Monday Morning Smiles

I guess if you are a dog Monday mornings are a good thing!

Milo

Harley

Bosco

Piper

Brodie

I know I'm never that happy and cheerful Monday morning....oh, to be a dog!

Pictures

Sorry I left you all without a blog post today.  I was a little distracted as it was the last day before I leave for vacation.  But no worries - you'll all be in good hands.  Not only will Amanda, Jo and Jenna do a great job at the daycare, but Amanda has promised to blog too!  So you won't be left hanging for 2 weeks.

If you really need your blog fix today, or on the weekend, you can head over to the Photography Blog and see some pictures of Jackie if you'd like.  We had a photo session earlier this week and despite gloomy skies, we all had a lot of fun.

I'll see you in a few weeks!

Portraits

In the mornings if the dogs stick their heads through the doorway, the sun catches their face but the room behind them looks so dark it appears black. You can get some pretty neat photos if the dogs cooperate.

The effects can be especially dramatic on a dark dog like Izzy.

Mild and Mellow?

Doesn't Beamer look mild and mellow?

Not sure how I managed that picture! I must have caught her napping for 0.05 seconds. These are more her personality - wild and crazy.

She was moving so fast, I had trouble keeping up.

Beagle Lessons

So I thought we had lots of goldens yesterday. That is nothing. Today we have 4 beagles and 2 beagle crosses. I think they are plotting to take over the daycare.

Today was Winston's first visit so as is tradition, the other beagles taught him proper beagle play.

1. Act wild.

Check

2. Be the life of the party.

Check

3. Bark so loud, you make ears sway in the wind.

Check

4. Smile for the camera.

Check

Winston was another fast learner. I have a feeling he was born knowing how to do all these things.

Golden Boys

We have three male golden retrievers here today.

Barley and Milo were able to show Cooper the new guy, the ropes. This included lessons on: how to get to the ball first, the best places to pee, and how to properly jump on Wendy and Jolene. He is a very fast learner.

Chillaxing

If only we could all be as comfortable as Piper...

She is always squishing herself on to a chair, with various limbs sticking off in every direction and falling asleep. It is amazing how she can manage to balance herself so she doesn't fall off.

Just a reminder that we are closed tomorrow for Canada Day. We'll see you on Thursday!

Fierce

There are not many more things more fierce than a jack russell playing tug! Be sure to insert growling sound effects while looking at the photos for the full effect.

Jump

If you are too slow to throw the toy, Russell encourages you to hurry up by jumping up and down. Then once you throw it, he launches into the air to try and catch it. Rory was a little less jumpy, but just as excited.

One Day Only

That is how long I could stand cleaning the play area. But let me start at the beginning...

When Jolene first started working with us, we made a deal. She didn't want to have to learn the "computer stuff", so in turn, she would stay in the back with the dogs and clean at the end of the day. A match made in heaven! I mean really, cleaning is not fun. Imagine having a 3,000 square foot house that you've let 30 or so dogs run around in all day. And now imagine the hair and dirt and having to vacuum and steam clean it each and every day. That is not my idea of fun. But that is what Jo has to do every day.

When Jo first started, after vacuuming we mopped the floors. Then we upgraded to a little upright steam cleaner. That only survived around 6 months of daily use before we upgraded to a commercial steam cleaner that we affectionately call Archie. We LOVE Archie. Nobody minds steam cleaning anymore. It is actually enjoyable.

But the vacuuming is still painful. It is slow (takes 1-1.5 hours) and hard on your back. Jolene is on vacation this week so one of us has to do the cleaning every night. So last night, that was me. And today I hurt. Apparently I am not as young as I used to be! So, I went out and bought a new vacuum.

Jo, if you are reading this don't get too excited... It will never be as fun as driving Archie, but it has a funky ergonomic handle and has a better attachment for the floor. The hose won't come out of the handle every few strokes and it has a better motor so it should pick up more hair and dirt and do it faster. It is also quieter and has better wheels. I hope it will make your job at least a little better. Especially as you aren't back for a week and I need to clean again tonight. :)