Bear & Lulu

Bear came in for his assessment Tuesday morning and I must say, he had a blast! Bear is an eight year old chocolate lab/mix that weighs sixty five pounds and has the energy of an energetic puppy. He came in here a little shy, but once we introduced him to our  Medium Dog Program he met Frankie, a red Labradoodle that's about a year old. They instantly bonded with each other; those two played and played like they've been friends for years. It was cool to see Bear keep up and play with a dog that's so much younger than him. Check out the clips below to see those two in action!
 

This gorgeous girl joined us bright and early this morning with her tail all curly like a cinnamon bun, and her nose to the ground; she was very curious and eager to explore her new daycare. When I first saw Lulu she melted my heart. She's as soft as velvet and reminds me of a little mini Husky. She's actually a Shiba Inu that weighs sixteen pounds and is one year old. Lulu showed wonderful dog speak as she entered our Small Dog Program. She scoped out the area, and became familiar with her new pack as she mingled around, sniffing everything and wagging her tail. 

I think Bear and Lulu will get a lot out of coming here for daycare. They're both happy, energetic dogs and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. 

Have a good night,
~Shaunte

- Groovy Monday -

Good morning and welcome to another Monday blog post. Today is supposed to be a nice and comfy day at a high of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. There are also supposed to be (rain) showers at some point today, so make sure that you stay dry and enjoy the warmth. Take a gander at Bodhi (that's him in the picture above), he is a shiba-inu model on instagram. There are a few of the pictures available here (and on tumblr), which are quite cute and funny (no wonder he has 191,000 followers!). Bodhi definitely looks sharp 'n cute in his pictures. Even though he looks so adorable, I could not believe that Bodhi makes ~$15k per month (wow!). It seems like it takes quite a bit of time and effort to prepare for his photo-shoots, but it is clearly well worth it! I hope that everyone has a wonderful day and enjoys this warmth.

Stay dry,
- Zach

Foxlike then Bearlike

 

"Extreme Cuteness" arrived in the form of a Shiba Inu Assessment, this last Saturday. Meet Thalia, she is a spunky, one year old, twenty pound, Sesame Shiba (red and black colored). Outside our place, Thalia, is good buddies with Medium Roll Regular and "barrel of fun", Louis. Like Louis, Thalia is a whole lot of fun, and is a lot like a few of our other Shiba Friends. She thoroughly enjoys socializing with the pack, and playing. On top of being quite a looker, Thalia will be an excellent inclusion to Fort Fido's Medium Roll. Man, if all of our Shibas show up on the same day, it'll be one high-energy day!


This morning, "Extreme Cuteness", arrived in the form of a stocky, cuddly, baby bear cub-like pup, in for his Assessment. Meet Oliver! He is a three month old, twenty pound, black and chestnut colored, Bernese Mountain Dog and English Crème-colored Golden Retriever Mix. Oliver had a blast here today. He wiggled, wagged, frolicked and played his way into everyone's hearts haha.

Oliver's only problem however, is that he may be too cute for his own good! What I mean to say is, too cute to correct, literally.

Excuse me while I rant a bit... Sometimes, the real "cuddly-fuzzy-wuzzy types", can miss out on Strong Leadership and Corrections, just because they are so darn loveable. When this happens to a dog, especially a dog that will become large in size, behavioral problems can develop quickly... Seemingly going "from 0 - 60". You know how it goes, kinda like the cute little kid that "gets away with murder". With Oliver, one must constantly remind one's self, to look past his cuteness, and treat him like every other member of the pack... When your not cuddling him that is lol. This way, he'll communicate and fit in with other dogs properly, becoming a healthy and more well-rounded canine. We don't want "the cuties", like Oliver, to turn into People Possessive and or S.A. ridden dogs. I can assure you, there's no fun in that. Lucky for Oliver, he has a good owner that can do right by him.

Anywho, Oliver did a fine job in here. Like Thalia, Oliver too, is welcome here at The Fort anytime. I know the crew can't wait to meet with him again. Checkout these two short and sweet clips of Oliver, playing with doggy-gals Miley and Georgie.

Enjoy any of that sun we get,

-Grant

Bear & Kaya

Today we assessed two very striking dogs from the same family. Meet Bear and Kaya.

Bear is a fuzzy, seven year old, twenty-seven pound, red and white colored, Shiba Inu. This "grizzly" dude is quite photogenic. He hung out with his "sister" Kaya in our Medium Roll. Bear truly lived up to his Spitz ancestry, with his exotic-good-looks and spirited demeanor. Bear played a tiny bit with Fort regular Jack.

Kaya is a spunky, two year old, twenty pound, red and white colored, Basenji. Now, like the Shiba Inus, these Basenjis are also really fascinating, and exotic looking dogs. Otherwise know as the "African Barkless Dog", they have several monikers. Kaya, was no exception to the great breed, with her alertness and curiosity, she strutted into the play area confidently. Although she didn't "play" much, she was quite active in meeting and greeting with the other pack members.

Both Bear and Kaya are welcome to stay at Fort Fido. We look forward to caring for them during a future Overnight Boarding visit.

Here, you can spot Bear and Kaya getting to know Jack.

Cheers,

-Grant

Yuki-Sam Twins

Every once in awhile at Fort Fido, we get some absolutely identical looking canine guests. Believe it or not, at times it can be very difficult to tell two dogs apart. One must really study the individual dogs, to find identifying attributes, then share their findings with the rest of the staff (on our communication boards).

Most importantly, when the owners arrive, we must know without a shadow of a doubt, who's who! It can be surprisingly tricky, for instance, on a "Chocolate Lab Day", when there are seven of the same breed in one play-area, to figure out exactly who "Coco" is, amongst a sea of super-similar chocolates lol... They have a tendency to melt together, especially when five+ customers arrive at once for pick-up, and you are on the fly. Luckily, we've developed some tricks, in order to make certain we know which dog is which at all times.

;)

Currently, other than a handful of Labrador Retrievers, and a couple of English Springer Spaniels, the most perplexing twin duo has to be Yuki and Sam. Both high-energy Shibu Inus, Yuki & Sam poses matching physical features, as well as matching personalities and play-styles! They are also about the same age.

They just look so darn similar...

Don't believe me? Checkout these photos we took of the "Terrible Twosome" (only kidding of course) yesterday. They are the definition of "Bash Brothers", they love to play together, hard, fast, and furiously. Click on the individual photos to enlarge them.

Hahaha, I know right? Almost indistinguishable!

Be well,

-Grant

New Fort Friends!

This morning at The Fort, we got to assess a couple of really neat pups! Sam, the 5 month old cream Shiba Inu (who could pass for Yuki's twin). A high spirited and energetic pup that did great, romping in the Med. Roll. with other Fido friends, Walter, and Beau. Another great addition to an already great pack. Hope to see you back very soon!

 

 

This clip also features our other assessment for today, who's name also happens to be Walter!

 

Walter, a year and a half old Carin Terrier mix, mixed it up with the other high energy pups in our Med. Roll this morning. While also taking time to take in the new smells, and refereeing the action, he had to jump in on some of the fun too! I'm sure that Walter will be having even more fun in time, as he builds positive associations with not only The Fort itself, but with the dogs and employees that spend their time with us. 

 

Thanks again for reading and don't forget to grab some free samples of our 3 flavors of new dog treats!

We have started carrying Fromm's Dog Treats and they are available in our lobby.

check out the link for more information about these deliciously organic appetizers!

see you next week!

 

-Ryan

Ginger & Macey

 

 

Meet Ginger & Macey, two swell dogs, from the same family, that assessed this morning.

Ginger, is a four month old, eleven pound, red & black colored, Shiba Inu. She did rather well upstairs in the Little Roll. Ginger is a very sweet spirited canine. She played with Dixie, Pearl and just about any dog that was game.

Macey, is a one year old, about twenty pound, black & white colored, Border Collie. Now at first, Macey was not sure why she was here lol... But, once she began to figure things out in the Medium Roll, she started having lots of fun. This dog wasted no time getting in on the action, once she was situated. Macey enjoyed herself, playing with Marley and Sammy, among others.

Both Ginger and Macey were a pleasure to take care of today. We highly anticipate their return!

Take care,

-Grant

Long live The King!

 

Feast your eyes on this handsome devil!

King, is a three month old, eight pound, Shiba Inu and Poodle Mix. Like royalty, this little prince marched into The Fort happy, curious and full of life! King had an all-out blast upstairs in our Little Roll. He played hard, loving every minute of his time here. King really liked our toy selection and pack members. From the clips that follow, you can see that King is learning how to play fair with the others... There's a bit of a learning curve hahaha. Luckily we have some very patient canine teachers upstairs lol! This bundle of cute did great today. He'll stay in the Little Roll for now but he may "graduate" in the future, we'll see how it goes. The Medium Roll may be right up his alley.





First rate job today King, hope you were tired. We look forward to meeting you again.

Cheers,

-Grant