The Norwegian Elkhounds

What a neat breed!


Meet Ranger & Scandi. Ranger is a five year old, seventy-eight pound, good looking Norwegian Elkhound that stayed in our Big Roll. Scandi, Ranger's brother, is a three year old, ninety-five pound, handsome Norwegian Elkhound who ventured into our Medium Roll.


Both Ranger and Scandi did very well today at The Fort, definitely passing their assessments. Each dog communicated rather adeptly with the other pack members and enjoyed their stay. Brother Scandi was a bit more interested in play than Ranger. Even though rowdy-play wasn't on his agenda, Ranger blended in with the pack seamlessly.


Ranger and Scandi are best buddies with Fort Fido regular Barkley, they play outside of here often. The Elkhounds have taught Barkley much of his "Dog Speak" and have honed his "Pack Skills". This has been quite beneficial for Barkley's development as a "Dog's Dog", he can run with the best of them and isn't your typical Miniature Poodle lol.


First rate job today boys, we'll see ya next week!


Cheers!


-Grant

Spittin' bout da Spitz

Haha, what a tittle, sounds like some type of rap album. Bone thugs, "Dawg" related lol, definitely not canine related but the next image is:

What exactly is this group of Spitz-types doing? Run you little hedgehogish fella! Gary has one of those haha...

Mollie, one of The Fort's many Spitz pups.

My mom, Nancy, was researching Spitz Breeds (some of her favorites) over the weekend and I learned many things from her about them. I had no idea there were so many breeds that fell into this category. We have a number of Spitz-types at Fort Fido including; Huskies, Malamutes, American Eskimos, Akitas, Samoyeds, Pomeranians and Basenjis, just to name a few. The defining characteristics of the canines in this group are, a very fox or wolf-like appearance, with pointy ears and tails that curl up onto the back.

Now, to the best part of Nancy's research. After thumbing through our dog books and visiting numerous websites, she stumbled upon this day-making gem.

Performing Japanese Spitz



Wow! This had me cracking up... If only I could find a half-dozen more American Eskimos... Got a good start with Buddy and Mollie hahaha!

Take it easy,

-Grant

A Boston Bash

Our Boston Terriers met today and it went magnificently. New Boston gal Lucy tried out the Medium Roll with Bogie and Sofee. Lucy did awesome with the medium pack and had one heck of a hoopla. This is probably where she'll stay for now. Lucy gets much more out of Dog Daycare this way. Here are two clips showing just a bit of the Terrier action. Please excuse Mini Poodle Oliver, he had a quick mounting session before I could say anything hahaha.





Have a great day, enjoy that sun.

-Grant

A few good tails

Here are a few cool sites to give you your doggie fix!

This is a great photo gallery of the Westminster Dog Show, click through to see some really cool and unique breeds that competed.

A dog found shot in San Diego is now on the mend, and looking for a new home.

In Texas, juvenile offenders are being given an opportunity to work training an adoptable dog. This is similar to the Prison Pet Partnership at the Purdy prison here. These programs provide people with skills and greatly reduce recidivism.

I remember mentioning cadaver dogs in my post last week, and saw another article about these hardworking canines today. A former shelter dog is now fighting crime as a cadaver dog in New York.

This one is kind of funny-- dog gives away burglary suspect.

Hope that everyone is having a great (snow-free!) weekend,

-Hope

Whoa, Friday already?

(This dog reminds me of Mama Cleo lol. Now, no, don't give your dogs beer! Unless it's this beer, of course, of course. That reminds me, I found this and thought it was very cool... And this. Funny!)

Being in the spirit of Friday, here's a joke for ya.

A three-legged dog walks into a rough looking saloon.

He approaches the Bartender and says,

"I'm looking for the man that shot my paw!".

Hahaha! :) Love that one.

Anyway, it's been a good week. I'll cap it off with some articles.

Dog reunited with family after 300-mile journey (Wow, these stories are always something.)

Legendary film dogs, from Asta to Rin Tin Tin (Toto is my favorite!)

Sausage dog rescued from pipe using digger (Thank goodness.)

Warm, wet winter = woes for dog owners... (I'm quite glad we don't have that problem here. ;)


Enjoy the weekend,

-Grant

4 Clips

Roll 'em!

From the Big Roll, new big guy Gus is doing mighty fine and he's still best buds with Mr. Zodiac.



Terrier Mix Martin Scully is back in action. He tore it up with a number of dogs today, way to go!



In the Medium Roll, it was the usual wild and wooly romping that we are accustomed to. :)



Brothers Dwayne and Tucker had a little reunion upstairs amidst the fun.



Take care,

-Grant

Sleepy Dog Compilation

Last week, Jasmine's mom (I suppose owner is the proper term lol) told me about a really funny YouTube video featuring a Boxer that doesn't want to get up in the morning. Thanks for telling me about that, it's hilarious! After that clip, I found a few others that had me chuckling. Here ya go, enjoy!













Take it easy out there today, watch out for those blustery winds.

-Grant
P.S. Fort Fido Doggie Daycare does not advocate having your dog sleep in your bed or sleeping-in in general... Wake 'em up early and bring them into The Fort for their cardio instead hahaha. ;)

Lively Lucy

Meet Lucy! She is an eleven month old, twenty-one pound, Boston Terrier that had her assessment this morning. We had Lucy try out our Little Roll and she took to it rather well. Lucy met the other dogs with a playful spirit. As more dogs arrived upstairs, she became even more eager to interact. Lucy ran hard while playing ball and frolicking with the others. We believe her "Dog Speak" skills will only improve as she continues to make friends at The Fort. Outstanding job today Lucy, we will see you back at Fort Fido in no time. Now, here are two super clips of Lucy socializing this morning.





Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. You must checkout this link! It is about a Microsoft developer that has created a robot capable of playing with his dog, well done! Although I sure hope it doesn't take us out of business. ;) He'd need a pack of robots lol.

A President's Day

(I found this picture and info. today, thought it was pretty cool. Click on it to enlarge.)

It's kinda slow in here today, due to the Holiday and all but it makes for a nice Monday lol. There was still lots of doggy fun to be had because we got to mix and match some of our pack. I'd say Buddy and Koji had the most fun being able to be downstairs in the Medium Roll. It's fun to allow the dogs that are into it to "Run with the Big Dogs". :)

Here's to a good day!

-Grant
P.S. Got a swell clip of Mr. Koji finding a bit of romance with the ever-so-popular Pupcake.

Hanging with the Pack

Today there were a lot of dogs getting in on the action! In this clip you can see Gordon, Sam, Winston, Zeus, Emily, Lila, and Blue all romping around.



Here are some articles about man's best friend in the news!

A Florida man is being charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty after 77 animals (43 dogs, 16 goats, 16 hogs, and two piglets) were all found in his home. Hopefully this news coverage will help these animals to find loving homes.

The Westminster Dog Show is going to be changing advertisers, from Pedigree to Purina.

Cadaver dogs play a unique role in crime investigation.

In Rio de Janeiro, Carnival 'goes to the dogs' with a large pet friendly celebration.

Here are some really adorable photos of dogs underwater. Some of them are really intense about retrieving their tennis ball!

After a man sacrifices himself to save his dog, his best friends are able to find a loving home.

I'll see you all next week--

Hope

Terrific Tucker

Meet Tucker, what a stud-muffin lol! He is an eleven month old, sixteen pound, Poodle-Yorkie-Shih Tzu Mix that assessed this morning. Tucker thought he was headed to the gym this morning to see his brother Dwayne, who recently started attending. However, when the car turned into the Fort Fido parking lot, tucker knew something new was up. He ventured into our Little Roll and keenly observed his new surroundings. Tucker was an absolute delight, although not as outgoing with the pack as his brother Dwayne. His owner is hoping to expand his horizons by bringing him to The Fort. We believe that in time, Tucker will begin to bust out and truly benefit from Dog Daycare. It will be awesome when Tucker meets his brother Dwayne upstairs this coming Thursday! That outta definitely get him even more interested in play.

Have a great weekend,

-Grant
P.S. Theses brothers, Tucker & Dwayne... Don't they have a cool look? Akin to Tom Selleck no? Hahaha! Thanks to Dwayne's mom for pointing that out to me.

Several Clips

Starting off with one of Jasmine, Macs and Zeus rough housing in the Medium Roll...



And another one from the wild and wooly Medium Roll.



Here is a shot of today's Big Roll from the stairs lol, twas a nice vantage point.



I followed Gherie up to the Little Roll today, it ended up being pretty cute although we need a new camera... Been saying that for awhile now. It'll happen, gotta break this one more first.





Jaeger put an end to this last great clip we had going haha, we have to edit out certain things. ;)



Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. YouTube has been funky today, some clips, or at least the last one, might not load, sorry. It's not my fault I swear!

Goose and Morgan

Goose and Morgan were in for their assessments today.

Goose is an eight year old, sixty-five pound, blonde colored, Alaskan Husky that hung out in our Big Roll. Goose is a beautiful buxom blonde with a very sweet and tolerant personality. She didn't mind being with the pack but did not engage too much. Goose is welcome back to The Fort and we hope she will begin to interact more with the others in time.

Morgan Marie is a ten month old, thirty pound, black and tan, Belgian Malinois that did her thing in our Medium Roll. She has attended one of our training classes in the past. Morgan came into the lobby this morning raring to go, full of life and energy. In the play area, she became unsure and acted a bit shy around the other dogs. We would love to see Morgan's confidence level increase. She is welcome back, only time will tell how she develops.

Both Goose and Morgan Marie are neat dogs from the same family. They are also two fun breeds that you just don't see everyday.

Take it easy,

-Grant

Happy Valentine's Day

Hoping you all have a very Happy Valentine's Day. Much love to all the puppies and of course my extra special wife, love you, lol! ;)


Do enjoy this day with your special someone!

-Grant
P.S. Bogie has a new break-dance move you gotta see haha!



Also, a wonderful past customer of ours sent us a link to an awesome video. Walking 16 dogs, too cool, that looks like fun!

- Gamesome Gus -

Look at this big and happy fella! His name is Gus and he had his assessment this morning. Gus is a seven month old, ninety-five pound, Newfoundland. Surprisingly, he is actually the first purebred "Newfie" we have ever had here at The Fort and he ended up being quite a pleasure. Gus hung out in the Big Roll and made friends quickly. He paired off a great deal with Zodiac and the two truly had a ball together. It's neat to see such a large, young dog, play so well in the daycare, so soon, without us having to micromanage it. First rate job today Gus! Looks like we will be seeing you again here at Fort Fido soon.

Happy Monday! ;)

-Grant
P.S. Here is one swell clip of newbie Gus and Zodiac engaged in some Live Big Roll Action.

A Clip & Snake Tracking Dogs

In this video are Emily, Faramir, Kona, Winston, Blue Belle and Blue.

I found this article about how they are using Trained Dogs to track Snakes in the Everglades.

Pup on a Mission

Have a great weekend!

- Gary

Super Sammy

The other day I mentioned that I would tell ya about the new pup, Sammy, that we assessed. Here is the scoop!

Sammy is a three and a half month old, twenty-six+ pound, Yellow Colored Labradoodle. He is currently enrolled in our Group Training Class (one more week left, good job students!) with Garrett Stevens and new puppy Bear. So, with that said, Sammy has already played a bit with other dogs at The Fort before we even met him lol! This convivial canine is a typical, happy-go-lucky pup. He did a fine job with the others in the Medium Roll pack and romped for a long duration with that little Bear fella, among others. Sammy, like Bear, may or may not graduate to the Big Roll in time. For now, he is doing just fine in the Medium Roll and was a pleasure to have here at Fort Fido. We hope to see Sammy in here again soon, nice job bud!

Enjoy your weekend! I am definitely looking forward to it and it starts tonight for me with the Masters of Scottish Arts Concert at Benaroya Hall. Speaking of Bagpipes.... My band's 49th Annual Tartan Ball is coming up soon. Saturday March 24th, 8:00PM at The Puyallup Fairgrounds Pavilion. Please do attend if interested and say hello. I'll buy ya whatever beverage you fancy.

;)

-Grant
P.S. Almost forgot! Here are two clips I saved from Wednesday that have some Sammy in them... Mostly Bogie though lol. They don't really do him justice but at least you get a peak, by the time these were captured, he was getting tired.

Mellow Mood Milo

Meet Milo! He is a nine month old, seventy-three pound, Gray & Black, Labradoodle that was assessed this morning. Milo is one of the sweetest dogs we have come across, a gentle giant if you will. Mom (Nancy), fell head-over-heels for him lol. He is a very calm dog that carries a happy yet mellow mood which becomes infectious. Apparently, Milo spent a lot of time on "The Farm" and didn't interact too much with anything other than horses! Although he didn't play today, he was quite comfortable around the other dogs. Towards the very end of his morning here, he almost played with Rottweiler Guy Gideon. Almost, meaning that there was butt to butt sniffing, tail wagging and spins/play-bows from Gideon. Milo is welcome back to The Fort anytime and we look forward to his return. He is a massively striking doodle that would have made one heck of a stud dog for a Labradoodle breeder... That actually was the plan for Milo but unfortunately he was struck with the dreaded Cryptorchidism, yikes!

Cheers,

-Grant

Slightly Stressful

Howdy folks... Those "Lines" coming down yesterday definitely put a wrench in The Fort's day to day operations. Thank goodness we are back online now! Thanks to everyone for bearing with us during this hectic moment. I'm going to leave you with one nice and long clip from the Little Roll and some photos I took of the "Incident". Workers from Comcast, CenturyLink and The City have been working around the clock to get things back in order. Thanks guys and gals! Some lines were jacked-up as far back as the Nursery near Cheers!

A Fircrest Police Officer happens to be the First Responder. The guy next to him was the Truck Driver, poor dude, if he wasn't having a bad day already lol!

Click this one above to enlarge it.

Same with this one, you can really see the damage. Apparently our pole is a real central-hub for many different types of connections. We were told it "Isn't a simple splice job". Hahaha!

Man, sometimes lunch time is exciting.


Take care,

-Grant
P.S. We did have an assessment today... I'll be telling you about new pup, Sammy, at a later date, we have a lot going on right now! ;)

Beatnik Tuesday

Dogs come in, amped, ready...

We clean and officiate...

Dogs leave exhausted.


Sorry, Haikus just pour from me while I'm at Fort Fido wrangling the dogs hahaha.

Here's a clip of the Big Roll Action and a little bit of Gibby and Gus from the Medium Roll. Please note, the fellas in the Big Roll (specifically Gideon and McGee) sound a bit rough but I assure you it's all play and or "Fluff and Stuff" as I like to call it lol. Everyone is safe! ;)





Take it easy,

-Grant
P.S. Our phone line has been down for hours. It will most likely stay that way... Our internet has been in and out as well... It seems as though are credit/debit machine is also down... More on this tomorrow, let's just say, a tall Semi-Truck ripped down several lines in front of The Fort, literally! Things are getting cleaned up but it's going to take awhile. Thanks for bearing with us, glad nobody got hurt!

Just in case you missed these gems last night

All of these commercials are very funny, and dog related, my favorite is the Bud Light one hahaha!







Enjoy that sun,

-Grant

Good day sunshine!

I caught some really great clips of the action here at the Fort today. Each one features (for the most part) a different pair of pooches tearing it up while we listened to the Beatles and enjoyed the sunshine!

Winston and Willy


Pearl and Bear


Gordon and Emily


I hope that you guys got to spend some time enjoying the nice weather as well. Hard to imagine that the whole city was covered in snow just a couple of weeks ago!

-Hope

Revered Ruby

Hi there, feast your eyes on Ruby! She is a four month old, thirty pound, Goldendoodle that had her assessment this morning. Ruby is a very sweet dog with quite a ravishing look about her. She is attending Fort Fido for socialization because she tends to be a bit timid around other canines. In our Medium Roll, Ruby did just fine, despite not interacting too much with the other pack members. The good thing is that Ruby did not act fearful or uncomfortable around the other dogs, she just didn't engage them. There is much hope left for her. We believe Ruby may come around to playing with the pups after some daycare-consistency.

Ruby is currently enrolled in, and doing well in, our Basic Obedience and Leadership class. Dog trainer extraordinaire Garrett Stevens, runs the class, it fills up quickly and it's popular!

Swell job today Ruby, we shall see you again soon.

Have a nice weekend, enjoy the weather,

-Grant

Cool Clips and a Happy Birthday to Tazzie!

One from the Big Roll and three from the Medium Roll... Sorry Little Roll, we'll get ya soon! ;)

Mollie and Ziva, among many others we had in there today, were getting along like two peas in a pod.



New puppy-boy Bear has been branching out nicely. Here he starts to romp with Macs and Otto.



Emily and Phoebe are best friends. They are a very good match as far as size and play-style are concerned... You can see what I mean in this clip.



Another set of best buds, Barkley and Diego roughhouse a lot when they meet, usually twice a week.





Happy Birthday to Miss Tazzie! She turned the big "five years old" today. Her ma Lisa was kinda enough to bring in treats for all (Including some for us, thank you kindly!), be sure to grab some treats for your pup on the way out. Sorry, the donuts we received are pretty much gone lol. :)

Take care,

-Grant

In The News

Cairn Terrier - Toto's breed - State Dog of Kansas

Looking for worst behaved dog in America

Hollywood dogs get recognized at this year's Golden Collar Awards

Stay calm around dogs on the loose

Protect your pets from winter hazards

Service Dog's licks save owner's life

Baby on the way? Make time to prepare your pet

Cheers,

-Grant