Wednesday, April 26th, 2017

For Kai’s outside time today we went out for a second walk.  She really loves walking on the property plus it keeps her clean!  We went off trail so that she could have some new exciting things to smell.  She loved it.  She stopped about three times to roll on her back and receive some much needed belly rubs.  We sat down together on the hill for a little while and just enjoyed each other’s company.  She is such a sweet dog.  On our way back inside I gave her a few liver treats and she showed me some of her tricks.  She was more than happy to go back into her kennel and sleep on her bed. Kai was so very excited for her extra attention time today because we were doing something a little different for a change. Since Kai has been feeling so much better, I decided to bring her up to the reception area instead of outside. Kai was a bit confused at first but she was so excited that she raced on up, leaving me in the dust behind. Once Kai got to the reception area it was time for treats. Kai showed me her best tricks so that she could get as many treats as possible. She did perfect sits, lay downs, paws and even did an amazing job sitting pretty. I think she was quite excited to get all of the treats that followed each trick. After treat time was over, I called Kai over so that she could come snuggle with me. Without hesitation she trotted over and was ready for all of the loving. I gave Kai a long head and back massage before ending off with a good belly rub. To finish her extra attention time, Kai ventured around the room for a little bit, getting all of the old scents back into her nose. 

Nanook was so excited to head outside today!  After a lot of rainy weather, there was finally some nice weather and sunshine for him to enjoy.  He met a dog named Jake today and they got along famously.  A lot of the time Nanook is more concerned with getting cuddles than he is with playing but this certainly was not the case today.  The pair ran all around the yard both taking turns jumping on one another.  For the most part Nanook let Jake chase him, only playing the game in reverse every so often.  The picnic table in the small dog yard had dried off from the rain overnight and Nanook was happy to jump up on top of it to sit beside me.  He and another white fluffy dog named Pippin shared the space together.  As always Nanook listened very well when called to come back inside and walked right into his kennel. 

 I think Kouza was happy to soak up some sunshine outside.  She still did her daily routine of sniffing all around the yard.  A few new dogs arrived today and she was very curious of them.  The pair allowed her to sniff them for a few minutes before wandering off.  Kouza liked this, as she doesn’t appreciate it when dogs are too forward with her.  She came over to where I was sitting outside and got a few cuddles before moving onto to a new smell she picked up.  After coming inside she snuggled up in her bed for a well-deserved nap.

Pippin had such a blast outside today.  He ran through the mud making his paws look like chocolate dipped ice cream cones.  He was so cuddly this afternoon.  The picnic table outside had dried off from the rain overnight and he immediately jumped up to sit beside me on it.  He sat beside another dog named Nanook and the two took turns demanding some cuddles, which I was very happy to give.  He is such a cute dog!  He listened so well outside today.  He also took the opportunity to sniff all the smells around the yard.  This meant he made sure to do a full circle around every rock, play structure and dog.  He clearly had to make sure he didn’t miss anything.  Pippin was mildly reluctant to come back inside but with some sweet talk he came in and had a break before his next outing. 

Oh my how I love spending time with Oakley. I’m not usually in on Wednesdays so it’s always a treat when I am and she comes in. Oakley was a little snuggle bug no matter what she was doing. As soon as I saw her this morning I was greeted with a warm nose sniffing my face and a quick kiss on the cheek. Even once she got into her kennel I could tell that she wanted a snuggle so I gave her a quick belly rub and a hug before moving on. Oakley was ready to go outside in the sunshine for her long outdoor playgroup. Her best gal pal Bella was outside along with her typical Wednesday daycare crowd. Oakley was very excited to see their familiar faces and gave them all a good long sniff. However, she soon moved on from them once she saw me. From that moment on, Oakley was stuck to my side like glue. She did a good job of playing follow the leader wherever I went and made sure to paw at me occasionally for an extra head rub. Oakley’s friends Kane and Chloe followed us around as well for a few seconds but she didn’t seem to focus much on them. Towards the end of her group time, I sat down with Oakley and gave her another belly rub until it was time to go back inside.

Bella is such an active girl and she showed it today. She raced down the hall and into her kennel first thing this morning, excited to see what the day would bring. However, she made a quick pit stop to greet me and before I knew it she was back on her way. Once outside, Bella was very excited to see all of her old friends. Even though she knew all of them, Bella made sure that she had a good long sniff of each of her friends before they passed her. Bella was quite flirty with our husky Justice today. Justice walked right up to her and immediately gave her an overall sniff. Before he could finish, Bella was play bouncing towards him, trying to get him to join her in a game of chase. Soon enough, Justice was running after Bella around the yard. They ran all the way from one end to the other a few times before starting to bounce around again. Bella loved play bowing at Justice and I’m not entirely sure that he knew what to do. They looked very funny as the two of them shyly played with one another. Even when Bella wasn’t with Justice she was always on the move. I’d sometimes see her simply trotting around the yard, waiting for something to do. Sometimes I’d catch her jumping up at the hallway window as she was taking a peak inside. She always seemed to enjoy knowing what was going on.

Chloe and Kane just couldn’t leave each other alone today. I think the two of them are always so happy to come in on Wednesdays simply because they know that they will be seeing each other.  As soon as I saw her, she was bouncing up onto her kennel door, just waiting to come out and see me. Kane was almost always smiling this morning as well. He looked almost like a little Tasmanian devil as he was running around in so many little circles as he waited for his group play. Once they got outside for their playgroup it was go time. Kane darted out of his kennel and into the hallway. Chloe took off after Kane and into the yard as soon as she could. Once Kane turned to see Chloe following him, he took off full speed around the yard. It’s amazing how fast that boy can run. Chloe did an excellent job of keeping up with him; he was never more than a couple strides ahead. Every time that they would reach the end of the yard, Chloe would bounce right on top of Kane and play tackle would ensue. The two of them were so funny while they were tackling each other. Both of them were so quick with their reactions that neither one of them could really tackle the other. Soon enough they’d just start off again on another race. After a little while, I brought them a bright orange ball and Chloe and Kane loved it! They chased the ball all over the yard before one of them finally caught it.

Finnigan was a toy fanatic today! He was involved with two groups so I gave him the opportunity to play with toys in one group and then focus on his friends in the next. Finnigan couldn’t have been happier today; I think the sunshine really got him going as he was in the best mood. When it was time for us to go out for his groups, Finnigan was waiting at the staff room door, ready to jump out at me. Once I let him out, Finn took off down the hallway and into the yard to find the best toy that he could. Soon enough he was trotting around the yard with a huge jolly ball that was definitely too big for him to easily carry. Finn would pick it up and run a couple feet, and then he would have to drop the ball on the ground because it was too big and awkward for him to carry. He made quite the effort though. I decided to give him a bright orange ball that was much smaller. As soon as Finn saw it in my hand he was right by my side, jumping up to try and grab it from me. I didn’t even know he could jump as high as he did while he was trying to get the ball. After showing me a few more tricks, I finally threw the ball and he went flying after it. He ended up chewing on it for the rest of this group time. Next up was a playful group. Finnigan spent all of his time play tackling with some old friends, Nyxx and Jynxx. The two of them loved jumping at Finn together and I think Finn enjoyed all of the attention. He kept lying down and waving his arms in the air at the two of them, what a cutie. They ended up racing around the yard a few times as well but for the most part, Finn simply enjoyed bouncing around with the two of them.