Archive for Mar 2010

Smiling for Spring!
March 30, 2010
Twins
March 29, 2010
The Many Sides of Marci
March 26, 2010
From any Angle…
March 25, 2010
The Clown of the dog world….
March 22, 2010We have at least two (and often more!) Golden Retrievers at daycare every day. They are a very popular breed, and for good reason!
They are happy, friendly, and generally easy to train. Raised right Goldens adore people and make great family pets. They are active enough to enjoy hiking, camping and other outdoor activity, but are equally happy playing fetch in the backyard.
The Goldens at daycare range from the wild and crazy, to calm and easy going. They are great daycare dogs and are often found in the middle of anything that is fun. Fetch is a favorite game (they aren’t called Retrievers for nothing!) but they are equally happy wrestling, or playing chase games.
All goldens seem to have that sweet, melt your heart expression and they aren’t afraid to use that to their advantage. It’s awful hard to stay mad at a sweet golden face! They also seem to all share the clown trait- they do the goofiest things and love to make us laugh. Rolling around on the floor, playing with a toy by themselves, or laying in a puddle….
Because they are so smart, and active- it is important that you exercise them both physically and mentally. A bored Golden is trouble! Teaching tricks, obedience commands, and general manners are all highly suggested! A golden requires more than a walk around the block and will drive you a little nutty if they don’t get a good run or a few long walks a day!
Golden Retriever are very social and love their people. They need to be an important member of your family and are happiest in the house, being spoiled. Nothing is better than the happy wag of their tail and the smile on their face. They really are an all around great dog!
From the CKC site:
ORIGIN
The most glamorous of the retriever family, the Golden was developed in the mid-19th century by a Scotsman, Sir Dudley Majoribanks, later Lord Tweedmouth. The romantic story that first unfolded concerned Sir Dudley visiting a circus and being so taken with a troupe of Russian sheepdogs that he bought them all. But when his breeding records were made public, they revealed the Golden was all sporting blood. It had been created by crossing the wavy-coated Retriever with the yellow Tweed Water Spaniel. The offspring were crossed with the Irish Setter and the sandy-coloured Bloodhound. Linebreeding finally created the Golden. It was first granted breed status in Britain in 1913. Among the most ingratiating of breeds, the Golden’s manners win friends for him wherever he’s seen.
TEMPERAMENT
As a family pet, especially with children, the breed has few equals. The Golden is noted for being friendly, reliable and trustworthy. In addition to being a gentle-mouthed retriever, the breed excels in obedience and shines as a guide dog for the seeing-impaired.
ACTIVITY LEVEL
A powerful and active dog, the Golden does well in suburban or country environments where he gets lots of outdoor exercise, but keep him well-fenced for his own protection.
COAT
The dense and water-repellent coat lies flat against the body and may be straight or wavy. It is firm and resilient. There’s moderate feathering on the back of the forelegs and heavier feathering on the front of the neck, back of thighs and underside of tail.
COLOUR
It’s golden, of course, but in various shades of gold.
GROOMING
Regular brushing is the only grooming required outside of the occasional bath.
For more information about this happy breed, or to find a breeder check out the Golden Retriever Club of Canada website

Puppy Party
March 20, 2010Are you ready? Here is your weekly puppy fix! They probably won’t be there next week and I’ll be really sad. They were so much fun to spend time with. I took them into the room I use to photograph the cats today and let them run around and have fun.

Shelter Pictures
March 19, 2010I hope you guys are getting tired of pictures of the dogs and cats at the shelter. I’m still enjoying visiting with them every week. Some weeks are emotionally harder than others. This week was a good one. It probably helps that I spent about 45 minutes hanging out with Lily’s puppies. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see those pics though. Today I’m going to grace you with some of the dogs and cats waiting for new homes or waiting to be claimed by their previous families. I believe all these dogs are still within their first 72 hours and may be reunited with their homes still.
This little pitbull girl was so cute. You just needed to playfully jab her on the side and she take off and get the zoomies.
This poor girl was petrified of the camera. I could get her to come up to me with a little coaxing and even sniff the side of the camera but the moment I pointed the lens at her, she just melted and backed away. I spent most of my time just petting her and hanging out. If she is still there next week, we’ll try again. She really is quite cute.
Today was not a good day with me and the cats. First off, I wasn’t very happy with many of my photos – lots of them were blurry. Secondly, I hadn’t been hissed at once in all my visits and today it was almost constant. This guy hissed every time I entered the room. Hence his picture of him still in his litter box! Notice how innocent he looks?
This one at least gave me the benefit of the doubt and didn’t actually hiss until I tried to pick him up. Hence his picture in the kennel.
I’m not sure if I made this guy happy or really annoyed. At one point I thought someone was running some sort of machinery outside… and then I realized it was him… growling. Yikes! But then I realized he would growl when eating the treats I had. So maybe it was a happy noise? That doesn’t explain the hiss when I reached out to pet him though! Really, it wasn’t my day to interact with cats.
As always, if you are looking at adding a furry friend to your family, be sure to check out the Lethbridge Animal Shelter!

Jolly Blue Ball
March 19, 2010There are only a few types of toys that stand up to daycare use. The Jolly Ball is one of them. The rope has long since been chewed up and thrown out- but the ball itself still provides lots of entertainment….
Matty the Vizsla cross had a great time playing with it- she prefers to try and bite it to pick it up.

A Short Video
March 18, 2010Here is a short video of the Big Dog play group on Friday.
