Saturday, November 26th 2016

George and Titan had another awesome day being back here at tails and trails. They were so very excited throughout the entire day today but it all started with their very first morning group. When I went to let them out, Titan was sitting pretty waiting for me while George was still snoozing away in bed. I think Titan may have been worried that George wasn’t going to join him for their group because he went and completely jumped on him to wake him up. As soon as this happened George was definitely awake and ready to go. The two boys trotted out the door and were ready for the day to begin. Titan was full of beans right from the get-go and started racing laps around everyone.  George was a little reluctant as soon as he felt the cold air but he was soon just as excited as Titan and followed him around wherever he went. When it came to their walk, the two boys split up to each go on walks best fit for them. George had a slower one-on-one walk with our volunteer Kally. He was so excited to get the special attention from her and stayed by her side for almost the entire time. However, sometimes he would follow his nose and strayed off into the trees sniffing after a scent. Titan was on a bit of a quicker walk that he quite enjoyed. As soon as he saw me coming to get him, Titan was jumping up on the kennel door and could barely contain himself! Once we got outside, Titan greeted his new friends and raced right to the end of his leash to get going. For the most part of his walk, he was trying to move as fast as possible. Titan kept getting all tangled up amongst the trees as his nose lead him all over the place. Every so often he’d look up at me as his leash was tangled in between every possible tree and just wait for me to help him out of his sticky situation, silly little guy. When it came to their outdoor play time, both of them had just woken up from a short nap and were once again full of energy. Each one of them jogged down the hall and into the yard to greet everyone in their group. Titan was one of the most playful dogs in his group today. He just loved racing around in the snow and even spent half of his time rolling around in it with George. Once George had finished greeting everyone, he came over to me for a little head massage. Afterwards, I found him and Titan completely covered in snow and rolling around on their backs. The two of them were just attached at the hip today. After they were done rolling in the snow, George and Titan did what they liked to do best, sniffing around the yard for any possible thing they could find. They ended up empty handed but they definitely sniffed as long as they could. They even convinced me to let them mosey along for a bit longer than their usual group time.

George and Titan were super excited for their extra attention today! After walks, I headed up to the playroom with the two of them and they immediately set to work exploring the space. George was in such a good mood and seemed to have a smile on his face the whole time. He discovered the bucket of toys, reached his nose in to sniff some of them, then sat back and waited for me to get one out for him. I offered him a few different bones and balls, though George would simply take them in his mouth, set them down and reach for the next one. Eventually he moved on from the toys and went to check out the couch. Titan had been darting around the room trying to sniff everything when he noticed one of George’s forgotten bones. He quickly snatched it up and then settled down to chew on it. Occasionally Titan would switch toys so that he could try every bone in the room. After a little while, they both headed over to say hello to me and got some nice back rubs. We cuddled for a bit more, and then the two of them went back to exploring the room.

Lola had a wonderful day today! She was so excited to come back and see us that she went zooming down the hallway and right into the staff room as soon as she got here. As soon as she saw us in there, Lola was all over each one of us. She made sure to spend some time greeting everyone in the room and once she did that she did it all over once again. We just knew that she’d love to stay in the staff room today so she was able to snuggle up and greet us all day long. When it came time for her morning walk, Lola was up and ready to go. This morning she walked with our husky rescue named Korvo. The two of them got along right away and were both very excited to tread through the snow on the back trail. Lola spent a lot of her time at the end of her leash with Korvo. They seemed to be trying to go faster than one another the whole time and definitely kept me on my toes. Lola was very giddy throughout the entire day, especially for her outdoor play group. When I went to get her from the staff room she was completely snuggled up on a big comfy bed. However, once she opened her eyes and saw me she bounced up immediately and was ready to start playing. Throughout her play group, Lola was all over the place. Once she first went outside, she greeted all of the other dogs in the yard before coming to sit with me in the snow. Lola had the habit of rolling around in the snow today, but she only seemed to do it when she was near me so that I could give her a belly rub at the same time. Later on during her group she and I played fetch for a little while just before going back inside for the afternoon. Lola did a few fast laps around the yard to end off her group and was then ready for another nap.

Delilah had yet another wonderful day. During her very first morning group she was in the cuddliest mood I had ever seen. I think she may have wanted to snooze in bed for a while longer as I woke her up when I went to get her for her group time. However, after a few seconds she was ready to go outside. Once we got out, Delilah did a walk around the yard but didn’t seem to care about greeting anyone. Instead, Delilah joined me for a warm cuddle and a long belly rub. We then began her day with a fast walk in the brisk morning air. She was a bit reluctant to go into the wide open field as it was pretty cold this morning. However, once she saw the back forest trail she was more than ready to get going. Delilah kept stopping every so often to pick him a bit of snow to eat. There were even a few spots where she enjoyed stopping to rub her face and neck in the snow. Delilah’s walk was very relaxing and went on at a good pace. She enjoyed doing a little bit of everything from trying to go faster at the end of her leash, to sniffing in the snow and finally walking beside me to get an extra pat on the head here and there. Once her walk was done, Delilah went back into her kennel to snuggle up in her blanket. Not too long after, I was already getting Delilah again to go outside for her outdoor playgroup. This time she was up and ready. She was even excited to see the other dogs in her group and gave them each a good greeting before coming back to see me. After a bit of a back scratch, Delilah headed off into the agility yard to sniff around. For the most part of her group she was pre-occupied with all of the new winter scents and spent a lot of time digging in the snow. For the most part of her group, she ventured in the yard.

Jax was completely full of beans throughout the entire day today. I think the snow must have had him in just the cheeriest of moods. Jax began his day with a wonderful short walk in the snow. Since the snow was pretty deep on the trail, I took Jax up into the front field so that he could wander around where it wouldn’t be so hard for him to walk. I could just see the excitement on Jax’s face when I went to get him from his kennel. He was standing at his kennel door patiently waiting for me but as soon as I opened it and put his leash on, Jax nearly knocked me over as he was trying to leave his kennel and get moving so fast! Silly guy. We trotted up to the front and Jax was keeping me on my toes the entire time. There was always somewhere new that he wanted to sniff or venture so we stayed out front for quite some time. Right after walks, it was time for Jax’s extra attention time. I went into his kennel with him for the first part of his extra attention time. I had found a really delicious bone for him so the two of us simply sat in his kennel snuggling while Jax completely chopped away on the bone. I think Jax fell in love with that bone because he wanted to keep it with him for the entire day. After a little bit longer, I brought Jax up into the front reception area so that he could a ton of attention from all the others working today. Jax couldn’t have loved the attention more. He kept doing laps of the room with his face almost looking as if he was smiling. After a few more cuddles, treats and a bit of a groom with one of our soft brushes, Jax and I headed back to his kennel. During his outdoor play group, Jax was just as excited to get outside and get moving. As soon as we got outside he raced into the snow and started trying to eat it, it was so cute! Of course afterwards he went and found his favourite jolly ball in the yard. He ended up standing over it to protect it from everyone else just like he usually does. Jax was doing this for the most part of his group but he and I played around with the ball occasionally. I kept trying to get it from him and every so often I was lucky enough to get it and then throw it for him to get again.

Max and Sadie had such a fun time in the yard today! Max was the first one out the door and he was eager to use up some of his energy. He still seemed to be bouncing around like crazy after his and Sadie’s walk earlier. Max immediately bounded into the far yard and started racing back and forth as he tried to sniff the entire yard at once. Sadie, much calmer than her silly brother, was content to wander outside at a more reasonable pace, and set to work exploring by the fence. It wasn’t long before Max came hurtling over and nearly crashed right into Sadie. She leaped to her feet and went running off, Max right on her heels. They both raced around in the snow for a while, then Sadie decided she needed to catch her breath and went back to sniffing. Max hurried over to say hello to me instead. He happily soaked up some attention and cuddled with me until his sister was ready to play again. Sadie entertained Max for a couple more laps of the yard, before she hopped up onto the picnic table and observed her surroundings. Max trotted circles around the table. Sadie then leaped off, bounced on the ground once and landed on her favourite rock. Max decided to take the opportunity to steal the picnic table and quickly climbed up. They both stared each other down from their perches, until suddenly Max went running off. Sadie, content with her victory, trotted off to explore the snow until we headed back inside.

Gunnar was a man on a mission today. I don’t think his feet stopped moving once while we were out in the yard. After a nice walk earlier in the morning, Gunnar was more than ready for group time and raced to be the first one out the door. He stuck his nose into the snow right away, sneezed, and then trotted off to continue exploring. A little while later, and suddenly Gunnar had a burst of energy. He went racing across the agility yard with Barley running after him. Gunnar slid to a stop, bounced past Barley and came flying over to where I was currently playing fetch with some of the other dogs. Gunnar saw the ball in my hand and quickly joined the crowd waiting for me to throw it. Everybody took turns racing after it until the dogs had dispersed to find their own toys. Gunnar was the only one waiting patiently at my feet for another toss. I threw it up in the air and Gunnar easily bounced up to catch it. He forgot how slippery the ball was and it slipped right out of his mouth, and rolled right to Cascabelle’s paws. She quickly snatched it up, and Gunnar decided to find something else to play with. That something ended up being Barley. The two of them wrestled and chased each other around until it was time to go back to their kennels.

Charlie had a great walk with me this morning and certainly enjoyed running around the trail in the forest. He was still in a playful mood when it was time for groups and, just like the rest of the dogs, was delighted to find a bunch of toys waiting for them in the yard. Charlie located a nice ball and quickly scooped it up before anybody else could grab it. He carried it around for a while, as if to show off his prize, and caught Georgie’s attention. She hurried after him and made several attempts to steal Charlie’s toy, although Charlie always stayed one step ahead of her. Eventually the two of them ended up in a game of fetch with Cascabelle, Gunnar, Finnigan and I. Charlie was happy to chase after the ball I was throwing, and somehow managed to keep hold of his own toy at the same time! Charlie then trotted over to a quieter spot in the yard, where he laid down to chew on his ball. I looked over at one point and Charlie was happily rolling around on his back, toy sticking out of his mouth. He was in such a good mood today. A little bit later, Charlie had lost track of his toy and was trotting around in search of a new one. I tossed him a different ball and he sprung up to catch it – although the ball went soaring over his head. Charlie raced after it and decided to run around with his new toy for a while.

Finnigan was delighted by all of the toys in the yard this morning. The other dogs had picked their favourite and Finnigan was struggling to choose one! Eventually he settled on a nice rope toy; unfortunately, it happened to be the same rope toy that Cascabelle was currently carrying around. He snuck up behind her while Cascabelle was sniffing something in the snow, and quickly grabbed the end of the rope toy, silently dragging it away. Once Finnigan had successfully retrieved his prize, I felt a little bad for Cascabelle and tossed her a ball instead. She happily went trotting after it. Of course, Finnigan figured that the ball must be even better than the rope toy, and chased after it as well. He didn’t manage to steal it this time, but entertained himself by playing fetch with Cascabelle and I. A few more dogs joined us, and Finnigan decided to head off and play on his own. He rolled around and suddenly noticed a Frisbee half-hidden under the snow. Finnigan immediately pounced on it and carried it away so that nobody else could get at it. He was busy chewing on his new toy when he noticed that I was cuddling with the other dogs across the yard. Not to be left out, Finnigan came racing over. I expected him to at least slow down before he reached us, although Finnigan plowed right into everybody at top speed. He tumbled into the snow and quickly bounced to his feet, tail wagging as if he hadn’t just run everyone over.

Teddie and Kizmet had a lovely walk this morning. The back trail is always much more exciting than the field and the two of them made sure to take their time and sniff everything. At one point I looked over and Kizmet had his face entirely buried in the snow. Once we got back, the two of them curled up for naps. They were quick to wake up for groups, though! Teddie set out to explore the yard while Kizmet followed me around for a while. Apparently he and some of the other dogs thought that I was hiding treats from them. Kizmet sat down and patiently waited for something in return. Since I was all out of treats, I made sure to give him a nice long cuddle instead. Kizmet accepted this happily and snuggled up with me while we watched Teddie trotting around the yard. Eventually Teddie came over to join us and he gave Kizmet a quick face wash before the two boys wandered off together. They walked past Eva, Amadeus and Gryphon, who were busy chasing each other around, and Teddie decided to cheer them on while Kizmet continued to sniff around. It wasn’t long before Gryphon bumped into Kizmet, who decided that he might as well play while he was outside. They bounced around together and bumped shoulders, with Teddie barking encouragement. Eventually the dogs slowed down for a breather. Teddie wandered over to cuddle with me, while Kizmet decided that he needed a good roll in the snow, and flopped over to do just that. Before we headed inside, Kizmet made sure to stop by and see me for some more attention of his own.