Friday, February 17, 2017

Finnigan was very excited to spend his day in the staff room with his best friend Charly. He did more playing in the staff room throughout the day than he did outdoors. He was really excited to get buckled up for his walk and motor along the trail alongside his mate Charly. The pair wove in and out of the snow side by side with happy tails. In the yard Finn was happy to meet up with all the dogs and play around. He loved newcomer, Henry. Henry and Finn have much of the same play style, and enjoyed rolling around and bouncing back and forth together. Finn stayed very busy between running, rolling, and trying to get a toy from his other friend Molly. When it was time to come indoors he didn’t put up any fuss today. He must have been exhausted from his morning full of activity.

Storm has become particularly fond of the huskies he is spending time with. Today he didn’t pay too much attention to his group mates that weren’t his own kind. Storm loves the company of his best buddy Koda most of all. They always find one another right off the bat and don’t stray too far from each other’s side throughout the entire duration of their outdoors time. Storm and Koda did a lot of side-by-side exploring today. They weren’t afraid to meet up with Henry and invite him to play either. When Henry wandered away from them they turned to one another for some games. Storm and Koda are such strong boys. There’s nothing they love more than a good boxing match followed by some intense wrestling. Storm tends to take charge, letting Koda pounce on him only once in a while. Storm loves playing with Koda and then racing away looking for a chase. These games continued forever, occasionally including all their other husky mates like Ariel, Kyah, Justice and Magic.

Henry is such a cute boy. He is such a cuddle bug, too. The moment you enter his kennel, or let him out of his kennel, he wiggles himself all over you. He loves standing on his hind legs and wrapping his paws around you giving you hugs and cuddles. However, as soon as he gets in the yard his attention is completely diverted away from humans and directed straight on all the other dogs. Henry is such a social butterfly. He loves meeting and greeting anything that moves. He is so pleasant with his hellos, wiggling his bum back and forth and play bowing then rolling into the snow letting everyone know he means no harm. All of the dogs loved Henry right off the bat. He quickly became the center of attention. At first, Henry wasn’t so sure of this but warmed up to the idea of having loads of best friends. When the dogs started to break off to play with one another Henry seemed disappointed to not have a bunch of friends anymore. He was quick to wiggle his way around the yard looking for a playmate. Henry loved meeting up with Finn, a regular daycare dog. Finn is so outgoing and playful, making him and Henry a perfect pair. They played around so much, pawing at one another and rolling around in between wrestling and boxing. Henry kept so busy with not only Finn, but also two other lovely golden retrievers in his group. If he wasn’t playing with these ladies or Finn, he was running around the yard with the speedy and agile huskies. Henry had such a great first day, he will be excited to continue playing as his stay continues.

Molly was pleased to be accompanied by two other golden retrievers today. She was quickly attracted to Charly and Henry and proceeded to wander around after them. After getting to know her fellow breed friends, she noticed the Jolly Ball across the yard and made a beeline for it. As soon as Molly snatched it, she drew a lot of attention from the other dogs. Group mate Finn was hot on her heels, eager to get a hold of it. Molly wasn’t going to share the ball with anyone, and continued to run around with her head high up, showing it off. Charly wasn’t far behind Finn, and soon enough Molly had a little train following her. This only encouraged Molly to begin running around, darting left and right trying to deek them out. Once Finn and Charly gave up, Molly came to my side with the ball asking to play fetch. We played numerous rounds of fetch, which she was thrilled about. She did have to compete with several group mates for the ball, but time after time she beat everyone and recovered the ball first. She kept very busy playing fetch until she was tired and decided to lie down. Molly got a comfy spot in the snow to lie in and roll all around in before she got comfortable with the ball and began chewing on it. Molly had a blast during her extra attention time this afternoon. Being the fun-loving retriever she is, her time was well spent playing with all sorts of toys. She picked her favourite ones out of the toy box. She didn't hesitate to get her whole head in there and collect them one by one. She will retrieve just about anything you throw at her but she especially loves the pink pig ball. This sweet girl makes the best company and we made sure there was lots of time for extra love and cuddles in between each retrieve! 

Toast is such a rambunctious little fellow. He is never out of energy and never lets his little size get the best of him. No matter what the weather brings he is always ready to barrel through the deep snow and play on. Toast loved his new group mate, Kima. Kima and Toast were so happy with each other, attached to each other from the moment they got outdoors. They did a lot of dancing and prancing around before Kima took off looking for a chase. Toast was happy to zoom after her as fast as he could, doing a pretty good job keeping up. After loads of laps with Kima, Toast took a break to get to know all his other group mates. He loved little Teddy and was quick to become his pal. These two had a good time standing on their hind legs boxing, as well as frolicking around side by side. Toast kept so busy with all his friends today. He was so tired from bounding through the deep snow. When he returned to his bed I think he eyes shut before he even lay down!

Benji was so full of energy today. Before we even made it out the door, Benji zoomed into his neighbors kennel while the door was open and snatched up a Kong toy. He bolted out the yard and began zipping and zooming in circles. He was so excited to be in possession of this toy, I have never seen him run so fast. Soon Benji was tossing it in the air and then leaping on it as it landed in the snow. He drew a lot of attention to himself and shortly he was competing with Timbits for the toy. Timbits and Benji had a lot of fun dancing around the toy together. When Timbits got a hold of it, Benji bolted after him and the pair did so many laps of the yard. Benji was tired from the entire running and playing so he headed to my side for some cuddles. He was happy to be pet and snuggled. Soon he left my side to do some sniffing and exploring in the smaller portion of the yard. He enjoyed the company of the older and more independent dogs.

Sophie and Charlotte were ecstatic to have their extra attention time this morning after their first morning outings! Off they trotted down the hall and into the front lobby knowing they were in for a real treat! There were lots of bodies up front today and that meant extra hands for love and cuddles, Sophie’s favourite. Sophie took a seat by my feet at the chair while Charlotte was digging up treasures in the toy box. She found her favourite squeaky ball from yesterday and played a few rounds of fetch but she was distracted when Ariel the playful Husky came up front and enticed her to a wrestle. What a show they put on for Sophie who was quite content with the head rub she was getting. Sophie only got up to greet Susan, she was beyond excited to see her and started weaving in and out of her legs!

Charlotte's favourite time of the day is when she gets to head outside for her social time with her favourite four-legged friends. She spotted Golden friend Windy right away and darted towards her with all four legs flailing in excitement. Her signature move is to roll around on her back and start wrestling the others from above. This of course got the attention of Mika, who is always down for a good wrestle in the snow. I can’t believe how much Mika has come out of her shell from just a week of being here. She is probably one of the most playful ladies in the yard and never misses out on the opportunity to wrestle with sweet Charlotte! Mika has been enjoying her stay with us and especially her time spent with her new pack. She has all the confidence in the world and especially loves to run around with young pup Ruby. Ruby really knows how to bring out the playful side of Mika and as we are beginning to find out, Mika herself is just a pup at heart! Sophie on the other hand wasn’t in the mood to do much exploring today. You never know with that one what she will be up too, but I think she was tired out from having her extra attention first thing this morning so was quite content to hang out by the gate and watch the small dog group in the adjacent yard! A few times I got her to follow me into the agility yard, but with a few steps in she would then turn right back around in protest! Sophie was happy to have Mylo keep her company for the most part!

Mylo is a newer face to us and what a handsome face he has! Mylo is taking his time to warm up to his surroundings but I can tell there is a playful boy inside just waiting to come out at the right moment. Mylo is such an obedient boy and definitely enjoys his morning trail walk first thing to stretch out his long legs and explore the path. Since he was a new face to the group, everyone was quite curious to meet him, and although shy, Mylo was very patient and accepting of his new friends. To make him feel more at ease, I took a seat beside him in the snow and started rubbing his head as we watched Mika, Charlotte and Jake run laps around us. Mylo really enjoyed the extra attention and before I knew it he was up sniffing around the yard in confidence! He really enjoyed his time with gentle ladies Sophie and Ruby who were nice enough to give him a few nose nuzzles to welcome him to the group!

Max and Sadie were whisked away on their morning trail walk shortly after their arrival this morning. I always love walking Max and Sadie and especially in the winter because they keep up the pace enough to tug me along in the heavy snow! Its always a brisk walk when these two are in front, Sadie has a strong nose and is usually in the lead and on the hunt. Next up we headed outside for some playtime in the snow. This is when the fun really begins, and Max always starts the play by zooming as fast as he can into the far yard, always letting out a little squeal as he kicks up the snow behind him. Sadie had no chance to do her usual laps around the yard today because Max was in the mood to play and when Max wants to play he makes sure everyone knows it. The two of them rolled around in the snow and Sadie tried her best to keep the orange ring away from Max as he piled on top of her!

Max E. is one of the sweetest boys around and a favourite amongst our four-legged guests. He just naturally exudes just a playful energy and this sends good vibes all around and as you can imagine it was a fun and playful bunch. I enticed Max to follow me into the agility yard with his beloved jolly-ball. From that moment on he was completely hooked and spent most of his morning running back and forth to retrieve the ball. The only setback he had was when silly Cooper the lab tried to steal the ball away. But Max loves Cooper’s attention and took Cooper up on the challenge! When Cooper was taking a bit too long to hand the ball back over, Max would look up at me with the saddest eyes. I couldn’t take the sad face and got the ball back for him again; luckily Cooper didn’t mind because he was already off playing with Bruiser. Max was back to his perky self and this time held on to that ball with his life, it even blocked his vision but he continued to prance around the yard in pride!

Windy had another spectacular day in our care, that girl seems to have an endless supply of energy and today was no different! I love seeing Windy’s face first thing in the morning, she is always in the best mood and happy to start her day with a morning trail walk. It’s always exciting to see who her walking buddy will be and today it was best Golden pal Charlotte. Windy and Charlotte met up a short while later again, but this time to really let loose and wrestle in the yard. But Windy always saves up her energy to play with her new best friend Jake, our rescue Hound. These two have been inseparable lately and love spending their time dancing up on their hind legs! Jake is a strong boy, but Windy has charm and always seems to get this big boy rolling around on his back. Next, they are on the move, and Jake is running as fast as he can with his tail tucked under his bum in excitement with the anticipation that Windy will catch up to him! All of this running around really had Windy winded and she was due for an afternoons nap. But first a special lunchtime peanut butter Kong treat that kept her occupied for most of the afternoon.