Friday 2 December 2011

December already!

I can't believe its almost two months since I last posted! The time has flown in and I've been very pleasantly surprised that business hasn't dropped off as autumn (and winter!) arrived - rather the opposite in fact. Most of our business now is by recommendation which is great - I'm delighted that my clients  (human and canine) are so pleased with what we do.
We've had lots of new friends joining us while the originals appear to be "in with the bricks"!! Willow has been back for another visit and again made herself at home. When her mum and dad came to pick her up, she was absolutely filthy but at least it proves she wasn't shut away in a kennel all day! I always tell people at the first consultation visit not to expect their dog to go back to them clean. I don't want to waste time cleaning them up when we could be having fun instead. Luckily all my owners are very good about that - even Holly, mum of Maisy the gold coloured cockapoo doesn't complain too much when she sees the state of her at home time! Maisy now treats bath time as an extension of the fun and leads Holly a merry dance!
Millie and Molly, the Cocker Spaniels,  are back for a week while mum and dad jet off to the sun. We have
Milly and Holly, the black labradors, come every week for a play day and go home tired out - can hardly keep their eyes open. Moss and Blue a yellow lab and a black lab, come every week to use up their excess energy.These four love it when Hector the Labradoodle is here and the feeling is mutual - they have great fun together. Its lovely to see all the dogs socialise and make new friends - its how its meant to be in my opinion.
Another new addition is Harley the Cocker Spaniel puppy who has settled in really well and loves to play with the other dogs. A knock on effect of him being with us is that he goes home and teaches Murphy his much older "brother" how to be sociable, something up until now, Murphy wasn't sure about!"
Bailey, a young Springer Spaniel comes to visit and also comes to our training on a Sunday morning - he has come on in leaps and bounds. All credit to Dale the trainer and to Bailey's mum and dad for following through and working hard with him in between. Bailey has a new "sister" a chocolate Lab by the name of Gracie so she will be joining us once she's had her vaccinations.
Daisy, the Westie is a regular visitor now - she is such a character and keeps up with the bigger dogs no problem - definitely gives them a run for their money!
Jaro, the German Shepherd "puppy" appears to grow overnight - he is getting so big, but because he has been with the other dogs since he was a baby, he is so well socialised and plays with them very nicely even though some of them are just the size of his head!
We still have Maisy and Summer every day and again because they have been with us since they were weeks old, they are so sociable when being introduced to the "newbies". They don't know how to behave any other way and soon have even the shiest of dogs playing happily with them! They make my work easy!
Bella the Beagle is here at least twice a week and Scarlet is still with us on a regular basis. Scooby is also here regularly and still makes full use of the pool despite the weather. He was here for a few weeks while his mum and dad were in the States on holiday - they then sprung the surprise when they came back that they had got married in Vegas!
We have many other dogs come and stay with us - too numerous to mention - but all settle in really well and seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves during their stay. Many of them have been back quite a few times since their first visit and always remember us from previous visits. We pack so much into the day, its no wonder they remember us - hopefully in a positive way!
I'm already taking bookings for home boarding into May next year so it looks like next year is going to be as frantic as this year but it is SO MUCH FUN!!