On Tuesday, Nov 13th the city of tustin passed unanimously to approve the Wags & Wiggles, Part Deux project in their city. They stated that they were extremely impressed on how we presented our project and alleviated any concerns about a dog business entering their city. We have been through this process before in the City of RSM since in our history we have moved once and expanded 3 times. It definitely gets easier after you have done it a few times but it was a GREAT feeling to have surpassed this hurdle in the project. This means we can now start construction and feel like we are progressing. It has taken 2 years to find the perfect location. Then it took over 5 months of negotiating with the building owner and going through the proper channels at the city to get approval. We have a great construction guy lined up ready to get started.
We are sure that things will get hectic now as we tear down walls, build new walls, install new flooring, install over 10 air conditioning units (just imagine that cost on that alone...sheeesh!), paint, build play equipment, build kennels, install web cams & computers, and start the hiring process. We plan to start interviews the first week of December. We will be running a few ads to hire staff but if you are interested, now is the time to submit applications.
We already have close to 500 people on our grand opening list. Check out the website for how to get on that list. We have people waiting to come from Irvine, Costa Mesa, Newport, Fullerton, Anaheim Hills, Corona, & More. We have gotten so much positive feedback about how they have been waiting for Wags & Wiggles to come closer to their homes and workplaces. The hours at the NEW Location only will be extended to 6:30pm. We have not yet set a price schedule but we will have that up shortly. Many people have been asking about classes at that location and we expect to have those available by March 2008. I will be moving some of my advanced agility classes down to that location since the space is twice as large. However most of the current instructions, staff, and classes will remain at the RSM Location. We remain just as committed to our current RSM patrons. The RSM location is the original and will always remain our "baby".
Dave, my hubby, is so giddy right now he's like a kid. He's can't wait to get his hands on tools and build, build, build. My dad is giving notice at his job this week in preparation for coming on board in December. Lysa is tying up loose ends to make sure Julia, Ranaye, & Jenny are prepared to run the training center and help me like she currently does. They are ready for the challenge and they are more than qualified than take over. Lisa McFarland is joining the training team so that will be a little confusing for you all for awhile.....Lisa is replacing Lysa. Wow! We couldn't have made that more confusing....eh! Lysa is going to catch up on her sleep because as co-owner she will be at the new facility 7 days a week for quite some time ensuring everything goes smoothly.
And me? Well I'll be in the bahamas.....not just kidding. I'll be frantically racing back and forth attending to the needs of everyone, clients and staff. I often can't sit still or get a full nights sleep cuz I always gotta be doing something and this should certainly keep me busy for quite some time. We look forward to posting many day by day details over the next few weeks so this blog will be busy. Check back soon.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
October Blast!
I know it has been a few weeks since we posted. We've been spending quite a lot of time getting our Tustin Location approved. We are in the final stages now and hope to start construction by the end of November. Yes, that means we will NOT be open at the Tustin Location for xmas or thanksgiving boarding. We anticipate opening in Jan 2008. Ultimately this is a better plan for us anyway to allow us more time to get it built just the way we want it and the new Tustin staff will have time to get trained properly at the RSM Location. We have had many calls about employment at the Tustin Location. We will start employment interviews mid November so get your applications in now. If you are looking to board over the holidays, book it at the RSM Location now....really book it today. We already have waiting lists for some dates. As always, remember that if you bring your own crate you are pretty much guaranteed a spot.
The other event that has kept us really busy was our Halloween Party! It is going to become an annual event. The turnout was truly incredible with 300 people and over 100 dogs. We are amazed and pleased to see how well the dogs behaved at the party. Most of them were pretty distracted by wearing all the crazy costumes and the parents did a great job and keeping the dogs under control. A special thanks to Lysa, Jodi, and Ranaye who helped plan and setup for the party. It took 2 days to setup for the party. We had so many scary decorations. We setup a tunnel that everyone walked through to get to the party with many spooktaculars hanging everywhere. In the main training area, we had seating for 50 people with balloons, the works. Ranaye spent an entire day baking all the cakes and goodies homemade for the dogs. We also provided a ton of food for the human party goers. A couple of the biggest hits were the Got Play Hats for the people as a door gift and there was a tunnel labyrinth for the dogs to go through.
Then we started the contests. Winners received FREE daycare....what could be better! The categories were: prettiest dog, scariest dog, best original costume, best dog/owner lookalike, and best overall costume. All the dogs entered pranced around while the judges tallied their votes. Prettiest dog went to Shelby the shihtzu as the princess. Scariest dog went to Ebon the Newfie as King Kong. Best original costume got a couple votes: Annie the cocker was the horse with a the headless horseman on top, Rocky the lab and both parents were pirates. Best dog/owner lookalike went to Frankie the Grt Dane and mom who both came as Cows....truly hysterical. Best overall went to Lynn, Dot and Fletcher who won 5 days of free daycare....wow! Special mentions went to Piper the sheltie who was a witch and Corby the poodle who was the clown he was born to be. Other winners were Alyce and Kris, the humans, who came was Wilma and Betty from the Flintstones but the kicker was their dogs Chezzy and Max came as dinosaurs. Finally, the best employee costume went to Katie and Jenny who dressed their dogs up as Me and Dave. Wigs, glasses, underwear sticking out (Dave, not me!), it was hysterical.
The party was a lot of work but every single person who attended said they HAD SO MUCH FUN and I continued to get tons of emails afterwards with thank yous. So we will definitely do it again next year. However we may have to turn it into a block party since we expect the attendance to grow next year. We hope to see you all at the Grand Opening Party for the Tustin Location which will be scheduled for Jan 2008. We have not set a date yet but we already have about 500 people on the waiting list so we expect it to be HUGE!
The other event that has kept us really busy was our Halloween Party! It is going to become an annual event. The turnout was truly incredible with 300 people and over 100 dogs. We are amazed and pleased to see how well the dogs behaved at the party. Most of them were pretty distracted by wearing all the crazy costumes and the parents did a great job and keeping the dogs under control. A special thanks to Lysa, Jodi, and Ranaye who helped plan and setup for the party. It took 2 days to setup for the party. We had so many scary decorations. We setup a tunnel that everyone walked through to get to the party with many spooktaculars hanging everywhere. In the main training area, we had seating for 50 people with balloons, the works. Ranaye spent an entire day baking all the cakes and goodies homemade for the dogs. We also provided a ton of food for the human party goers. A couple of the biggest hits were the Got Play Hats for the people as a door gift and there was a tunnel labyrinth for the dogs to go through.
Then we started the contests. Winners received FREE daycare....what could be better! The categories were: prettiest dog, scariest dog, best original costume, best dog/owner lookalike, and best overall costume. All the dogs entered pranced around while the judges tallied their votes. Prettiest dog went to Shelby the shihtzu as the princess. Scariest dog went to Ebon the Newfie as King Kong. Best original costume got a couple votes: Annie the cocker was the horse with a the headless horseman on top, Rocky the lab and both parents were pirates. Best dog/owner lookalike went to Frankie the Grt Dane and mom who both came as Cows....truly hysterical. Best overall went to Lynn, Dot and Fletcher who won 5 days of free daycare....wow! Special mentions went to Piper the sheltie who was a witch and Corby the poodle who was the clown he was born to be. Other winners were Alyce and Kris, the humans, who came was Wilma and Betty from the Flintstones but the kicker was their dogs Chezzy and Max came as dinosaurs. Finally, the best employee costume went to Katie and Jenny who dressed their dogs up as Me and Dave. Wigs, glasses, underwear sticking out (Dave, not me!), it was hysterical.
The party was a lot of work but every single person who attended said they HAD SO MUCH FUN and I continued to get tons of emails afterwards with thank yous. So we will definitely do it again next year. However we may have to turn it into a block party since we expect the attendance to grow next year. We hope to see you all at the Grand Opening Party for the Tustin Location which will be scheduled for Jan 2008. We have not set a date yet but we already have about 500 people on the waiting list so we expect it to be HUGE!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Training Day
Wednesday started off with a bang. I walked into the daycare and saw all of your kids having a great time. I got to spend a few minutes getting my cuddles and slobbery kisses before heading off to my obedience classes.
First off was Obedience Level 1. Staff Trainer & Weekend Manager Jenny and I greeted the new students: Gizzy the Porkie (that’s a Pekinese/Yorkie mix), Cash the Malamute Mix, Zoe the Pit Mix, Lola the Havanese, Rex the Puggle, Spanky the English Bulldog, and Jiminy the Min-Pin. The class was topped off with one of our staff members, Julio and his new Aussie rescue Pebbles. Yes, we got another member of wags sucked into the aussie possie through our aussie rescue efforts! What a great class! Everyone was so well behaved and their owners so committed to the growth of their pups that it touched my heart.
After that class left to go show off their skills to the world, I got to check in with the other trainers and watch in awe at their brilliance. Today we had apprentice’s Credele and Esther working with Senior Trainer Julia training Choco the Beagle, Bandit the Bernese, Junie the Retriever, Riley and Maddie the Boxer/Wiemie sister pair, and Sydney the Aussie.
Jenny and I then went off to Puppy class. Today was the last class for Sami the Black Lab and Bentley the Jack Russell Mix. These girls have come such a long way since day one. Both have come to join us in the daycare so even though they are done in puppy class, I still get to see their growth and give them lots of hugs. I hear Bentley is coming to agility and Sami to Level 2 obedience! I can’t wait!!
Lunch time comes to pass as the trainers are working on their report cards for the dayschoolers so that all the dog mom’s and dad’s know what their pup kids learned that day. We also got to talk about how smart the kids we work with are, and how fun their owners are.
Later in the day I move on to my next Obedience Level 1 class. In this class Laurie, the owner and head trainer, helped me to get everyone in and comfortable. I have the pleasure of having Max and Sparky the Black Labs, Maggie the Terrier Mix, Bob the English Bulldog (and puppy class graduate), Baxter the Viszla, Molly the Schnoodle, Murphy the Mini Aussie, and Tasha the Miniature Eskimo (another puppy class graduate). Another great class of brilliant dogs and their superb moms and dads.
Next Wednesday I get to see my Level 1 students again for more learning fun, and my Level 2/Canine Good Citizen class starts. I look forward to that, and telling you all about it!
First off was Obedience Level 1. Staff Trainer & Weekend Manager Jenny and I greeted the new students: Gizzy the Porkie (that’s a Pekinese/Yorkie mix), Cash the Malamute Mix, Zoe the Pit Mix, Lola the Havanese, Rex the Puggle, Spanky the English Bulldog, and Jiminy the Min-Pin. The class was topped off with one of our staff members, Julio and his new Aussie rescue Pebbles. Yes, we got another member of wags sucked into the aussie possie through our aussie rescue efforts! What a great class! Everyone was so well behaved and their owners so committed to the growth of their pups that it touched my heart.
After that class left to go show off their skills to the world, I got to check in with the other trainers and watch in awe at their brilliance. Today we had apprentice’s Credele and Esther working with Senior Trainer Julia training Choco the Beagle, Bandit the Bernese, Junie the Retriever, Riley and Maddie the Boxer/Wiemie sister pair, and Sydney the Aussie.
Jenny and I then went off to Puppy class. Today was the last class for Sami the Black Lab and Bentley the Jack Russell Mix. These girls have come such a long way since day one. Both have come to join us in the daycare so even though they are done in puppy class, I still get to see their growth and give them lots of hugs. I hear Bentley is coming to agility and Sami to Level 2 obedience! I can’t wait!!
Lunch time comes to pass as the trainers are working on their report cards for the dayschoolers so that all the dog mom’s and dad’s know what their pup kids learned that day. We also got to talk about how smart the kids we work with are, and how fun their owners are.
Later in the day I move on to my next Obedience Level 1 class. In this class Laurie, the owner and head trainer, helped me to get everyone in and comfortable. I have the pleasure of having Max and Sparky the Black Labs, Maggie the Terrier Mix, Bob the English Bulldog (and puppy class graduate), Baxter the Viszla, Molly the Schnoodle, Murphy the Mini Aussie, and Tasha the Miniature Eskimo (another puppy class graduate). Another great class of brilliant dogs and their superb moms and dads.
Next Wednesday I get to see my Level 1 students again for more learning fun, and my Level 2/Canine Good Citizen class starts. I look forward to that, and telling you all about it!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Something In the Air
This morning was wild! Not bad wild but the dogs were on fire! It's probably the cooler weather and pending rain but they were running all over the place and wrestling like crazy. We pulled in some extra hands from the trainers and myself until it got calmer midday. All the dogs were getting along well but they were full of beans. We had tons of wheatons today. Baby Bear was the most active and was involved in most of the chase scenes. Oolong and Marin were new wheatons today. Murphy and Duffy rounded off the wheatons. Izzy and Junie the Goldens also stirred the pot by entering the play area with blazes on their heels. Rocky the y lab was always in the middle of the action. Zoe the Shep X and Bruiser the Bulldog were a great team. Deuce the rat terrier and Frankie the Great Dane are both black & white and look like a max and mini version of each other. Bailey & Tanner the bassets were in love with Jazzy the beagle. They made a great trio. Sherman the corgie kept leading Mia the c lab on a round and round chase game through the tunnels. Lincoln the cattle dog was another rebel rowser and was game for anything.
Riley the doodle has a sweet new sister Ruby the great dane. Ellie has a new brother Baxter. Baxter is finally acclimating well. He also starts group class tonight. Sophie the weimie and Georgie the y lab were constantly in action. Bella the 4 legged black lab and Bella the 3 legged black lab were best friends. Sierra the black lab was immediately ready for any and all action when she arrived. Boy is she gonna be tired. Komet the sweet rhodesian gave tons of kisses. Wyatt my special man cuddled a lot with me. Ginger and Lucy our sweet y labs got tons of love. Enzo the golden is still a bit shy to get down and dirty but he sure is sweet. Bailey the younger dark yellow lab had a love affair with the red ball. Bailey the older fluffy golden retriever liked to keep the rebel rowsers in check. Riley the brindle boxer and Sherman the white boxer were inseparable.
In the little dog room, Princess Breezy crammed her big body into LuAnn lap. Daisy and Shadow the bichons loved each other. Rudy the yorkie thinks he is a big dog. Chandler the little cavalier and Shelby the shihtzu played chase under the beds. Fudgy the poodle loves to lick Nick's face. Shadow the schnauzer joined her little sister Lucy the Fox Terrier today. Otto & Bailey are siblings too! Thanks for a great day today and everyone should be extra tired!
Riley the doodle has a sweet new sister Ruby the great dane. Ellie has a new brother Baxter. Baxter is finally acclimating well. He also starts group class tonight. Sophie the weimie and Georgie the y lab were constantly in action. Bella the 4 legged black lab and Bella the 3 legged black lab were best friends. Sierra the black lab was immediately ready for any and all action when she arrived. Boy is she gonna be tired. Komet the sweet rhodesian gave tons of kisses. Wyatt my special man cuddled a lot with me. Ginger and Lucy our sweet y labs got tons of love. Enzo the golden is still a bit shy to get down and dirty but he sure is sweet. Bailey the younger dark yellow lab had a love affair with the red ball. Bailey the older fluffy golden retriever liked to keep the rebel rowsers in check. Riley the brindle boxer and Sherman the white boxer were inseparable.
In the little dog room, Princess Breezy crammed her big body into LuAnn lap. Daisy and Shadow the bichons loved each other. Rudy the yorkie thinks he is a big dog. Chandler the little cavalier and Shelby the shihtzu played chase under the beds. Fudgy the poodle loves to lick Nick's face. Shadow the schnauzer joined her little sister Lucy the Fox Terrier today. Otto & Bailey are siblings too! Thanks for a great day today and everyone should be extra tired!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Monkey'n Around
We love Mondays. It's the slowest day of the week so we get to make up fun games to play with dogs. Julia and Ranaye were in the lobby practicing group down stays. Buddy, Claudia, Bandit Diesel & Bentley were all lined up trying very hard to hold their stay while the daycare dogs arrived. Jennifer was in the big dogs playing pile up on the highway. That's when you sit on the play equipment and see how many dogs can sit on you at once. It's hysterical. ZIggy, Vegas, Goldy & Phoebe were among the contestants. The puppies in the small dog room were playing marco polo around the water bowl. Then they would catch each other and fall into the bowl. The yorkies cheered them on: Challubie, Coco, & Louis. Sienna & Doheny were new puppies today. Sienna needs some cuddling and encouragement to join the fun which Amy was glad to oblige but Doheny was ready to join the party immediately. Gracie the Samoyed who started off so shy her first day a week or so ago has blossomed into the ambassador for the small dog room. The sopranos (Muffin, Shayna & Tiger the poodles) joined the bootcamp program today. Molly the sweetest cocker ever got a new nickname today: Perfect Molly.
Back in the big dog room, bulldogs were everywhere with Diesel, Ginger, the other Diesel (popular names for bulldogs), Lola & Lucy. Troy was new today, very cute & soft. He joined Koda who was an adorable new puppy in the big kids today. Jake the Weimie and Rocky the boxer battled it out today for top dog with Zeke the doodle cheering them on. And Finally, Bruno the puggle and Tessa the Fox terrier were quite the item today.
Back in the big dog room, bulldogs were everywhere with Diesel, Ginger, the other Diesel (popular names for bulldogs), Lola & Lucy. Troy was new today, very cute & soft. He joined Koda who was an adorable new puppy in the big kids today. Jake the Weimie and Rocky the boxer battled it out today for top dog with Zeke the doodle cheering them on. And Finally, Bruno the puggle and Tessa the Fox terrier were quite the item today.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Week Ends With A Bang
Friday was busy with lots of new dogs visiting us, two full boards of daycare dogs, private behavior consults, and a full staff of great employees. The day started in the training center with a new springer spaniel getting a private lesson from Lysa to start with dayschool lessons at daycare. In the big training room, I met with a great new client and her bulldog that is showing unwanted growly behavior towards people and dogs. Both lessons went great and we can see both dogs making great progress in the future. Ranaye and Julia were the other trainers on staff today who were busy working with Marshmellow, Jack, Diesel, & Choco. Jennifer the apprentice was here soaking it all in.
Shawna, Jenny, Tracy, & Chris were the front office staff in the morning dishing out the kisses and cuddles. Rachel and Julio were the floor supervisors in back making sure everyone was playing nicely and getting their groove on. The girl staffers in back included Lindsey, Jennifer, Kaycie & Ashley. The boys in back included Matt, Nick, Tyler & Justin. Everyone does such a great job and LOVES the dogs. Jillian was master bather today and got to give bubble baths to some of her favorite dogs. All the staffers already have their halloween costumes ready for the big party here at Wags on 10/20. We are also having a private staff party in a week at Dave & Busters to thank all our wonderful employees for their hard work! It just one big huge party around here all the time. No wonder the dogs love it here so much.
It was aussie heaven today! Big Paws UP to Merline, Boomer, Sydney & Rudy (rescued litter mates), Meesha & Raffie (got really cute photos of them today), Jack (loving dayschool), Pebbles, Roxy (black tri), Sierra, Roxy (red tri - our favorite aussie veteran), TJ (agility pro), Wally Roo and Didgery Doo (voted cutest wiggle), Sara, Sam, & Beamer. Now that's a lot of awesome aussies. The bulldog brigade was in full swing. Oswald never let go of the ball but boy did Diesel and Sherman try to get it from him. Jazzy did the slut dance for Brennan, her new boyfriend. Honey the new lab pup is here and make everyone became an instant friend. Both Sadies the collies were here. They were fun to watch play together. What a great breed! Sage the y lab was doing her boot scoot run. The small dog room was full of puppies today. We had a great selection of breeds as puppies today: Twinkie the papillon, Otto the wheaten/corgi mix, Tasha the eskimo, Zinya the Springer pup, Sadie a really cool looking cocker, & Rocco the pomapoo. We look forward to seeing these puppies grow up in the years to come.
The transport crew are having a great time visiting all our Wags family neighborhoods and picking up all their friends. Bella the lab was on this list today for a transport and she hopped right in like she takes the Wags bus every day. Walter greeted her as she got in then she took over as the "Hostess with the Mostest" and greeted all rest of the morning travelers: Annie the basset, Bella & Sissy the labs, & Brennan. See you all next week!
Shawna, Jenny, Tracy, & Chris were the front office staff in the morning dishing out the kisses and cuddles. Rachel and Julio were the floor supervisors in back making sure everyone was playing nicely and getting their groove on. The girl staffers in back included Lindsey, Jennifer, Kaycie & Ashley. The boys in back included Matt, Nick, Tyler & Justin. Everyone does such a great job and LOVES the dogs. Jillian was master bather today and got to give bubble baths to some of her favorite dogs. All the staffers already have their halloween costumes ready for the big party here at Wags on 10/20. We are also having a private staff party in a week at Dave & Busters to thank all our wonderful employees for their hard work! It just one big huge party around here all the time. No wonder the dogs love it here so much.
It was aussie heaven today! Big Paws UP to Merline, Boomer, Sydney & Rudy (rescued litter mates), Meesha & Raffie (got really cute photos of them today), Jack (loving dayschool), Pebbles, Roxy (black tri), Sierra, Roxy (red tri - our favorite aussie veteran), TJ (agility pro), Wally Roo and Didgery Doo (voted cutest wiggle), Sara, Sam, & Beamer. Now that's a lot of awesome aussies. The bulldog brigade was in full swing. Oswald never let go of the ball but boy did Diesel and Sherman try to get it from him. Jazzy did the slut dance for Brennan, her new boyfriend. Honey the new lab pup is here and make everyone became an instant friend. Both Sadies the collies were here. They were fun to watch play together. What a great breed! Sage the y lab was doing her boot scoot run. The small dog room was full of puppies today. We had a great selection of breeds as puppies today: Twinkie the papillon, Otto the wheaten/corgi mix, Tasha the eskimo, Zinya the Springer pup, Sadie a really cool looking cocker, & Rocco the pomapoo. We look forward to seeing these puppies grow up in the years to come.
The transport crew are having a great time visiting all our Wags family neighborhoods and picking up all their friends. Bella the lab was on this list today for a transport and she hopped right in like she takes the Wags bus every day. Walter greeted her as she got in then she took over as the "Hostess with the Mostest" and greeted all rest of the morning travelers: Annie the basset, Bella & Sissy the labs, & Brennan. See you all next week!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
As Promised!
It's Thursday today and we are on a roll! As promised we are bloggin all week long. I came back into the office today after being gone (Gator got neutered and I was home nursing him along). My email box was filled with wonderful bday wishes that warmed my heart. Unbeknownst to me, Lysa has emailed out about my bday. What a sweet thing to do. I made my way over the daycare and loved hanging out talking to many of you in the lobby. It's so great to hear all the wonderful stories about what your doggies have been doing lately. Then I caught up with the front office staff on the latest gossip. Through the window into the small dog room, I caught a glimpse of one of new puppies today. Bella the aussie mix is too cute for words. Rachel was in the small dog room cuddling away....big shout out to Rachel who rocks! Toby and Foxy came by today for a romp and roll. Tank & Dash the Italian Greyhounds are doing so great with their play skills. Coco the havachon got special treatment by sitting with the staff in the breakroom on their lunch. The look of ecstasy on Coco's face was priceless. Freckles and Chili the doxies hooked up for fun. Nala & Tschotkes the chihuahuas are best friends and lay on top of each other in Amy's lap. The oddest match is the room was Chuck & Buddy. Mickey and Lola the cavalier made a love match today. Shelby a new cocker is making huge strides. She was extremely fearful and shaking her first day. With special attention and love from the staff, she is now hanging out in the crowd. Best quote of the day was from Amy, our manager "I always like to root for the underdog and see them accomplish the unexpected".
I moved to the big dog room to get the daily poop scoop. Jack the goodle was giving hugs to Lindsey. Matt was cuddling with Betsy and Roxy the aussie who were manning to toy tower. Justin was playing referee between Odessa & Bella the boxer. Ashley, the new employee on the block, fit right into the love fest. She worked at another animal care facility and said W&W was so much more fun and better organized. Love to hear we are the best! Erik, our new weekday maintenance guy, was outside rockin out with Beemer & Sam the aussies. Buddy the Basenji X was getting to the action too! Sophie was a new sweet border collie. Guiness the choc lab came up from behind and went right through my legs for a piggy back ride. Lucky the golden retriever who is petrified of daylight (I know that it is a unique fear), actually braved the light to come hug me outside. Magnus the aussie greeted me with snorts. Molly the golden greeted me with a sit very politely and then rolled around on her back taunting Mochi.
We had some old friends return again today: RBI, Darrell, Bear the C lab, Finn, Murphy the golden & Harley (cattledogX) & Sara the aussie. Scout the chessie on the other hand is one of our weekly residents and is our only chessie to date. Gabby Goo the C Lab never put down the ball. MAx & Major the Germ Shephards are protectors of the West Wing at Wags. They keep the puppies in line at all times. Ace the Black Lab and Casey the Y lab were the official greeters at the back door today. They made sure each dog felt welcome. Wild Man Harry and Boomer Blue kept the group stirred up. Cheyenne & Montana circled around me jumping with joy.
Nemo the Pit X and Phoebe the Pit X did awesome today! As you are probably aware, W&W does not accept full bred pitbulls which causes quite the controversy to some people. However we have many pit mixes that do wonderful. Each dog is screened and evaluated like the rest and those who show appropriate behavior are more than welcome. Since we work closely with the Irvine Animal Shelter who adopts out many of these wonderful pitbulls we do allow some flexibility in our policy on a case by case basis. Nemo and Phoebe are wonderful dogs who we love dearly. Frankie the Great Dane also loves these two and makes a great play partner. Sakura and Ben, brother and sister goldens, has so much fun today chasing each other non-stop. Allie the ShepX and Java the C lab carried the same toy around together. It was hysterical to see them trying to fit both of their mouths on the toy. Allie eventually moved on to Jake & Zoe the y lab for more doggin around.
I moved to the big dog room to get the daily poop scoop. Jack the goodle was giving hugs to Lindsey. Matt was cuddling with Betsy and Roxy the aussie who were manning to toy tower. Justin was playing referee between Odessa & Bella the boxer. Ashley, the new employee on the block, fit right into the love fest. She worked at another animal care facility and said W&W was so much more fun and better organized. Love to hear we are the best! Erik, our new weekday maintenance guy, was outside rockin out with Beemer & Sam the aussies. Buddy the Basenji X was getting to the action too! Sophie was a new sweet border collie. Guiness the choc lab came up from behind and went right through my legs for a piggy back ride. Lucky the golden retriever who is petrified of daylight (I know that it is a unique fear), actually braved the light to come hug me outside. Magnus the aussie greeted me with snorts. Molly the golden greeted me with a sit very politely and then rolled around on her back taunting Mochi.
We had some old friends return again today: RBI, Darrell, Bear the C lab, Finn, Murphy the golden & Harley (cattledogX) & Sara the aussie. Scout the chessie on the other hand is one of our weekly residents and is our only chessie to date. Gabby Goo the C Lab never put down the ball. MAx & Major the Germ Shephards are protectors of the West Wing at Wags. They keep the puppies in line at all times. Ace the Black Lab and Casey the Y lab were the official greeters at the back door today. They made sure each dog felt welcome. Wild Man Harry and Boomer Blue kept the group stirred up. Cheyenne & Montana circled around me jumping with joy.
Nemo the Pit X and Phoebe the Pit X did awesome today! As you are probably aware, W&W does not accept full bred pitbulls which causes quite the controversy to some people. However we have many pit mixes that do wonderful. Each dog is screened and evaluated like the rest and those who show appropriate behavior are more than welcome. Since we work closely with the Irvine Animal Shelter who adopts out many of these wonderful pitbulls we do allow some flexibility in our policy on a case by case basis. Nemo and Phoebe are wonderful dogs who we love dearly. Frankie the Great Dane also loves these two and makes a great play partner. Sakura and Ben, brother and sister goldens, has so much fun today chasing each other non-stop. Allie the ShepX and Java the C lab carried the same toy around together. It was hysterical to see them trying to fit both of their mouths on the toy. Allie eventually moved on to Jake & Zoe the y lab for more doggin around.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wacky Wednesday
There is nothing better than walking into the play area and seeing dog that I have known for years (dogs I have seen grow from silly little puppies to well adjusted adults) light up and come running to me. Today my big smiles and bright eyes came from Deuce the Rat Terrier and Molly Rae the Wheaton. They jumped all over me, pretending they had never learned not to jump in obedience class. I, being the trainer, of course did not encourage the jumping and only said hi once they sat. (or did I?????) Then around the corner came Keira the Swiss Mountain Dog. No one greets me the way she does. She bounces on her back legs while whining a cute excited hello. I love this place!
The newer kids say hello too and greet me with enthusiasm, each day they get more excited to see us again. I gave my “welcome” kisses to Heinz the Shepherd, and Ryleigh and Enzo the Retrievers.
I look over, after my hellos and see Jackson the white Shepherd caught Ryleigh’s attention and they are wrestling. Their mouth’s are open and they are flailing around in bliss. True love sparks again. Koda and Bella the Shepherds run by, they are boarding for the first time after coming here for play dates for over a year and are doing so great! Guinness the Husky/Shepherd Mix and TJ the Aussie dance the night away in the center of the mist spray outside. Then I see Cali the Pointer and Sawyer playing follow the leader and chasing each other around the outskirts of the play area.
Off I go to the inside area of the big dog room and I see Taylor the Aussie and Sherman the Corgi wrestling. Bailey the Black Lab Puppy wants in so bad he is circling them and barking. They give in and the three of them run around like the wild dog posse that they are. Maggie and Brady the Labs are playing keep away with the ball. I watch the frenzy with glee as I say hello to Malibu the Lab (a.k.a. Malibu-bu-bu-bu…) and his brother, Snickers the Chihuahua mix. Yes, the little Chihuahua mix that runs the big dog room! What a riot.
As look to the side of room I see some nappers, getting ready for round two of the day: Betsy the BC Mix, Molsen the Retriever, Brennen the Flat Coat, Kihei the Samoyed, Lulu the Black Lab, and Jake, Dakota, and Kirby the Weimies. Little Jake (“Poopies”) & Kleinsea the Weimies were close by too. In front of the row of nappers was Walter the Newfie. He was laid out like a bear skin rug.
In the small dog room Bentley the Terrier Mix, Tanner the Basset, and Sadie the Puggle were a tumbling swirl of fur. If they are not tired tonight, nothing will do it! Roxy the Whea-poo puppy made her debut in the small dog room and was a big hit. She’s our first of this breed, and boy is she cute. Gismo and Rusty greeted me with their usual wiggles and hugs.
The trainers stayed busy today with all of our Training dogs. Maddie, Jane (Aussie Mixes), and Sydney (Aussie) got to run around and do agility with Julia today. They thought that was a blast. Choco (Beagle) and I bonded while working on resource guarding. Bandit (Berner), Mochi (Sheepdog), and Jackson (Shepherd) got their one on one time too. Then in puppy class we got to play with some fun puppies and their owners. What a blast that is. All the trainers got to come today and participate, which was really fun. A big shout out to Bailey (Puggle), Sammie (B. Lab), Ehvie (Aussie), Dakota (Lab), and Gracie (Samoyed) and their people too. Great job today guys!
We’ll see you all tomorrow for more fur flying fun and slobbery kisses!!
The newer kids say hello too and greet me with enthusiasm, each day they get more excited to see us again. I gave my “welcome” kisses to Heinz the Shepherd, and Ryleigh and Enzo the Retrievers.
I look over, after my hellos and see Jackson the white Shepherd caught Ryleigh’s attention and they are wrestling. Their mouth’s are open and they are flailing around in bliss. True love sparks again. Koda and Bella the Shepherds run by, they are boarding for the first time after coming here for play dates for over a year and are doing so great! Guinness the Husky/Shepherd Mix and TJ the Aussie dance the night away in the center of the mist spray outside. Then I see Cali the Pointer and Sawyer playing follow the leader and chasing each other around the outskirts of the play area.
Off I go to the inside area of the big dog room and I see Taylor the Aussie and Sherman the Corgi wrestling. Bailey the Black Lab Puppy wants in so bad he is circling them and barking. They give in and the three of them run around like the wild dog posse that they are. Maggie and Brady the Labs are playing keep away with the ball. I watch the frenzy with glee as I say hello to Malibu the Lab (a.k.a. Malibu-bu-bu-bu…) and his brother, Snickers the Chihuahua mix. Yes, the little Chihuahua mix that runs the big dog room! What a riot.
As look to the side of room I see some nappers, getting ready for round two of the day: Betsy the BC Mix, Molsen the Retriever, Brennen the Flat Coat, Kihei the Samoyed, Lulu the Black Lab, and Jake, Dakota, and Kirby the Weimies. Little Jake (“Poopies”) & Kleinsea the Weimies were close by too. In front of the row of nappers was Walter the Newfie. He was laid out like a bear skin rug.
In the small dog room Bentley the Terrier Mix, Tanner the Basset, and Sadie the Puggle were a tumbling swirl of fur. If they are not tired tonight, nothing will do it! Roxy the Whea-poo puppy made her debut in the small dog room and was a big hit. She’s our first of this breed, and boy is she cute. Gismo and Rusty greeted me with their usual wiggles and hugs.
The trainers stayed busy today with all of our Training dogs. Maddie, Jane (Aussie Mixes), and Sydney (Aussie) got to run around and do agility with Julia today. They thought that was a blast. Choco (Beagle) and I bonded while working on resource guarding. Bandit (Berner), Mochi (Sheepdog), and Jackson (Shepherd) got their one on one time too. Then in puppy class we got to play with some fun puppies and their owners. What a blast that is. All the trainers got to come today and participate, which was really fun. A big shout out to Bailey (Puggle), Sammie (B. Lab), Ehvie (Aussie), Dakota (Lab), and Gracie (Samoyed) and their people too. Great job today guys!
We’ll see you all tomorrow for more fur flying fun and slobbery kisses!!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
We Be Blogg'n
Whew! Things have finally calmed down since the summer rush. We've been so busy taking care of your kids we haven't had time to blog. Well this week, you get one every day. First, some updates. No real news yet on the new facility. We are still just plugging along with the city approval process. Once our paperwork is processed and our hearing is set, we will be able to predict an opening date. We have however started interviewing for the many job positions we will have open. Email us for details. The next cool news is our BARK N BOO Halloween Party. We set the date for Oct 20th 6-8pm. Come in costume, play fun games, and win cool prizes including free daycare. Check out website for details.
The air in the daycare today was silly happy play. Corby the poodle was practicing his gymnastics including his double backflip. Trooper & Ditto were playing the ole bait and switch game. Trooper would lure them in and Ditto would grab them from behind. Then all three dogs would play chase. Digby the Golden and Marble played hide and go seek with Loke around the play equipment. Gator, my pup, picked Harley the puggle as his favorite play pal today. Bailey the b lab, kirby the doodle, and Duffy W the wheaton were a three way wrestling match. Duffy the other wheaton (yes two Duffy wheatons) and Max the Basenji were a good match. Roxy the vizsla and Maggie the lab kept chasing each other around playing keep away with the very popular red balls. Blue the basset and Rocky the boxer really liked each other. Rocky was three times Blue's size but always layed down so Blue could tackle him. Bubba and Sally the goodles kept TJ the aussie busy. Hanks the boston terr and Bentley the puggle were unstoppable. Roxy & Lucy the aussie became best friends today. Heinz a new german shephard and Jane were best friends too. Ozzie & Kallie the schauzers graduated to the big kid room and initiated Katie the new retriever by teaching her the chase game. Buckeye & Mochi represented the Sheepdog group. Bunker & Cosmo the vizsla's kept everyone on moving and hopping. Roxy the yellow lab and Bella the ShepX got up on their hind legs and loved the wrestle in the air.
Lola the aussie rescue for adoption started her training program today. She loves the attention. Pebbles the latest aussie rescue was adopted today by Julio, one of our employees. Goodness they are cute together. She's going to be spoiled rotten. Pebbles best friend today was Romeo the boxer pup. Sadie the puggle has the moves and can out dodge any chaser. Sabrina the Grt Pyrnees loves to lay in the water and let puppies wrestle on top of her. Izzy the Golden and Bailey the Boxer were evenly matched in the wrestling ring. Sammy the y lab and Boone the springer collapsed in a heap to nap after zooming around after each other. As I walked up to say hi to them they both wiggled their tails furiously and offered up their bellies....simultaneously. Brutus the Mastiff and Betsy the border collie mix were an odd match but they loved each other. Who are we to judge, right? They pick their own friends. Bandit the berner and Ollie the terrier mix were together most of the day. When Ollie gets too rambunctious, Bandit just sits on him....it's hysterical. Baloo the b lab kept collecting all the nylabones into a heap and then tried to pick them all up at once. Jezzy & Jasper the cattledogs were the official supervisors today. Peyton the Aussie Mix was full of her normal kisses and cuddles. She makes us feel so special. We had a few faces we hadn't seen in awhile: Vaq, Jazzy the shep X, Shilo - our big grey faced boy, and Harry the newfie mix. We were so happy to see them today.
The small kid room was fired up first thing but then mellowed into sun bathing and brushings. Bailey the puggle was going all day long trying to play with everyone. Olley was a new westie who was getting into the groove. Shelby the shihtzu and Bijoo the Coton were best friends and kept each other very busy. Dash the doodle pup and Belle the terrier mix really loved each other and kept chasing in and out of the tunnel. Ben, Albert, and Old Man Charlie the Cavaliers were happy and sweet and joined the sunbathers later in the morning. Bandit and Skittles didn't stop for sunbathing and just kept the play going. Coco the Bichon and Skippy the papillon liked to mouth wrestle and then fell asleep on top of each other. Chewie was back for more fun today. He has a rare blood disease where his blood won't clot so he keep an extra eye on him.
That rounds out our busy day today! We look forward to seeing at our party in October!
The air in the daycare today was silly happy play. Corby the poodle was practicing his gymnastics including his double backflip. Trooper & Ditto were playing the ole bait and switch game. Trooper would lure them in and Ditto would grab them from behind. Then all three dogs would play chase. Digby the Golden and Marble played hide and go seek with Loke around the play equipment. Gator, my pup, picked Harley the puggle as his favorite play pal today. Bailey the b lab, kirby the doodle, and Duffy W the wheaton were a three way wrestling match. Duffy the other wheaton (yes two Duffy wheatons) and Max the Basenji were a good match. Roxy the vizsla and Maggie the lab kept chasing each other around playing keep away with the very popular red balls. Blue the basset and Rocky the boxer really liked each other. Rocky was three times Blue's size but always layed down so Blue could tackle him. Bubba and Sally the goodles kept TJ the aussie busy. Hanks the boston terr and Bentley the puggle were unstoppable. Roxy & Lucy the aussie became best friends today. Heinz a new german shephard and Jane were best friends too. Ozzie & Kallie the schauzers graduated to the big kid room and initiated Katie the new retriever by teaching her the chase game. Buckeye & Mochi represented the Sheepdog group. Bunker & Cosmo the vizsla's kept everyone on moving and hopping. Roxy the yellow lab and Bella the ShepX got up on their hind legs and loved the wrestle in the air.
Lola the aussie rescue for adoption started her training program today. She loves the attention. Pebbles the latest aussie rescue was adopted today by Julio, one of our employees. Goodness they are cute together. She's going to be spoiled rotten. Pebbles best friend today was Romeo the boxer pup. Sadie the puggle has the moves and can out dodge any chaser. Sabrina the Grt Pyrnees loves to lay in the water and let puppies wrestle on top of her. Izzy the Golden and Bailey the Boxer were evenly matched in the wrestling ring. Sammy the y lab and Boone the springer collapsed in a heap to nap after zooming around after each other. As I walked up to say hi to them they both wiggled their tails furiously and offered up their bellies....simultaneously. Brutus the Mastiff and Betsy the border collie mix were an odd match but they loved each other. Who are we to judge, right? They pick their own friends. Bandit the berner and Ollie the terrier mix were together most of the day. When Ollie gets too rambunctious, Bandit just sits on him....it's hysterical. Baloo the b lab kept collecting all the nylabones into a heap and then tried to pick them all up at once. Jezzy & Jasper the cattledogs were the official supervisors today. Peyton the Aussie Mix was full of her normal kisses and cuddles. She makes us feel so special. We had a few faces we hadn't seen in awhile: Vaq, Jazzy the shep X, Shilo - our big grey faced boy, and Harry the newfie mix. We were so happy to see them today.
The small kid room was fired up first thing but then mellowed into sun bathing and brushings. Bailey the puggle was going all day long trying to play with everyone. Olley was a new westie who was getting into the groove. Shelby the shihtzu and Bijoo the Coton were best friends and kept each other very busy. Dash the doodle pup and Belle the terrier mix really loved each other and kept chasing in and out of the tunnel. Ben, Albert, and Old Man Charlie the Cavaliers were happy and sweet and joined the sunbathers later in the morning. Bandit and Skittles didn't stop for sunbathing and just kept the play going. Coco the Bichon and Skippy the papillon liked to mouth wrestle and then fell asleep on top of each other. Chewie was back for more fun today. He has a rare blood disease where his blood won't clot so he keep an extra eye on him.
That rounds out our busy day today! We look forward to seeing at our party in October!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Project Updates
The new webcam is up and running now. By request, we extended the hours of the webcam (including Sats), it is MAC assessable, and it's super easy to setup. Took me less than a minute to download the active x component to see the cameras and I am computer challenged. However if you have any problems, you can contact onlinedoggy.com and they will walk you through the process. They have great customer service. The small dog room is not quite going as scheduled. We are upgrading the flooring. We are still trying to decide on flooring for the new facility and we came across the newest state of the art flooring for daycares. It still a cushioned matting but then a rubber product is poured on top to give it a seamless finish. It's a common product used in high end humane societies and sports clubs. We decided to try in the small dog room first to see if it was all it is supposed to be. It's very very expensive. The install process got delayed and unfortunately we had already pulled up the old flooring. So the little kids are hanging out in another part of the facility.... a change of scenery for them that they seem to be enjoying. They got brand new toys too! You can still see the little kids on the dogcam. The area they are in is actually larger so they are just going crazy with fun. We hope to have this completed by the weekend and get the kids back to their sun room. I am also working this week on getting the website updated. We have lots of fun things coming up, tons of pics to post, and the August email newsletter will be coming out.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Bark, Wrestle, & Roll
I arrived at Wags this morning early in the am to get started on several projects. We have had a string of bad luck with technical devices. First our color printer died so we purchased another which ended up having a defect and we had to return it. This meant that birthday bags and first day report cards were put on hold which was really a bummer. Then our main server blew up. We were without our kennel program and accounting program for 3 days. Wow...what a nightmare that was. The staff were incredible about picking up the slack though. We couldn't make any boarding reservations so we kept a huge list that we finally caught up on. Then we lost several days of inputing invoices and we appreciate all your patience while we sorted it all out. Finally today our server is back up and running. We also had no email access this whole time so we will busy returning all the emails tomorrow. The final straw was the webcam going down and dealing with a really bad contractor. Luckily online doggy.com will be coming to our rescue and it looks like it might be up by Monday. We are so excited.
So I head out to the play yard to get my fix of playing with the dogs. That always makes the day to day business problems fade away. As I look across the play yard, it looks like a whole mass of whirling tornadoes skimming across the yard. No, not wind driven tornadoes, but dog driven tornadoes. Dogs matched up into teams of two and became wrestling tornadoes. Millie the golden vs Brennan the flatcoat. Kirby the doodle vs Cally the golden. Range the golden vs Sophie the weimie. Jave the c. lab vs Bisky the corgi. Abby the Golden vs Abby the y lab. Cooper the rhodesian and Frankie the gr dane were the biggest wrestling match. Courderoy the boston was all over the place and was her own tornado. Joey the y lab vs Molson the golden. Jackie O & Gracie played tag team tornado with siblings Abby & Murphy the aussies. Ben the golden vs Callie the aussie. The mos interesting match up was Padme and Pasha the doodles. Lily, Lotus, Roxy, & Jessie watched all the action with great interest and then fell asleep in a 4 way pile. Angel/Flare/Bella/Roxy/Hurly the aussies created one huge blur of fur nipping at each other's ankles taking turns being the sheep to be herded around. Sally the beagle showed her sister Lucy the ropes and helped Lucy learn to play. Liam also brought his new brother Lucas to play today. Finally, Oliver the Terrier and Sexy Socks the beagle were rockin and rolling today.
In the small dog room, Molly the Terrier and Chuck were bff. Milky & Austi the malteses really hit it off. They were up on their back legs wrestling and then chasing each other around. Jake & Gretel played with the new baby yorkie Lola. Roxy & Gizmo wrestled atop the jungle gym. Hutner the Chi Mix and Daisy the Corgi loved each other's play moves. Toby & Kona the shihtzus played kissy face. Avery, Maggie & Riley the cavaliers got preferential tummy rubs.
Lola our new aussie rescue was visited today by Spartacus's parents. She's a 4 year old blue merle aussie looking for a new home. We'll see if it's a match or not in a few days. Tank & Dash were brand new Italian Greyhounds today. Scooter showed them what daycare is all about. Bomie finally got more comfortable about playing with the dogs. Enzo was a new golden retriever that had no problems jumping into the group. Lastly, we had a film crew out here today. They are starting a new show for Animal Planet and they did screen tests for us to possibly host the show. How exciting! More updates soon! Remember you can post any comments below.
So I head out to the play yard to get my fix of playing with the dogs. That always makes the day to day business problems fade away. As I look across the play yard, it looks like a whole mass of whirling tornadoes skimming across the yard. No, not wind driven tornadoes, but dog driven tornadoes. Dogs matched up into teams of two and became wrestling tornadoes. Millie the golden vs Brennan the flatcoat. Kirby the doodle vs Cally the golden. Range the golden vs Sophie the weimie. Jave the c. lab vs Bisky the corgi. Abby the Golden vs Abby the y lab. Cooper the rhodesian and Frankie the gr dane were the biggest wrestling match. Courderoy the boston was all over the place and was her own tornado. Joey the y lab vs Molson the golden. Jackie O & Gracie played tag team tornado with siblings Abby & Murphy the aussies. Ben the golden vs Callie the aussie. The mos interesting match up was Padme and Pasha the doodles. Lily, Lotus, Roxy, & Jessie watched all the action with great interest and then fell asleep in a 4 way pile. Angel/Flare/Bella/Roxy/Hurly the aussies created one huge blur of fur nipping at each other's ankles taking turns being the sheep to be herded around. Sally the beagle showed her sister Lucy the ropes and helped Lucy learn to play. Liam also brought his new brother Lucas to play today. Finally, Oliver the Terrier and Sexy Socks the beagle were rockin and rolling today.
In the small dog room, Molly the Terrier and Chuck were bff. Milky & Austi the malteses really hit it off. They were up on their back legs wrestling and then chasing each other around. Jake & Gretel played with the new baby yorkie Lola. Roxy & Gizmo wrestled atop the jungle gym. Hutner the Chi Mix and Daisy the Corgi loved each other's play moves. Toby & Kona the shihtzus played kissy face. Avery, Maggie & Riley the cavaliers got preferential tummy rubs.
Lola our new aussie rescue was visited today by Spartacus's parents. She's a 4 year old blue merle aussie looking for a new home. We'll see if it's a match or not in a few days. Tank & Dash were brand new Italian Greyhounds today. Scooter showed them what daycare is all about. Bomie finally got more comfortable about playing with the dogs. Enzo was a new golden retriever that had no problems jumping into the group. Lastly, we had a film crew out here today. They are starting a new show for Animal Planet and they did screen tests for us to possibly host the show. How exciting! More updates soon! Remember you can post any comments below.
WebCam Update
We are so excited to have found a new webcam contractor and provider. Onlinedoggy.com will now be running our webcam. They are sending us the new equipment and we should receive it mid week next week (around August 8th). This new system is top of the line and the customer service is also top of the line. You will still be able to access all the cameras and the log in process will be much simpler. We will still allow for up to 100 people to log in at once so you will never get an error message. Yes, all activities will still be recorded. Once the system is up and running, we may switch out our cameras as well. We purchased them 5 years ago and the technology has improved greatly since then. The new system itself may clear up some of the quality issue so we will wait and see on that. The best part of onlinedoggy.com is that they provide all the customer service to our clients. If you encounter any problem using our webcams, you can call them direct and talk to live computer support to get it working on any computer. We will post more once the system is live....hopefully next week.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wags & Wiggles, Part Deux
Yes, the rumors are true. We are starting Wags & Wiggles, Part Deux in the Irvine Area. There isn't too much news to post yet on the project. We just started drawing up the plans and submitting the appropriate paperwork to the city. This is going to be quite the project. The building and lot are huge. We've already had a huge response of people wanting to attend the grand opening which will probably happen sometime late fall. Don't worry all your favorite people will still be at the original Wags. We are only stealing Lysa away who will be co-owner and running the new facility. There are many things to prepare for this new venture so that is why I have been slow to blog and get new pics up on the website. For all you recent class grads, the pics will be up by the end of the week.
Today at daycare, the dogs had so much fun. With the recent heat and rain, we had quite a few attendees today who took the opportunity to run and play. We had the misters going full steam so everyone stayed cool and active. In the small dog room, Slinky, Teddy and Coconut came in ready to rock and roll. Boots the BC pup and Chuck did major zoomies chasing each other around. Cali the Golden Pup held her status as the smartest pup of the day. Sadie the sheltie loved playing in the water bucket. MJ, Bailey the ShihTzu, and Charlie the cutest cocker pup were always in a wrestling pile. Oliver & Tiki the chihuahuas reigned king and queen on top of the jungle gym. Sookie and Rascal the papillons became fast friends and followed each other constantly.
In the big dog room, Rachel, Jillian, and Tim had all the good gossip on the dogs today. They couldn't wait to share for the blog. It was definitely husky day today with Paris, Zoe, Brody, Grayson, Kodiak, Bonita, and the new one ....Tara. Wow, it must be a record. Max the Aussie the Buck the Airedale were tumbling and wrestling from one end of the yard to the other. Rootbeer and Dollie were so happy to be here on the same day today. They really play well together. Opah and Cali were in heaven, wrestling right under a mister in the yard. They layed in the sun to dry off and rest up for Round 2. Tessie and Jojo were best friends today. Tessie started to flirt and Jojo obliged. Lily the wheaten and Padme the doodle played hide and go seek. Kelly's mom reported that all she has to do is say my name and Kelly starts to run around looking for me....that's so awesome! She followed me everywhere today. Sadie the B. Lab and Harley the JRT were totally in love and were up in the air bumping chests and wrestling. Jackson the ShepX (one of Dave's favorite dogs) and Wrigley the y. Lab were best friends. Rascal the Hound who is so super sweet gave us tons of kisses. Lucky the Golden the Jane had a love affair today. Ashland, a new employee, has fit in great and gave tons of butt scratches today to Sammy Jo and Frankie. Jake the Shep had quite a lot to say to Melissa today and he kept us entertained.
Thanks for coming by to visit us today. We love all your kids...every single one.
Today at daycare, the dogs had so much fun. With the recent heat and rain, we had quite a few attendees today who took the opportunity to run and play. We had the misters going full steam so everyone stayed cool and active. In the small dog room, Slinky, Teddy and Coconut came in ready to rock and roll. Boots the BC pup and Chuck did major zoomies chasing each other around. Cali the Golden Pup held her status as the smartest pup of the day. Sadie the sheltie loved playing in the water bucket. MJ, Bailey the ShihTzu, and Charlie the cutest cocker pup were always in a wrestling pile. Oliver & Tiki the chihuahuas reigned king and queen on top of the jungle gym. Sookie and Rascal the papillons became fast friends and followed each other constantly.
In the big dog room, Rachel, Jillian, and Tim had all the good gossip on the dogs today. They couldn't wait to share for the blog. It was definitely husky day today with Paris, Zoe, Brody, Grayson, Kodiak, Bonita, and the new one ....Tara. Wow, it must be a record. Max the Aussie the Buck the Airedale were tumbling and wrestling from one end of the yard to the other. Rootbeer and Dollie were so happy to be here on the same day today. They really play well together. Opah and Cali were in heaven, wrestling right under a mister in the yard. They layed in the sun to dry off and rest up for Round 2. Tessie and Jojo were best friends today. Tessie started to flirt and Jojo obliged. Lily the wheaten and Padme the doodle played hide and go seek. Kelly's mom reported that all she has to do is say my name and Kelly starts to run around looking for me....that's so awesome! She followed me everywhere today. Sadie the B. Lab and Harley the JRT were totally in love and were up in the air bumping chests and wrestling. Jackson the ShepX (one of Dave's favorite dogs) and Wrigley the y. Lab were best friends. Rascal the Hound who is so super sweet gave us tons of kisses. Lucky the Golden the Jane had a love affair today. Ashland, a new employee, has fit in great and gave tons of butt scratches today to Sammy Jo and Frankie. Jake the Shep had quite a lot to say to Melissa today and he kept us entertained.
Thanks for coming by to visit us today. We love all your kids...every single one.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
First I have to tell what great fun we all had at the Del Mar Wags for Wishes Event. It's the largest dog event in the US. There is agility competition, lure coursing, obedience, conformation, flyball, frisbee, dock dogs, the works. A lot of our agility students were debuting for the first time. Our agility clients become great friends as we take the journey together to train our dogs to compete in a team sport between man (or woman) and dog. It's quite the undertaking. Neither member of the team speak the same language and are from totally different species. The human member of the team must be patient, have a really good sense of humor, and above all get excited about their dog's training. My own dogs did very well this weekend. We didn't get tons of q's (qualifying runs) this weekend but we ran fast and had fun. That is ultimate goal. My students on the other hand rocked the house. Lysa with Guiness got 1st place in jumpers. Julia with Parker also got 1st place in jumpers. This was only her 2nd trial. Ian and Misty also got a 1st place with a blazing front cross the finish their course on top. Ian let me run Brandy his other sheltie in Novice. Her and I love each other. Lisa and Benson the lab came back after a haitis. He didn't qualify but he tried really hard to please his mom. Donna and Jezebelle were extremely impressive. They got 2nd place, their first run of their very first trial ever! She blazed her other courses as well. Diane with Buster the Brittany had great fun. Buster did his weaves ...yeah! He even conquered his fear of the chute and panel jump. Ranaye let me run Claudia the great dane in her first trial. She was a little worried and looked for mom but finished off strong. Bryce (son of Ranaye who is only 12) got to run my dog Easy in a masters level course. It was a great thrill for him and he almost qualified! He's a cool kid. Our cheerleaders consisted of Roxy the Cockapoo, Tchotkes the chihuahua, Tango & Lizzie the border collies, Max the Basenji, and Chezzy the Irish Setter. These guys are up and coming teams to watch for. Seeing all my students & friends running an agility course and having fun gives me such great happiness. Another great moment was when my puppy Gator got to try lure coursing for the first time. His natural instinct kicked in immediately and he chased that thing with a vengeance. By the third day of lure coursing, he was barking and screaming while chasing that darn bunny (not really folks....not a real bunny...it's a plastic bag on a line that goes really fast around a field). Gator will talk about his lure coursing adventure in our next email newsletter. You can sign up on the website if you don't get it already.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
It's All About The Dog
The music starts, the crowd cheers, and through the curtains arrive the first set of contenders for the WWF (Wags Wrestling Federation). The referees are Annie the Basset, Buckwheat the Golden, and Betsy the Border Collie. They stop the action whenever a foul is committed. Versace and Ziggy start off the event with some major wrestling moves. It was an even match. Corby the poodle waited for his wrestling partner Jerry Bear the poodle to arrive. They couldn't wait for their official starting time and their match started with a good game of chase to get the blood pumping before the wrestling started. Bailey the black lab pup and Rex the puggle were up next. Rex was called for excessive barking and the match was suspended. Padme the doodle and Sadie the collie had the best moves with the old dodge and weave. Digby and Diamond the lab like it rough! There were teeth flying and it was all in fun. Betsy took a break from her judging assignment to flirt with Caine. Guiness who was just a spectator at this point got belly rubs from Jillian. Blue the dobie pup and Roxy the aussie were a little too flirtatious and got a foul call from the judges. Walter got the crowd back on their feet as he showed off his Kong toy. Sage and Sedona created quite the controversy as their wrestling match ended up in kisses. Jackie O and Harry the Jack Russells chose some old school wrestling moves which involved a big red ball and catch me if you can. Gracie the Black Lab (sister to Jackie O) started off the match by selecting her partner in an unusual way. She stalked Lincoln the cattle dog until he gave in and wrestled. Chance the Jack Russell who hadn't visited us in two years saw his long lost friend Nick and they wrestled quietly and happily for over an hour. And finally, Molson and Jack the Weimie crash out in the sun to discuss the days events and take a quick nap.
A Day In The Life of a DDC Owner
I'm sorry it has been so long since we posted. You guys are keeping us sooooo busy! So to make up for it I am going to post twice today. First, I thought I would give you a day in the life of dog daycare owner. So the day starts at 6am since I have 6 furry kids of my own to care for...oh ah the elderly cat that needs special food, attention, meds the works. She's more work than the dogs. I arrive at Wags at 7am to help with the non-socialites. That is our code name for the dogs that are here for the Ruff Love Program that need extra time and care to be incorporated into the play group. These are not aggressive dogs just undersocialized/fearful and need a smaller play group in the morning to get adjusted. Katie is organizing the 30 or so food bowls for breakfast for the boarders. Oliver helps at the back door usher each dog into their kennel to be fed separate. Kyle arrives to clean each kennel and helps hand feed if necessary. Every kennel is cleaned top to bottom every day even if the dogs were perfectly clean. Wouldn't you want a freshly laundered bed each night in your doggie suite? Amy & Tracy are taking dogs back to the play area as they arrive (usually at least 65 of them in the first hour....whew!) so we all jump in to help if a crowd arrives.
Julia and Ranaye arrive to organize the dayschools and other training dogs. Today will be hectic. With 9 board/trains dogs and 11 dayschool lessons it takes a lot of planning to make sure each dog gets its appropriate lesson and time. We list each dogs, what skill is to be worked and which trainer is in charge of that dog for the day. Jenny arrives to start the transports for the day. She gets the van ready and jets off to local homes to pickup eager daycare dogs. She arrives back just in time to help Lysa with her Wed classes. About this time I finish my yard duties and arrive to help "test" the board/train dogs. They get weekly tests to ensure they are on the right track. I start with Bonnie & Clyde whose jumping problem was night and day better from the previous week, Molly the hound now actually comes when called, and Princess the rat terrier is barking much less at new people. Test day was a success. Then Julia loads up some dogs and the training apprentices (Cradele & Lisa M) and heads off to RSM lake to meet with some training clients and get go home videos taped. Each board/train dogs gets a training dvd of their time with us.
Back in the front office, Amy & Tracy are doing the 100 or so daycare charts marking daily notes from clients and relaying the information to the floor supervisors in back. (Didgery has epilespy now, Molly is recovering from a torn ligament, Bailey had an upset tummy this morning from eating too much grass at home, and Sydney has small boo boo on her nose that we are supposed to keep an eye on.) Tracy gets ready for her 3 new dog interviews this morning while Amy heads to the play area for her daily meeting with the Floor Supervisors. Rachel and Tim discuss the two new daycare dogs and how well they are doing. Jillian heads off to start the daily baths (Connor gets an extra bath since she decided to roll in something icky). At noon, more employees arrive to start the afternoon shift. Lori gets the incoming boarders setup and checked in. We have a couple new staffers as we added some shifts and I get some pics of them as they walk in the door to update the website. I then give Chris my order for some new daycare toys and answer some training questions at the front counter.
So I head to my office realizing that almost half the day is gone. I check my voicemail (5 messages) and my email (38 emails since last night). I return all the inquires and questions as I wolf down some lunch my hubby brought me. I do some bday updates on the website and get my notes together to do my blog. I take a few minutes to do some agility training with my own dogs and then it is back next door to process some class registrations. My hubby then helps me get setup up for my night classes (Mondays and Tuesdays are incredibly long with working 7am-5pm at the daycare and then teaching from 5-8 at night). However it's all worth it when I hear every day how I make the lives of my human and doggie clients better.
Julia and Ranaye arrive to organize the dayschools and other training dogs. Today will be hectic. With 9 board/trains dogs and 11 dayschool lessons it takes a lot of planning to make sure each dog gets its appropriate lesson and time. We list each dogs, what skill is to be worked and which trainer is in charge of that dog for the day. Jenny arrives to start the transports for the day. She gets the van ready and jets off to local homes to pickup eager daycare dogs. She arrives back just in time to help Lysa with her Wed classes. About this time I finish my yard duties and arrive to help "test" the board/train dogs. They get weekly tests to ensure they are on the right track. I start with Bonnie & Clyde whose jumping problem was night and day better from the previous week, Molly the hound now actually comes when called, and Princess the rat terrier is barking much less at new people. Test day was a success. Then Julia loads up some dogs and the training apprentices (Cradele & Lisa M) and heads off to RSM lake to meet with some training clients and get go home videos taped. Each board/train dogs gets a training dvd of their time with us.
Back in the front office, Amy & Tracy are doing the 100 or so daycare charts marking daily notes from clients and relaying the information to the floor supervisors in back. (Didgery has epilespy now, Molly is recovering from a torn ligament, Bailey had an upset tummy this morning from eating too much grass at home, and Sydney has small boo boo on her nose that we are supposed to keep an eye on.) Tracy gets ready for her 3 new dog interviews this morning while Amy heads to the play area for her daily meeting with the Floor Supervisors. Rachel and Tim discuss the two new daycare dogs and how well they are doing. Jillian heads off to start the daily baths (Connor gets an extra bath since she decided to roll in something icky). At noon, more employees arrive to start the afternoon shift. Lori gets the incoming boarders setup and checked in. We have a couple new staffers as we added some shifts and I get some pics of them as they walk in the door to update the website. I then give Chris my order for some new daycare toys and answer some training questions at the front counter.
So I head to my office realizing that almost half the day is gone. I check my voicemail (5 messages) and my email (38 emails since last night). I return all the inquires and questions as I wolf down some lunch my hubby brought me. I do some bday updates on the website and get my notes together to do my blog. I take a few minutes to do some agility training with my own dogs and then it is back next door to process some class registrations. My hubby then helps me get setup up for my night classes (Mondays and Tuesdays are incredibly long with working 7am-5pm at the daycare and then teaching from 5-8 at night). However it's all worth it when I hear every day how I make the lives of my human and doggie clients better.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Rockin' Wed
I think everyone who lives in the area came to Wags & Wiggles today. We had another record day. We set a record for how many cavaliers we had in one day: Jayden, Ben, Charlie (2 of them), Riley, Maggie, Rhett, Lola, & Avery. They kept the room very busy with kisses and cuddles. Tanner the bassett pup introduced Choc the beagle and Lexie the Corgi. She got the two new kids to get down and boogie. Timber the new shep pup never stopped until he crashed fast asleep at the end of the day. Bella the brittany pup is a staff favorite and is totally adorable. It was nice to see Buddy the cockapoo back in action. Rosie the silky terrier and Kiddo the min pin were best pals. Lola the coton and Odie O were very cute laying side by side. Breezy the poodle got preferential treatment and got to hang with small kids.
In the big dog room, it was a record for golden retrievers: Ranger, Buckwheat, Loke, Casey, Molson, Cody, Annie (Amy's baby), Buddy, Stanley, Savanna, & Elway! Molly the cocker helped Kyle and Dave fix a water spout. She kept taking off with their tools....lol! Tahiti the border collie helped introduce Minnie & Dottie the two new bc mixes. Sedona had a great day while mom recovers from a broken foot. Ziggy & Maddie the spaniel became best friends today. They played great and then slept on top of each other. Sage & Virgil developed a torid love affair. Sage would not stop flirting until Virgil finally gave in. Nacho & Jazz the beagles and Bailey the Basset are best friends forever. They were inseparable.
The trainers were very busy today too! Jayden, Angel, Calais, Cali, Molly, Bonnie & Clyde were all board/train dogs. Jayden gets a visit from the parents today. Angel got incorporated in the daycare and learned how to play for the first time. Molly learned how to bring back her toy and Cali finally got her go to the mat command. Then we had the dayschoolers. Meesha and Raffi got their sit/stay. Boomer & Sydney worked on come when called and Sydney worked on getting introduced to strange people. Carly worked on her quiet command. Mochi worked on leave it with other dogs around. Jackie O, Gracie, & GAbby all walked together learning not to pull and focus in public. Our wonderful 4 chocolate labs (Asia, Sydney, Capri, & Sicily) impressed all the clients with their rock solid stay in the lobby. Talk to you soon!
In the big dog room, it was a record for golden retrievers: Ranger, Buckwheat, Loke, Casey, Molson, Cody, Annie (Amy's baby), Buddy, Stanley, Savanna, & Elway! Molly the cocker helped Kyle and Dave fix a water spout. She kept taking off with their tools....lol! Tahiti the border collie helped introduce Minnie & Dottie the two new bc mixes. Sedona had a great day while mom recovers from a broken foot. Ziggy & Maddie the spaniel became best friends today. They played great and then slept on top of each other. Sage & Virgil developed a torid love affair. Sage would not stop flirting until Virgil finally gave in. Nacho & Jazz the beagles and Bailey the Basset are best friends forever. They were inseparable.
The trainers were very busy today too! Jayden, Angel, Calais, Cali, Molly, Bonnie & Clyde were all board/train dogs. Jayden gets a visit from the parents today. Angel got incorporated in the daycare and learned how to play for the first time. Molly learned how to bring back her toy and Cali finally got her go to the mat command. Then we had the dayschoolers. Meesha and Raffi got their sit/stay. Boomer & Sydney worked on come when called and Sydney worked on getting introduced to strange people. Carly worked on her quiet command. Mochi worked on leave it with other dogs around. Jackie O, Gracie, & GAbby all walked together learning not to pull and focus in public. Our wonderful 4 chocolate labs (Asia, Sydney, Capri, & Sicily) impressed all the clients with their rock solid stay in the lobby. Talk to you soon!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Weekend Warriors
Saturday we had an open enrollment. Often times when people call for an interview to get their dog setup for daycare there is a 1-2 week wait for appointments. So we hold an open enrollment when anyone can come down during certain hours. This was our most successful one ever with 15 new dogs starting daycare and 23 interviews total. We had 7 front office staffers to interview, give tours, the works. Chuy the Cavalier, Mia the Yellow Lab, and Easy the Aussie were the interview dogs for the day. They always love to greet the new kids and be office helpers for a short time. The cookies afterwards aren't too bad either. Sr. Bailey the Golden Retriever was the first newbie of the day. Bailey & Tanner the puggles were adorable. Honey's parents brought down Harley their new dog. He thought Wags was the coolest ever! DJ the eskimo revisited us, he hadn't been to daycare in 4 years. Jack & Harvey the bichons who were recent grads from Level 1 obedience used their grad present (free day of daycare) to try it out. Their parents are so great. They adopted these kids and are really working through their socialization issues. Coco Pierre was the most playful poodle ever in the small kids room and Evy the handsome chocolate standard poodle raced around the big kid room. Rocky the boston terrier who first visited us as a tiny puppy came in for some fun. Boots the white and black mixed breed sat quietly at first observing the action and then came alive by leading a game of chase. Catch & Hanna's dad brought in his new pup Jazz. He's gonna be huge! Sneekerz, Ozzie, & Kalley were all new too! They all had a lot to say about their adventures. Molly the Shep X and Annie the Terrier X were both really happy to get off the leash and get into the action. Last but not least, Bonnie & Clyde's parents stopped by to sign up for Ruff Love Program (30 day board/train). They are twin 5 month old golden retrievers. We can't wait to train them!
Some of the dogs who visited us for daycare this Saturday were Raffi & Meesha the aussies. They were playing so hard it was like crash em up derby. Spencer the cocker got into a chase game with Woody & Blue the aussies. Georgie the yellow lab pup and Molly the wheaten were inseparable. Oliver the Terrier and Jack the Shep X pup played hide and go seek. Jeter the black lab and Harley the Husky wrestled for almost 2 hours under the misters. Boomer the yellow lab was wondering what the heck was going on as Lysa followed him around with a camcorder. Mom had ordered a daycare dvd of his antics at daycare. The small dog room had some of my favorite dogs including Buddy & Tallulah. I love them! Greta a new doxie pup got so much attention I don't think her feet ever hit the ground. Archie & Jet and Frankie & Rebel were next door neighbors overnight and continued their fun in the play area. Whew! I'm exhausted. I want to thank all the great staffers who are our weekend warriers and care of all the dogs on Sat & Sun.
Some of the dogs who visited us for daycare this Saturday were Raffi & Meesha the aussies. They were playing so hard it was like crash em up derby. Spencer the cocker got into a chase game with Woody & Blue the aussies. Georgie the yellow lab pup and Molly the wheaten were inseparable. Oliver the Terrier and Jack the Shep X pup played hide and go seek. Jeter the black lab and Harley the Husky wrestled for almost 2 hours under the misters. Boomer the yellow lab was wondering what the heck was going on as Lysa followed him around with a camcorder. Mom had ordered a daycare dvd of his antics at daycare. The small dog room had some of my favorite dogs including Buddy & Tallulah. I love them! Greta a new doxie pup got so much attention I don't think her feet ever hit the ground. Archie & Jet and Frankie & Rebel were next door neighbors overnight and continued their fun in the play area. Whew! I'm exhausted. I want to thank all the great staffers who are our weekend warriers and care of all the dogs on Sat & Sun.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Beginnings of Another Great Summer!
Today was another wild and wacky day here at wags. To start off the day Boomer and Charlie the yellow labs were playing for the top title in the WWD (world wrestling dog) Championships. The judges: Sage the Yellow Lab and Elsa the Border Collie came back with a split decision. So I guess they will have to go more rounds next time! Kayla the German Shepherd puppy and Lulu the Black Lab puppy took notes and got their own wrestle mania going on top of one of the jungle gyms. So adorable! Wags staff Rachel and Oliver had a fun time playing referee too. They got to make sure there were no cheep shots. Good thing everyone played so well, it made the job easy!
Jane the Aussie and Twister the Eskimo had a great time spinning around one another, and then collapsing into each others arms, still biting and playing of course. Next to them was the Weimaraner Brigade: Bullet, Elle, Buddy, Wesley and Cali. Bullet was on his back with Buddy and Elle on top of him, while Wesley and Cali cheered them on!
Then I turned around and saw Sally the Golden Doodle and Harry the Jack Russell Terrier were playing hide and go seek around the corner of the outside area. At the same time Frankie and Jake the Great Danes were having a talk about which of them really was the biggest Wags dog of them all. I didn’t get out the tape measure but I think Jake won by ½ inch. Frankie still thinks he’s the big dog on campus though…we won’t tell him & ruin his day. Then I saw Copper the Aussie and Barkley the Chocolate Lab having a pillow fight on one of the Kuranda Beds. Okay, there were no pillows, but they were having fun and the fur sure was flying!
Later I saw Wags staff Scott and Matt playing with our English Bulldog Posse: Ginger, Diesel B, Bruiser, Oswald, Sherman, and Diesel R.. Funny thing about this group is how much they love to play with one another. Their play styles are all the same and they tend to stick together. Of course, Oswald loves to play ball, so he runs off to chase the ball a lot of the time. Come to think of it…have I ever seen Oswald without a ball ?? Thoughts to ponder…
Off to the small dog room…Raisen the Basset Hound was supervising (with Luann our Small dog Specialist of course) while Brodie and Molly the Aussies played with Bailey the Black Lab puppy. It was a big day for Miss Molly, she graduated to the big dog room today not long after. She’s a big girl now! In the graduating class with her was Toby the Boston Terrier. They had fun with their big dog friends. Tchotches the Chihuahua came in showing off another one of her outfits. This one was covered in Rhinestones. She looked like a supermodel with all that bling! She got to go visit with our newest tiny addition, Bailey the Chuggle. They both only weigh 2 pounds, so they understand each other.
Wags staff Nick got to see his girlfriend Marley the Border Collie today. They were so happy to be reunited once again. Pepper Ann the Bloodhound made an appearance too! What a great day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
Jane the Aussie and Twister the Eskimo had a great time spinning around one another, and then collapsing into each others arms, still biting and playing of course. Next to them was the Weimaraner Brigade: Bullet, Elle, Buddy, Wesley and Cali. Bullet was on his back with Buddy and Elle on top of him, while Wesley and Cali cheered them on!
Then I turned around and saw Sally the Golden Doodle and Harry the Jack Russell Terrier were playing hide and go seek around the corner of the outside area. At the same time Frankie and Jake the Great Danes were having a talk about which of them really was the biggest Wags dog of them all. I didn’t get out the tape measure but I think Jake won by ½ inch. Frankie still thinks he’s the big dog on campus though…we won’t tell him & ruin his day. Then I saw Copper the Aussie and Barkley the Chocolate Lab having a pillow fight on one of the Kuranda Beds. Okay, there were no pillows, but they were having fun and the fur sure was flying!
Later I saw Wags staff Scott and Matt playing with our English Bulldog Posse: Ginger, Diesel B, Bruiser, Oswald, Sherman, and Diesel R.. Funny thing about this group is how much they love to play with one another. Their play styles are all the same and they tend to stick together. Of course, Oswald loves to play ball, so he runs off to chase the ball a lot of the time. Come to think of it…have I ever seen Oswald without a ball ?? Thoughts to ponder…
Off to the small dog room…Raisen the Basset Hound was supervising (with Luann our Small dog Specialist of course) while Brodie and Molly the Aussies played with Bailey the Black Lab puppy. It was a big day for Miss Molly, she graduated to the big dog room today not long after. She’s a big girl now! In the graduating class with her was Toby the Boston Terrier. They had fun with their big dog friends. Tchotches the Chihuahua came in showing off another one of her outfits. This one was covered in Rhinestones. She looked like a supermodel with all that bling! She got to go visit with our newest tiny addition, Bailey the Chuggle. They both only weigh 2 pounds, so they understand each other.
Wags staff Nick got to see his girlfriend Marley the Border Collie today. They were so happy to be reunited once again. Pepper Ann the Bloodhound made an appearance too! What a great day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Did Someone Say Treat??
It’s been such a fun week for the trainers and the dogs we get to play with! Yesterday was full of fun with the puppy and level 1 obedience classes. Gracie the Westie, Calabash the American Bulldog, Sherman the Corgie, Tucker the Wheaton, and Maverick the Golden were great example dogs. They got to show all the other kids how its done. Their class mates were no slouches either and caught on quick!
The Canine Good Citizen/Level 2 obedience students were showing off their skills. They even got to practice a lot of off leash come when called. What a group! They take their test next week and I have no doubt they are going to ACE it! The best moments were Sharkey the Golden mix trying to seduce all his fellow class mates with his swagger while walking by, Parker the Border Collie running to the wrong Mommy during come when called (“she had better treats!” he said), & Rocket the Dalmation being brave when strangers walked behind him. Max the Aussie and Coal the Poodle are loosening up and having a ball in class. And Toby the mini Aussie was still sulking when he left because I just don’t pay him enough attention when I am working with other dogs!
Let’s not forget about all the fun we got to have in the play yard training dogs. I went out to work with Shiloh the Black Lab puppy and Mochi the Sheepdog. Jenny and Julia were already out there with Chezzy the Irish Setter, Junie the Golden and Sadie the Border Collie. We got to do group sit/stays in the play yard. That’s always fun because we get extra volunteers to join in. Today Smokey the Wheaton, and Lucky the Golden joined in just for fun. The group all sat when asked and stayed while we walked away and then released them. A big celebration then erupts as we dole out kisses for the rewards. Abby and Spencer the Boston Terriers wanted to do their part and act as the distraction, so they kept running through the group, trying to incite a riot! Silly kids, nothing can distract these superstars!
Then off I went for a walk around the Wags Neighborhood with Gabby (otherwise known and Gabbity- Gabbity-Goooo!) the Chocolate Lab. Jenny and Julia got to Play with Corbie the Poodle and Coco the Cairn Terrier. And right before lunch, there is nothing like an agility party with Max the Basenji, and Maddie and Jane (the Aussie sisters).
That’s not to mention all the fun we get to participate in when we have a few minutes to play in the daycare just having fun. A big thanks to all of you for letting us play with and take care of your furry family. We truly do have the best job in the world!
The Canine Good Citizen/Level 2 obedience students were showing off their skills. They even got to practice a lot of off leash come when called. What a group! They take their test next week and I have no doubt they are going to ACE it! The best moments were Sharkey the Golden mix trying to seduce all his fellow class mates with his swagger while walking by, Parker the Border Collie running to the wrong Mommy during come when called (“she had better treats!” he said), & Rocket the Dalmation being brave when strangers walked behind him. Max the Aussie and Coal the Poodle are loosening up and having a ball in class. And Toby the mini Aussie was still sulking when he left because I just don’t pay him enough attention when I am working with other dogs!
Let’s not forget about all the fun we got to have in the play yard training dogs. I went out to work with Shiloh the Black Lab puppy and Mochi the Sheepdog. Jenny and Julia were already out there with Chezzy the Irish Setter, Junie the Golden and Sadie the Border Collie. We got to do group sit/stays in the play yard. That’s always fun because we get extra volunteers to join in. Today Smokey the Wheaton, and Lucky the Golden joined in just for fun. The group all sat when asked and stayed while we walked away and then released them. A big celebration then erupts as we dole out kisses for the rewards. Abby and Spencer the Boston Terriers wanted to do their part and act as the distraction, so they kept running through the group, trying to incite a riot! Silly kids, nothing can distract these superstars!
Then off I went for a walk around the Wags Neighborhood with Gabby (otherwise known and Gabbity- Gabbity-Goooo!) the Chocolate Lab. Jenny and Julia got to Play with Corbie the Poodle and Coco the Cairn Terrier. And right before lunch, there is nothing like an agility party with Max the Basenji, and Maddie and Jane (the Aussie sisters).
That’s not to mention all the fun we get to participate in when we have a few minutes to play in the daycare just having fun. A big thanks to all of you for letting us play with and take care of your furry family. We truly do have the best job in the world!
Foolin' Around
The dogs were in a great mood today. They were silly, happy, and being big goofballs. Tchotches the chihuahua came in wearing a great dress that make everyone smile. She strutted it too. Allie started playing peek a boo over the gate by covering her eyes with her paws. It was super cute and when we laughed she did it again. Lincoln is being naughty and letting everyone into the kennel room to cause trouble. He hits the latch and then it's the great escape. They don't get very far though and then the door gets locked so the fun was over. Murphy the Scottie and Arnie the Schnauzer went mach speed in giant circles chasing each other. Jack the goodle was doing his best frog imitation by laying with his back legs spread out. Bailey and Jack the brittanys started a torid love affair that was all the gossip. Poodle Power Activate! Muffin, Shana, & Tiger were constantly on the go. Indy the Greyhound arrived for boarding since Mom is going to the Indy 500. He was so excited to get to do agility dayschool. Pal & Chloe were practicing their wrestling moves. Pal told us that his mom is coming back from a 6 month trip to London soon and he can't wait to get back to agility trials. Even Moppet was in a great mood and played with Baxter the Bichon. Scout the chessie pup only stopped his whirlwind play session with Coco the Cairn to try to eat my camera...lol! Boston sang to us his favorite song: woo woo, woo & woo.
Mollie the sweetest cocker in the world helped Taylor the new aussie play on his first day. It was great to see Max & Spicoli were back now that Spicoli has recovered from IBS. The other shihtzus formed a gang today to see who could give the most kisses. Out of Tribbles, Tobie & Bailey, Tribbles won. However, today's sweetness award goes to Addie the Italian Greyhound. In the big dog room, the labs were forming their own football teams. It was the chocolates against the black labs. The chocolates were represented by Java, Bailey, Keegan, Barkley, Mia, Gabby, & Sophie. The black lab team consisted of Shadow & Shadow, Okie, Kekoa, Shilo, & Brisbane. The goal was to steal all the balls from the other team. The basset hounds were the referees: Bailey, Tiger & Sebastian. The aussies, Gypsy, Lucy, Leila, Roxy, Lilly & Skye were in full force today and broke up the game before a true winner could be decided. The labs did not get official clearance from them to hold the game. Kihei the Samoyed and Smokey the wheaton were the coaches for each team and they both felt their teams deserved the trophy. Back in the small dog room, the Jack Russells formed their own special forces team to fend off the gardners outside the window. Sophie, Jeter, & Mollie all gave those gardners a piece of their mind.
In the office, we prepared for the 40 dogs that will be dropped off for the upcoming holiday weekend. That doesn't count all the daycare dogs that come in tomorrow for play so that their parents can party this weekend. We will have 16 staff members on hand tomorrow so we plan to have tons of fun. Kyle was busy getting all the play equipment power washed and the air conditioners serviced for the summer. Chris was busy ordering more daycare toys and cool stuff for the summer like giant ice cube makers for the dogs. Emma the rescue golden retriever came in for her interview today and was very excited to get started. She was one of 20 new client interviews scheduled this week. Agility class was super fun this week. Flora, Mia, Rudy, Molly, Tahiti, Leila, Enzo, Corby, Java & Kopy went over the aframe for the first time. Corby even created his own course called Corby's course which was a hit all week long in classes. We have over 75 weekly agility students now. That's amazing. Dakota's dad remembered all the courses this week! Smudge & Guiness finally nailed their weaves. Piper & Roxy showed off their amazing rear crosses. I love being an agility teacher!
Mollie the sweetest cocker in the world helped Taylor the new aussie play on his first day. It was great to see Max & Spicoli were back now that Spicoli has recovered from IBS. The other shihtzus formed a gang today to see who could give the most kisses. Out of Tribbles, Tobie & Bailey, Tribbles won. However, today's sweetness award goes to Addie the Italian Greyhound. In the big dog room, the labs were forming their own football teams. It was the chocolates against the black labs. The chocolates were represented by Java, Bailey, Keegan, Barkley, Mia, Gabby, & Sophie. The black lab team consisted of Shadow & Shadow, Okie, Kekoa, Shilo, & Brisbane. The goal was to steal all the balls from the other team. The basset hounds were the referees: Bailey, Tiger & Sebastian. The aussies, Gypsy, Lucy, Leila, Roxy, Lilly & Skye were in full force today and broke up the game before a true winner could be decided. The labs did not get official clearance from them to hold the game. Kihei the Samoyed and Smokey the wheaton were the coaches for each team and they both felt their teams deserved the trophy. Back in the small dog room, the Jack Russells formed their own special forces team to fend off the gardners outside the window. Sophie, Jeter, & Mollie all gave those gardners a piece of their mind.
In the office, we prepared for the 40 dogs that will be dropped off for the upcoming holiday weekend. That doesn't count all the daycare dogs that come in tomorrow for play so that their parents can party this weekend. We will have 16 staff members on hand tomorrow so we plan to have tons of fun. Kyle was busy getting all the play equipment power washed and the air conditioners serviced for the summer. Chris was busy ordering more daycare toys and cool stuff for the summer like giant ice cube makers for the dogs. Emma the rescue golden retriever came in for her interview today and was very excited to get started. She was one of 20 new client interviews scheduled this week. Agility class was super fun this week. Flora, Mia, Rudy, Molly, Tahiti, Leila, Enzo, Corby, Java & Kopy went over the aframe for the first time. Corby even created his own course called Corby's course which was a hit all week long in classes. We have over 75 weekly agility students now. That's amazing. Dakota's dad remembered all the courses this week! Smudge & Guiness finally nailed their weaves. Piper & Roxy showed off their amazing rear crosses. I love being an agility teacher!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Our First Real Blog
Wow! I didn't realize how much cool stuff I would have to write about. First of all, it was a really busy Tuesday. We had about the same amount of daycare dog but we had tons of dayschool dogs, the phones were ringing off the hook to schedule boarding and interviews for first time clients. Luckily the staff is incredible and they have been with us for a very long time so all of this is just taken in stride and things ran very smoothly. The day started off with a line out the door of people waiting to drop off. The first arrivals were Sweatpea the yorkie and Skippy the Papillon who started the small dog room off with a roar, then Jake the sweet Shepherd and Brutus & Figgy Wiggy. Then more and more dogs arrived. Tracy and Amy were racing back and forth taking dogs back to the play area as fast as they could. The dogs are very anxious to get the day started. I took tons of pics today while I was getting the scoop in the yard so if you see a (P) next to a dog's name that means I got a great pic of the action and it will be posted in the next month's pic section.
Let's start the play by play in the small dog room. Boy are we glad we expanded this room some months ago. Bandit the TerrX and Cosmo the Cockapoo were rocking and rolling all over the room. Then Paisley the Pom pup and Baby Huey the aussie pup became instant best friends. They were constantly play mouthing and falling on top of each other. The Cavalier Crowd joined in: Scout, Mickey, Rhett, & Charlie. They were all having so much fun, like little mini tornadoes of furr going all around the room. Only to all stop at once and fall into LuAnn's lap with silly grins on their faces. This is little Buster's favorite time, the littlest yorkie ever. He goes to get his favorite yellow ball and LuAnn plays about 1/2 hour of fetch. Toby the Boston Terrier and Gabby the Puggle were both newcomers today and fit right in. And Finally, we can't forget Scooter the coolest Italian Greyhound around. He rules the room.
I head to the big dog area to check out the action. As I walk outside Junie the Golden Retr. greets me will a wild grin and then chases after Buddy the Golden Retr. Then I watch as Sadie, Max & Maverick the goldens all join in (P). A mass of golden retrievers having the time of their lives. Peyton, Komet, & Gracie are here today! They have coming to Wags & Wiggles almost since we opened 7 years ago. We love to see the oldtimers. Sophie the wheaten is sporting a fancy new haircut and looks adorable. Monty, a fairly new golden, looks just like Bruno and is just as sweet so we nicknamed him Baby Bruno. Norman the newfie mix is new today and acts like he's been here forever. I took a quick pic for his first day report card and calendar. He's quite the ham. Kudos the beagle who used to be a Feisty Fido actually played today. It was incredible to see him play bow and dance around like a normal dog. What a success story. Bunker and Cosmo the Vislas play tag team and are always in the middle of the action. Cosmo always carries on with a ball in his mouth though. Sissy & Moose came running over to greet me and followed me everywhere. Max (Baby Huey's brother) and Jazz, the aussies, represented the herding group today and kept everyone in line. Over on one of the large Kuranda beds, it was a puggle party with Rex, Lucas, & Bruno (P). It's a puggle pile! Bailey the boxer pup and Bella the shepherd fell in love and played together for almost 2 hours straight (P). One of the best moments of the day was when Bunker the Visla, Bunker the Bulldog, and Barkley the Lab all played a three way tug with a Kong (P). There was barely enough room for each to have a hold but they managed it. Koda the Lab was racing around them in circles with a huge blue ball. Joey the lab exhausted from his morning play layed in the sun to watch. His parents moved to Coto from San Juan just to be closer to Wags. That's amazing dedication to their dog. And finally Jake the Y. Lab was completely crashed out underneath Rachel's chair looking happy and peaceful (P).
While the daycare was finally approaching midday naptime the trainers were just coming back from a full morning of working with bootcampers and dayschool dogs. Both are our train and play programs. First we met with Angel's mom to show her the progress being made at the half way point in her board/train program. Then Lysa started her Level 2 morning class. Julia and Ranaye headed off to the RSM Lake to work with Figgins, Mochi, Gabby, Tiki, Tido, & Jayden. They were mostly working on Loose Leash Walking and Sit/STay with distractions. Figgins is an old pro at this. Tiki just loves the extra attention. Tido & Jayden kept trying to distract each other since they are great play pals but it was time to settle down and get down to business. When all the trainers arrive back, Corby gets some agility practice time, Stoli is learning to walk with us instead of dragging us, and Junie is mastering Leave It with toys. Finally, the late comer was Astro the Doodle who was getting a little refresher in come when called.
Boy, that's a lot huh! We love our jobs. Now we are off the have lunch, feed the dogs dinner, and await you all to arrive to pick up your tired little bundles. We'll post again in a couple days!
Let's start the play by play in the small dog room. Boy are we glad we expanded this room some months ago. Bandit the TerrX and Cosmo the Cockapoo were rocking and rolling all over the room. Then Paisley the Pom pup and Baby Huey the aussie pup became instant best friends. They were constantly play mouthing and falling on top of each other. The Cavalier Crowd joined in: Scout, Mickey, Rhett, & Charlie. They were all having so much fun, like little mini tornadoes of furr going all around the room. Only to all stop at once and fall into LuAnn's lap with silly grins on their faces. This is little Buster's favorite time, the littlest yorkie ever. He goes to get his favorite yellow ball and LuAnn plays about 1/2 hour of fetch. Toby the Boston Terrier and Gabby the Puggle were both newcomers today and fit right in. And Finally, we can't forget Scooter the coolest Italian Greyhound around. He rules the room.
I head to the big dog area to check out the action. As I walk outside Junie the Golden Retr. greets me will a wild grin and then chases after Buddy the Golden Retr. Then I watch as Sadie, Max & Maverick the goldens all join in (P). A mass of golden retrievers having the time of their lives. Peyton, Komet, & Gracie are here today! They have coming to Wags & Wiggles almost since we opened 7 years ago. We love to see the oldtimers. Sophie the wheaten is sporting a fancy new haircut and looks adorable. Monty, a fairly new golden, looks just like Bruno and is just as sweet so we nicknamed him Baby Bruno. Norman the newfie mix is new today and acts like he's been here forever. I took a quick pic for his first day report card and calendar. He's quite the ham. Kudos the beagle who used to be a Feisty Fido actually played today. It was incredible to see him play bow and dance around like a normal dog. What a success story. Bunker and Cosmo the Vislas play tag team and are always in the middle of the action. Cosmo always carries on with a ball in his mouth though. Sissy & Moose came running over to greet me and followed me everywhere. Max (Baby Huey's brother) and Jazz, the aussies, represented the herding group today and kept everyone in line. Over on one of the large Kuranda beds, it was a puggle party with Rex, Lucas, & Bruno (P). It's a puggle pile! Bailey the boxer pup and Bella the shepherd fell in love and played together for almost 2 hours straight (P). One of the best moments of the day was when Bunker the Visla, Bunker the Bulldog, and Barkley the Lab all played a three way tug with a Kong (P). There was barely enough room for each to have a hold but they managed it. Koda the Lab was racing around them in circles with a huge blue ball. Joey the lab exhausted from his morning play layed in the sun to watch. His parents moved to Coto from San Juan just to be closer to Wags. That's amazing dedication to their dog. And finally Jake the Y. Lab was completely crashed out underneath Rachel's chair looking happy and peaceful (P).
While the daycare was finally approaching midday naptime the trainers were just coming back from a full morning of working with bootcampers and dayschool dogs. Both are our train and play programs. First we met with Angel's mom to show her the progress being made at the half way point in her board/train program. Then Lysa started her Level 2 morning class. Julia and Ranaye headed off to the RSM Lake to work with Figgins, Mochi, Gabby, Tiki, Tido, & Jayden. They were mostly working on Loose Leash Walking and Sit/STay with distractions. Figgins is an old pro at this. Tiki just loves the extra attention. Tido & Jayden kept trying to distract each other since they are great play pals but it was time to settle down and get down to business. When all the trainers arrive back, Corby gets some agility practice time, Stoli is learning to walk with us instead of dragging us, and Junie is mastering Leave It with toys. Finally, the late comer was Astro the Doodle who was getting a little refresher in come when called.
Boy, that's a lot huh! We love our jobs. Now we are off the have lunch, feed the dogs dinner, and await you all to arrive to pick up your tired little bundles. We'll post again in a couple days!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Welcome Everyone
I am so excited to start the Wags & Wiggles Blog. Truthfully, I am somewhat computer handicapped but luckily I learn quick and figured out how to set this up. I thought a W&W blog was the perfect solution to keep in communication with our clients and share all the funny things that happen all day long. We try to update stories on the website each month for the newsletter but so many cute things get left out. All of our great clients will now also have opportunities to post questions or comments. This is also a way to get to know the parents of the dogs your furry child plays with at "school". Yes, client comments will be moderated so please keep your language and comments appropriate and on topic. To make a comment or post a question, click on the comment link beneath any post. Myself - Laurie Zurborg, CPDT owner and head trainer, Lysa - training manager, and Amy - daycare manager will be posting as frequently as possible. We all would like to hear how much our dogs are loved, how much fun they are having, and new stuff that's going on at their favorite place: Wags & Wiggles Dog Daycare & Training Facility. Keep in Touch.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
