Friday, December 23rd, 2016

Max and Sadie were eager to burst out of their kennel doors this morning and into the yard but not before they both showed me how patient they were and gave me the perfect sit! Sadie always loves to test my limits to see what she can get away with but Max never misses a beat and is the perfect gentleman. Both Sadie and Max ran into the far field and started making their usual laps around the yard, getting ready to chase and wrestle with one another; they were both on a no-wrestle strike for the past couple days and not to their liking that’s for sure! They kept things gentle again today but were able to run out their energy by speed racing after one another from yard to yard. I made the mistake of sitting down in the snow next to Sadie; she decided she wanted to become a lap dog and took me down in the snow with her and buried me with sloppy kisses!

Boris and Tasha came just in time this morning for their morning trail walk and boy were they ready to go as they happily pulled and sniffed away on their leads in front of us! They kept up the pace and energy next for their group outing and Boris was thrilled to see Sky the Husky again and immediately went into play mode and started using his bum to try and fend her off! Meanwhile Tasha saw a familiar face, that of little Merida’s; they are the most unlikely couple but always seem to find one another out in the yard and have a good play. Boris and Tasha then joined forces for a big old group play with young ones Charly and Finnigan who were having a good wrestle on their own but of course silly Boris couldn’t resist a good puppy play, at one point he had both Finn and Charly rolling around on their backs in excitement. With Boris playing, we know Tasha wouldn’t be far behind and sure enough she came pacing over and started to wrestle!

Finnigan had a very busy morning today; to start off he went on a trail walk with little Poppy and big Duke. The three of them had a blast kicking up snow behind them! Finn was part of two big playgroups this morning, each joined by best Golden friend Charly who he got to spend the day with lounging in the staff room like the spoiled pups they are! First, they joined the small dog group where Finn got to run around and wrestle with playful Tennya and play fetch with little Dugan! Finn spent most of his time trying to steal the ball away from Charly, then chasing the rest of the small dog pups around the yard with Dugan in the lead. Just when he thought he was coming inside he couldn’t have been happier to join another group with the big playful Boris with his little sidekick Charly right by his side again. Soon enough this group turned into a digging party; Finn and Charly worked together to dig a hole in the snow side by side while Isis and Sky dug one right beside them; it takes a pack to dig to China let me tell you!

Dugan was ecstatic to have some bigger friendly dogs added to his group, especially ones like Finn who could run his energy out and play a good game of ball with. Dugan endlessly chased Finn and Charly around the yard and although he might be small, he is fast and most of the time was able to outrun them and he sure was proud of that. With two ball-loving dogs, he didn’t get as much time with the actual ball in his mouth, but he loved the chase just as much. With all of that running around, eventually he found his way to the front yard where his older brother Keegan was hanging out. Keegan was just fulfilling his duties of watchdog over the door for me! This gave me the perfect opportunity to join these two for some one-on-one time and that meant extra hugs and kisses for the both of these sweet boys!

Syrus and his gang were my last group of the day and they did not disappoint! In fact, these playful pups kept me entertained all morning long especially due to fun-loving Syrus! Syrus brings such a good energy to his groups and is adored by all of his friends; today he got to hang out with another Husky named Sage but also enjoyed his play time with old pals like Cesar and Zak. You could always find Syrus in the middle of the action; he never wants to miss out on a good wrestle or an epic chase across with yard with Charly and Sage. He is also a very sweet and cuddly boy often making a few stops by my feet for a head rub and takes a seat in the snow which gives me the perfect opportunity to take his model-shots like the handsome boy he is. I have to act fast however, because it wouldn’t be long before he is off chasing Sage and gang again until it’s time to come back inside for an afternoons rest!

Duke was his usual playful self today in the yard. He didn’t stray from his usual routine one bit! He began with a quick walk around of the yard but once he saw me petting Mocha, he ran right up to me with a big smile on his face and bumped right into me, making sure he would get some love too! I gave Duke a really good ear rub and face massage while I sat down on the ground and he rested his head on my knee. He was almost going to fall asleep, until Dragon came up to him and barked at Duke, inviting him to play. Duke was a little hesitant at first, but he went to go jump on Dragon finally and Dragon dodged him and ran away, so Duke took this as a challenge and chased Dragon all around the yard. Every time Duke caught up to him, they would stop to have a little play-wrestling match. Right before it was time to go in, Duke made sure that he got to sit on my lap as soon as I was sitting down on the snow. He plopped him bum right down and whipped his head around and gave me a big kiss! For his extra attention, Duke and I spent some time together in the playroom. There were dogs playing outside in the yard and Duke put his paws up on the ledge and stood there with his tail wagging so fast, just watching the others outside. I teased him with a treat to get him to cuddle with me and he was too distracted to even see me. Once I sat down on the chair, he leaped up behind me and rested his head on my shoulder. He sure loves to cuddle! After the playroom, we both sat down in his kennel together and he enjoyed some yummy treats.

Maggie is such a sweetheart. I love when I get to spend time with her in the yard. Her entire group were all competing to get lots of pets and cuddles but Maggie would always sit right by me and wait patiently for me to go up to her and give her lots of cuddles. Today she would sit right in front of me and give me the cutest puppy dog eyes

Poppy did so many fun things in the yard today. She got tons of cuddles and got to play with some of her good friends too! Her entire group was super cuddly, which made Poppy want some love and attention even more. She first explored and sniffed the entire yard before coming over to me. Once I called her over while she was sniffing, she bounced all the way to me, and jumped right into my arms; it was so cute! She wiggled her bum and gave me tons of kisses as I rubbed her back and scratched behind her ears and by her tail. She was so happy, and when Maggie came over to join us, Poppy instantly wanted to play with her. Maggie wasn’t in the mood to play, so Poppy set off to find another friend in the yard. She found Duke and Dragon wrestling around and she stood near them and barked at them until she got their attention. She ran right at Duke, who then ran away and then these two played a little game of chase around the yard. After that, Poppy had a serious case of the zoomies and wouldn’t go anywhere in the yard unless she was running at full tilt! She had a very fun playgroup this afternoon and was happy to get a little nap before doing it all over again!

Cara had a blast today! To start her day, she went on a walk with her brother Brody and Flora, their other friend that they spend group time with. Brody trailed behind us while Cara was leading them all down the trail with Flora right behind her. At group time, Cara and Flora reunited and played together for a while. Cara had to jump on Flora a couple times to get her to play but she eventually let Cara chase her around the yard for a while. After Cara was done playing with Flora, she wandered to the far yard to see her brother. While she was sniffing around in the deep snow with Brodie, she noticed that Jax was playing with the big Jolly ball and she wanted to play too! She bolted over there as fast as she could and leaped right onto the big ball and sent it sliding across the snow, which then she and Jax both chased after it. Jax claimed the jolly ball as his own, so she moved on to play with a smaller pink ball. I played fetch with her a few times but then she stopped bringing it back to me so we stopped playing. Brodie also made some new friends in the yard today! He got to see his friend Jake again. These two handsome fellas have met before while they were in for another visit so they were excited to see each other. They wrestled around for a while and Brodie chased Jake around the yard after. They settled down after playing non-stop for 10 minutes. Brodie went back to trotted around the yard, exploring all the new smells and saying hello to all the dogs that he passed on his way. He was passing by me and I knelt down and he turned right around and came and nudged my hand to get some pets and attention. I scratched all down his back and behind his ears which he loved!

I took Jax for his little walk this morning and it was so cute seeing him and Winston, both Bulldogs, walk together. Winston really wanted to trot down the path as fast as he could, while Jax was taking it easy as we walked along. Winston was way ahead of me, while Jax was way behind me, it was pretty funny! After their walk, Jax was happy to get back to his kennel and cozy in his blankets for a quick nap before his next big outing. When we got outside, Jax immediately made his way to the far yard where all the toys are. He pounced right on the jolly ball and decided that it would where he would spend his time outside. I tried to kick the ball so that Jax would chase after it a bit, but he didn’t want me to touch it. I pet him while he sat there with his favorite toy. Eventually Cara wanted to play with the big ball as well, so Jax was very polite and let me throw it once for Cara. She chased after it and was pawing at it for a while, but Jax snuck up on her and stood over his ball once again. After some time, he moved on from the ball to explore the yard before we went back inside. When he went in his kennel, he waited for a bit and then was happy to get a little lunch time treat! Later in the afternoon, Jax and I spent some time together in the reception area for his extra attention. He wandered around a bit and went behind the desk to check everything out. There were tons of toys spread out on the ground so he spent some time going through them, inspecting each one in order to pick his favorite. Eventually he picked up a green tennis ball and carried it around with him for a few minutes. He didn’t want to play with it, but instead wanted to keep it with him and carry it around the room. He did that for a while, and then Susan came in and Jax got super excited and went over to see her. Susan gave Jax a little treat and he gobbled it all up. He hung around her for a few seconds waiting for another treat, so I handed him a tiny piece of a milkbone. We then sat down together for a while and I rubbed and scratched Jax’s back while he sat there.
Rumple was feeling a little more adventurous in the cat room today. I peeked in the window and he and Harlow were perched on the windowsill and cat tree, looking out the window at the water droplets falling from the edge of the roof. I popped in to say hi, and Harlow, the social butterfly, walked right up to say hello to me too. Later when it was time for their extra attention, he was just as friendly and I scooped him right up and brought him with me to say hi to Rumple. Rumple had made his way back to his cubby so I knelt down and pet Harlow on the floor and Rumple in the cubby at the same time. Rumple seemed more inclined to snooze, so we left him in peace and I got a couple of toys to toss around. Harlow batted away at the little pompoms and rolled around like the silly guy he is. We are really enjoying these two cat brothers...they are such a sweet pair.