Puppies at Play

This is what a puppy Play Group looks like!  All of these pups are less than a year old and full of energy! Marlo and Marley are in front, Henry is in the middle, and Mookie is in back.

These pups started Play Groups at about six months old, which makes them a joy to behold!  Marlo started just days after she was adopted.  All of them are perfect Play Group dogs.  Not a hint of aggression or dominance in this group! It's just never ending fun for all of them!

This is Henry, a baby Vizsla who loves everyone.  Henry is also great on trail walks, where he can go off-leash with the big guys!

This is Murray, Mookie, and Marley.  Murray and Mookie are Wheaten Terriers and the two of them are the very best of friends.  There is something magical about watching dogs become besties!

Here's a close-up of Marley.  Marley is an Australian Labradoodle who just turned one-years-old this week.  Don't you love those eyes?

Everyone is very interested in Henry's bone.  He won't be sharing, though!

Mookie is the baby of the bunch at six months old.  Murray (below) looked just like this when we first got him.  Now the two of them are inseparable!

Here ia Murray with his grown up haircut.  Murray is an absolute love.  I think he and Mookie have bonded because they are the same breed and have similar play styles.  Murray is alo great on Trail Walks.  He is off-leash with the best of them!

Marlo is just a baby, but she's the best little dog!  She plays well with everyone, but she loves being with the puppies most of all!

Henry and Marlo bounding around.  Don't I have the best job in the world?

Lucy Playing with Prey!

This lovely young lady is Lucy, a hound mix that has been coming to Frisky Fido for about nine months now.

Yesterday Lucy had a spectacular time with this old squeaky dragon toy.

For Lucy, this is not a dragon toy, but her "prey".  For Lucy, as for all dogs, playing is more than fun. Playing is practice for living, and killing prey is deeply ingrained in Lucy's genes.

She is shaking the toy so vigorously that it cannot be caught on camera, even with a fast lens.  But what she is really doing is shaking her prey in order to snap it's neck, a method of killing that works quite well for dogs and other canines.

But dogs are not wild animals.  They are a big part of our lives, and they need to live in harmony with us.  They need to obey our rules in order for all of us to remain safe.  Lucy's genes are telling her to hang on to her "kill", but I'm telling her to drop it.  If another dog tried to take her toy, she'd growl and maybe even snap to let the other dog know she ain't sharing.  Lucy knows the command "Drop It", but she really doesn't want to.  She is almost - but not quite - growling at me!

 Would you know what to do in this situation?  Would your kids know how to react?  I hope so.  In this case it took oly a few seconds before the toy was in the trash and Lucy was giving me kisses. She is learning to be a great dog, and she is learning fast.  But there are two sides to every coin, and two entities in every relationship. We need to learn to speak a little dog language in order to make both our lives better and safer.

Good Friends: Penny and Auggie!

Penny is the gorgeous girl in the foreground of this photo.  She and Auggie, the stunning Samoyed, are very good friends.  Here they are playing one of Frisky Fido's favorite summer games, Bobbing For Toys.

The object of the game is to remove the toys from the tub of water, and both Auggie and Penny are great players.  Each of them has a different technique.  Auggie uses his paws to move the toys to the edge before grabbing them, while Penny just dives right in.  It's so funny to watch.

Penny and Auggie both attend Play Groups five days a week - and they LOVE it!  Penny was very shy when she first came, but not anymore.   She is friendly with all the pups, and she is crazy happy every day!

Auggie was ready to leave after about 1/2 hour on his first day, but now he can't wait to get into the car for Play Group.  Just look at that happy boy!

Is it any wonder I love my job?  Who wouldn't love playing with dogs like Penny and Auggie?

Noodles has Fun in the Snow!

There is no doubt that Noodles loves to play in the snow!

But it's the way she plays in the snow that's amazing!  Look at that snowy little dog!

She buries her whole head in the snow,

She rolls around in the snow crazily,

She makes an extreme effort to ensure her face is thoroughly covered in snow.

Why does she do this?  I don't know - and neither does Lexi, who is trying to help Noodles clean herself up!

Socrates is equally baffled!  He doesn't seem to know if that is Noodles or not!

Luna's Toy

This was Luna's absolutely favorite toy!

She loved it so much that I called Luna's Toy.

It squeaked, it had a handy carrying rope, it could be a great tug-of-war toy - except she didn't care to share it with anyone!

It was much more fun to play with it by herself!

Not that other dogs weren't interested in the toy.  Penny Dear wanted to play with it very much.

But Luna wasn't having any of THAT!

Even Socrates didn't have a prayer of playing with Luna's toy.  Unfortunately, Luna finally managed to break the rope, and the toy had to be retired forever. But not to worry . . . they'll be a new version for Luna to enjoy very soon!

Fun with Sticks!

You don't need much in the way of supplies to keep your dog healthy, happy, and having fun.  Even on a day when the wind chill was 10 degrees below zero, all it takes is a few sticks!

One dog grabs a stick, and the rest will follow.  In this case, Socrates is in the lead with Lexi, Penny Dear, and Penny Two close behind.

This is typical Play Group fun.

If you can't play with the sticks, you can always play with each other!  Lexi and Penny Two are play fighting over nothing at all!

There is a lot of shared stick action in this game.  Lexi wants to take her brother's stick . . .

But Luna wants it, too!

In the end, Lexi gets a piece of the stick and Luna gets nothing at all.  But don't worry, she'll find another one all of her own!

Pure Joy!

Something special happens whenever Socrates and Penny get together.  Penny is just a pup, and Socrates becomes a pup again when he's with her!

Heres a close-up of Penny that shows her regal. Anubis-like features.  This is a gorgeous dog!

A close-up of Socrates wearing a big grin because he's playing with Penny!

It is Socrates job to engage the other dogs dogs and keep the energy level way up.  When he's playing with Penny, though, the job is just a game!  Bradley wants to join in on the fun, and its his first day!

We don't have toys around when Penny is here, because she eats them.  But they improvise.  Sticks are always great fun to play with.  Penny looks like she's saying, "Oh No You Don't!  That stick is MINE!"

It's hard to see in the photo, but Penny and Socrates both have the same stick clamped in their mouths.

When the stick breaks, Penny usually chomps up her half and then goes after Socrates piece!

They race around after the same stick for 20 minutes or more!  What fun for these two happy dogs!