Friday, April 28th, 2017

Boris and Tasha had a lovely group of ladies to spend their group time with but mostly they play with each other. Boris had to get his explorations over with first, of course, but once he was satisfied, he trotted back to Tasha and all of a sudden it was game on for the two of them. Boris pounced on top of Tasha and insisted that she play with him. He took off into the yard and Tasha was ready to follow. She would spend half of her time racing after him and spent the other half simply waiting for him to pass so that she could jump out at him. This plan usually worked because Boris didn’t always realize what she was doing. At one point, Tasha had Boris trapped inside the play structure. She ran around it while Boris tried to find an exit point and made sure to keep him inside. However, once she looked away for a split second, he sprinted out and the race continued. Tasha eventually decided she didn’t want to run around anymore; instead, she came over to see me for a little while. Tasha loved rubbing her head against my side and couldn’t get enough of the back scratch I was giving her. Boris still wanted to play so I brought him a ball and he went nuts. Boris nearly knocked me over when he jumped up to try and get the ball from my hands. Having successfully grabbed it, he raced into the yard and started to play with it by himself. Boris would throw the ball up into the air and try to catch it. Sometimes he wasn’t so successful and it would hit him in the face. In a way this was good because Boris could chase after the ball once again.

Finnigan was just as playful as ever today. He was excited to go outside and was happy to see that there were some familiar faces in his group. Finnigan didn’t even pay attention to the toys in the yard at first. Instead, he simply raced around the gravel and grass yards a few times. After getting a little bit of energy out it was time to play. Finnigan loved hanging out with his friends Nyxx and Magic, but today there was a new friend named Lola. As soon as Finnigan saw her, he raced right over and immediately began play bowing and rolling over onto his back. Lola was also excited to play with him so the two of them circled around one another for quite some time. This led to a very fun play tackle, which persisted for a little while. After he had played enough, Finn decided it was time to pay attention to the toys in the yard. I picked up a bright orange ball for him and that was all it took. Shortly after, he was right by my side, jumping up to get the ball. I decided we’d play a few games of fetch but Finn was determined to play tug-of-war for a second first. Having successfully won the game, I then finally threw the ball for Finn. He took off like a little bullet and couldn’t have been happier every time he caught it.

April had just the most wonderful first daycare day. When she came in I knew it was going to be a great day because she was already flashing me a huge smile as she came through the door. April wasn’t sure where we were going when it came time for her walk but she was definitely excited. Thankfully April was very well behaved for her walk, because boy is she ever strong. She saw Adam outside and as soon as he called her she was racing to him with me following quickly behind. There was no stopping her as she wanted to see him very badly, how cute. When it came for her long playgroup, April was very excited to meet a whole new group of friends. The new friends kept her very busy as there was always some one new to sniff or follow around. April definitely enjoyed following friends around the yard. She always seemed to want to know what everyone was doing, whether she ended up finding it interesting or not. After a little bit of a busy group time, April was ready to come greet me and get some extra love. She followed me around for a little while but I always made sure to stop and give her head a few pets. She ended up bathing in the sun for the remainder of her group and I could tell that she couldn’t have been happier.

I was so happy to see Reese come in this morning; he definitely adds some fun into any group we put him with. Today, Reese was with a variety of different dogs, some old and some very young. I think he loved the diversity because he always had a buddy to do something with. When he was playful and ready to run, Reese had his new friend Oscar to jump around with. Oscar is only 5 months old so he was a perfect match for Reese’s playful side. However there were also times when Reese wanted to roam around with a quiet friend. His new friend Sophie was the perfect match for those times. And of course, whenever he wanted cuddles, I was there to give him those. Reese did a variety of different things today but for the most part he loved running or playing with any ball in the yard. When I brought a bright orange ball into the yard, Reese saw it from afar and came over as soon as he could. After trotting over, Reese showed me his loud voice just to ensure that I knew he wanted the ball. I had tricked Reese a couple times by pretending to throw the ball, but he always caught me eventually. Soon enough I launched the ball into the grass yard and Reese was almost already there by the time it hit the ground. What a fast little guy! We threw the ball a few more times before Reese quieted down and was ready to cuddle. He eventually roamed over and greeted me with a huge kiss on the cheek which was then followed by him lying down on his back and waiting for a belly rub. After giving him one for quite some time, I quickly rubbed his head and chin before putting him back in his kennel. Reese is such a sweetie and it was great getting to spend time with him for his extra attention. He joined me up front in reception where he wandered around for a bit, checking out all the corners and smells. It is such a nice day out that I thought we could spend some time out front. I asked him to sit and wait while I got a leash and clipped it onto his collar. We headed outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Reese mosied around in the grass sniffing about and just relaxing. He came over to my side and enjoyed some back scratches while he took in the fresh smells of spring. 

Nanook had a blast during his big outing today. As usual, he wanted lots of hugs and scratches on his back. After cuddling for a while, he wandered around the grassy yard and sniffed around the rocks. Jake had been following Nanook around the yard for a few minutes and then Nanook turned around and then pounced up onto his friend. It was cute watching them both play. Jake would leap at Nanook in a playful stride and then Nanook would run away and hide behind me or jump on my lap for protection from his buddy. Then each time he pushed off me and took off to chase his friend. Nanook was pretty tired from playing so much that he ended his group time with lots of cuddles. I picked him up and brought him to the picnic table with me so he could gets lots of uninterrupted snuggle time. I pet his head and rubbed his ears. When I scratched his back he curled up and wiggled his bum back and forth while his back legs did a little dance. He looked up at me with a big smile and tried to give me some kisses. Nanook showed off a couple of his tricks for me during our one on one time this afternoon! He sat very nicely and shook a paw, although he would only do the latter if he could see the treat in my hand! This guy doesn't work for free. After two or three little treats, I set up the puzzle for Nanook, since this seems to be his all time favourite extra attention time activity. He knows it now like the back of his paw, and found all the little treats in no time. Nanook sat with me for some back scratches for a while until Magic the husky joined us in the room. She has a cone on and Nanook spent quite some time investigating her very carefully! 

I love seeing Cloud in for daycare! He had so much fun today. We did so many things together in the yard, but we started out by saying hello to the rest of the group. Cloud was happy to see some familiar faces, like Bella, Jake and Resa. He sniffed Jake for a long time before heading off to explore the yards. The grass yard has become really nice to run around in and Cloud was zooming around everywhere he went. Every time one of his friends went up to him, he rolled onto his back and was waving his paws around in the air. Once Cloud saw that I had a rubber ball in my hand, he was leaping up trying to get it from me. We played fetch together for a little bit. It was quite a long game because Cloud is always reluctant to give up the ball so I can throw it again. Once he became disinterested in the ball, that is when he started playing with Nanook and Jake. These two were wrestling around and Cloud tried to join but he kept getting butted out because he’s a little smaller than the other two. This is when Shelby, one of our staff’s dog, came to the rescue and chased Cloud around the yard! Cloud was so happy to be playing with his new friend. Cloud had lots of fun in the yard and was happy to trot back to his kennel for a little nap.

Max and Sadie got an extra walk for one of their outings today. They always get so excited for walks, and Max was going crazy when he saw that we were going for another walk in the late morning, this time on the back trail instead of the front field. Today Max was in the creek and the puddles the entire time. When we crossed the bridge, Sadie trotted along the path, dodging all the trees. Max jumped right into the water and started taking a few sips. He then ran out and went to wrestle with Sadie. These two must have forgotten they were on a leash for a bit because they both tugged on the leash and went flying down the path. They slowed down once we got to the long grass and Sadie was sniffing all the bushes. At one point during our walk, we all came to a standstill because Max was in the water on one side, and Sadie was rolling in the grass on the other side. After we spent some time in the water, we continued on the trail and went all the way around. Sadie was a very good girl and trotted right beside me the whole way. Max was having a blast, having fun making me follow him around the trees. Sadie and I ended up following Max on a new path for a little bit, because he was so eager to go! Once we got back inside, they both snuggled on their fluffy beds, with their noses touching in the middle. It was so cute!

With another beautiful day upon us, I decided to take Kai and her new friend Andy for a walk along with their mutual pal, Justice. We went back into the forest trail across the bridge and Kai, of course, found some great spots to roll around in the long grass. She stopped at many of the trees and sniffed along the bottoms as we went, taking in all of the spring smells. As we rounded the second bend in the trail, Kai started feeling frisky! She and Andy both began to play-bow to one another, laying down, hopping back up and pouncing! It was super cute to watch this pair with their fluffy fur blowing in the breeze, enjoying their time together. After lots of frolicking, Kai was ready for a nap before it was time to head out into the yard for her afternoon group time. Kai couldn’t have been happier than during her extra attention time today. When I went to get her, she was quite excited
and waited at the kennel door for me to come get her. The two of us did a little bit of everything but we started with a walk. Once I got Kai out front, her nose took over. She was having fun searching the yard and definitely took in every smell that she could’ve imagined. Sometimes I’d look back and find her simply standing with her nose right up in the air, taking in the breeze. After our walk, I brought Kai inside for some treats and cuddles. She searched the room for any good smells first but quickly came over when she saw that I had treats in my hands. Kai showed me her prettiest tricks before getting each treat. After they were all gone, the two of us sat on the floor and cuddled for
the rest of her extra attention time.