Saturday September 17th 2016

Abby and Dudley were up and ready to burn off some energy after a nice cozy nap this morning. The two of them got right up as soon as I went to their kennel and Dudley was already stretching by the time I opened their door. Abby was quick to trot out and get moving. Dudley took the time to sniff around the trails, and Abby would come over and check out whatever Dudley was sniffing along the way. After their walk it was time for them to go outside for their outdoor group time. Abby was super excited to go outside and greet all of the new friends in the group. Once she greeted everyone, Abby started coming over towards me before one of her friends butted in front of her, wanting her to play. Abby enjoyed sniffing her friends for quite some time before deciding to play a bit. She carried it out for a while, always play bowing and jumping at her friends but after a while she decided to explore the yard. Meanwhile, Dudley enjoyed relaxing with me on the ground beside the picnic table. He looked so comfortable lying in the grass that I thought he was going to fall asleep right there! When he wasn't relaxing, he was exploring the yard with Abby. For the most part of the group Dudley hung out with me and got lots of cuddles, while Abby was very adventurous and explored around the yard. For their extra attention Abby and Dudley spent some time in the reception. When I went to get them from their kennel Abby jumped for joy as I walked over to them. When we got to the front Dudley spent some time sniffing around while Abby and I sat in the bog chair and cuddled. After Dudley was done sniffing around he came over to join his sister in on some cuddles and kisses, until I got up to get them some treats. When I brought over some treats for them Abby and Dudley showed off how well they know how to sit, lie down, and give a paw. After a few more treats, Abby decided she wanted a few more cuddles while Dudley finished sniffing around before it was time to go back to their kennel.

Sophie and Reese are both such lovely additions to their group. They ended up spending most of their day doing the same activities or hanging out in the same groups. This morning Sophie just couldn’t wait to get outside and start moving. She was waiting patiently at her kennel door for our volunteer to come get her for her one-on-one walk. Sophie loves these walks because she gets so much more attention from whoever’s walking her. For the most part of this walk, Sophie was right by his side and looked up several times to smile at him or get an extra pat on the head. Reese was just as excited to go out for his walk and ended up getting a special one-on-one walk as well. He took an alternative approach to the walk and bolted outside. Reese spent the entirety of his walk at the end of his leash always trying to go as fast as possible. He absolutely loved to sniff in the long grass today as he was always jumping into and playing around in it. Throughout his walk he stopped quite a few times as he thought that he had finally found a little creature in the grass, however most of the time he hadn’t actually. One time, he got lucky and a little frog jumped up out of the grass. However Reese wasn’t too sure what to do about it and just jumped back while a looking curious. Luckily the frog hopped away and they continued on their walk. When it came to their outdoor group times, Reese and Sophie were in the same group today. The two quickly greeted all of their new doggy friends as soon as they got into the yard. After that, Sophie ran into the grassy part of the yard and started rolling around in the grass while stretching her legs out. She also enjoyed sniffing around in the long green grass and occasionally eating it. After wandering around the yard for a while, Sophie ran up to one of her friends and started to play bow at her. This continued on for quite some time but didn’t actually lead too much until she wanted some cuddle time with me. I was sitting in the yard and she came right over to plop down beside me. For the rest of her group time she remained by my side. Reese had a few friends that were obsessed with him in his group today. He was always being followed by two of his good friends wherever he went. Reese loved to show his voice off to his friends as they followed him around. Reese was very active in his group today. He was constantly walking or trotting around the yard and made sure to greet every single dog in his group. Overall he had another wonderful day!

Pelley was super excited for her extra attention today and she could hardly wait to get out to the lounge. Once we were inside I let her off the leash and Pelley immediately started hurrying around to sniff everything at once. She tried to look out the window but wasn’t quite tall enough, so I scooped her up and let her watch the outdoor world for a bit, until she decided that she wanted to do something else. Pelley kept hearing interesting sounds coming from outside and would run over to the door to listen. I caught her attention with a little rubber bone, and she pranced over, hopping up onto the couch with me. She sniffed the bone and then sat down beside me for some cuddles. Pelley loves having her back scratched and was dancing around while I was petting her. Then we played her favourite game, tag, and Pelley’s tail was wagging like crazy while she ran in circles and I pretended to chase her around the lounge. We sat down again for more cuddling, then Pelley started to look a little restless so I decided to take her outside and let her sniff around. As soon as I picked up the leash she was bouncing up and down with excitement. We headed out and Pelley happily trotted through the grass beside me, nosing around, until it started to rain and we went back inside. Pelly was so excited when group time came around today. As soon as I opened the door she bolted out, unable to control her happiness to be out with her pals again. After saying hello to everyone Pelley wandered around the yards, searching for someone to play with. After coming up empty handed Pelley decided to sniff around by herself for a few minutes. After sniffing around Pelley went over to the picnic table and jumped on top, so I went over and sat with her to give her some cuddles before she went back inside.

Gracie is quite the sweetheart. I got to spend some time with her after walks, for her extra attention, and the two of us had so much fun! On the way out to the lounge, Gracie took her time to check out any particular patches of grass that caught her interest. Once we were inside, Gracie continued her exploration and sniffed every corner and crevice she could find in the room. Then she hopped up onto the couch and posed nicely for some pictures – she’s such a pretty girl! We cuddled for a little while and then Gracie jumped down and went over to look out the window. She wandered around the room for a bit, though she eventually ended up beside me again, looking for more attention. She had a big stretch, sat down at my feet and held up a paw for me to hold. Once Gracie was satisfied with the back rub I gave her, I decided to take her for a short stroll outside. She gave a happy hello to her friend, Max, who was also having his extra attention, and then we continued on our way. Gracie was jogging back and forth with her nose down and tail up, hunting for something good. Unfortunately there wasn’t much interesting in the grass today, so she came over to me, looking for treats. I gave her a couple and then we made our way back inside. When Gracie went out for her group, she jumped out of bed, with her springy legs and ran to the door. After making her way outside Gracie lifted her nose up to the sky to smell the fresh morning breeze, and greeted all of her pals with a quick woof. As she made her way around the yard Gracie had her nose to the ground sniffing around to smell all the dogs that had been there before her. After sniffing around Gracie stood back to observe her pals running around and wrestling each other, until she finally decided to join in. After wrestling around with her pal Riley for a few minutes, it finally started to rain, so Gracie asked to go back inside.

Later in the morning after her walk, Gracie and I came to the reception area and did her training. We went through her best tricks. Started wth the basics for a couple times, like sit and then lie down. She got these right away like the master she is. We then focused on crawl for the remaining time. The first time, I told her to crawl and she just leaped up onto her feet and sniffed for a treat. The second time we did it she was a lot better and kept her front end on the ground with her bum completely in the air. The third time she kept her body as low as possible and crawle for a few steps to retrieve her treat. She then went for a short walk to practice walking and she walked beside me the whole time, never pulling to the sides or getting distracted with anything else outsdie. She sat when I stopped walking and would look up at me to see when it was time to keep going. She did very good with her training today!

Max P. and I had a fantastic time during his extra attention today. We started it off by going for a little wander around the field, which he really enjoyed. While we were wandering around Max had his nose to the sky and his tail wagging a hundred miles a minute, as he smelt the fresh morning breeze. After wandering around Max went onto the long line out front to play some fetch, which he seemed very interested in, until I brought him a treat filled kong to roll around the ground. For what seemed like ages, Max spent his time nosing the kong around on the ground to get all the yummy treats to fall out, and as soon as he was done he looked at me as if to say “is that it?”. After finishing his kong Max came over to me to lay down so I could give him some belly rub, which he loves, but he then decided to go run around for a few minutes, chasing and fetching the tennis ball I threw him. After playing some catch Max did some basic command, such as sit, lie down, and paw for a few treats. I loved getting to spend some time with Max this morning; he is such a sweet heart. When it was time to go outside for his group Max ran to the door, making sure he was indeed the first one outside, so that he could greet all his friends as they made their way outside. After saying hello to everyone Max ran through the agility yard, past the tunnel, and right up to his pal Adele. Adele wasn’t too interested in playing, so Max decided to move on to sniffing around the yard for a bit. Before it was time to go inside, Max made sure to come right over to me for a few cuddles and kisses.

Ranger and Piper are really enjoying their stay with us. When I went to get them for their walk, Ranger and Piper circled around their kennel as soon as they saw that I had their leashes in my hand. As we made our way to the door Piper let out a few woofs to her pals to let them know that she’d see them soon. As soon as we got outside Ranger sprang off into the yards with his sister following him closely behind. When we got to the field Ranger and Piper put their noses to the sky to sniff the morning breeze, but they quickly returned to walking. As we walked along pasted the neighboring horses, Piper was mesmerized, she looked over at them and let out a few woofs to say hello to them too, but Ranger just stood their patiently waiting for her to continue walking. For the rest of their walk the pair spent their time with their noses to the ground and tails wagging. When it was time to go out for their group, Ranger and Piper bolted to the door, excited to see all their pals. After getting outside Ranger stopped to say a quick hello to everyone but then followed his sister into the agility yard to do some sniffing. After sniffing around for a bit Ranger started poking at Piper to get her to play with her. As the two of them raced around the yard after each other they were joined in by a few other pals for a big game of chase me. When they got tired of running Piper tackled Ranger and the two of them wrestled around on the ground, until it was time to go back inside.