie down for a quick belly rub. It didn't last very long, as he was just content to perch his little paws on my legs and rest his head on my thigh while I rubbed his ears. When we went back inside, I gave him a few yummy treats and then headed on back to his kennel to await his next outing with all of his friends!

Groups

Bella was very eager to get out the door this morning. As she went on her way into the yard she was greeted by everyone else in her group that was just as excited to go outside as she was. She said hi to all of the dogs before running up to me with a big smile on her face as she bounced around me so I would pet her. After she got some cuddles in she took off into the yard where she kept on running up to Percy to go and say hi. Percy loves to play when he’s here; you can often find him around all of the toys or whenever there are dogs wrestling around in the grass. Today when he first came outside with everyone he was very focused on exploring. He began to sniff around the gravel yard and made his way over to the grass then the further yard where he walked along the entire fence. Bella kept him company and walked in his footsteps as he curiously sniffed everything in sight. Bella was enjoying it as well. The two of them explored for a long time until I found a rope toy on the ground that I knew they would like. I waved it in the air as Percy completely forgot about what he was doing so he could run over and be the first one to have it. Bella caught on soon enough and made her way over as well as the two of them along with another dog were all at my feet trying to get the toy. Once I had all of their eyes on me I threw it as far as I could across the yard for them to catch. Percy caught it of course and began to run around in circles with it in his mouth to show off to everyone, Bella was chasing him along with another dog trying to get it from him but he wasn’t letting go. Eventually, Bella gave up and jumped up on top of the picnic table to watch all of the dogs wander the yard. I sat beside her as she gave me lots of kisses in return for me cuddling up to her. Percy gave his toy away to another dog and gave up trying to get it back. He wandered around the yard a bit more before I called him over to me for some love as well.

Adele was napping in her kennel this morning when it was time for her to go outside with her group. She seemed to be a little tired when she first got out the door but she slowly turned that around by the time we were ready to go inside again. When she got outside she started to sniff some of the dogs at first around the door. They sniffed her back and once she was done smelling one dog, she would move onto the next before trotting out to the further yard on her own. Adele walked around the grass to explore as she curiously walked up to the agility tunnel to sniff it and when she was done with that she made her way to one of the holes that have been dug in the yard and smelled that as well. I thought she was about to continue digging in it by how interested she was since her whole face was in it but she never ended up doing that. Instead once she was done, she popped her head up then ran over to all of the commotion that was going on in the other yard. She ran over to see Percy and Bella playing and the longer she sat to watch them the more excited she got. When Percy was shaking around the rope toy Adele got super intrigued and tried to grab it for herself. As she was trying to get to it another dog snatched it from Percy so Adele tried to grab it from her, which turned into a big game of tug a war.

Lola and Pearl are both so adorable. Although Lola doesn’t do too well in the heat she sure stuck through it today during groups as she lay in the sun for most of the time. Pearl is a little better at dealing with the warmth of summer and although she does get tired very easily she managed to make it through her group times without taking a break out in the yard. She was moving the entire time and didn’t seem too tired. When they first got outside they both started to wander around the gravel as they sniffed around to do their business. They were outside with the puppies and even though Lola didn’t seem too interested in them they were all over her at one point. As she was walking over to sniff around a few of the pups ran up to her and tried to sniff her as well, along with jumping up on her back to try and play. Lola wasn’t too interested in playing and as she stood there not reacting to them they began to bark at her and then walked off.  Meanwhile, Pearl was being as social as ever. At first Pearl kept on her own as she trotted around the whole yard to explore but once she was done I called her over and she went straight over to the puppies to say hi. Pearl was so overwhelmed by all of them that she jumped up on top of the picnic table where they couldn’t jump up to get to her but she could still be involved as she watched them from above.

Merlin is such a funny little guy. He is usually so playful when he’s outside but today as he went out for his group he seemed to be a little distracted. A bunch of puppies joined him and his group outside and although they are super playful, Merlin didn’t seem too interested in playing with them and stuck on his own at first. He took off to the further yard to go and explore the grass with Pearl. They didn’t stick together completely but they stayed near each other as they explored and didn’t roam too far. Once Pearl was done exploring she ran over to come see everyone and Merlin decided to follow; he was unsure about all of the little guys and kept on bouncing from one spot on the ground to the other as they were following his feet. After a while, he seemed to open up with them and didn’t mind being around them as he stuck near them the rest of the time as they were scattered across the grass by the door. He sniffed around where they were playing and laying down before running up to Pearl and me as we sat on the picnic table. I patted the top of the table to motion to him to jump up and sit there as well, but he seemed too excited at this point to sit and started to run around in circles before completely calming down and walking over towards the door to relax.

Issy and Mocha were the first of their group to make their way out to the agility yard. Both went trotting out determined to do some exploring. Mocha’s attention was quickly snagged about five feet into the yard. She spent quite some time thoroughly checking out that particular part of the yard. Issy kept moving and went trotting out to the far part of the yard before she put her nose to the ground to start checking things out. Mocha was interrupted from her exploring by Rosie who was wondering what she was looking at. She didn’t seem to mind the interruption and the two of them spent some time checking each other over. Issy finished with the far part of the yard and set off to check out more of the yard with her nose to the ground. She was distracted from her exploring when Kyah and Rosie took off racing around the yard. Issy stood there contemplating them before she decided to go trotting after them. Mocha now finished with checking things out made her way over to the door to take a seat and spend some time sunbathing. She wasn’t alone long as the rest of the group followed her out; only they decided to hang out in the shade.

Bauer was more than ready for it to be time for group.  He went trotting out to the agility yard and then made his way over to the tunnel. He was distracted from the tunnel when he noticed Parker following Bear around. Curious, Bauer decided to tag along as well. Bear went trotting off towards the far corner with Bauer following along. After a quick once over, Bauer split off to check out a different part of the yard. When Bear went trotting off one more, Bauer was quick to go after him. As they went around the yard Bauer was happy to check things over with Bear. After a little while, Bauer found himself being asked to play by Parker. He was more than happy to do so and soon they were having some fun wrestling. Unfortunately, with the heat it didn’t last overly long so Bauer came over to get some loving from me. Once he’d had enough he headed out to see what Dexter was looking at.

Dexter wasted no time in trotting out to the far part of the yard near the nursery and putting his nose to the ground. He seemed pretty determined to check out every little bit of that section even though I know he’s checked it over plenty of times before. Eventually, Dexter did move on and went trotting out to check out more of the yard. It wasn’t long before he was feeling the heat and decided to go and hang out in the shade for a bit. Once he was a bit cooler, Dexter went trotting back out to the yard. Along the way, he met up with me. Pretty soon he had me giving him lots of butt scratches. Satisfied Dexter went trotting off to check out more of the yard. He made his way all around the yard once more and eventually ended up over in the far part by the main building. Dexter caught Bauer’s eye, who made his way over to join him. They spent some time exploring together.

Bear found himself rather popular when we headed out for group time. As soon as we got out to the agility yard Bear met up with Parker who quickly decided to tag along after him while Bear toured the yard. He didn’t seem to mind the company as long as it meant that he could check out anything that caught his eye. As Bear made his way out to the far corner they were also joined by Bauer, who was curious about what was going on. After a quick look around Bear went trotting off back to the centre of the yard with the other two tagging along. Bauer and Parker eventually joined Bear in actually checking things out not just tagging along. After a little while longer, Bear and I decided to go and take a little break in the shade to cool down. Once he felt a little cooler Bear went trotting off to check out more of the yard.

Miko was pretty excited to head outside for group time. We ended up in a different yard than we usually are. Miko went racing off to check out everything he could. He was most thorough in his investigation. Miko’s nose barely lifted from the ground as he toured around the yard. After one lap around the yard, Miko made his way over to me for a bit of a visit. After he’d gotten some pets he went trotting off to make sure he hadn’t missed anything else in the yard.