Saturday, October 8th, 2016

Poppy had a fun day with friends. In the morning, she enjoyed getting outside and wandering around. Anytime I would call her over she would come galloping over with her ears pinned back. After that, it was time for walks. Poppy walked with her pals Dragon and Gryphon. When Poppy was let out with her group for her next playtime group, she seemed very excited to see all of her playful friends. Immediately all of the dogs in the group ran around in a pack chasing each other. Poppy enjoyed running around with everyone. She could barely stay still for a second, as the dogs were racing all constantly playing. At one point her friend Dushka came bouncing over to her. Dushka jumped around Poppy, and Poppy would spin around to keep up with her. Eventually Poppy stuck her paw out and tried to tackle down Dushka. Dushka leaped away as Poppy chased her. Emma had a good time with friends outside today. In the morning, she seemed quite happy to see everyone. Soon it came time for her walk, which she seemed to really enjoy. When it was time for her next outdoor playtime, Emma was excited to get outside. Right away she started to run around with Blue. They both had so much energy, and were racing around the yard together. Emma would stop running then leap at Blue, and then they would start running again. Eventually, both dogs got a bit tired out so Emma came and got some cuddles from me. Soon after having a cuddle, Emma raced over to the grassy part of the yard where Lola and Vega were playing around the picnic table. Emma joined in and playfully pounced around with the girls. Duke had a wonderful day. In the morning, he was very happy and seemed to enjoy being outside. When I came to refill his water, Duke had something else in mind. Before I could even grab his water dish, Duke started to lean up against me and rub his head on my legs. He was very persistent on getting a cuddle. Of course I couldn't resist giving him a cuddle, so I let him lean up against me as I scratched his back. After enjoying his morning walk, it was time for another outdoor playtime, so I let Duke out with his group. He greeted his friends first thing, then wandered around a bit on his own. He went over to his friend, Indi, as she sniffed around in the grass. They spent a bit of time exploring around the yard together. Other than that, Duke of course enjoyed coming over to me for a cuddle. He would run through my legs and look up at me to let me know he wanted a cuddle. Indi had a nice day. In the morning, she was very excited and energetic. I came and got her right away for her morning walk, and I brought her pal Blue along to accompany her. They were both really excited to see each other. I let them pounce around at each other quickly before going onto the trail for the walk. Indi seemed to have a great time with Blue. Not long after returning from her walk, it was time for Indi's group to go outside for playtime yet again. The walk was so exciting and fun that after it she was a little less full of energy as she was earlier in the morning, so Indi enjoyed wandering around the yard. Her friend Duke came and joined her as she sniffed and nibbled grass alongside the fence. Bandit was practically buzzing with excitement today. He was more than ready to get outside and say hello to all of his friends. After an outing first thing in the morning, Bandit enjoyed a nice walk with Bruiser and Kunoichi. He and Bruiser wound each other right up and were bouncing all over the trail. Needless to say, at the end of the walk, I had some very tired dogs and some very tangled leashes! Bandit was still full of energy when it was time for groups and he came leaping out of his kennel, right down the hall and out the door. Once he was in the yard, he settled down a bit and entertained himself by exploring in the grass. Bandit found an interesting hole in the ground and stuck his head in without any hesitation. His friend Colin had also noticed the hole and came trotting over to investigate. The boys bumped shoulders, and less than a moment later they were jumping around and playing together. Colin would pounce on Bandit, who would then spin around and both of them would suddenly freeze, before repeating the cycle. Eventually they slowed down for a break and Bandit hurried over to see if I had any treats for him. Unfortunately I was all out, so Bandit was happy to settle for some cuddles instead. He and the other dogs were quick to race for the door when it started to rain heavily, thankful that it was time to head in for naps in nice, dry beds. For his extra attention, Bandit and I headed out to the lounge. He seemed to know exactly where we were heading and only made a few detours to sniff on the way there. I took him off the leash once we got inside and Bandit quickly set to work checking out the new space. He discovered a tennis ball and carried it around for a while, until something else caught his attention. A fox stuffy! Bandit immediately scooped it up and was parading around with it when suddenly it squeaked. He was quite startled. Then he started squeaking the toy non-stop, delighted by this new trick. We played tug-of-war for a while and then ran around the lounge with Bandit waving his fox like an extra tail. After that, Bandit decided he was in the mood to sit on the couch, cuddle, and snack on treats, until we headed back to the main building for groups. Maggie was in quite the good mood today. She happily trotted out the door this morning for her walk, alongside her friends Maya and Scout. The three girls were trotting down the trail side by side, and Maggie took some interest in watching the dogs that were further down the trail ahead of us. She then picked up a scent in the grass and wandered around with her nose to the ground for a bit. We got back just before it started to pour. Maggie hurried inside and curled up on her bed. When it was time for groups, the rain had thankfully slowed down a bit. Maggie followed me into the yard and stuck right to my heels like a shadow. I gave her a nice scratch behind the ears, and as soon as I straightened up to take some more pictures, Maggie sat down right on my shoes as if to remind me that she was still there. Of course this warranted plenty more cuddles. She even rolled over on the ground for a belly rub. After Maggie had gotten her fill of attention, she noticed some of the dogs playing on the other side of the yard and wandered over to investigate. Maggie and Colin bounced around for a little bit, although Maggie was much more content to observe while her friends played. She then walked over to sniff a lump of grass, which Maggie seemed to find particularly intriguing, even though I couldn’t see anything special about it. Then she ended up at my feet again for some more cuddles before we headed inside. Colin enjoyed a walk this morning with his husky friends Awesome and Kodiak. Awesome seemed to want to play with him and was bouncing around to get his attention. Colin politely declined his offer and went back to sniffing along the trail, while the other two trotted ahead. He was happy to hang back and soak up some attention while walking. Later, for groups, the weather was slightly better and Colin was delighted to find out that it wasn’t pouring when I opened the door. He happily bounded outside and made a beeline for the far corner of the agility yard. Colin wandered around with his nose in the grass for a while. He poked his head in a few holes. At one of these holes, he bumped into his friend Bandit. They sniffed each other over, and it didn’t take long before the two of them were bouncing around like crazy together. Colin seemed to enjoy pouncing on Bandit and then diving out of the way before Bandit could pounce back. When the two of them settled down again, Colin jogged over to see what I was up to. He sat down for some pets. Then I showed him an orange rubber toy, which quickly had Colin’s ears perked. He leaped to his feet and got ready to run after it. Despite all this warm-up, Colin proceeded to amble after it slowly once I had tossed it. He poked it around with his nose and then waited for me to pick it up again. Seeing as he didn’t want to run, we played catch instead. Colin was certainly a pro at snatching the toy right out of the air! Holly had a nice one-on-one walk with our volunteer this morning. She seemed to enjoy all of the attention that was directed at her, and happily trotted down the trail with her tail waving around. She snuggled up for a nap in her cozy bed after her walk. When it was time for groups, Holly took a bit of persuading to get out of bed, especially since it was raining! She turned her nose up at the weather and stared at me as if to ask if she really had to go outside. Eventually Holly saw all of her friends heading out the door and decided that she would join them. Much to Holly’s surprise, the weather actually wasn’t that bad outside. She wasn’t a fan of the drizzle but was happy enough wandering around the yard. She said hello to a swarm of beagles, Bella, Melody, Coco, and Timbits, and then headed to the far yard to sniff around. It was a relaxing day in the small dog yard and everybody was happy to wander around together. I headed over to the tunnel with Holly and took pictures of her and the others while she spent some time sniffing around the area. After that, we moved on to the picnic table, and then to the fence, where Holly enjoyed sticking her nose in the rocks. Eventually, Holly decided that everything had been thoroughly investigated, and she wandered over to cuddle with me. She had a nice back rub and then we headed over to the door, where a few of her friends were sniffing around, so that Holly could socialize a bit before we went inside. For her extra attention, Holly could hardly move fast enough down the hall! She was just full of excitement. I had been intending on letting Holly sniff around out front, but since it was starting to pour, we ran out to the lounge instead. As soon as we got inside and I took her leash off, Holly was racing back and forth, trying to sniff everything at once. She wasn’t too interested in the toys but mention of treats quickly caught her attention. Holly was happy to show off her skills for me, and then we headed over to the couch where Holly munched on her rewards. She sat down beside me while I pet her, and eventually ended up on her back, enjoying a belly rub. Holly continued to do a mix of exploring and cuddling for the rest of her extra attention, and then we went back to her kennel so that she could rest before groups. Ziggy was being the cutest little jungle cat today. When I went in the room to join him, he was taking a little snooze inside the cubby of the cat tree. I pet him a couple times on the head and he enjoyed it, nudging my hand each time. He then ventured out of the cat tree and climbed into one of the open condos. There was a very interesting spring toy there and Ziggy nudged it a couple times with his face. I picked it up and he decided to rub his head against it a few more times, and decided that it was excellent for getting a good scratch behind the ear. He's too cute! After that, he climbed back down onto the tree, taking a big leap from the condo to the ledge and cuddled in there to watch Shimmer peruse the cat room. He sat there while I rubbed all down his back. He stuck his fuzzy bum up and then wanted me to rub his bum and he very much enjoyed it. He got a few more cuddles and then cuddled back into the cubby for one more nap of the day.