Sunday, October 9, 2016

Nymeria got to hang out with a bunch of other huskies today. As soon as she got out the door she found herself surrounded by Magic, Justice, Korvo, and Maya. After saying hello and everyone checking everyone out the group went racing off further into the yard. Nymeria and Maya were bouncing around and wrestling as they went. Korvo went running over to rejoin them and join in on the fun. Eventually Nymeria and the others ended up over by the tunnel. They did a little wrestling outside of it, but it wasn’t long before they were all racing through it. At one point Nymeria was at the entrance while Magic tried to get her to come out of the tunnel so they could wrestle and race around some more.

Jax was pretty excited to be back and heading outside for group time. He went trotting out the door and out into the yard. Jax’s attention was immediately captured by something along the fence line. While he was sniffing that he found himself being checked over by Spock and Max. Jax turned and said his hellos to them before moving on to the next thing that caught his attention. He then met up with Bella. They spent quite some time checking each other over. Jax was then off once more with his nose to the ground. He finished up with the main yard and headed out to the far yard to continue on exploring. Once Jax had gone all around the yard he made his way over to see what Spock and Missy were up to. He then turned his focus on me and getting lots of pets. Wanting to get even closer he tried to climb up on the picnic table. Later in the afternoon, Jax and I had a nice one-on-one session up front. He sat at my feet, until I decided to get down on the ground and then he cuddled into me. Since Jax is a wee bit stiff, I started off with a nice massage along all those muscles in his back and hips. When he'd had enough sitting still, Jax went to the door and asked if we could please go outside. Off we went to explore the front yard and when he'd had enough of that, Jax headed straight back to the front door. We hung out while he explored and said hello to everyone he could as they came through the door.

Colin made his way out to the agility yard. From there his nose hit the ground and he was off in search of something super interesting.  It took Colin a little while to even make it out of the entrance. He then headed out to check out different parts of the yard. Not too long after that Colin met up with Bandit. They stood starting at one another intently. After that they were bouncing around and wrestling having a great time.  Bandit went running off and Colin decided not to chase him. Instead Colin turned to me.  I bounced around with him for a little while until he spotted the jolly ball not too far away. He went running over to it and snatched it up. Colin got tired of the ball and went trotting off to do some more exploring. All the way he found himself once more coming face to face with Bandit. It no time at all the two of them were back to bouncing around and wrestling.

Bandit headed out to the agility yard. He kept his nose close to the ground to check things out, but was more interested in seeing what the rest of the group was up to. Bandit then went trotting off to go touring around the yard. Not too long after that Bandit found himself meeting up with Colin. They stood starting at one another intently. After that they were bouncing around and wrestling having a great time.  Bandit went running off, but Colin decided not to chase him. Bandit was a little disappointed but shook it off and took a break from running to go and do some more exploring. As Bandit went around the yard he once more ended up standing in front of Colin. About two seconds after that they were back to bouncing around and wrestling.  Earlier in the morning Bandit had had his extra attention. I grabbed a leash before grabbing Bandit. We made our way out to the front yard so he could do some exploring around the yard. Bandit wanted to check out everything as we went over the hill and around the trees. When he’d had enough I went and got some treats. This got Bandit super excited and went alternating between leaping around and sitting quite nicely. I tossed him some treats then I threw some in the grass to hunt. When Bandit had found all the treats he went running off to play with the Frisbee. He then ditched the Frisbee and just went racing around having a great time on the long line.

After her morning outing and breakfast, Maggie was more than excited to head out onto the trail for her walk. She loves to follow her nose, searching all around the edges of the long grass and picking up the scents. Maggie went trotting out to the agility yard. She was quick to make her way out to the far part of the yard. Maggie went trotting around stopping to check out anything that caught her interest. Her path eventually crossed with mine and she was more than happy to take a break and get some bum rubs. Maggie then went trotting off once more to check out more of the yard. Maya, who was starting out beyond the fence, caught her attention. Curious, Maggie made her way over to check it out for herself. She spent some time staring out. When Maggie lost interest she attached herself to me and we walked around together. She was quite happy to get a ton of pets whenever we stopped walking. Maggie is such a fluffy little cuddle bug and it's so nice to hang out and watch the other dogs with her in the yard!

Emma W and Lola were two of the most playful girls here today! They were both more than ready to go out for their morning walk when I went to grab them. Lola was bouncing all over her kennel and even jumped into her water by accident as she waited for me. Emma was calmer at first but once I got her on her leash she raced out side to meet up with her new friend Lola. The two girls gave the yard a quick sniff on the way outside but were soon at the end of their leashes. Lola wanted to play for almost her entire walk. She kept running back and forth, side to side and would occasionally come jump up on me to try and get me to play. Lola was persistent in trying to get Emma to play with her as she continuously bounced at Emma and play fought her. Eventually Emma gave in and the two rambunctious girls were rolling around as one big ball in the field. They spent quite some time play fighting and bowing before Emma decided to go back to focusing on her walk. She was determined to give the whole side of the trail a good sniff as she walked along it. When it came time for their play group, Lola and Emma happened to be in the same one! Emma was right at her kennel door this time as soon as she knew that it was time for her group to go out. She didn’t even stop to sniff anyone as she ran outside. Emma was completely full of beans as soon as she got outside. She was immediately doing laps around the field and greeting everyone as she passed. She was very funny as she raced up to me to say hi then would race away again before I could even pet her. Lola was a bit slower coming out for her group but not by choice. She was being completely tackled in the hallway by her best friend Vega. The two girls took quite some time to get outside because as soon as one of them was up and running, the other was up and ready to tackle once again. Once Lola got outside she could get away from Vega for a few seconds to catch her breath but was soon back in the swing of things as a chase broke out. Emma, Lola and their friend Vega were all high tailing it around the yard with a few other friends of theirs. This chase went on for quite some time. They were all running through the tunnel, jumping in the empty pool and going from one yard to the other. Eventually Lola slowed down and sat on the table to watch the others running around one another. I went up to sit with her but she seemed to want the whole table all to herself as she pawed at me until I got off. Emma on the other hand was very cuddly towards the end of her group. She joined me as I sat on the grass so that she could get lots of cuddles.

Lola is so ready and willing to work during her training sessions. She's also a lot of fun! Today we took our sits and downs out to the lounge where we started working on place. It almost seems that Lola already knows something about place, she picked it up so fast. Then we took our recall work out to the long line and I wish I had a video of her enthusiastic run towards me every time! She is still pulling on the leash, so we started working on placement for the heel command and she was following the lure, although she found it all a bit puzzling and isn't quite sure about sitting beside me instead of in front of me. We kept everything positive and happy and she was a pleasure to work with.

Oh boy is duke ever happy that he's back here at Tails and Trails! This morning he just couldn't wait to see what his walk had in store for him as he was waiting with his nose pressed right up against his kennel door. As soon as I opened the door to get him I was greeted with a big hug that almost knocked me over! Duke started bouncing all around me and soon enough he calmed down enough for me to put his leash on. Once we got outside Duke couldn't wait to meet a new friend. He raced out of the hallway and right up to his friend Mercer. After giving him a good overall sniff, Duke headed out into the field, always making sure that his new friend was following him. For the most part of the walk Duke spent his time at the end of his leash trying to go as fast as he possibly could. He was definitely determined to go for a jog during this walk so it was quite a fast paced one at that! Every so often Duke would come say hi to me but just as soon as he'd get to me he'd take off like a bullet once again. By the end of his walk he was ready for a little morning nap. Duke was up and ready once again when it came time for his outdoor play group. He jumped up at his kennel with the same excitement as for his walk. When I let him out this time he made sure to take his time and sniff all of the new and old faces around him. Starting right from in the hallway Duke wouldn't let anyone pass by him without making sure that he had said hello to them first. He was a bit funny out in the yard for his group. He'd run to the furthest corner of the agility yard fence and just stare outside but no one was ever there for him to look at so i'm not sure what he was seeing. I tried getting Duke to play with a couple toys today but his main focus was the fence. Every so often he'd either come see me for a quick pet or he'd be racing around the yard while occasionally stopping to sniff.

Poppy had quite a bit of spunk today! She was so very excited at every point of the day, even her very first morning outing. Once I went down the hallway I could see Poppy just waiting for me to open up her kennel door. She was sitting as pretty as she could in hopes to get me to let her out first I think. When I went to let her out she raced by my feet and went directly into the yard. Poppy always makes sure that she knows where everyone is in the yard so that's what she mainly did for this group time. She loved following all of her friends around the yard just so that she'd know what they were doing. When it was time for Poppy's morning walk she was just as excited to get up and moving. This time she stayed in her kennel until I put her leash on and was very good with not pulling me out of the door as soon as she could. Instead she waited to see who was going to be coming on the walk with her. Once she knew she was off like a bullet. Most of her walk was pretty fast paced as she led it for half of the time! Poppy always made sure to keep me on my toes and was even looking back at me as if to encourage me to keep moving as fast as she wanted. When it came time for her outdoor play group, Poppy was quite the little cuddle bug. As soon as I got her out of her kennel she jumped up and gave me tons of kisses. Once we got outside she came and sat right beside me for awhile as she was trying her hardest to get a belly rub and chin scratch. Once I had given her a long enough one she started doing a few laps around the field. When Poppy wasn't with me she was obsessed with sniffing around the yard to see what she could find. She wasn't as playful today but I still got her playing a little bit with a toy bone. To end off the group Poppy decided it was time to roll around in a good patch of grass. 

Ziggy is such a sweet cat. He loves to snuggle in the box area of the cat tree or sit up on his perch in his suite, despite the comfy cushion and blanket he has on the bottom level. Today he was very happy to have some rubs, especially his ears and forehead but I had to reach because he had decided to hang out in Shimmer's suite, which is much higher than his! He and Shimmer got along great today and both seemed very relaxed with one another.