Wednesday, June 14th, 2017

Max and Sadie were lucky enough to be the first pair to go out for their walk on the trail this morning. The sun was shining and there was a refreshing breeze, which had Sadie following scents into the long grass along the way. After walk time, Max and Sadie couldn’t wait to get back out into the beautiful day, but I had them sit and be patient until I allowed them to leave their kennel. Max flew out the door into the yard and ran around the perimeter a few times, while Sadie meandered around, looking for the best place to sunbathe. She tried out a few different spots, including the picnic table, where she stretched out on her side and closed her eyes. After a few minutes there, Sadie hopped up and moved on to the next patch of sun, which was along the wooden fence on the warm gravel. She stayed there for a while and Max ran over to try and get her wound up and ready to wrestle. Sadie wasn’t quite ready though, so Max went back out to the grassy yard to stand on the picnic table and look out into the field. Eventually, Sadie laid down in the empty turtle pool and rested her head on the lip. Max flew off the picnic table to give her tons of kisses on her ear and face. It’s absolutely precious how much he loves his Sadie!

Abby was so full of beans today! After stretching her legs with Dudley out on the trail, Abby was ready to go go go. She zoomed out into the yard, leaving Dudley to hang out in the shade by the doorstep, and went straight into the grassy area to have a look around. It didn’t take long before Abby met up with a few friends and started to play! She said hello to Pippin, who joined us for daycare today, and a few of her boarding friends including Teddy and Mickey. Teddy was the first to start up a little play session, and Abby hopped around in delight. Teeny tiny little Mickey decided to join the party and started wrestling and jumping around with Abby and Teddy too. Dudley likes a good play-match every now and then, and couldn’t resist coming over to bump around with Abby and the rest of the gang. I crouched down to get the best photo angles of my little friends, and Dudley decided to come over and see me for a head scratch. We watched Abby as she and Mickey continued to jump around together, and we cheered Abby on when she hopped over the agility jump. When she wanted to cool down after her play time, Abby hopped into the little pool to splash around and wet her paws, while Dudley wandered back over to the shady spot by the door to hang out with Darby and Iris. After some rest time inside, Abby and Dudley ran up to the reception area with their tails just wiggling away in anticipation of their extra attention time. Abby and Dudley were just as crazy for their extra attention this afternoon. Abby hopped up onto the chair and rolled onto her side scratching and rubbing along the chair. This got Dudley super excited and he barked at Abby encouraging her silliness. Abby started barking back and the two started a duet singing back and forth to each other. Abby jumped down off of the chair and started zipping around the room. Dudley insisted on playing and the two wrestled and rolled around on the floor until they were both exhausted. They both enjoyed some cuddles before heading back to their kennel to rest. 

Iris, Amber and Darby love nothing more than starting their day off with a walk on the trail to stretch their little legs, but were just as eager to head out into the yard a little bit later on for group time. Iris the explorer made her way straight out into the grass to roll around on her back as soon as we entered the yard, while Darby hung back in the shade by the doorstep with Amber by her side. Iris always takes full advantage of the roaming and exploring opportunities on nice days like today. She happily greeted the other small dogs as she made her way around, and stopped to watch when they started to get playful. I went to see Darby and Amber and encouraged them to come and join the party. As it happened, though the other little guys followed me and brought the party to Darby and Amber! I knelt down to get some snuggle time with Darby, and Amber took some time to sniff the other dogs and follow her nose around the yard. Darby hopped up on my knee to give me a kiss on the cheek when Iris scrambled over to hop up next to her. I assured her that there was plenty of love to go around and gave her some pets too. Teddy came over to see what we were up to and was suddenly infatuated with Darby. She hopped down from my lap to let Teddy have a turn but he was more interested in following Darby around.

Mickey and Teddy make the most adorable, teeny tiny pair! These two cuties have been getting used to the routine and have come out of their shells more and more every day. Teddy has been playing with a few different friends this week while Mickey was more of an observer, but today Mickey was full of beans and right in there playing with everyone too! It was so great to see such a little guy exude so much fun-loving energy. Teddy started things off by approaching a new daycare friend named Pippin. He wanted to play with Pippin very much, and thankfully they hit it off right away. Mickey watched for a moment, mustering up the courage to jump in on the fun, and it didn’t take long before he was zipping around with Teddy and Pippin. The boys switched play partners after a little while, when Teddy laid eyes on Darby the Shihtzu, who he absolutely adored. Teddy followed his new girlfriend around the yard, sniffed all the same spots, and greeted all the same dogs as she did. Meanwhile, Mickey met up with Abby the Yorkie and started to play-bow and bounce around with her. Eventually we all wound up back together in the shade, and Mickey was happy to be next to Teddy once again. It was so much fun having these boys in the small dog group today!

It was so great to see Pippin back for daycare today! It’s been a while since we’ve had the pleasure of having Pippin hang out with us for the day, and I think he was happy to be here. He started his morning with a walk on the trail alongside his new, very small friends Mickey and Teddy. Once out in the yard for group time, Pippin greeted all of his friends with his big, happy grin. He was in a playful mood and took turns bouncing, play-bowing and shuffling around with lots of different friends. He was particularly happy to see Mickey and Teddy again, and Teddy pounced on him right away, ready to play. Pippin gladly accepted his offer and raced around the grass. He stopped only when he came across any good scents along his way. Later on, Pippin met up with Belle the Beagle and posed for a lovely picture, and then moved on to say hello to Dudley the Shihtzu. He noticed Mickey from the corner of his eye and went to bounce around with him some more. Pippin’s happy go-lucky personality really brought Mickey out of his shell, encouraging him to play lots with his new pal.

Oakley wasn’t her usual cuddly self this morning; she was way too busy playing with best Husky pal Justice and Kane the Weimaraner! She spotted Justice roaming around in the grassy yard and she excitedly followed suit until she got his attention. She caught his eye and they had a playful standoff, each one just waiting to see who would make the first move. Oakley melted down into a play bow and then the wrestle was on. Up they jumped on to their hind legs and started mouthing and wrestling around the yard. This got the attention of everyone else in the yard and soon their duo became a group play when daycare pals Chloe and Kane whipped over to join in! Kane started running circles around the group in excitement and he was carrying his usual goofy smile of course! Kane brings the best energy to his groups, always in a happy mood and ready to play with just about anyone that comes his way! Chloe tried her best to chase after Kane, but she isn’t as small and agile as she is, so her whole body wiggled as she flew in the air, and of course her big sloppy tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth! She really enjoyed the company of Tucker the Golden who is a toy fanatic. She tried really hard to steal the blue Frisbee out of his mouth but to no avail; she had fun trying nonetheless!

Bailey was excited as ever to meet up with Beagle friends Coco and Timbits for another day of fun out in the sun! These three make quite the rambunctious trio, but never fail to have an amazing time together. Bailey got to meet lots of new faces in her group today; playful pals Finnigan, Charly and Shelby joined her for a play session outside. Like Bailey, they are still pups themselves and Bailey was thrilled to have more silly friends to play with. Although bigger, Bailey held her own and enticed the others to chase her around the yard and play tug of war with the stuffy she found outside. When Coco and Tim heard all the commotion and fun happening, they quickly ran over to join in. Coco even left her beloved spot in the sun; she was in the mood to play today. They quickly joined in the grand chase around the yard but soon this turned into a wrestle between the two of them, some things never change! Finnigan had the best day spent with Golden pal Charly and new beagle friend Bailey; but the highlight of course, was splashing around in the pool. Once Finn spotted the fresh pool around the corner, he immediately without hesitation plopped himself down and slowly submerged himself until just his eyes were peeking out. It was a pool party out there and Finn was the man of the hour!

Hobart was excited when I approached his kennel door this morning to let him out into the yard. He was excited to see who was out there and have some time to explore the yard and sunbathe at the same time! He was thrilled to see Nyxx the Husky again today, these two have become fast friends, and when Hobart is in the mood to play, he always makes his way over to Nyxx for a wrestle! He did spend some time hanging out by the door, which provided both sun and shade, and he went back and forth between the two depending on how hot he got. When it got too hot, he would follow Annie and Zen back out into the yard and made sure to stop by my side for some head rubs.

Annie and Zen were all smiles this morning while outside with their group on this beautiful day. They had just come back from their trail walk out back and were ready to meet up with their favorite four-legged friends. Since coming over the past couple of weeks, they are starting to recognize the regular faces like Red the bloodhound rescue; they were very excited to see his sweet face again! Still somewhat cautious of the camera at times, they have definitely warmed up since their first day and are really starting to enjoy their time here and the interactions with all the dogs. They are just the sweetest pair and bring such a calm energy to their groups, which everyone enjoys!