Kilted Dog Montage

My band and I just returned from the Bitterroot Highland Games in Hamilton Montana. It was an amazing weekend, lots of Pipe Bands, lots of fun, and, believe it or not, lots of dogs! I was able to meet and greet with several different "Celtic Pooches" including; Irish Wolf Hounds, Corgis (Pembroke and Cardigan), Shetland Sheep Dogs, Collies, Scotties, and Westies, just to name a few. I also witnessed many "Dogs in Kilts", which if you haven't seen, can be quite a hilarious site... Yeah... If you haven't seen any, well here you go!

 

 

Hahaha!

Be well,

-Grant
P.S. OK, OK, those last two are skirts. LOL!

Fire Fighter & Photographer Michelle Johnson

I always look forward to her awesome photography. I enjoy all of the colors, and positive energy, that she captures in her shots.

Here we have a few pics of Miss Dakota Downtown, and a few sharp looking Pipers from the Pierce County FireFighters Pipes and Drums. Click to enlarge.

 

Thanks Michelle, take it easy y'all!

-Grant
P.S. Could anyone figure out why I liked this photo set sooo much? LOL! BAGPIPES! ;) Also, as always, if you have any pictures of your pets, please send them to us! grant@fortfido.com We love seeing what our Fido Buddies are up to outside The Fort, and we love posting the pics up on The Blog.

Tilly makes the connection

Wow, get a load of this... Our newest, most favorite, Baby-Mastiff, Tilly, has made it into the Pet Connection Magazine! The Pet Connection magazine is the south sounds wonderful, free monthly newspaper. It is quite fun and informative, a very well done publication. Although she didn't make the cover, I better write their editor ;) lol, her photo was fantastic. Tilly was over at the Total K-9 Health & Fitness Center in Fife. She was there to workout, play and generally be her cute self. She did very well on their treadmill, but didn't venture into any Hydro-Therapy haha. Apparently she gallops on a treadmill at home too, so funny!

You can pick up a Pet Connection here at Fort Fido anytime.

Enjoy your weekend,

-Grant
P.S. The band and I will be in beautiful Wenatchee, playing for the Apple Blossom Festival Parade, not "Cinco de Mayo" lol... Ahhh heck, who am I kidding, we are there for that too. :) It's also the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, always fun to watch on TV, if you're into that kinda thing...

F is for FRIDAY

Some wonderful links found today.

Dogs help children excel at reading (I love these stories, it really does work!)

Tips on keeping your dog safe in the car (Always good to know, it sure can be bad when you hit those brakes in an emergency.)

Go dog go! (More on dogs and autos.)

Dog taking over your bed? (This reminds me of this article I wrote...)

Dogs and their owners have matching personalities (I would most definitely say so, although, there are a few exceptions I'm aware of lol.)

Enjoy your weekend. It should prove to be a nice one. The band and I will be ending the Daffodil Festivities with the Junior Daffodil Parade on Proctor St. in North Tacoma.

-Grant
P.S. Ahhh hahaha... Thanks to Happy's ma Ginny, I've been shown "jump roping dogs", one can even double-dutch! Too hilarious, take a look.







I even found a "how-to" for the smaller breeds lol!



Good luck! ;)

Happy Friday Clips

Four fun clips from today, three from the Medium Roll (It was game-on in there today lol) and one from the Big.

Bogie, KC and Zipper romped for quite some time this morning.



Pupcake took on young buck Zipper for some vigorous play as well.



Finn and brother Ozzy were up to their normal, knuckle-headed games, in the Big Roll haha.



Buddha hadn't been in for awhile but came back today for some Fort Fido action. Welcome back old buddy, it sure looks like you had a blast today.



Please enjoy your weekend, it's gonna be nice out!

-Grant

P.S. If you are looking for something to do this weekend... Why not hit up one of The 79th Annual Daffodil Festival Parades? The Band and I will be in first rate form, come say hello. It is a fun-filled day of spring and a true South Puget Sound tradition.

My heartfelt condolences to all involved in the Daffodil Festival... Specifically the Queen, Princesses, friends and family of Miss Alexandria Cole. Rest in peace dear.

Pay The Piper

You know I love this dogs name! ;)

Checkout Piper... She is a nine month old, seventy-five pound, Rhodesian Ridgeback. Piper had an absolutely entertaining stay with us in our Big Roll. She fell into the doggie daycare groove instantly! It's obvious that Piper has been around a dog or two in her short life. Her play style is fast and furious, yet seemingly gentle at the same time. Piper was a joy to have here at Fort Fido. She is very sweet and we will welcome her with open arms upon her return. Well done!

Ahh, so far we are 3-0 for assessments this week. We most certainly hope we stay the course. Tomorrow there are two lined up, our fingers are crossed lol.

Cheers,

-Grant
P.S. How could I forget, here is a clip of Piper and Ziva rippin' around. Too cool!

New Blog Gadgets and Clips

Boy o boy lol, we are becoming so very tech-savvy around here. Our Facebook page is taking off like a rocket (Go ahead, "Like Us"!) and Hope has even started putting together a nicer version of our YouTube Channel. I have added a few neat features to our blog. You can check them out to the right of your screen. We now have a fancy Facebook link, a list of our favorite posts, and if you scroll down a bit more, you can see the top-viewed blog posts of the month. We are having a lot of fun with this stuff and it is great FREE marketing for The Fort. :)

We will also be launching a brand new website soon, it's been a labor of love for me. We just gotta have a new site with all of our overnight boarding info!

I'll leave you with three clips.

Big Roll


Medium Roll


Little Roll


Take it easy,

-Grant
P.S. If you are looking for something to do this weekend you could do this and or this... I highly recommend the latter, it is a wonderfully-fun, hell of a good time! Tickets can be purchased at the door, dress nice. ;)

P.P.S. Did I mention we are on Facebook? Hahaha!

_ Magnificent Milo _

Get a load of this fine specimen! Meet Milo, he is a two year old, about seventy-five pound, red colored, Golden Retriever. We led him into our Big Roll this morning where he absolutely thrived. Milo played hard with several different pack members, specifically, Maximus and fellow Golden Mollie. It was great to have such a well-balanced new dog. Your typical "dog's dog", Milo communicated well with the others and had an easygoing demeanor.

We believe Milo thought he had "died and gone to heaven" while attending The Fort lol. Crackin' job today bud, we hope to see you in here again soon.


Here are two quick clips of Milo enjoying himself this morning.





Enjoy your weekend and have a happy/safe St. Patrick's Day. I have a big weekend ahead. The Band and I are playing at the Daffodil Queen's Coronation this evening, the St. Paddy's Day Dash in Seattle tomorrow morning and then multiple "establishments" in the PM after that. Good times!

;)

-Grant

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.

Missed Santa Pic and News

Hi y'all,

My apologies to Mr. Luther & Miss Payton. I somehow didn't scan there Christmas card until it was too late, doh! Either way, have a gander at it now, better late than never. These two cuties are always photo ready...

(Priceless! Payton always looks like that but I have never seen Luther with that petrified looking, don't-mess-with-me gaze hahaha!)

Some news links for ya:
Amazing dog can save lives by dialing 9-1-1

Neighbor revives dog hurt in fire

Tintin: A beginner's guide to the European Classic

New Year delivers helpful companion for Texas boy

Texas rancher trains dogs to tend to cattle


I hope your New Year's holiday went well. I cranked up the pipes at Midnight, always a pleasure to be able to do that lol. ;)

Have a nice week, welcome 2012!

-Grant

Hello Monday

(Unfortunately the quality on this pic isn't that great, had to be scanned, it's an old one. Either way, this Big Mama tipped the scales at 160 pounds!)

Just a few article-links found this afternoon, enjoy!

After duty, dogs suffer like soldiers (Very sad, I most definitely believe it.)

Pooch has ruff time delivering 15 puppies (Whoa! Good thing you didn't have to do that Miura lol. Hard to believe it isn't even close to the record of 24, held by a Neapolitan Mastiff. We had one of those here at The Fort for awhile. She was a sweet yet tricky to handle gal named Olivia. Let's just say, she knocked one of us over once real good hahaha.)

Dogs of WWII (Interesting stuff here.)

Dog missing for eight years to be reunited with family (Now that's a holiday tale!)

Why do dogs howl at harmonicas? ( Funny, I know many pooches that do this... Not Gibson, however, it's easy to get most Huskies going... Marco Polo in particular.)

Dangerous dog policy in Pierce County deemed unconstitutional (Hmmm, this one is opening up a whole can of worms for sure.)


Scored a clip from the Xmas parade, in Enumclaw, the band and I attended. See if you can spot me. Here's a clue, I'm very Elf-Like hahaha. Sometimes ya just gotta go all out.



Take it easy,

-Grant

Fantastic Diego Pics

Thanks to Diego's ma, Carla, for sending these in. Super funny! The first three are from Halloween and the others are from a recent trip back home to Germany. I'm not sure how he feels about dress-up but he is sure having a blast in that snow, how exciting, hahaha! Click on individual photos to enlarge them.

Minnie "Diego" Mouse

Captain "Diego" Sparrow

My personal favorite, "Diego" Cobain, it's a shame, he was so young lol!

Buried alive

Tearin it up

Ok, maybe this flying one is the best.

Hanging with the relatives.

Enjoy your weekend,

-Grant
P.S. If you are looking for something to do this weekend you could try the Auburn Veteran's Day Marching Band Championships or something a bit saucier (bring a date), the 47th annual Heather Tartan Ball in Seattle. Tacoma's own and I will be playing at both events, of course. ;)

P.P.S. Remember, as always, if you have any fun photos of your pooch, please send them in. Everyone loves checking them out on our blog, it's fun to see the dogs doing there thing outside of The Fort.

Happy Anniversary...

To us lol! I hope y'all had a nice Labor Day Weekend and took it easy. Sunday the fourth marked Fort Fido's Fifth Anniversary. Wow, five years in the business happened so fast, it has been nothing short of amazing. We look forward to the next five years, we will be doing our very best to continue being the premier Dog Daycare facility of the South Sound. Special thanks to our wonderful customers, there is no way we could have made it this far without you! Over 500 dogs have passed through our doors to date, incredible! Thanks to the many of you that have been with us since the beginning. It has been a treat watching your pups grow into healthy dogs over the years. One more thanks to my business partners and parents (David and Nancy), my, what we have accomplished together, I'm quite proud of you both. Ok I lied, one more thanks... Thank you to the Fort Fido Staff! In particular, Hope, Gary, Austin & Matt. Keep up the good work, you guys rock!

In other Fido news... Basic Obedience and Leadership class with Garrett Stevens starts tonight, we'll see you at 7:15 PM, don't be late ;).

I spent the weekend with The Band playing in the Ellensburg Rodeo Parade as well as the Roslyn Parade. It was a blast, for some reason we are treated like rockstars out there lol... It's standing room only everywhere you turn, especially in the pubs. Here are just two of the 190 photos that were on my camera.

Cheesin w/ new stache styling

This cute pooch's vest said "Adopt me". There were a handful of rescue-dog-organizations involved with the two parades.

For our five year anniversary present, we bought ourselves a Viper... That's a new floor scrubber by the way, not to be confused with the sports car hahaha.


Have a great day, stay cool this week!

-Grant

Coppertoned!

Hey everybody,

I hope you had a great 4th of July weekend and have been enjoying this precious weather we so deserve!

This morning we welcomed Copper to The Fort for his assessment. He is a dashing, four year old, forty-five pound, orange, black and white Australian Cattle Dog (Red Healer).

Copper spent his time in the Big Roll and did very well. He seems like a dog that would do just fine with the Big or Med pack. Being a Red Healer, Copper is naturally strong, agile and intelligent.
Unfortunately, he didn't play a whole lot today (first day sessions go like that 50% of the time) but he did speak good dog and seemed quite comfortable around the pack. We all have a feeling that he will most definitely "Bust Out" once he gets a few more visits under his belt.

Have a great BBQin day!

-Grant
P.S. Yesterday I played with the band in the largest parade Seattle has ever had (International Lions Club Convention Parade). It was too exciting but boy am I glad that I was able to borrow some sunscreen from a band-mate. If I hadn't, I would have been one hurtin' unit lol. Tomorrow we play inside Key Arena for the convention show! :)

Links / come to the Tartan Ball!

Soldiers seeking solace through service dogs

Debate rages over sled dog tours and races

Tips for introducing a second dog into your life

Veterinarian helps homeless care for pets

Japan and their pets still suffering

Have a great weekend!

-Grant

P.S. If you are looking for something to do tomorrow night... Hit up the Clan Gordon Pipe Band's 48th annual Tartan Ball (AKA Party). It is a fancy night of fun, I guarantee you'll have a great time if you attend. Here is a link to the flyer, tickets are available at the door. Come watch me play the bagpipes! :)