Wednesday, January 25th, 2017

Allie leapt off of the windowsill when I opened the door this morning and she ran straight to my feet. She rubbed her chin on my leg so I sat down for some snuggle time. She accepted all of the chin scratches and pets that she could get. I offered Allie some toys, but she was too focused on climbing on my lap and chin scratches to play. We spent some time together before she was ready to climb up the cat tree to her usual perch at the very top, only stopping for a quick scratch on the post. I tossed a pompom for Allie to chase, and she watched it intently as it fell back to the floor. She hopped down in curiosity, so I tossed another toy for her, which she sprung after. Allie batted away at the mouse and the pompoms until she decided she'd like some more pets. She's so snuggly and I'm more than happy to give her lots of love and attention!

Kouza was waiting for me at the front of her kennel bright and early this morning. She’s caught on to exactly the time I should be arriving and sure enough every morning, there she is sitting patiently for me in her bed, or impatiently should I say! She must move her bed in the middle of the night to the front of her kennel, better view I suppose! Kouza is always the perkiest in the mornings because she knows it won’t be long before she gets her breakfast! But first, a morning outing to stretch those long legs of hers, a few laps around and then she is right back at the door singing in song letting me know it’s time to go back in and eat! With a full belly, Kouza is excited to join me on a special one on one walk out front where she enjoys exploring and sniffing out the smells from the pups before her. Another quick rest, and then it was time to head outside again for a group outing with her favourite little friends. But Kouza always likes to stay close to my side for some extra head rubs and love, she knows the good spot!

While Kouza and I were hanging out in the far yard enjoying the sun, Rufus and Sherman were up to their usual games with fellow friend Ringo. Rufus and Sherman have graciously accepted Ringo into their little pack and have been kept entertained by this silly spaniel boy all week long! Although they have little legs and warm winter jackets to carry around, these two spunky boys are fast and love to zoom around the yard in anticipation that Ringo or Resa will catch up to them. It was a fairly small small-pup group today, but that didn’t stop these boys from having a good time, in fact they were the main source of entertainment for the gang! However, they soon caught on to Kouza’s tactic and ran over to me for their own cuddles. Towards the end however, it looks like they ran out as much energy as they could and joined Julie by the door letting me know they were ready to come inside for a nap. An afternoon nap it was until they were ready to head out and do it all over again!

Rufus was first up for his training session today. We started off with a little "place" for warm up. He sat and laid down on his place like a pro. We then moved on to a little heel walking, but also worked on "leave it" at the same time. I left cookies on the floor in various spots to tempt Rufus to leave his heel position and snag the cookies. He was very tempted, but with a few "leave it" reminders, Rufus kept on walking right past those treats. After a few rounds of the room I gave Rufus the OK to gobble up his reward. To finish things off, I had Rufus sit on one side of the "place" mat, on which I left a big cookie. I asked him to stay as I walked across the room, with the cookie as temptation to break his command. He did a great job, and again was happy to have his snack as a reward. We went back to the kennel for Sherman's turn next. Sherman and I did a fairly similar routine to what I did with Rufus, starting with "place" on the rug. He was very enthusiastic today and sat, then laid down before I even asked! He focused very hard when it came time for "leave it" with the treats on the floor, and only ate them when he got the OK. We also did the same exercise as with Rufus, where Sherman sat on one side of the "place" rug with a cookie between he and I. When I gave him the OK to eat the cookie, Sherman ran right past the cookie and onto my lap! To finish off our session, Sherman practiced taking treats gently.  

Casey is such a precious girl and a favourite amongst our staff; this gentle Golden lady is truly a charmer and loves to cuddle us in her spare time! Her gentle demeanor is a hit out in the yard with her four-legged friends as well, everyone wants to know what Casey is up too and run over for some nose nuzzles. Casey graciously accepts the kisses from her friends and isn’t even bothered by the frenzy surrounding her. Casey is always pleased to see fellow Golden friend Sophie out in the yard. They both have similar kind spirits and enjoy their time spent together. Although Casey couldn’t be bothered to be in the centre of the action, she does like to follow Sophie around every so often and today got a good kick out of the snow-angels Sophie was creating in the fluffy snow! Casey then found a front-row seat to the action happening in the adjacent yard; I would call her name over and sure enough a big Golden head would peak around the fence with that great big smile of hers! She was having a grand old time!

Much like Casey, Macie was interested in the commotion happening over in the other yard, she decided to take a seat beside her Golden friend and both their bums would wiggle in excitement when they saw something they liked. However, it wasn’t hard to lure Macie to follow me into the main yard, she is a playful girl and I knew she would have a blast with the rest of her friends. Before I knew it, Macie had left my side and caught up to Husky pals Vega and Korvo who were playing hide and go seek in the agility tunnel! Macie teamed up with Korvo to see if they could catch little fiery redheaded Vega who was zooming in and out of the tunnel! Macie was blown away when Vega would emerge in the tunnel but then wouldn’t come out the other end. She impatiently waited on the other side, her whole body vibrating in excitement anticipating Vega’s next move! I think Macie will be due for an afternoons rest after trying to keep up those pesky Huskies!

Charlie was quite excited to join a much larger group of dogs today. Charlie is a quiet quite that prefers to keep to himself but he headed out to the yard and greeted everyone with a sniff and wagging tail. Once he made his rounds to say hello he focused on some important sniffing and exploring around the yard. When I called his name he came bouncing over to see if I might have a treat or two for him. Sophie trotted by and caught Charlie's eye, he followed her around the yard trying to get her attention. He soon had Sophie hopping around and barking with him. Sophie then decided to join me for some cuddles, so Charlie was on his own again. He scoped the yard and noticed Bush was on his own, Charlie wandered on over to join him to keep Bush company. 

What do you get when you pair three of the silliest and most energetic daycare pups around in one group? A zooming dance party is what you get when Tag, Finnigan and Kane are paired together! Not to mention just as mischievous Golden girls Charly and Windy joined them; now that’s a party! I could hardly keep up with this group, every single pup out in that yard were flying through the air after one another, likely with Kane in the lead! Tag loved Finn, Finn loved Kane, Kane loved Charly, and Charly loved Windy, which you could imagine, led to an epic group play! Tag was once again paired with the bigger puppy group and being the big girl she is now, she kept up the pace and encouraged everyone to chase her only taking a break to see if she could entice little Merida to join in! Finn was excited to see girlfriend Charly and wasted no time trying to bite her long legs in enticement. But he had some competition again; deer-like Kane was on the move and just as interested in chomping down on Charly’s tasty legs as well. It was a moving party; black, grey and golden fur was blowing in the wind, not to mention long lanky legs tumbling around in the snow. Finn finally had to excuse himself from the action, he was out of breath so he settled for a stick he found and buried himself into the snow. But he couldn’t have been that tired because he decided to stay out for the next group and do it all over again! Tag and Kane weren’t tired, they could have played all morning long, they literally have endless amounts of energy and there was too much fun to be had. I think we will have some happy dog-owners tonight when these three crash on the couch for the night!

Teddie and Kizmet seem to be more and more happy to see their buddy Kyah as the days go on. This trio is becoming famous and their games are getting to be more and more entertaining to watch. Teddie and Kyah were joined at the hip today. They were also happy to have friends Riley and Justice join in on their fun. Teddie was in a very playful mood, looking for a boxing buddy as well as a wrestling mate and a running partner. Teddie was full of energy and was happy to loop around the yard with Riley Justice and Kyah. He was keen to break off from the group fun to have some one on one time with Kyah. Kizmet was in the same outgoing happy mood as always. After enjoying some rolling in the snow fun with Kyah he met up with Riley for some games too. Kiz was very entertained by all the action going on in the yard amongst all of his group mates and didn’t settle down for one minute. I had a great time watching these brothers entertain one another and entertain the rest of their group. It is always loads of fun to be in the yard with them!

Laika had a very playful day today. She was super surprised to be part of such an energetic group. She was happy to see a dog sitting by my side who she could keep company. Laika loved the company of Oakley and the pair enjoyed all the pets and cuddles from me even more. Laika was surprised when the handsome Justice invited her to play. It took her a moment to understand what he wanted from her but once she saw all he wanted to do was dance and play, her eyes lit up and she was intrigued. Laika played around with Justice for ages, completely ignoring all the action going on around her. She was so bouncy and happy darting and dashing around with him. The pair set off on a fast chase and finished off with a good boxing and wrestling match. Laiak was so tired out from all the fun and games that she finished her outdoor time off right by my side accepting lots of snuggles.

Chloe was on fire today. This girl never stops moving, but today especially. Chloe was thrilled when she saw me walk out the door with the orange Frisbee in hand. Today she had no competition so I launched it across the yard and watched her go running. She knew she had no one to compete with so she brought it right back to me for lots of rounds of fetch. Chloe was part of a very busy, playful group however all she really cared about was her toy. She had a couple friends try and snag it from her while she and I played tug but none of them fully perused. Chloe continued to keep my arm very busy as all of her friends looped around her racing back and forth. When it was time to come inside, Chloe brought her toy with her to chew on in her kennel.

Oakley could not have been more surprised when I put her in the staff room rather than a kennel this morning. At first, she seemed unsure but the moment she realized she had the whole room to lay about in, her eyes lit up and she was in paradise. First, she rested under the table but when Nicki and myself went in to get our boots on she was all over us. Oakley lay right on her back with her head upside down on my lap as I sat on the ground trying to pull my shoes on. She was lucky, and got a bunch of belly rubs and cuddles before it was time to head out. Oakley happily followed me down the hall and outside. She was keen to see who she would be hanging out with today. When she spotted Kyah she quickly made her way to her side for some ear kisses and body bumps. Justice was very intrusive of their time together. He stuck his muzzle between the pair and then leapt right on Oakley asking to play. She was a bit shocked but gave in without and complaints. Justice and Oakley had a good time bouncing around and were soon accompanied by Kyah and Bella. After some group fun, Oakely and Kyah split off on their own for some of their usual secret telling and goofing around. Oakley was happy to finish her time off in the yard by my side where she accepted loads of pets and cuddles.

Bella had such a fun day today. She couldn’t have been happier with the group she was put in. Not only was her best buddy Justice in her group, but also lots of new friends who she had an absolute blast with. Bella was so full of energy from the moment she got outdoors. She wasn’t going to let a minute pass without playing. She hoped right on Justice asking him to please wrestle with him, which he happily gave in to. The duo bounced around for a brief moment before setting off across the yard on their usual chase. Bella also had her new friend Riley tagging along, too. After some laps around the yard Bella broke off with Riley to play with her. The pair sauntered around, whacking each other with their paws and chatting away. All this action drew the attention of their friends, creating one big cluster of fun. Bella was right in on all the action with her entire group. She was so happy to have Kyah and Oakley join in on her fun with Justice and Riley. After a bunch of group fun Bella broke off once more with Justice for some more one on one boyfriend girlfriend time. The pair flirted a little before setting off on another one of their famous, high speed chases.

Max and Sadie were thrilled to return after a one-day break. What kept these two very busy at first was all the fresh snow we have received since they were last with us. Their noses lead them around the yard doing lots of sniffing and exploring. Max was ready to get going much before Sadie and pounced on her as she was stiff investigating the yard. She told him off, so he came running to me looking for some attention. Max was happy to show off all of his commands for me until his sister was ready to play. Finally, Sadie came bolting across the yard looking for the games to commence. Max was all in for the fun and the pair set off. Max and Sadie were all over one another, rolling through the snow and leaping on top of one another. They also partook in some very fast sprints around the yard as well as through the tunnel and over the picnic table. When it was time to come in the pair followed me inside without putting up any stink. I was especially proud of Sadie for trotting in right on my heels.