Friday, July 7th, 2017

Charlee absolutely loves walk time! She pounced out off of her bed and sat right at my feet so that I could leash her up and get walking with Roxy and Trixie. The girls were all happy to stretch their legs and run to the end of their leashes in the long grass. By the end of our walk, Charlee was racing back and forth between Roxy and Trixie, pouncing on each of them and play bowing. During our group outing, Roxy and Trixie were keen to hunt down all of the interesting scents in the long grass around the outside of the fence line. Charlee chose to hang back around by the door and relax in the shade for a bit while her sisters wandered the grass. I sat down with Charlee and she hopped right up onto my lap for some snuggles. We watched the other dogs as they meandered about the yard until Roxy came over to join us. She stood up on her hind legs to be at the same height as Charlee and I, and I gave her a good head and back scratch. We all got up together and went to find Trixie, who was still following her nose. I called Trixie over and she happily came to greet her best friends. These three make the sweetest pair! Later on in the day I went to take them outside for another group time, and I found all three girls curled up on the same bed, although they each had their own!

Bailey is always the life of the party in her group, and today was no exception. She immediately met up with Barb once again and the girls flew around the yard in their game of chase with a few pauses to wrestle. Bailey scooped up a fluffy caterpillar toy and whipped it around, tossing it in the air when she accidentally let it go. Barb tried her best to keep up with the speediest Beagle in town, but Bailey was just too quick! The girls raced and raced in big circles around the yard, attracting the attention of some of the other dogs, including Ringo the spaniel and Jake the mini doodle. I left the girls to their play time for a bit to check on everyone else and when I came back to their side of the yard they were rolling around like little goofballs in the empty pool! We did our walk a little bit later in the day than usual, so after her second group outing Bailey joined Bella and Jake for their stroll.

My buddy Benji was up and ready to go out for playtime after his morning outing and breakfast. He followed all of his friends out into the play yard and greeted all of the new faces that arrived this morning. Benji said hello to little Barb the lab puppy, who he met yesterday, and followed her out into the main yard with Bailey the Beagle. Benji watched Bailey and Barb play around for a bit, and decided to hop up onto the picnic table to get a better view of the yard. Some of his friends came to give him a little sniff on the nose while he was perched up on the table before he hopped back down again. Benji noticed Barb and Bailey goofing around in the empty pool and went to stand on the sidelines and watch. He noticed me walking by a few minutes later and followed me over to hang out with Trixie, Roxy and Charlee. I knelt down with Benji and he climbed up on my lap for some snuggles. He’s such a sweet boy to hang out with! After lots of snuggles and a little rest in his kennel, Benji went out for his walk time alongside friends Ringo and Shelby.

It was so lovely to see Mr. Jax join us this morning! He got settled into this kennel with his bed and blanket before it was time to head out for our first group outing of the day. Jax wandered out into the yard slowly, politely greeting the other dogs as they trotted out beside him. I went and got a few different toy options for Jax, since we all know how much he likes to play ball! He was fond of the big red Jolly Ball today, but also nosed around at the pink-ish rubbery ball too. Jax was happy to hang out by the door with some other relaxed friends, and enjoyed a visit with me as well. I knelt down and gave Jax a big hug and a good back scratch while we watched the other dogs in the yard. After his group outing, Jax went for a short stroll in the front yard to stretch his legs and have a sniff around before heading inside for a rest until his afternoon group outings. 

Victory and Gracie were some of the first ones out the door. I am not sure what got into Gracie but she was in an exceptionally playful mood this morning. She finally took Victory up on her offer to play after a week of denying. Don’t get me wrong, they are the best of pals, but Gracie never fully engaged in play with this silly girl until this morning. Most pups are all about business in the mornings and play later, but it was the opposite for these two ladies and they just needed to let some energy out. Next they were ready to head out on their respective trail walks, Victory joined Shepherd pal Nika and Gracie joined Charly the Golden and Fergus the Labradoodle. The rain held up so they could enjoy a nice dry trot along the back trail; their favorite spot to visit during their extra attention sessions. Both Victory and Gracie were excited to see that Fergus would be joining them for their group outing. Victory tried her best to entice Fergus to play and welcome him to their pack, but Fergus was still getting comfortable with his surroundings to engage. This drove Victory wild and she whined and jumped around to get his attention. Luckily she had Gracie and Spencer around to keep her entertained. Gracie was all ears this morning, in an exceptionally good mood and wrapped herself between my legs and looked up at me with the most beautiful smile to say hello! We were watching charming pal Spencer skip around the yard with his nose to the ground like he was on the greatest adventure. Along his way, he came across the stuffed flower that he had so much fun playing with yesterday and excitedly flung it up to his mouth and pranced around in pride. Spencer is definitely one of the jolliest boys around and has been enjoying his visit with us. Usually here for daycare, but this time he has the pleasure of boarding with us and loves every minute of it!

Gracie was an excited girl when it came time for both of her extra attentions this afternoon. She was very chipper to join me up in the front reception for some tricks and treats. I had Gracie show me all the tricks she knows. We practiced sit down, lay down, shake paw, roll over, and even tried out play dead to see how it would go. She did an excellent job with all of them as per usual. Afterwards, Gracie was excited to receive a few extra treats in the treat puzzle. Gracie sniffed through it and ensured every last treat had been eaten before moving on to cuddles. The two of us snuggled up on one of our big comfy chairs in the reception for the rest of this extra attention time. For her second round, I brought Gracie on a bit of an adventure in the fields. We headed out on our walk and Gracie led the way around the yard with her nose right up in the air. We stopped by the creek so that Gracie could hop in and go for a short swim. After a little while, we continued our walk by stopping in the daisy field. Gracie’s nose was going wild with smells. She seemed to keep her nose busy for quite some time before she was ready to continue. We finished off our walk and headed back inside.

Victory bolted down the hallway as she was so excited for her extra attention time. Since it was hot and muggy outside, I decided to keep her in the front reception for her extra attention. This seemed to be fine with Victory. Once I turned around to see her, Victory had already picked up a toy and was ready to play. The two of us played a few games of tug, which of course Victory won. She’d so strong! Next up Victory and I snuggled while I gave her a long belly rub. She also enjoyed getting a bit of an ear rub as well. The next thing I knew we were up and playing once more. This time the two of us played fetch with a bright red ball that Victory had found. She didn’t seem to want to give me to ball, but instead she enjoyed running around me with it in her mouth. 

Spencer was absolutely toy crazy during his extra attention time. I was all ready to take him for a walk out front but he dug through our toy bucket as soon as he got to the reception and picked out a toy to chew on. The first toy he got was a fluffy pink pig. The two of us played a little game of tug which I surprisingly won at first. However I wasn't so lucky the next few times. After our games of tug were over, Spencer and I started playing with a few balls around the room. I opened up the hallway and let Spencer fly down it while he chased the ball. This happened a few more times before me moved onto the next toy. Spencer picked up a squeaky toy and immediately started squeaking it over and over again. This one he wanted to keep on his own so I let him play with it for a little while. We ended his extra attention time with a few treats and kisses. 

  

Sophie and Stella were definitely the stars of their group this morning, both extremely playful and social butterflies, there’s no surprise that just about everyone wanted to be around them! Sophie was the first one to make her way out into the grassy yard, and she did what she does best, roll! But first she had to collect some of the toys, drop them in her favorite spot in the grass, and then get down to give herself a nice back massage. She does this signature move quite often on her trail walks as well, there’s just no knowing when she will have her next roll! Stella was also in an extremely playful mood this morning and vibed off Sophie’s fun-loving energy. She was ready and eager as ever to play and darted towards Sophie. Sophie and Stella had a great time wrestling and running around the yard together, they were perfectly paired for a day of fun! They saved just enough energy to make a loop around the back trail and Stella was excited to see that she would be joining handsome Clifford the Golden for her walk. Meanwhile Sophie had a walk date set up with Zennon the Rottweiler and Zeke the Black Lab!

Boris and Tasha were thrilled to see sisters Annie and Zen again, the four of them plus Finnigan made such a fun and playful daycare group! Boris and Tash excitedly made their way over to the grassy yard, and Annie and Zen were right behind them. Meanwhile Finnigan was already in a wrestling match with girlfriend Charly the Golden and the two of them were inseparable for most of the morning. Once Boris heard all of the commotion, he couldn’t resist but run over to join in himself, this duo soon became a trio. Meanwhile, Annie, Zen and Tasha were excitedly watching from the sidelines, I knew it wouldn’t be long before Tasha joined in the chase and before I knew it, she was darting towards her silly son. I could see Annie and Zen’s faces whip back and forth in amusement as they tried to keep up with them, thoroughly entertained I am sure! While everyone else was whipping around the yard, Annie and Zen were all smiles as usual and even enjoyed some head scratches. Not in the mood to run today, but were all about the cuddles!