Welcome Cooper, Happy New Year!

We introduced a cheerful little chap to the Medium Roll this morning. His name is Cooper and we think he is getting quite the kick out of Fort Fido. Cooper is a seven month old, 25 pound, chocolate Australian Labradoodle. He did very well today, taking to a number of playmates. We sure hope he is tired out or at least down a notch lol. Welcome Cooper, nice job today!

Happy New Year from everyone here at the fort! Have a fun and safe night, we will be closed tomorrow 1/1/10 New Year's Day. We will be ready to rock this Saturday 1/2/10! See you next year!

-Grant
P.S. This must have been one intense situation... And here is some more Chihuahua madness!

Mom & Mr. C

I took this picture yesterday and really liked it, thought I'd show it off. It is of Nancy (my mother, one of the three owners of Fort Fido) and Cooper AKA "Mr.C" AKA "Coops" AKA "Coopy"... Haha, I could go on and on, Cooper has many nicknames.

Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. Tomorrow 12/31/09 (New Year's Eve) we will be open with normal operating hours.

Tula Two Clips

Some pups are hard to catch playing on camera, others won't get out of the shots lol. Tula is a great new dog however she hasn't established a set Fort Fido routine (and her owners are away this week). This makes her play hit and miss, a bit elusive to capture on film (due to a rocked routine). Fortunately I got some quick shots this afternoon, take a look!





Take care,

-Grant
P.S. The other pups playing with Tula are Marty Skully (Irish Terrier Mix) and Sofee (Boston Terrier Mix).

Holiday Tip

Hi everybody,

I hope all of you had a great Holiday and or day off, we sure did. Ours was filled with sweet treats and belly laughs, a good time was had by all.

For some, this week can get a little crazy with the New Year approaching (house guests, parties, loud noises, etc...). Make sure you do the best you can for your pet. Keep them on their normal routine and diet (if possible). Encourage family and friends that interact with your dog to do the same. We don't want Uncle Fred feeding Fido a bunch of ham rinds under the table hahaha. Anxiety and too many treats can be a killer combo for your dog around the Holidays.

Take it easy,

-Grant
P.S. Here are a couple of articles, 1 & 2.

Least fun ball...ever!

I decided today to try out the herding ball with the dogs. The general idea of the ball is this-- it's too large to be picked up and tossed about, but a dog can push it around and "herd" it. This can be a great toy for a dog belonging to a herding breed, which also possesses a strong herding instinct. Sadly, the guys here today were most interested when it was moving on its own and weren't up to pushing it themselves, so we went back to playing regular fetch with a more normal sized ball.



You can check out a clip of a dog herding his plastic sheep here.

--Hope

PS- Next week we will be closed on Friday-New year's Day. We are open normal hours (7-7) on New year's Eve, and normal hours on the second of January (8-6). Hope to see you guys there. Or, I suppose, here!

Merry Christmas

From everyone here at Fort Fido Doggie Daycare, have a very merry Christmas! Thank you for your support and kindness, it is much appreciated.

-David, Nancy, Grant, Hope, Gary, Taylor and Tim

P.S. Just a reminder we will be closed tomorrow, Christmas Day, 12-25-09.

3 x clips

Today we feature three video clips.

One is of the Little Roll during Ball Time.


Another clip is of Oskar the Miniature Schnauzer in a tug-of-war with Emma the Australian Terrier.


Last but not least we have Cooper the Beagle mix romping with Cody the Maltese / Havanese mix.


Enjoy,

-Grant

Cooking with Dog!

My fiance JM and I really enjoy cooking. Well, I mostly do eating but anywho lol... One of the things we truly enjoy is going on www.youtube.com and learning new recipes. We like food from all over the world but at the top of our list is Janpanese cuisine! In our search for new dishes, we stumbled upon the "Cooking with Dog Channel". The gal that makes the food is first rate and her dishes are out of this world! Francis, the host (a grey Miniature Poodle), is funny, super-cute and well trained. Check out the show here, and try making something.

Cheers,

-Grant

quick post

Just a quick post today. I wanted to point out a couple of entertaining articles that I found...

Here and here.

Cheers,

-Grant

A post-script from Hope: Here's a quick video of some of today's action from the Fort.Wrigley started busting out with the moves in the hopes of impressing Bella the boxer.

Dog Training at Fort Fido!

Don't forget that we have training classes and seminars here at the Fort! The next training class will be held from January 19th to February 4th Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:15 to 8:15. Trainer Garrett Stevens also has a 'Balanced and Calm' seminar; the last one was a big success, and the time of the next will be announced soon. You don't have to be bringing your dog to daycare in order to take advantage of the training classes, so tell your friends!

If you have specific concerns, Garrett also does private training. Feel free to contact Garrett with quuestion at (253)653-4890

For those of you who are (or are looking to be) more internet saavy-- Cesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer) has a channel on youtube, where you can watch clips from his show. Here's a clip about Cesar's "house rules."

Have a Happy Holiday Season!

Hope

Welcome Benson and more xmas photos!

We welcomed Benson to Fort Fido this morning. He is a three moth old, couple of pound, Shorkie! He had a terrific time playing upstairs in the Little Roll and boy was he cute. His owners are taking the right steps to keep him on track and make a therapy dog out of him someday. Way to go!

Two more lovely Christmas photos came in this week. One of them is Gracie Anne, a black Miniature Poodle, lounging with Father Christmas. The other photo is of the o-so-popular Rainier sitting with Santy in University Place. Thank you for the pictures.

Have a nice weekend,

-Grant

~ Lulu ~

It was a breath of fresh air to meet a young puppy dog as balanced and calm as Lulu was this morning. Her owner's research, hard work and leadership really show through. Lulu displayed great confidence and self-esteem on her first day at the fort this morning. At seven months old, she has already met 100 people and 65 dogs! Early socialization like that can be very beneficial. Lulu is a 43 pound, English Cream colored Golden Retriever. She fits in nicely with the Medium Roll. We commend her owner for doing things right!

Take care,

-Grant
P.S. Some more fascinating articles... 1, 2, 3.

Satchmo on the hunt!

Satchmo is a beautiful English Setter that has been coming to the fort since July. He is four years old and about 50 pounds. One of his many nick names is "Satchy" or "Scratchy". His owners often call him Satchmo P. Coltrane... I'm sure most of you will get the Jazz references (Louis Armstrong & John Coltrane), too funny! Yesterday, Satchy's owners shared some amazing photos with us and allowed us to scan a few for our blog. Here is Satchmo on the hunt (click on photo to enlarge), he does a great job scoring those Pheasants, him and Rick make a good team. In the bottom photo, although hard to see, I've circled Satchmo "on point" in the field. Thank you Rick and Tracy for sharing these awesome shots!

Cheers,

-Grant

Jazzercise

Haha ok, not that kind but here is a great clip of Jazz the Standard Poodle busting some moves with Brock the mix and Samba the Samoyed.



Rainer's dad Colin sent me a link to a hilarious Mambo Dog, you better take a look here.

Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. A few good articles are found here and here today.

Scot on top

Hope (our manager) had another wonderful post on Saturday (as usual) check it out!

In other news, Sadie the Scottish Terrier won Best in Show at the AKC dog show. Take a look here. If only Kumpi could be the main sponsor of that event...

All for now, take care,

-Grant

Man's (and Woman's!) Best Friend

I just stumbled across this interesting article, which says that scientists have decided that dogs really do earn the moniker "man's best friend." Dogs and cats were compared in many categories, and after the chips were down, dogs won by a whisker. :-)

Speaking of dogs, here's a peek at what was happening in the Fort today! Miller was once again buddied up with Bruiser, and they both really enjoyed it.

Lila found a friend in Cooper, and whether it was running wild or relaxing on the floor, they spent a lot of time together. I think they might be starting to get a little flirty! Lol-- it's all in good fun!


Have a good weekend!

Hope

PS--Don't forget that we're open on both Christmas' Eve and the Saturday following Christmas!

Yeah! Christmas pictures!

We collect "Santa & Pup" pictures every Christmas here at Fort Fido and display them in the lobby. If you have a Christmas photo of your pet please bring it in, we'd love it!

So far we have Candy (a Cockapoo) visiting Mr. Kringle at two different locations, Cleo (a Ridgeback mix) with Santa (her owner said Santa was choking her lol) and Lila (Border Collie Mix) hanging out with Jolly Old St. Nick. Enjoy, take care,

-Grant
P.S. I gotta mention that Benny boy has just turned one year old today. He is a good lookin golden Happy Birthday Benny!

- The Tula Hula -

Tula is a 40 pound, one and a half year old, Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog)/Lab mix. She had her first Fort Fido day this morning. Tula is the quintessential "Medium Roller" fitting in seamlessly with the pack. Many in the Medium Roll are her size, play style and energy level. Tula is a gorgeous little gal, she has a black head and body with little variegated "leopard legs" lol. So a big welcome to Tula, I hope she continues to enjoy herself here. Tula's owner's Aunt brings her pup to Fort Fido as well, her dog is Maggie. Maggie is a energy-filled little Shih-Tzu who is very sweet and loves playing upstairs in the little roll.

Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. Wow, this is the definitive Luck Dog!

Brrr!

Wow! We have all noticed the temperature drop this week, boy is it chilly! Luckily we can stay nice and toasty here at Fort Fido. We strive to keep our canine pals comfortable no matter what the weather brings. Our warehouse has an ample heating system that allows us to keep all three play areas as warm as we'd like. Our rubber flooring helps insulate dogs feet from the super-cool cement floor.

Please be careful coming in and out of the fort with your pet. It can get rather slippery in the parking lot with the various elements. We are applying deicer in the bad spots but everyone still needs to be cautious.

This morning I was on the hunt for a good article about dog care during winter weather. Here is the one I was partial to, most of it is common sense however it's great to freshen up on that every now and then. :)

Stay warm, drive safe, and watch out for the white stuff this weekend,

-Grant

Funny

Last Friday I posted a little writeup on Faramir. His owner Dori shot me over a hilarious email. I thought that I'd share an excerpt of it with y'all:

Now, Lord Faramir, on the other hand, was very upset as I read it to him, as he has a very feminine side that is quite sensitive about the fact that you mentioned his weight. Also, he was not previously aware (we've kept it from him all these years) that he was some kind of celebrity, used on the website, etc. I just caught him pawing at the phone trying to call an attorney so that he can sue for defamation (the weight issue) and residuals (modeling fees, etc.). I'll try my best to reason with him, but you know how single-minded he is. This could easily end up costing you about 175,000 bi$cuits!

Hahaha, good stuff! Cheers,

-Grant

Bijou

This morning we welcomed Bijou to Fort Fido. He is a studly, red Australian Cattle Dog that is three years old. Bijou was a little nervous and has had a rough couple of months. His owner just passed (our condolences) and he is still settling into his new home... Now he has to figure daycare out, what a transition! We are giving him lots of space and positive vibes. We know for a fact he plays, so hopefully he will overcome his separation anxiety and bust a move here at the fort. His new owners definitely know a thing or two about dogs. They have been bringing their three Chihuahuas; Lulu, Oreo and Sydney to the fort for quite some time. Fun, talk about a houseful!

Take care,

-Grant
P.S. In other news, I found these two articles (1, 2) to be a bit of a bummer.... The sled dog scene sure is fascinating, talk about some hardcore individuals!

Ball time- featuring Cooper!

There weren't too many of the small guys today, so ball time came downstairs and Cooper, a Shih Tzu who has been faithfully attending the Fort every weekday since September of 2006, was given a run for his money by the larger dogs. He's pretty spry for a nine year old dog!

Cooper is kind of the "King of the Hill" here at the Fort. He gets the special privilege of coming out of the play areas. When he first started, Cooper had severe separation anxiety. We're not certain if we could handle another case of his magnitude! But Cooper has worked out quite well with us. He's perfectly at home in any of the play areas, and will sometimes follow us in-- even into the big-dog area! I'm not certain who is more confused about who runs the Fort: Cooper or us.


Abbey and Ruby had the medium side to themselves for a bit this morning, and they decided to make the most of it and have a wild romp.


Enjoy your weekend!
-Hope
And Happy Holidays from Cooper!

Faramir

Faramir was Fort Fido's very first customer. He has been with us two days a week from the start and we absolutely love him! Faramir is a Cairn Terrier and unlike Toto, he is large for his breed (taller than most & about 22 pounds) and Wheaten in color. His name comes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy (books and films). "Wubbie" is Faramir's nick name and we use many variations of it. He is quite photogenic, appearing in various Fort Fido media (website version 1 & 2, marketing photos, etc...).

One of Wubbie's most memorable capers is the day he decided to run into the office. Rather than leap into the medium play area, wubbs did a one-eighty and hightailed it down the hall to the office. Once inside, he managed to get up onto a chair and snag a roll of Fig Newtons! He proceeded to sprint back to the play area with the "fruit and cake" in tow, classic lol!

A special thanks goes out to Farmair's owners Dori and Mo for being such wonderful customers and supporting our business for so long, thank you, it is much appreciated!

Have a great weekend everyone,

-Grant

Bella battle

I like this little clip I captured this morning, it's what Doggie Daycare is all about (the dogs playing hard and having fun). It's Bella the little white Boxer (She takes on all comers!) fending off Osbourne the Chocolate Lab and Benny the Golden Retriever, all in good fun of course.

Enjoy,

-Grant
P.S. Also found many dog articles of interest this morning (click the numbers)... 1, 2, 3, 4.

Just a few pics...

We are busy bees today... Just a few swell pics.

Take care,

-Grant

Business of the month & a Louis pic

Louis's owners sent us in some wonderful photos, thanks guys! Here is our favorite.

In other news, we are the Business of the month at Key Bank (The branch off of Mildred Street, near Fircrest) which is pretty cool. We have a little display setup in the bank that highlights our business, thought I'd share a picture of it with you all. Dad (David) did a great job on it, it will be up through December. Happy Holidays early!

Cheers,

-Grant

We are back!

Hi there, I hope everyone had a great break and Holiday, we sure did. Now we are back in action and ready to rock!

Seamus is a Cocker Spaniel / Bichon Frise that has been coming to Fort Fido since we first opened. We call him the "Little Lamb" cause he is so darn cute, like a little lamb lol. He is almost 4 years old, around 15 pounds and is a light apricot color. Seamus loves coming to the fort and runs up to the little roll faster than any other pup. He is quite agile and athletic, jumping super high for his size. His owner Mary sent me a link to this great video, check it out, it got me in the Xmas spirit with a good chuckle. Thanks Mary!

Take care,

-Grant

Santa pictures!

I have been asked a couple of times now where you can get a picture of Santa with your pets, so I decided to research a few locations and list them for you guys here.
Santa will be coming to the University Place City Hall on December 12th from 10am to 2pm to participate in a fundraiser for SUNDogs off-leash park at Chambers Creek. The cost for a picture is only $10, and all proceeds are going to the off leash park at Chambers Creek. you can check out their website here.

There are also several Petco locations offering pictures with Santa. many Petco stores will have a Santa there for pictures with pets on December 5th and 12th. The Gig Harbor, Tacoma, and Lakewood locations are all having a Santa come visit to take pictures with your pets between 11am and 4pm.

If you're interested in the many non-pet Santas which will be visiting us over the next month, The Seattle Times has a good list.

In Fort related news, Lila is back from her spay, and with just as much spunk as ever! She was more than ready to hang with the big boys and give everyone a run for their money. I'll finish off with a movie of today's excitement! After being home for two days straight, they were all ready to tear it up!




Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!
--Hope

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please remember that we are closed tomorrow (Thanksgiving Thursday 11/26/09) and Friday (11/27/09). We are open for business Saturday (11/28/09).

Sunday December 6th we will be featuring a "Balanced & Calm" seminar with Garrett Stevens here at Fort Fido. It is from 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM, the cost is $50 and all dogs are welcome to attend. Contact Garrett @ (253) 653-4890 for more information.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all from everyone here at Fort Fido! We are extremely thankful for all of our wonderful customers and our doggie friends. Thanks for your support :)

-Grant
P.S. I'll leave you with another scary animal attack article found here and a cute video of are pal Seamus going down the slide.

Welcome Jac & a Kangaroo attacks!

Jac the Silky Terrier came to the fort yesterday morning for his first Doggie Daycare day. He fit in nicley, was calm and is quite the looker.

Wow, I'm glad I'm not Rocky the Australian Cattle Dog today... Check out this article to see why lol.

Bye for now,

-Grant

Behind the Scenes — Meet Gary Kanz Jr.

Gary has been working at Fort Fido for almost two years now and has long since proven himself to be a valuable addition to the Fort. Gary’s quiet confidence has a calming effect on the pack and we sometimes call him “The Dog Whisperer” and love it when he works his magic on an unruly day.

Gary’s other skills have also come in handy for us, namely his skill with computers. His assistance in the office is much appreciated. Gary even has (at 17!) his own web design business on the side. You can check it out at www.garyswebdesign.com.

Before Gary came to work for us, his sister Megan was employed here. When she left to pursue her passion for training horses, she suggested that we hire her younger brother, a then 16-year-old Gary, to replace her. Since then, Gary has been doing a stellar job here. Fortunately, he and Megan have three more younger siblings, so we might have a few more years of Kanz’s up and coming.

-David

Another welcome!

Well, a couple of welcomes, actually. First, we would like to welcome Sienna, a 2 year old chocolate lab who just had her assessment today. She tore it up with a chocolate named Kodiak, so I guess the saying is true that "birds of a feather travel together."

We would also like to welcome back a black lab named Sarah, who has been out sick for the past week. She was chomping at the bit to come back to day care, and fell right back into it, enjoying the company of the other labs here today. Here's a movie of all three girls having a good time, and a little bit of the back of Bubba's head!

Speaking of Bubba, today was his birthday! He is now three years old. Hope that he doesn't party too hard tonight!

Down under...

Jersey Boy's big sister started this morning and her name is Sydney. She is a good looking, four year old, 54 pound, Australian Shepard / Golden Retriever mix. Like Jersey, she has taken well to the Medium Roll and we think she is having a good time playing doggie. Welcome Sydney!

Everyone, have a great weekend.

-Grant
P.S. I was loving this today, R.I.P. ! However they did forget to mention "Eddie" from Frasier, he was too cool.

Lupine

Today I wanted to do a quick plug for Lupine collars and leads. We here at Fort Fido carry almost their entire selection. Many of our customers really enjoy Lupine's product line. The top sellers are the patterned leads/collars. Lupine comes out with a fun new pattern every month and they have a size to fit just about every pet. They also carry a few solid colors. The best part about Lupine gear is that it is guaranteed even if chewed, that's right, even if chewed! You can bring in an old ripped up collar and replace it with a new one of the same size no questions asked lol. What a great product and company... Take a gander at 'em and spice up your pet's winter wardrobe.

Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. If you want a cute little Lupine key chain ask anyone up front and they'll give you one for free.

Cody & Lonnie

Cody is a Maltese / Havanese mix. He is around twelve pounds and will be having his first birthday soon. Iolani or "Lonnie" is a 4 year old, twelve pound, Bichon Frise / Miniature Poodle mix. They are both great little lads who really enjoy life. Boy are these two getting their kicks in this clip! Enjoy,

-Grant

Mamma mia it's Marlo & Mia!

We had two fun loving Pugs start this morning, Marlo & Mia. They are both female, four and five years old and about 25 pounds a piece. Marlo & Mia are sisters but not litter mates, they have the same mother. We started them in the Medium Roll and they did fine... This isn't their first day at the rodeo, as we like to say lol. Marlo & Mia were chock full of spunkiness, both enjoyed frolicking around, even acting as mini Hall Monitors for a few of the rowdy youngsters. They will be a great addition to the medium pack.

Cheers,

-Grant

- New Jersey Boy -

Jersey Boy began his assessment this morning. He did wonderful and had a fun time. Jersey is a one year old, 55 pound, German Wirehaired Pointer mix. He looks an awful lot like David & Nancy's dog Griffon who is supposed to be a mix of a very similar breed, the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.



Remember the world's tallest dog battle I mentioned here in October? Well apparently neither of those two dogs have been crowned The World's Tallest. Guinness named "Titan" the worlds tallest dog last week and there is already a dispute, check out the article. Crazy! Good luck to both of them.

Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. If you haven't already, make sure to check out Hope's Saturday Post!

Girls Gone Wild!

This morning at the fort it was all about the girls (except for Taylor, of course!). Maggie, Kodiak, and Sarah were all showing us how they don't need any boys to tear it up!


Alas, the boy-free day could not last. Miller and Bruiser were the first pair of boys to arrive, but the two of them were whisked off upstairs where Miller showed us his fearlessness. Miller, though just a little puppy dachshund, wasn't at all intimidated by Bruiser and gave the much older dog tit-for-tat. Watch him chomp fearlessly at Bruiser!

Of course, there were some other boys and girls here today as well. Enough to bring our total to eight dogs! I hope you all remember that we are open on Saturdays-- it could even be part of your regular schedule! More dogs=more fun and play!

Enjoy your weekend!
Hope

$ Cashman! $

Cash is an almost three year old, 80 pound, Golden Retriever who has been coming to Fort Fido for about 2 years. He just so happens to be one of the best looking Golden Retrievers we've ever seen! His coat is a less common blond/cream color, it is extremely soft, hell, it's luxurious lol. Cash's luscious locks don't happen by accident. His owners put in a lot of hard work bathing and brushing him. The work must be done in order to keep him handsome and the house clean. Although Cashman can sow some wild oats at times, we here at the fort really like him and appreciate his extra cleanliness!

Have a great weekend,

-Grant
P.S. I found an excellent article here this morning which reminded me... Happy Belated Veteran's Day! Thank you to all who have served.