Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Syrus had yet another five star day with us. He is always so eager to set out on whatever journey is next, whether it is his walk or his play time. Syrus was excited to see the return of his newest group mate, Caesar. These two are a bit of an odd couple, but they make for great fun and games. Syrus enjoys showing off how agile he is to Caesar the gentle giant, darting around him in circles and dodging him left and right with ease. Caesar doesn't mind his showing off and continuously goes after Syrus for more fun. Vega the  puppy wasn't afraid to get in on their action too. She can be quiet bold some times, backing down from no one, no matter their size or age. She really gave Syrus a run for his money with her sassy attitude. Syrus was a very patient boy, allowing her to leap all over him and chase him around the yard. He was having so much fun with his friends that it took some convincing for him to come indoors. He seems to have us well trained, requiring us to offer him a cookie to come back inside. 

Kouza has been a joy to spend one on one time with. She is always happy to sniff and explore the reception area or the play room very intently before settling down by my side. Kouza has been extra happy with me the last two days as we picked up some more carrots for her. She seems to relate me to food, always expecting a snack when we're together. She loves nosing around our Kongs trying to get her goodies out from inside while enjoying some pats and cuddles. In the yard Kouza is very happy to sniff and explore. She always finds herself nosing around in the deep snow looking for some treasures beneath the cool powder. Kouza was happy when I offered her a rope toy today. She briefly carried it around before giving up on it to do some more sniffing and exploring in the large yard. 

Coco and Timbits couldn’t wait any longer to get into the back and head out for their walk. Without any hesitation these two bolted to the back, beating me through the back door. We headed out right away. Coco and Timbits led the way along the back trail with group-mate, Monty along their side. The hounds tend to take the lead as following their noses make them move fast. At group time, Timbits was thrilled to get out in the yard and meet up with his group mates. He was very quick to find Dugan and Monty and begin dancing around with them. This trio had fun for a brief while before big sister Coco had to intervene and put Timbits in his place. Timbits was very responsive to Coco’s request for him to settle down. However, Coco didn’t want him to fully settle down; she just wanted him to play with only her. Timbits was fine with this, and the pair set off for their usual fun and games. They ran and wrestled all throughout the yard at a very fast pace, drawing a lot of attention from other group mates. They weren’t interested in including their friends, continuing on throughout the yard without stopping for anyone. These games carried on until Coco decided she was tired enough to set off sniffing on her own. Timbits took this opportunity to meet back up with Dugan and wrestle around in the snow.

Jake and Bella were so excited to be here for daycare today. It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve last seen this duo. As I was walking, I crossed paths with Nicki on the back trail who had these two. They were both so excited to see me ahead of them and began tugging on the leashes. I wasn’t helping the situation, talking to them, telling them how cute they are while Nicki held on for dear life. Once I disappeared into the bushes I could hear Nicki thanking the duo for retreating to her side.  During groups, Jake was ready to get playing the moment he got into the snowy yard. Flora, another guest of ours, had the hots for Jake right off the bat. She was so flirty towards him, dancing all around him, licking his ears, and wiggling underneath him. Jake loved the attention Flora was giving him and gave in to her request to play without any hesitation. The pair were very cute dancing back and forth, wiggling around the yard with smiles on their faces. Other friends joined in on their games but didn’t stick around as the pair seemed to only have eyes for another. I took a break from watching Jake play to visit Bella who was very busy sniffing and exploring. Bella is always very fascinated with all the smells that have come about since her last visit with us. It usually keeps her quite busy. Bella was happy to divert her attention from the smells to give me some kisses and cuddles. We enjoyed some one on one time in the yard until Jake came zooming over, sticking his face between she and I, insisting to get some love and attention too. After this the pair took off, zooming around the yard. They spent the last portion of their outdoor time hanging out by the door with their quieter friends, saying hello to everyone before heading back indoors where their lunch awaited.

Keegan enjoyed the weather today much more than the ridiculous cold spell we had Monday and Tuesday. He was so pleased to head outdoors and feel the warm sun shining on him. He was happy to venture off and explore the yard. Keegan had his nose to the ground for most outdoor time. He let his nose lead him around the yard, picking up on all the smells beneath the snow. At times, Keegan would stop and give the snow a brief dig to get a better whiff of whatever smell was hiding beneath the powder. After lots of sniffing and exploring Keegan made his way into the smaller yard to hang out with his quieter independent friends. He was happy to have me accompany him. Keegan leaped onto my lap while I was kneeling and gladly accepted pets and cuddles, and even offered me a nice wet warm kiss.

Dugan had so much fun today. I forgot how much this little guy loves fetch. It took a little bit for him to find a ball that was an appropriate size for him. Once he got his mouth on a hollow red ball, the games really began. Dugan is so agile and speedy, darting after the ball and capturing it with ease. He would race around showing it off to all his friends after snatching it and would dance his way back to my feet for another round. After a couple rounds of fetch, Dugan had an interesting follower; Jax the bulldog. Although Jax is not as fast and agile as Dugan, he sure does put up some bold competition. Dugan loved the attention he was getting from Jax. He continued to taunt him with the ball and leap all over him showing it off. After endless slow laps around the agility tunnel, Jax snagged the toy right from Dugan's mouth. Dugan was rather shocked, but not upset one bit. I ended up playing fetch with the pair for the remainder of group time. I tossed the ball closer to Jax sometimes so that he got his fair share of retrieving as well. After lots of fetch Jax was very happy to nuzzle into my side and accept pats and cuddles. Dugan took off at this point to join in on some fun and games with two beagle friends, Coco and Timbits.

Duke is just the sweetest boy around and we just love having this gentle giant board with us because he is such good company and an exceptional cuddler. Duke’s favourite part of his morning is his trail walk; when I approached his kennel door he knew exactly where he was going and jumped up in excitement. After a long walk and a good stretch of his legs, he was now ready to go back outside, but this time with his favourite pals, which included Burnese brothers Dragon and Gryphon. You can usually predict Duke’s routine when he gets out in the yard, this curious boy loves to run laps back and forth from the door all the way to the back gate. He just wants to keep an eye out in the front for us and perhaps he might see his humans out there! You would think he would make the perfect guard dog, but he is much too sweet to be honest, he just happily runs around and graciously accepts head rubs, not to mention all the nose nuzzle greetings to the passerbys. The excitement didn’t stop there, next up is his extra attention time!
Duke and I did some different stuff for his extra attention time this afternoon. Since he is such a smart boy and such a hard worker, I thought it might be fun to practice some obedience work. At first Duke was way too excited to focus on anything but running back and forth and all around, but with a bit of time, we went into the kitchen where he did some sits and downs and stays for me. At first Duke was so excited he wouldn't even take treats from me, but I could see he was interested. I popped open some leftover cheese cubes from our Christmas party and let the scent waft under his nose and then backed away. Duke's eyes got big and he took a nice big sniff. After that, he was very happy to work for some cheese and some of his dehydrated chicken treats. One of the things that we practiced was waiting at doors, because like a lot of shepherds, Duke loves to race through them as fast as possible. He did amazing work and then we headed into the playroom for some fun and games. I teased him with a bouncy ball and he just couldn't resist chasing after it. After that we had some cozy cuddles and pets. Duke sure is a smart, loving boy.
Max and Sadie have been very obedient lately and so patient with us as we have been limiting the rough play until Sadie is all healed up. Sadie doesn’t seem to think that she needs any rest, she is ready to play with big Max and she’s ready to play hard as usual. There are still many activities that these two siblings can do from running laps around the yard, posing on the picnic table, taking selfies and chasing after the red ball all while responding to basic commands from me such as sit and stay! Everyone always has such a good time when out in the yard with these two silly pups, they sure do know how to keep us entertained all morning long but most importantly it gives them the chance to run out their energy. Back inside we went for a nap, luckily little trickster Sadie didn’t give me too much trouble coming back, she has been very good but she was surprised to see that Max had taken up the whole bed by the time she made it in; move over Max, here comes your sister!

My first group of the day was a very playful one including some of our favourite regular daycare guests and we all know how much our daycare pals know how to bring the energy. First face to the group was Tag; Tag started her morning off with a long snowy trail walk with little Flora and Resa. Not much walking happened, more so wiggling and prancing as she tried to entice Flora to play! Next, Tag was excited to meet some new faces in the yard and was paired with some of our gentlest yet playful big dogs and this was quite the amazing experience. Tag is one of those pups that can be paired with either group and be bound to have a good time. Lucky for her she also saw some familiar faces - Charly and Finn and leaped into the yard after them. The three of these wiggly pups were the perfect match, all with similar goofy personalities and rolled around in the snow all morning long; black and tan legs and paws all intertwined! Guaranteed Tag will be tired tonight from all of that playing.

Finn, our special little guy, got to spend his day in the staff room today with best pal and resident staff dog Charly. I was very thankful to have Finn join her in there because it meant she would be extra tired by the end of the day - thanks Finn! These two are the best of friends and I don’t think there was a moment where they weren’t rolling around on the ground mouthing at each other. Ok maybe one moment when I caught them all curled up together on the bed; wow sometimes they do sleep! The playing continued out in the yard and they were happy to have another little wiggly friend named Tag join in. Of course Finn didn’t give me any trouble coming in, no playing dead today, he wrestled with Charly all the way down the hall and continued all the way into the staff room.

Bella and Oakley rounded out this playful group along with their best resident Husky pal Justice; hurrah for Wednesdays when these two girls get to join us and have a good play, always something to look forward to! To no one's surprise, Bella spotted Justice first thing out in they yard and immediately darted towards him and jumped up onto his back in excitement. Both and Oakley and Bella were sad they didn’t get to see pal Kyah today but that didn’t stop Justice from making his usual laps around the agility tunnel with Bella hot on his trail. Bella was even more thrilled to have three playful puppies join their group, Tag, Finn and Charly would often break up their wrestling to chase after Bella and Justice who were frantically running across the yard! Bella loves the attention of these three and they definitely made sure to run out her energy! Oakley, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling too playful today; you just never know with this one what type of mood she will be in. Well she is always in good spirits regardless but some days she is cuddlier than others and today was definitely a cuddle day! She followed me endlessly around the yard as she nudged my shins with her nose, when I would look down at her, her big ears would fold back in endearment as she happily accepted my love. I just love her company, however; she is the sweetest girl around!