Sunday, February 26th, 2017

Finlay and Olive were bursting with energy as they went racing out the door to the yard. They were about to go charging out to the far yard, when Finlay was distracted by Coco and Benji looking at something by the fence. He went running over to check it out for himself. Olive was happy just to watch the others and stood waiting for her brother. She didn’t wait long and soon decided to head out on her own. Finlay noticed this and went racing after her, only to be distracted once more, this time by the tunnel. Once he finished with the tunnel he set out to join Olive in touring around the far yard. It wasn’t long before they had split up to check out their own things. Olive was a little more focused in her explorations and didn’t seem to mind that her brother meandered off on his own. After she had done a couple laps around the far yard, Olive decided to make her way back to the main yard. Finlay made to follow her I think, but was soon stopped by Pepper. She very much wanted to play with him, and after a little convincing Finlay was happy to play with her. It didn’t stay the two of them for long as Benji and Emma joined them, and shortly after Timbits as well. Olive not finding the main yard overly exciting made her way back to the far yard. She ended up over by where the kiddie pool was now submerged in snow. Finlay and friends went running past and Olive decided to go and run with them for a little while. Finlay noticing Olive had joined in the fun turned all his attentions to getting her to wrestle. Olive humoured him for a bit, but in the end she left him to do some more exploring so Finlay went back to playing with Pepper and Benji.

Pepper started her morning off with her extra attention time. We decided to stay in the kitchen and just relaxed. Pepper was pretty happy to see me when I entered the room. As soon as I crouched down she was pushing her nose in my face and demanding pets. Pepper was soon feeling a bit frisky and dropped into a play bow, when nose outside the door distracted her. Pepper took a moment to make sure all was good, before turning back to me for more pets. She plopped herself down in a very lady-like manner and waited for me to pet her. Every time I stopped petting her Pepper would try something to get me to start up again, whether that was changing positions or giving me her paw.

A little later in the day it was group time. Pepper was immediately curious about what all the other dogs were up to. She was quick to follow them out to the far yard, but once she was out there her attention was snagged by something along the fence. Pepper took a moment to thoroughly check it out. Once she finished she turned her focus back on the other dogs. Pepper stood watching everyone, debating on what to do. She then decided to go around and check on what they were all up to. Eventually Pepper met up with Finlay. She took quite the liking to him and was determined to make him play. It wasn’t long before they were running around and having fun. This caught the eyes of some of the other dogs, who then came to join the fun. Pepper didn’t seem to mind the new dogs, but her sole focus was Finlay. She ran around with Finlay and the others almost until the end of group. Eventually everyone got tired so Pepper met up with Emma and set off to do some more exploring.

Benji was pretty happy it was group time. He went running out the door to see what was going on. Benji didn’t make it very far before he came racing back to me to say hi. With that out of the way he set back out into the yard. Benji spotted Coco looking at something near the fence and decided to head on over and check it out with her. Soon Timbits and Finlay had also made their way over to check it out, too. Benji finished up with the fence and Coco and headed out to the far yard. His attention was quickly caught by the tunnel. Benji stuck his head inside, but then decided not to go completely in. Next he headed out to see more of the far yard. Benji was very intent in his exploring; that is until he noticed Finlay and Pepper starting to play. He ditched the exploring and went running over to see if he could join the fun. Soon they were all having a great time running around the yard. When everyone took a break from playing Benji was content to get back to exploring. 

Nymeria was so excited to get out into the yard when her main group time rolled around. She ran so fast into the yard, barely able to stop herself to sniff her friends. Nym slid across the ice so gracefully with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth and her bum tucked. Two of her group mates darted after her to say their hellos as she came to a hault. They danced around one another with happy tails, doing some friendly greetings. Nymeria was instantly drawn to Windy and the pair began their games. Nymeria loved getting Windy to race around after her. The ice wasn’t going to stop her from running as fast as possible. At one point, I had to sit down as she came charging towards me because I was nervous she would take me down as she passed. She continued to race and wrestle around the yard with Windy, occasionally allowing other group mates like Jake the bloodhound join in on the fun. Nymeria also enjoyed the company of her fellow husky mate, Ricky.  Ricky was very chatty towards Nymeria, howling and talking to her asking her to please play. Of course she gave in to the request, leaving Windy in the dust as she and Ricky zoomed around the yard.

Mylo was very excited when I head into his kennel with a leash in hand this morning. He knew that it was walk time right off the bat. His ears perked up as he leapt off his bed and put his head between my legs waiting to be clipped up. As we head out the door Mylo was pleased to see his friend Phoebe would be joining us on our trail walk. Mylo stuck by Phoebes side throughout the entire walk as they motored along the trail, only stopping to sniff deer and bunny tracks. In the yard today Mylo really loved the bright sun shining down. He found numerous comfortable spots around the yard to sun tan in. He was appreciative of my company while he relaxed. There’s nothing Mylo enjoys more than a good neck scratch. Mylo was a bit of a social butterfly today, making his way from dog to dog saying his brief and polite hellos in between his tour around the yard.

Duke is having so much fun with us. He really enjoys his extra attention time, mainly because of all the cookies he gets. Today he was fascinated with our treat puzzle, which he mastered in no time. Using his nose and his paws, Duke maneuvered all the pieces with ease, retrieving delicious rewards. Duke was also a big fan of all the cuddles he got, along with some one on one fetch. In the yard Duke was much more focused on all the other dogs than me. He made his way from dog to dog saying his hellos as fast as possible so that the games could get under way. Duke was thrilled to have so many friends interested in him, willing to chase him around the yard. He is very fast on his feet, zooming around the yard with ease as all his buddies try their hardest to catch up. Duke was happy to stop all the racing and running to partake in some wrestling and boxing with husky pal Justice. Duke didn’t stop moving his entire outdoor time. By the time we head back inside he head into his crate and crashed out, recharging his batteries for his next outing.

Molly beat me out the door this morning as she spotted one of her group mates run down the hall with a rope toy in their mouth. She charged by my using all her strength to get out the door and catch up to Dani who was carrying such a prized possession. Molly was very quick to get to Dani and begin dancing around her asking her for the toy. Dani is a very nice girl, and dropped the toy assuming Molly wanted to play with her, not the toy. As Molly snatched the toy and began to bolt in the opposite direction, Dani was very fast and caught a hold of the opposite end of the toy before Molly could get very far. The pair ended up tugging one another back and forth around the yard. Finally Molly won the prize and sauntered off on her own to enjoy it. Molly found a nice warm spot in the sun to gnaw on the rope toy. Her friends were very interested in the toy still, and continued to frolcik around her looking for opportunities to snatch the goody. At one point, Molly found herself tugging the toy with not only one, but two friends. Of course, she won, once again. This time she took the toy into a more protected area where she could enjoy it on her own as well as enjoy some time to play tug with me.