Monday, January 16th, 2017

Allie was sitting on the chair when I went in to see her this afternoon. She was having a look at the other cat in his cubby, not too sure what to think of him. When I went to give Allie a chin scratch, she leapt playfully up onto the top shelf of the cat tree. She was full of beans, so I took out a few toys for her to choose from. She seemed to like the feather toy on a string the best, and I swung it around for her. Allie batted away at this fun toy, all while on the top tier of the tree. I motioned for her to come down a level, but she stayed just where she wanted to be. I stood up on the chair to be more at her level, and Allie and I continued to play with the toy on the string. When she’d had enough play time, Allie hopped down off the tree and went to curl up in her cat carrier. I encouraged her to come back out, and she did. I gave her lots of chin scratches before she went to have a look out the window.

Kouza is such a sweet girl. She is always so happy when you open her kennel because it either means food, or time to go outside. Both of which she loves! Kouza was thrilled to head out for her morning “walk”, which is one on one time in the yard since she has a hard time on the path. Kouza loves to be cuddled and pet in the yard while she sniffs and explores. She was just as excited to get out for her main group later in the day. She was quick to wander down the hall and out the door and make her way into the yard. She let all of her group mates greet her and she followed some of them around. After saying her hellos, she put her nose to the ground to do some investigating. Kouza made her way all around the yard, not letting her cone slow her down one bit. She was very happy to bump in to me and receive some pets and cuddles. When it was time to come in Kouza was the first one in the hall. She ran after me looking for some treats. She was such a good girl heading into her kennel, and quickly getting comfy on her bed for an afternoon snooze.

Coco and Timbits had a very nosey Monday. The duo wasn’t all that interested in playing around, rather they were very keen to sniff and explore. The yard is beginning to melt, which uncovers endless amounts of smells, which are very hard to resist for this hound pair. Coco let her nose lead her all around the yard, with her tail high in the air. Timmy on the other hand, likes to dig and dig at one spot where he finds a good smell. The pair would occasionally meet up and check out each others findings, but always returned to their solo adventures. Both Coco and TImbits were happy to accept my pets and cuddles when I offered them, but were quite keen to return to their adventures through out the yard after.

Rufus and Sherman never fail to put a smile on my face. This silly duo makes for some good laughs and great company in the yard. They started their outdoor time off a little grumpy at me for suiting them up in their jackets. Sherman was wiggling his way around in the snow until he noticed his brother Rufus wandering around without a care in the world. Once he realized the jacket wasn’t the end of the world, his tail began to wag and he darted over to his brother. This hound duo kept very busy with their noses to the ground for the first portion of their outdoor time. They were happy to have two beagles in their group who also love to sniff and explore. After loads of adventuring through out the yard, both Rufus and Sherman made note that I was sitting on a table that has been partially buried in the snow. Both boys made their way to me to ask for pets and cuddles. Sherman, who seems to be a little bit more confident, leapt right up on me asking for attention. His friend Resa was quick to pick up on this and also hopped up on me asking for pets. I had to ask the two to get down because I didn’t want Sherman’s back to hurt. Meanwhile, Rufus was wiggling around underneath me weaving in and out of my legs looking for attention. The boys were thrilled when I sat down on the snow, at their level, and gave them bundles of pets and cuddles.

Sadie wasn’t all too keen on intense games today. However, she did give in to Max’s request to goof around for a brief period of time. She let him play around with her for a bit, allowing him to pounce all over her and wrestle around the yard until she decided it was enough. Max wasn’t too bothered by his sisters’ decision to keep it quiet today. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the one on one time he had with me while Sadie was adventuring around the yard. Max is always so happy to have both my hands available for pets and cuddles. He loves to nuzzle his head between my legs while I pat down his sides. He is always so good at sitting and lying down for me too, as he knows he will be rewarded with more cuddles. When Sadie noticed all the attention her brother was getting she waltzed over to me and began nudging me with her head. I took a break from cuddling Max to give Sadie some nice warm cuddles. Sadie was so happy she rolled onto her back asking for belly rubs. The entire one on one attention got Max excited, and he requested to play with Sadie once more. Sadie was apposed to the request this time around, and the pair set off on a wild chase. They bolted around the yard with smiles on their faces as usual. Max in the lead with Sadie on his tail, the pair flew through the tunnel and looped around all the obstacles in the yard with ease. They were happy to head indoors when their outdoor time ended, as they each wanted to rest equally.

Finn was happy to be back for daycare after a weekend away and excited to see all of his silly friends that he missed so much. First up was a morning trail walk, but not long after he was stirring up trouble with his first group outing! He adored the ever-playful Hudson and the feeling seemed to be mutual! These two spent a good chunk of their time wrestling around in the snow; brown and black limbs were flying all over the place as they tumbled around the yard. It was nice for Finn to have a boy pal who could keep up with him and his endless amounts of energy; well Hudson was the man for the job! It wasn’t long before Finn got distracted by the shiny orange ball that Charly was carrying around in her mouth. Sure enough, Finn fought hard for that ball and easily stole it away from her. The rest of his morning was spent guarding that ball with his life in usual Finnigan fashion! While Finn was busy with his ball, Hudson and Barley continued the wrestle without him; Hudson has so much fun-loving energy that its often hard to keep up with him! He made friends with every pup in that yard today and enticed everyone to chase him. He could have spent his whole day outside, but lucky for him it was just his first outing and would have the rest of the day to play!

While Finn, Hudson and Barley were wrestling up a storm around them, sweet ladies Kai and Laika were watching from the sidelines and were quite entertained watching these three boys horse around! Laika was in exploration mode this morning and decided to sniff out the agility yard from top to bottom, but making sure to say hello to her friends as she passed them by in true gentle Labrador nature. When she was satisfied with her work, she ran over to me for a good cuddle and almost took me down in the snow with her! She then spent the rest of her morning with her friends and carried that great big smile of hers across her face. Much like Laika, Kai was happy to just be outside with the rest of the pups, she stayed closed to my side as we watched playful commotion unfold in front of our eyes. She had just come from her extra attention, and therefore I think she wanted it to continue outside so she stayed close for some head rubs. For extra attention time, she hung out with our staff up front, where she was pleasantly greeted with lots of hugs and treats! She is such an obedient girl and loves to practice giving paw for a treat! She then found a comfy spot on the floor below Leah’s feet and hung out with us for the rest of the morning until it was time to head out with her group.

I was happy to see my favourite brothers Teddy and Kizmet bright and early this morning as they looked up at me with those beautiful smiles of theirs! These two gentle giants greeted me with a kiss when I approached their kennel door to head out for their morning walk. They were happy to have Macie as company and the three of them trotted along the trail with much enthusiasm. They then met up with Macie again out in the yard and also met some new faces today. But first things first, a good roll on their backs in the snow was in order. There they were both rolling around together in pure excitement as Macie started at them in amusement! Both Teddy and Kizmet were in frisky moods this morning and ready to play! They met another gentleman named Merck and the three of them had a good wrestle. Teddy especially loved him and immediately started to paw at him when he got close to Kizmet. Macie also adored Merck today; he was quite the popular boy and brought out the playfulness in all the pups today. Macie endlessly followed him around the yard as she tried to entice him to play with a nudge to his back or a paw to the face! She loved the thrill of following him around and even more so loved the attention she got in return. Much like Teddy and Kiz, she was very perky this morning and really enjoyed her first outing. I think they were all looking forward to an afternoons rest after all the running around they did together.

While Teddy, Kiz and Macie were bonding with Merck, Chloe was frantically running around collecting all of the toys. She first spotted the red ball and enthusiastically darted towards it as if she struck gold! We played a few rounds of fetch with the ball before Kinsey came out with another toy that she thought Chloe might love; we come well prepared with toys when this fetch-loving addict is around! Chloe flew after the orange ring but now she had a dilemma, how could she possibly fit both in her mouth at the same time? Well it was impossible, but she did try her best! It was a morning full of fetch for this playful girl and she loved every minute of it and I can only imagine she will be dreaming about those toys until she is reunited with them again!