Friday, November 4th, 2016

As usual, Chloe was sure to keep me very busy during her group outing today. Before I even let her out of her kennel, she was eying down the red rubber ball in my hand. The second I opened her kennel she flew in the air, snatching it out of my hand, and bolted down the hall and out into the yard. I was quick behind her, trying to catch up. She refused to drop the ball, running laps around me while whining asking me to throw it. I finally got her to leave it so that I could launch it across the yard. Once she realized I wasn’t going to keep it from her, she returned it and we played numerous rounds of fetch. Chloe is so fast on her feet, doing a wonderful job of getting the ball and returning right to my feet. After so many rounds of fetch she finally decided she wanted to play rug with me and the ball. To no ones surprise, Chloe won the game of fetch in 2 seconds. She then realized I might not give it back so she ran off to sniff the yard, with the ball in her mouth. She carried on around the yard for the remainder of group time, keeping a tight grip on her toy, ensuring no one else got a chance with it.

Kai has been so spoiled today. She loved walking along the trail with Sarah this morning, as Sarah let her stop and roll on every single thing she wished. She must have stopped at least 20 times to rub her back all over a good smell on the ground. Later on she got to spend some quality one on one time with Kinsey up front. Kai was so good for Kinsey as she brushed her out. The amount of hair that this angel sheds is wild! I think we could have built another Kai with the amount that we brushed out. Kai didn’t mind being brushed what so ever, she will take any extra one on one time that she can get. Kai was pleased to head outside after her brushing and wandered where her nose led around the front field. She sniffed along and stopped occasionally to gaze around the field, but always came back to my side for some pets. She is much the same in the yard. She tends to spend the majority of her outdoor time right by my side, asking for pets and cuddles non-stop. I found a spot on the back of her head that was very itchy and she leaned into me as I scratched it for a good amount of time. I was scratching so well that her hind leg began to move. After loads of cuddles and attention, Kai left my side to go check out some of her group mates. She was happy to run into Gunnar again, and politely asked him to play with her. He briefly gave in and the pair did two laps around the yard. Kai then ran into Outlaw and Toby who were more than happy to dance around with her. I was surprised to see Kai hop up on her hind legs, leaping over Outlaw to get him to continue playing. This duo was pretty feisty with one another, dancing around the yard for a brief amount of time. After her games Kai was sure to make her way back to my side for some more attention.

Gunnar is sweet as can be. He is really opening up to us and the other dogs as the days go on. Today when I was letting him out for his main group outing, he knew just what was going on. He beat me to the door, begging to get outside with his friends. The moment I let him out he zoomed into the yard with a big smile on his face. Gunnar did lots of laps around the yard with his nose to the ground before checking out his group mates. He likes to be fully sure of his surroundings by sniffing and exploring thoroughly. He was content with his findings after about ten minutes, so he then made his way to the other dogs to say hello. Kai was happy to briefly dance around with Gunnar, which made him pretty happy. He has really been enjoying the company of Kai, the lovely Burmese. After his games with her, he made his way to my side to ask for some pets. He has been a little nervous of me when he first approaches me, but once he realizes I’m harmless he snuggles into my side. Gunnar was happy to get some ear and side scratches. He then left my side to continue sniffing and exploring the yard before it was time to head indoors.

Boris, Tasha and myself started our morning off with a great trail walk accompanied by their German shepherd mate, Hayley. Hayley was very interested in Tasha throughout the entire walk, constantly play bowing, kissing, and inviting her to play. Towards the end of the walk Tasha gave in, doing a couple laps around me with Hayley. Boris was much to focused on all the smells along the path to join in on their fun. In the yard, Boris and Tasha were so thrilled to have the yard to themselves. Boris and Tasha kept each other so busy by running and playing with one another for their whole outdoor time. Boris egged Tasha on over and over until she finally gave in to his games. They are so fast as they run laps around the yard non-stop. Boris also enjoys leading Tasha into the tunnel, only to dodge her out by leaping on top as she goes through. He is always waiting for her at the opposite end, ready to pounce right on her. This mother son pair had so much fun running and playing today, right until it was time to head indoors. They were both fast to fall asleep once they returned to their kennels, re-charging their batteries for their next outing.

Finnigan had so much fun today. The group he was in was perfect for him. It took him a whole 2 seconds to find Bella, an absolutely darling black lab. These two were soul mates at first sight. Bella was quick to invite Finnigan to play with her by performing her signature kangaroo bounce. She leaped on him then hopped backwards on her two hind legs with her paws at her chest. Finnigan was more than happy to accept her invite to play, and instantly pounced back at her. Finn was quick to roll onto his back and begin flailing his limbs around like usual, asking Bella to tackle him and wrestle with him. Bella wasn’t too sure about wrestling at first, but once she realized it was all fun and games she gave in to his request and began tackling him. Vega saw the action and came bounding over, refusing to miss a good wrestling match. Today, Vega decided that Finnigans fluffy tail was the perfect toy. She grasped it in her mouth and began trying to yank him around. Finnigan had no idea what this crazy puppy was up to, and let her goof around for a bit before he leapt up and told her off. Bella thought Finn telling Vega off was another invite to play, so she began to leap all over him. Finn was happy to continue playing around with Bella, ignoring crazy Vega as best as he could. Later on after much wrestling around, Bella and Finnigan joined in on a mad race around the yard with their other group mates. Both Bella ad Finnigan are very fast on their feet, doing a wonderful job of keeping up to all their rambunctious friends.

Jake and Bella were quite pleased to see an old friend return to their group this morning, that friend being the ever-adorable Duffy. Both Bella and Jake gave him a warm welcome back and a few sloppy kisses to the face to greet him. Jake then flew off into the far yard to play with Pepper who was anxiously waiting for him to chase her. Off they went flying around the yard and this got the attention of little speedster Resa and even Bella decided to see what was going on. Soon enough everyone was chasing Resa around the yard and Bella tried to intercept her brother Jake for a quick wrestle. She was quite playful this morning and had a good run out with Jake. Duffy happily followed me around the yard but that meant he had to dodge the running circus around us. Even though he didn’t want to join in, he was happy to watch as his tail was perked up and was smiling ear to ear. Every time I would turn around he was right behind me with that special grin of his, I kneeled down beside him to give him a nice back rub as we watched everyone else run circles around us.

I quickly realized this morning that one of Khal’s favorite parts of the day is his morning trail walk! His whole body was vibrating in excitement as I approached his kennel door with the leash, or perhaps it was the beautiful Aurora who was joining him on his walk, as he seems to be a sucker for the ladies! He happily galloped along the trail making sure to sniff out every inch of that trail. For his first social outing he was greeted by husky ladies Rosie and Ivy and he was excited to see these friendly faces again. I wouldn’t necessarily call it playing, but the three of them would follow one another around the yard then jump up and down on their backs and bark with excitement, I think they call that flirting! Khal seemed to be full of energy today, I would call him over in the yard and he would speed over to me knowing he was going to get head rubs; yesterday he was too busy exploring the yard to even bother coming over so it was nice to get some extra love from this handsome boy today. Khal was pretty excited this afternoon for his training. He bounced around his kennel as soon as he saw the leash in my hand. I snapped his collar on and off we went. We did some more distraction work on leash today with Boris again. Khal was fantastic with this exercise keeping a close eye on me and ignoring Boris by looking away as we passed by one another. We did this several times before greeting each other while Khal sat patiently beside me and Boris sitting patiently as well behind Leah. We finished it off with Khal laying in the grass focusing on me as Leah worked with Boris' basic commands not far away, and again Khal did great watching me and ignoring Boris.

Max and Sadie were pleased to see that they had the whole yard to themselves this morning to run and play as they pleased. It’s interesting to see the change in relationship with these two when they are alone out in the yard, they seem to be much more playful with one another and Max had Sadie’s attention the whole time when she regularly goes off to explore! It was sweet to see their special bond and playfulness together! They weren’t alone for long however; once Sadie heard Susan’s voice she ran over in excitement, Sadie loves Susan and was full of sloppy kisses and hugs for her. Max and Sadie had some chiropractic adjustments today and were such troopers! As Max was given his adjustment I took Sadie in the adjacent yard with me for some extra attention, she found the perfect rock to rest on and we had a little photo shoot there! Once it was Sadie’s turn, Max followed me for some extra cuddles; he really is such a suck and loves when all the attention is on him! The next time I saw these two they were curled up together having a much-needed afternoon nap.