Snuggles

Are the in-laws already driving you crazy? Do you need something to put a smile on your face? Take some advice from Levi and Matty. Find a friend and snuggle up.

We are now closed until January 4, 2010. Thanks to everyone who brought us holiday cheer (If we have gained 50 lbs when you see us again in December, it isn't our fault - we couldn't resist all the yummies).

Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!

Come Enjoy Some Cake

If you are passing through the neighborhood today, come join us for a slice of cake! I discovered that one of our clients (Moe's mom Melanie) is an awesome cake decorator, so we asked her to make one for us for Christmas!

I think someone else is going to have to make the first cut though. It is too pretty to for me to do it.

Update: It tastes as good as it looks!!!!

12 Dog Days of Christmas

Jolene and Amanda had fun the other day, writing a little Christmas song for all of you. I would have recorded them singing it for you, but that wouldn't have been very pleasant to listen to. Trust me. I've heard them sing. The dogs like to howl along. :)

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare A Collie Shedding Fur

On the second day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur.

On the third day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur.

On the fourth day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur.

On the fifth day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur.

On the sixth day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Six Beagles Baying,
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur.

On the seventh day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Seven Boxers Boxing,
Six Beagles Baying,
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur.

On the eighth day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Eight Elkhounds Hunting,
Seven Boxers Boxing,
Six Beagles Baying,
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur

On the ninth day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Nine Dachshunds Napping,
Eight Elkhounds Hunting,
Seven Boxers Boxing,
Six Beagles Baying,
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur

On the tenth day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Ten Corgis Herding,
Nine Dachshunds Napping,
Eight Elkhounds Hunting,
Seven Boxers Boxing,
Six Beagles Baying,
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur

On the eleventh day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Eleven Shepherds Whining,
Ten Corgis Herding,
Nine Dachshunds Napping,
Eight Elkhounds Hunting,
Seven Boxers Boxing,
Six Beagles Baying,
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur

On the twelfth day of Christmas, someone booked at daycare
Twelve Mixed Breeds Running,
Eleven Shepherds Whining,
Ten Corgis Herding,
Nine Dachshunds Napping,
Eight Elkhounds Hunting ,
Seven Boxers Boxing,
Six Beagles Baying,
Five Golden Retrievers,
Four Labs-a-Fetching,
Three Pitt Bulls,
Two Boston Terriers,
And a Collie Shedding Fur

Happy Holidays from all of us at Paws on the Run!

Snowy White

Molly would like you all to know that is snow on her chin. NOT white hairs.

Sure Molly. We believe you.

New Dog Day

As I am sure most of you know, Monday is the day for new dogs. This week is no exception.

Macey is a cute little girl recently adopted from the Humane Society. She was a little shy to start but her inner puppy is already shining through. I'm sure she'll be wreaking havoc in no time!

Maynard is a cute as a button chocolate lab who is everything a lab should be. Fun, playful and gentle. He is having a great time playing with Macey, Max and Otto, who are going to be just exhausted from entertaining a puppy all morning.

Photography Sale

Be sure to check out the photography blog so you don't miss out on the "I Gotta New Camera" Sale!

Leggy

Snap is a dog that is with the Prairie Dog Canine Rescue that comes to daycare every once and while. She is sweet, fun and very leggy. So leggy in fact, her foster home calls her Leggs.

She LOVES the snow. Even when it was freezing out, she would stay out forever if we'd let her. It is hard to get cold when you don't stop moving.

All Head

Have you met Jax yet? He is a body-less Aussie! He gets around amazingly well without a body. :)

Poser

I've finally figured out why I have so many pictures of beagles. Yes they are all fun, playful and gorgeous. But they also throw themselves at the camera. Bailey spotted me with the camera, and let go of the toy to pose.

Ya gotta love them.

Snow Crazies

Hopefully yesterday was the last really cold day for a while. The dogs really enjoy the snow but their feet quickly get cold.

Toffee, was trying to teach everyone that if you run really fast, you can stay warm.

Unfortunately for me, that created lots of pictures of the back of her head.

Matchy Matchy

One of the risks of dogs wrestling while wearing collars, is that one dog's jaw can get twisted in another dog's collar. It has happened a few times here at daycare and while we've managed to separate the dogs quickly, it is still a scary thing. So we researched our options...

Some daycares don't allow any of the dogs to wear collars. While this sounded like a great solution initially, we quickly realized that naked dogs create other issues.

1) If we need to walk a dog from point A to point B (i.e. they are holding their feet up outside they are so cold, but don't actually want to come it), we usually grab them by their collar and lead them in.

2) If we need to hold a dog back from the gate, while letting another dog out, we usually hold on to the collar of the dog who isn't leaving yet.

3) While we can recognize all the dogs that come here with or without their collars, when a black lab goes streaking by in hot pursuit of another dog, we may not be able to figure out who it is fast enough to actually call them away. I use collars a lot to identify similar looking dogs when I need to figure things out quickly.

We could overcome all of these issues if we had to, but we thought there was a better way.

We ordered a whole bunch of play safe collars. These collars have velcro closures on two sides so in an emergency, they are really easy to open, yet they don't break open (like breakaway collars) when you need to hold on to the collar. They come in 3 different colours so this will help us identify the black labs quickly (or at least narrow down the options!) and they are easily adjustable so we can get them on and off dogs quickly and efficiently when they arrive and leave.

And the final benefit is that your dogs will no longer be going home with slobbery, chewed up collars!

Eventually

Eventually ever dog has to venture outside... even Perkins!

This is a pretty rare sighting these past few days!

Letting Loose

The dogs have all been more than a little wild this week. Their time spent outdoors has been limited to minutes at a time.

They have fun while they are outside, but pretty quickly their feet become cold.

Amanda and Jo couldn't resist letting them out into the big yard to let them burn off some steam. The two minutes they were out there didn't do much to lessen their energy levels, but they had fun watching them run.

Snow Bunnies

While the rest of us are cursing the pounds of snow we've had to shovel, most of the dogs are celebrating.

Legend is totally in his element. He is always the last dog to come in and we often find him just laying in a snow drift.

Brodie has been running donuts around the play area all morning. He only paused briefly to play with the football, then went back to running laps.

And Gordie, a new lab, thinks that the giant snow drift is super fun to throw yourself up against.

Holiday Hours

I promise there will be a proper blog post soon - once we dig ourselves out - but I thought I should let you all know when we will be closed this Holiday Season...

We will be closed on Dec 24, 2009 and will re-open on Jan 4, 2010.

On the Flip Side

It never ceases to amaze me that some dogs find actually find this position comfortable.

Both Rudy and Piper seem to enjoy just hanging out like this.

Is It Safe?

Joplin wasn't sure if it was safe to come out from under the table.

She thought about it for a bit...

She tried playing while still underneath it...

And then finally decided the coast was clear.

No Ears

Here comes one...

...and here is the second one.

I'm All Ears

Windy

It has been way too windy for outdoor photos. I'm not looking forward to when it is too cold AND windy! So here is a cute one of Denny inside.

Save Me!

Doesn't Moe look like he really wants out?

He actually really wants in... with the big dogs. We told him he was too little to come run with the big guys.

So he did what any fun loving little dog does. He found a beagle and started to wrestle!

Lethbridge Dog Show

If you have no plans yet this weekend you should consider checking out the Lethbridge Dog Show at Exhibition Park. Jolene is showing her two collies and there will be lots of different breeds at the show to see. There will also be dogs doing Obedience and Rally Obedience which should be fun to watch.

Maybe we'll see you there!

Little Buddy

Could Buddy be any cuter?

Ali

I love mixed breed dogs. I love the way you never know what they will look like all grown up, or which breed's personality they will most closely resemble. I guess that last point is only a good one if you like the personalities of both breeds!

Ali is no exception. I think she is totally stunning and I love the way her ears seem to have a mind of their own.