Sunday, January 8th, 2017

Monkey had such a great day! We started things off with a walk, and Monkey was so happy when I went to get him from his kennel that I could hardly get his coat on because he was wriggling around so much. We joined his friends Leah and Poppy, and then headed outside. The two girls were playing right from the start and although Monkey wasn't quite sure about joining in, he was excited by the action and bounced along behind them. Eventually the three of them settled down and Monkey went back to trotting beside me, pausing to give each tree a good sniff. The walk went by fairly quickly as we were all a bit cold and the dogs were keeping a fast pace! Monkey was happy to curl up for a nap afterwards. Later it was time for groups, and Monkey hurried outside with Vega, Korvo and Jake. Since there was only a small number of them, Monkey got loads of attention while I walked around and took pictures. He followed Korvo around to each corner, making sure to get a big whiff of everything he wandered past. Monkey found the tunnel particularly interesting, and let Korvo go ahead while he stopped to check it out. By the time he caught up to his travelling companion, Vega had already latched onto Korvo and the two of them started chasing each other all over the yard. This got Monkey wound up as well, and soon he too was running around the yard. The dogs were absolutely full of energy. Monkey seemed content to bounce around by himself while the others played. Jake came over to see if Monkey was interested in wrestling, although he's still a bit shy on his second day, so Monkey decided to come over and cuddle with me instead. I gave him a nice back rub, and by then the dogs were cold enough to head inside.
For his extra attention today, Monkey and I made our way to the playroom. There were toys all over the place! Monkey immediately got to work investigating everything while I got him some small treats. He, like most dogs, seemed to have an extra sense specifically honed for treats. As soon as I entered the room, Monkey had rushed to my feet and was waiting patiently. I had him sit, lay down and shake paws, and Monkey happily obliged while gobbling down his rewards in between. He then returned to trotting around the room. Once everything had been looked at, Monkey and I had a nice long cuddle together. He attempted to climb into my lap at one point, though unfortunately he is a bit large for a lap dog. Monkey was content to just snuggle with me instead!

Rumple and Harlow had a terrific last day of their stay with us. For their extra attention this morning, Rumple and Harlow got to spend some time with two of their favourite people, Kelsey and Eric, and they were very excited about the extra love they were getting. When we first got to the cat room, the boys were both cuddled up in their bed sleeping away, until Eric grabbed the treats. As soon as they heard the treat bag, Rumple and Harlow ran over to Eric as fast as they could, and meowed until he gave them each a few. After they were satisfied the boys both brushed up against our legs and Eric picked Harlow up to cuddle him while I brushed Rumple. Eventually Harlow wanted down, so Eric picked up Rumple and I brushed Harlow instead. For the rest of their extra attention, they boys and I spent some time playing with a few of their favourite toys including the laser pointer, the snake toy and a squishy ball. I really enjoyed getting to spend multiple days getting to know Rumple and Harlow.