Monday, November 30, 2009

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

Saturday, November 28, 2009

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

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

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.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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

Monday, November 23, 2009

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

Saturday, November 21, 2009

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!

Friday, November 20, 2009

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.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

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.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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

Monday, November 16, 2009

- 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!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

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

Friday, November 13, 2009

$ 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.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

O Sadie Sue


Everyone at the fort was impressed this morning. Sadie Sue the silver/white Miniature Schnauzer had her first day and did well. Her owner explained to us that she may not make the cut. As a young dog she was socialized, played great with others. At around three years old Sadie was attacked quite brutally by a large dog and has been wary of other dogs since.

We were a bit unsure how Sadie would acclimate, if at all, but she thrived this morning. Despite the past incident she seemed to enjoy herself as more dogs arrived. It is wonderful to see a sort of rehabilitation and the calming/balancing effects the pack can sometimes have on a skittish dog. Sadie Sue is six years old, 20 pounds, very pretty and mature.

Take care,

-Grant

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Athena & Kitty Cuddle





Athena's owner Michelle sent me some great pics of Athena (a Great Dane) and her kitty, check them out!

Take it easy,

-Grant
P.S. If you have any digital pictures of your Fort Fido dog send them to me and I'll post them on the blog! grant@fortfido.com

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Kaylee & a clip


Kaylee started at the fort this morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! She is a two and a half year old, eight pound, cream colored Maltipoo. Kaylee is a perky little one and has been to doggie daycare before, she is fitting in well with the pack in the Small Roll.

I'll end with a clip of Briggs the Yellow Lab having a grand old time with Oskar the Doberman Pinscher pup.



Cheers,

-Grant

Monday, November 9, 2009

Vet Care



Just a quick reminder, routine veterinary care is easy at Fort Fido. For $10 we can take your dog next door to Fircrest Veterinary Hospital and get whatever they need done for you. Shots, fecal tests, baths and nail trims are just a few of the services they offer. You do not need to be a Fircrest Vet customer to take advantage of this service.

Cheers,

-Grant

P.S. Here is a link to an article about the ASPCA's Dog of the year, good stuff!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Dogs may be smarter than we think


A while ago I posted an article about children understanding the different tones of bark that a dog might have (angry versus happy, etc.). Well, today I found another interesting article about dogs and children. Dogs and children of about two years of age have a similar capacity for understanding social cues such as nodding, pointing, and speaking encouragingly. This was explored in a study by Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary where children and dogs played a hiding game. Children and dogs were more likely to choose a direction if it was suggested by someone (by means of pointing).

If you think about it, this says a lot more about dog's cognizance than it doesn't. A lot of things are required to understand a pointing gesture. One must understand that somebody else understands what your looking for, see that they are doing something odd with their arm and hand, realize that their gestures are meant to refer to the outside world, and extrapolate from there that they are giving direction. It is a much more complex logical process than it immediately appears.

Another note on canine intelligence: dogs can classify complex photos into groups, in the same way that people do. This study, from the University of Vienna in Austria, also has some exciting implications about just how smart our four-legged friends may be.

One last article
, from the New York Times., also takes up the topic of canine intelligence.

Enjoy the thunderstorms, and hope your power stays on.

Hope

Friday, November 6, 2009

It's Miller Time!


Miller is one of the youngest and cutest pups that we have ever had here at Fort Fido. He is a neat fawn colored Dachshund only 11 weeks old! All four and a half pounds of him started this morning and Miller thoroughly enjoyed his stay. He was a bit unsure at first but his nerves settled quickly and the play time extravaganza commenced. Right on Miller!



Have a great weekend,

-Grant

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Chase me games

Just a little clip from this morning... The young German Shepherd Hektor having some fun with Athena the Great Dane!



Cheers,

-Grant

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Baby Head (Just one of Savannah's aliases)




"Little Savanny" started at Fort Fido in 2007. She is a terribly adorable, two year old, chocolate brown, Miniature Poodle. At first she didn't know what to think about leaving her owner, I imagine it must have been something like "You are not leaving me here with these crazies!" hahaha. Little by little Savannah overcame her separation anxiety and was more comfortable in the play area and around other dogs. It took almost two months before she "Busted Out" but she did!

Now Savannah truly enjoys coming to the fort. Her main staple is "ball time", she fiends for it, we think it is all she needs to survive lol. Despite her innocent looking disposition, she is the Alpha Leader of the Small Roll, NOBODY is rude to Savanny unless they want a quick, firm, reprimand.

Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. Here are three articles I found of interest this morning. One, two, three!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Stelllaaa!!!


A Streetcar Named Desire reference for you hahaha...

Stella was welcomed to the "Small Roll" this morning! She is a super-cute, fifteen pound, long-haired dapple Dachshund... Say that ten times fast lol. Stella acclimated well while having a good time. She scurried around with the little pack a lot and we hope she sleeps good tonight!

All for now,

-Grant
P.S. Thank you to everyone who has been commenting on the blog! We really appreciate your interaction. You don't have to sign up for anything to comment so start chattin everybody! ;)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Rainier & Samba Wrestlin

Our manager Hope had an awesome and entertaining post on Halloween, do check it out (just scroll down a hair)! I just wanted to mention that for those who missed it. I'll leave you with a clip of Samba (a 1 year old Samoyed) & Rainier wrestling around this morning.

I hope everyone had a fun weekend,

-Grant