Monday, February 13, 2017

Finnigan was excited to see big-guy Jake the Hound for his first group outing this morning. These two silly boys always have a good time when together in the yard and today was no different! Finn immediately spotted him in the distance and darted straight for him. Jake saw him coming and excitedly tucked his tail between his legs and started to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction to see if Finn could catch him; what a chase that was! I had to move myself out of the way as they came barreling towards me with their tongues hanging out the sides of their mouths in excitement. When Finn finally caught up to Jake, they stopped and had a big wrestle in the snow; Finn’s black coat was sparkling with freshly fallen snow! To no surprise, Finn wanted to stay out for the next group so he had another fun round but this time with the small dogs!

DJ and Maya excitedly led the small dog group into the far yard for some fun in the snow! It definitely was a snow-day but DJ and Maya didn’t mind, they have one advantage over some of the other small ones and that’s their long legs - much easier to trek through all of this heavy snow! Tinkerbell and Rocky, their respective siblings, on the other hand, found it much more challenging with their smaller legs. Rocky didn’t even bother following the crowd into the far yard, but when does he ever! Rocky has the same routine every outing, and that’s finding a comfy spot by the door while he watches his sister play in the distance. Tink decided that she would see how far she could make it and she ran as fast as she could after the pack in excitement, but it wasn’t long before she was back joining Rocky by the door to catch her breath after running out those little legs of hers! Benji and Toast were excited to see all of the freshly fallen snow and didn’t hesitate to follow DJ and Maya for a round of tag! Toast is such a trooper, he probably has the shortest legs of them all and he didn’t even hesitate one bit. He enjoyed every minute of his time outside today and played to his little heart's content, especially with all of the playful pups around. He got especially excited when Finn joined the group and started a group chase between him and Benji. Much like Toast, Benji was full of great energy this morning and never missed a beat. You can always find Benji and Toast in the centre of all the action, endless amounts of energy those two seem to have!

Toast had another great time up front for his extra attention time! I think I enjoyed my time just as much as he did, who could resist that sweet face of his! He started off with a good sniff of his surroundings but it wasn't long before I got his attention with some of the fun toys up front. He especially loved the green squeaky ball that flashes when it bounces and we played a few rounds of fetch together. But he was perfectly content to also just spend some time lounging around getting in some extra cuddles. I think he was tired from horsing around with his friends outside in the snow and he was happy to get some more human attention before he headed back out for some more fun with his four-legged friends! 

I think Max had the most fun he’s ever had during his first outing today and that’s saying a lot because this boy always knows how to have a good time! He spent his morning chasing and playing with Husky triplets Jynxx, Nyxx and Skie and as you can imagine, it was an epic playtime! The usually cuddly guy Max had no time for me today; he was way too busy playing with his newly found friends and loved every minute of it. He started off with a snow-wrestle with fiery Jynxx and this got the attention of Nyxx and Skie, who immediately ran over and joined in the fun. It was three against one but Max didn’t mind, he adored all of the attention he was getting. He was definitely due for an afternoons nap after all the fun play he had this morning!

We are used to seeing our fair share of Husky packs, but today it was a Golden Retriever pack on the loose and ready to have some fun! To start, we had daycare gentleman Jax and newcomer Henry; they immediately hit it off. Henry is the sweetest Golden pup you will ever meet and Jax, who is older, is still a puppy at heart and couldn’t resist a good play with little Henry! Henry had all the confidence in the world and immediately felt comfortable with his surroundings and didn’t hesitate to play at all. He played with just about every pup in that yard and really burned his energy out wrestling with Charly and Buddy. While Henry’s attention was occupied with Buddy, Jax joined the wrestle with Golden ladies Windy and Charly who were kicking up snow behind them in play and Jax thought that looked like fun! Sweet face Golden Charlotte also couldn’t resist a good play, there was so much fun-loving energy flowing around and she wanted to meet Henry. Always very gentle of course she is, and never fully wants to be in the centre of action but she’s curious enough to stick around! Sister Sophie on the other hand was waiting by the door in protest! Torture she thought, she’d much prefer to be inside on her warm comfy bed. That all changed when I came over and offered her some extra love and she immediately thought this wasn’t so bad anymore and took a seat by my legs and watched the gang run circles around us in amusement! Mika certainly loved her Golden company; she fit right in and kept up pace the whole time! I last saw Mika on Friday when she was just getting comfortable with her surrounding and it sure looks like she fully came out of her shell on the weekend because she was full of energy today and wanted to play! She didn’t feel the need to stay close to my feet today. She was right out there with the rest of her group having a blast on this snowy day!
Mika is certainly warming up and getting more comfortable. After some intense sniffing of the reception area when she came up for her extra attention time, Mika gave me lots of lovely kisses and then settled down at my feet while I sat in the chair. She put her head down beside my knee and let me scratch her neck with both hands for the longest time. She looked like she was really enjoying it. After another sniff around the room and a check on Resa and Julie, Mika once again sat down beside me and I gave her a nice, slow, thorough massage, working on all those strong Boxer muscles. It was nice to have some special time with Mika today!
Sophie loves her extra attention time as much as her sister loves her play time. This afternoon, Sophie cuddled up to everyone who came into the reception area while Charlotte worked on a treat puzzle toy. Sophie would always rather have hugs than treats. Charlotte actually stuck with the toy for a very long time and eventually just tried to pick it up and carry it away...too funny! These lovely ladies are so lovely and well-behaved, it's always a pleasure having the two of them just to ourselves. 

Monday mornings mean lots of great energy from Max and Sadie after having a weekend away! Shortly after arrival, they were pleased to see that they were next for their morning trail walk! With all of that beaming energy, they actually provided a great service to me this morning, pulling me along the snowy trail as if they were sled dogs! The fun continued a short while later for their first outing and as impatient as they were to get outside again, they both gave me a nice sit before leaping out the door and into the snowy yard. Max took off into the far yard and started running laps to burn off some of that extra energy while Sadie went straight into exploration mode. She loves to dig her head into the snow to see what treasures she can find. But in usual Max and Sadie fashion, her mission was cut short as Max enticed her to wrestle and that’s my cue to stand to the side as a whirlwind of snow kicked up around me from their play!