Monday, May 22nd, 2017

Barney and Pepper were part of a wonderful playgroup throughout their day. The two of them were ecstatic to get outside and start running around with a few of their friends. Pepper especially liked Cooper and couldn’t keep her eyes off of him at any point in time. No matter where he was, Pepper followed behind him, ready to start playing. He loved playing with her as well so it ended up being quite an exciting group time. Barney floated in between playing with Pepper and Cooper or playing with his friend Delko. Barney would be playing a little game of tackle with Delko but as soon as he saw Pepper and Cooper run by, Barney would take off running behind them as fast as he could. Eventually he’d return right back to Delko for another game of play tackle. This ensued for a little while before Barney was a bit tired of running around. Instead he jumped up onto the picnic table and was ready for some attention. Barney gave me his cutest puppy dog eyes for me to come sit with him. I ended up giving him a good long back and chin scratch before he had his energy back to continue playing. Pepper was non-stop playing all day long and didn’t even stop for one break. All she seemed to be doing was chasing her pal Cooper around but she was quite happy doing so for her whole group time.

Pepper is always so very excited for her extra attention time, especially when Susan is sitting up front in the reception area. She raced up front and immediately jumped her front paws right up onto Susan’s lap as she sat by the computer. Pepper gave Susan a few kisses before returning to me for some play time. The two of us ended up playing with Pepper for quite some time. I tried getting her to play with a ball but Pepper was very interested in playing with a stuffed dog instead. Pepper got a burst of energy suddenly and started running around with the toy in her mouth. She especially enjoyed chasing me around if I held it in my hand. She always found a way to get it back from me. The two of us played this game for quite some time until I decided to try and give her some treats. Pepper picked through a few different treats before she found the exact one that she wanted, silly girl. To end of her extra attention, I gave Pepper a short back scratch. 

Barney really enjoyed his extra walk for the first part of his one-on-one time. We headed out the front door and across the field, where Barney's attention was captured by a pair of Canada Geese hanging out in the distance. We headed that way, but after a bit Barney lost interest; there were so many other things to sniff and investigate. We stopped for a few treats and kisses along the way and ended up at the bridge to the winter trail. Barney checked that out and then we headed across the other side of the field and back inside. We sat on the chair and just cuddled for quite some time once we came inside.

Vasco was obsessed with puddles and a few of his friends today. Funny enough, he seemed to be in an even happier mood today even though it was cloudy and wet. I think that was because of all of the puddles! As soon as Vasco got outside, he was on the search for something to dip his paws in. His nose always found the way to the nearest puddle and he didn’t waste any time jumping in. Vasco loved to do all sorts of things in the puddles. Sometimes he would be sniffing along the top of the water, digging right in the middle of the puddle or even sitting down in a few of them. He also found some time to hang out with his good pal Bentley. Every time Vasco was in a puddle he tried to get Bentley to join him. Sometimes Vasco would run up to Bentley, play bow, and then run right back into the puddle in hopes that he’d join. It was so funny watching them play together because neither of them would actually race around the yard nor play tackle one another. The two of them would simply stare at one another with their tails wagging, especially Vasco. Lucky for him, Bentley eventually decided to hop around with him a couple times. To end off his group time, Vasco came over and sat by feet so that I could give him a head scratch. Vasco was an excited boy once he realized that his extra attention time was soon approaching. He waited patiently by his kennel door until I came down the hallway. As soon as he saw me, Vasco hopped up onto his kennel door so that I knew he wanted to go. The two of us marched down the hallway and into the front reception. I thought Vasco may have wanted to snuggle up front for a little bit but he clearly showed me that he was ready to go outside and explore. Off we went into the front field. Vasco led the way through the field, always stopping to sniff little patches of grass. Eventually we moseyed on over to the long leash that we have set up out front. Vasco was super excited to be able to have some freedom on the long leash. He took advantage of it right away and started to venture all over the place. Vasco spent some time up on top of the hill while playing in the longer grass. He then moved down to come see me and quickly realized that I had a few treats in my pockets. Vasco immediately sat down and waited like the good boy he is for a treat. After he ate all the treats, the two of us went inside for a quick cuddle before he went back into his kennel.

Nymeria was full of energy as it came time for her long outdoor playgroup. Getting to spend another day with all of her huskies friends, as well as a few others, really put her in an amazing mood. As soon as Nymeria left the hall to go outside, it was game on for her and her friends. Nymeria was especially attached to Maverick. The two of them immediately began a race around the yard. However, they couldn’t even make it around once without stopping to play tackle one another. Nymeria took turns being the one to tackle as well as being tackled, but either way she was happy. Soon enough her friends Kaya, Meeks and Nyxx joined in on the fun as well. Now the five of them were trying to race all over the place. With Nymeria in the center of the playgroup, it looked as though a big circle of dogs were running around the yard, how funny. Nymeria broke away from the playing for a few short spurts of time. Most of the time she would come see me for a head scratch and snuggle. However, sometimes she liked going to see Nick and Ariel wherever they were at the moment. Towards the end of her group time, Nymeria went to see Ariel as she was sitting up on a big rock in the yard. The two of them began a game of king of the castle. Nymeria never made it up onto the rock but she sure did have fun trying.

Nym and I went for a walk on the back trail for the first part of her extra attention time. I took Nymeria right to the edge of the stream to see if she'd jump over, but instead we took the bridge across. Nym sniffed absolutely everything; I think she was in another world entirely. She is a lovely walker, so I kept her company while she explored. When we came around the trail I tried to convince her to cross the stream again, but we ended up making our way back to the bridge again. Back inside, we found Julie sitting beside a big basket of toys. Nym watched, fascinated, while Julie took multiple toys out of the basket and shook them back and forth. I offered some toys to Nym, but she had her eye set on playing with Julie instead. She was adorable as she pawed Julie gently on the head and slowly moved her hip into hip checking position. After they had played for a little bit, Nym took some time to explore the reception area and take some treats before heading back to her kennel.

Kai was quite excited to be back here at Tails & Trails. She had a wonderful first day starting right away with a long outdoor play group. Kai was leaping with joy when I went up to her kennel. As soon as I let her out, Kai darting into the yard and was ready to see some old as well as new faces. Kai took her time greeting everyone. The whole group was interested in sniffing her as she was the new friend of the group but she enjoyed all of the attention. Soon enough Kai became friends with Casper and the two of them took off. Kai was so silly as she was playing with Casper. She’d bounce towards him and then as soon as he went to play with her, Kai would trot away as if she was playing a little game of tag. This ensued for a little while before the two of them play tackled. Kai would challenge Casper by jumping back into a play bow. As soon as Casper bounced towards her, the two of them would be off running about the yard or play tackling. It was wonderful to see Kai having such an energetic first day.

Kai had a special extra attention time today. She had extra friends on her walk to play with and went back to one of the ponds to splash around and explore. Kai took a shine to her new friend, Doug, and appreciated his silly antics on their walk, bouncing around and playing with her on the trail and walking though some of the water with him by her side. For the indoor portion of her time with Leah and Doug, Kai sat with Doug and soaked up as much attention as she could.

Finnigan wasn’t completely sure of what he wanted to do when he first got here this morning. However he was excited to see that it was time for an outdoor playgroup as soon as he got into his kennel. Finnigan raced right back out into the hallway and was ready to take on the day. Once Finn got outside, he saw two playful friends that he decided to spend some of his time with. It was almost an instant game of tag between him and the other two boys. Finnigan always seemed to be the one chasing the other two but occasionally the roles were reversed. However this game quickly came to an end once Finn saw the bright red ball I held in my hand. He came darting over as soon as he could and sat like the handsome boy that he is, patiently waiting for the ball. Soon enough, Finn’s friends had joined him for a game of fetch. In between each throw, the three boys raced around the yard after one another and whoever had successfully gotten the ball would finally return to me. We played this game for a little while before Finn’s friend Hudson decided he wanted to keep the ball. From that moment on Finnigan always kept his eye on the ball. I could tell he was thinking of a million different ways to try and get the ball back from his friend but he simply followed behind Hudson wherever he went. Eventually I got Finn’s focus off of the ball and onto me when I called him over for a cuddle. We ended of this group time with a quick belly rub.