Happy New Year!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy New Years! We are celebrating a few hours early with a present to ourselves....

Don't you wish stuff came with the batteries already charged?

Bulldogs

For a breed you don't see very often, it has been nice to have a few different bulldogs at the daycare. The first to come was Ruby. The regular dogs didn't quite know what to make of her - she looked different and snuffled a lot. However, she quickly convinced them that she could be a whole lot of fun and was always ready for some play.

Then along came Bella. By now, the regulars knew that bulldogs were fun and they accepted her from the moment she arrived.

I haven't met too many bulldogs but from these two I can tell, this is a very appropriately named breed - they are like bulls in a china shop!

Border Collie?

Maggie Mae is a pure bred lab but we swear there must be some border collie in there somewhere! She loves to stalk. She will lay in wait for Gus to come up to her and then launch at the last minute. In these pictures, she was stalking a dog just behind Amanda so we were able to get some pictures of the look of concentration!

Merry Christmas!

From all of us at Paws on the Run - Merry Christmas! We hope you are all having a wonderful day today. We have the pleasure to be hanging out with some great company - your pets!

Thanks to everyone who brought us and the dogs so much stuff - cards and gifts and yummy things to eat. I'm thankful I've been doing so many dog walks lately so I can burn off all those extra chocolate calories!

Not enough time!

It has been almost a week since our last blog! Sorry about that. Life has been crazy busy and blogging unfortunately is not at the top of the priority list. I think things have settled down though so posts should start becoming more regular again.

Amanda put this together the other day for all of our amusement. It is staring: Kaleb, Perkins, Mira, Maggie Mae and Coulee. Enjoy!

Indoor Dog Park

You've requested it, and we've listened. Starting the second weekend in January, we are going to open the daycare on Saturdays for 2 hours (from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) so that you and your dogs can come and play...well the dogs can play and you can chat with other owners. The cost will be $5 per family (up to 3 dogs). I've listed all the rules of the indoor dog park below. We want to make sure this is a safe and fun environment for all.

Indoor Dog Park Rules
You will be asked to sign a copy of these rules before entering the playroom with your dog. The rules are in place to create a SAFE, fun, healthy environment for all dogs!

Upon your first visit to the indoor dog park, please have a copy of your dogs shot records that we may keep on file. Shots must include Rabies, DHLPP and Bordatella (Kennel Cough).

Paws on the Run reserves the right to excuse any dog, at any time.

• Aggressive dogs are not permitted on the premises. Dogs must be removed at the first sign of aggression.
• Toys are not permitted in the play area.
• Please do not bring your dog if it is exhibiting any of the following behaviours: coughing, excessive sneezing, runny nose or runny eyes, vomiting, diarrhea, or unusually lethargic behaviour. If a staff member notices any of these symptoms, the dog will be excused immediately.
• Owners must stay with their dogs in the playroom the entire time the dog is here.
• Children 8 years and under are not allowed in the off-leash dog area; children ages 9 to 15 years must be accompanied by an adult.
• It is your responsibility to clean up after your dog. We will provide mops, buckets, poop-scoopers, etc.
• All dogs must have collars, For the safety of your dog(s) and other park visitors, choke, prong (pinch), collars with chain and spike collars are strictly prohibited.
• All dogs must enter and exit the facility on a leash.
• Female dogs in heat are prohibited.
• Food and drinks in glass containers are prohibited; training treats are allowed.
• Owners/custodians of a dog are responsible for the acts and conduct of their animal at all times when it at the indoor dog park. Dog park users and dog owners assume all risks related to use of the dog parks.
• Handler is limited to a maximum of three dogs.
• If entering or leaving the playroom, do not enter the double-gated holding area if there is already someone in that area. This will eliminate the possibility of both gates being open at the same time.
• Quickly move away from the entrance area as you enter. That will help disperse the group of dogs that will come over to welcome your dog to the park. Move away from the fence so that your dog will not feel cornered or threatened. This will lessen the problem caused when several off leash dogs, already in the park, come running over to greet the new arrival, perhaps overwhelming the arriving dog.
• Keep your head on a swivel at all times as there will likely be groups of dogs running around the park and having fun. People standing around are obstructions. A dog being chased may try to run its pursuer into a person in order to gain an advantage. Stay alert!
• Owners must quiet dogs that bark, howl, or whine excessively.

Hope to see you in January!

Edie

Does Edie look familiar? That is because she used to be called Neena and was with the Prairie Dog Canine Rescue. We are really happy that we get to see her still as her mom has started bringing her to daycare. She has found a great home and seems truly happy.

One thing hasn't changed though...Amanda is still obsessed with her ears. She really wants them to stand up and it looks like only one of them is going to. :)

Another Busy Day

This week has been very busy at the daycare. Which is great - it gives the dogs lots of different playmates. It seems like each day, new friendships form. D.O.G. and Kierra met for the first time today and they had a blast!

Let's hope next week brings just as many playmates!

We are also planning on starting up some indoor play sessions where you and your dog can come and play. We are thinking of having these on Saturday's from 11-1. More details to come!

Technical Difficulties

I'm really sorry I have been such a bad blogger. We have been having lots of technical difficulties. First the camera and then the computer. It works fine until we try and edit a picture or upload one to the internet - then the whole system crashes. It has been very frustrating. We think it might because of all our pictures... So we are going through them all and deleting all the "not so good ones" and putting all the decent ones onto CDs. This is taking us a long time because we've been so busy! That is a very good thing!

Santa Photos

Hi everyone,

I'll be e-mailing everyone who got their dog's photos taken but I thought you might also like to have a look at all the dog's Santa Photos. You can see them all on our Flickr site.

Christmas Cheer

Just a quick note to let you know that the Christmas Party was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who came out and donated to the food bank and the Prairie Dog Canine Rescue and the Humane Society. We raised over $200 for the two rescues and have two big boxes of food and got lots of collars, leashes and toys for the dogs. Thanks also to Brian who made a great, if rather thin, santa. We'll post the pictures on our flickr site soon.

Have you heard the news?

If you read the Lethbridge Herald, you would have seen a picture and story about Amanda in there this morning. I tried to scan it for those of you who don't get the paper but the scanner is electronic and I seemed to be cursed with all things electronic lately, and it wouldn't work for me. Thankfully it still prints and copies...just won't scan. Sigh. Anyway, the article is all about how wonderful Amanda is and all the stuff Natalie and her have done to help dogs through the Prairie Dog Canine Rescue.

In other news, Tala went off to her new home today. It was very bittersweet for me. I love Tala and it is hard for me to see her go, but on the other hand, I know her new family will love her too and give her lots of attention. Hopefully she'll come and visit us at the daycare some time.

New Pups!

Wow! What a week it has been and it is only Tuesday morning. We've had 6 new dogs this week already. It must be the cold weather. We love cold weather. :)

We don't have pictures of all the new pups (the camera needs more repairs...sigh...that could be a whole other post) but here are a few.

This is Trajan - he is huge and such a sweetie.

This isn't a very good picture of Tucker, but like I said, the camera is dying a slow death and needs to be sent back to Canon. His little floppy ears match his cute personality.

This is Maggie, looking very cold. She has a lot of spunk for a little girl and had a blast playing with the puppies.

Speaking of puppies, this is Tessa, a little shepherd cross. She is soft, cuddly and full of sass.

And speaking of sass, this isn't really a new daycare dog but she is a little foster dog that is staying with Amanda. We think she is a lab/poodle cross. How couldn't you love a face like this?