Jake has been on a roll with the neat time-lapses! This morning, starting dark and early at 6:30am, Fort Fido opened its doors to all of our fun furry friends (and their chauffeurs, lol). Before we know it, the sun is up and our play areas are getting full. This was especially fun for me to watch, since I am usually here for the evening roll-out, and not during the morning roll-in. Some real firecrackers come in very calm-- I was surprised by how relaxed the dogs seem to be in the morning. Once loose in the play areas, I know that all bets are off! That's probably pretty good leverage to get a nice "sit" out of them ;-)
Cortez keeps a watchful eye over everything from the comfort of his bed--I know that my Gordon wouldn't be so reserved about watching all those fun dogs go by. Dave and Nancy sure do run a tight ship! After years in "the biz," they've got it down to a science, or an art.
Meet Titan! He is a adorable, three month old, twenty-five pound Rottweiler. This young pup did well for his first day. He even played a good bit in the Medium Roll. Titan is welcome to attend The Fort anytime... And we definitely hope he will. He is going to be one large and powerful canine, honing his social skills here at Fort Fido will be quite beneficial to him. One neat fact about Titan, is that his "cousin" is Big Roll longtime-regular, Miss Bella The Boxer. She is the perfect teacher for Titan. I'm certain their paths will cross in here soon!
Take care,
-Grant
P.S. Ah! I can't forget these three short but sweet clips of Titan, introducing himself to Dolly, early this morning.
I'm really not sure if this will give everybody a laugh, but I gotta tell ya, for me, this has been the funniest dog related video I've seen in 2013 thus far. It had me cracking up extremely, because the music in the video is certainly a parody... Poking fun at a genre of music that, although I don't often admit it, YES, I used to listen to and love on a daily basis.
Call it what you will, Rock, Punk, Thrash Metal, Hardcore, or for some, just plain awful LOL! We won't go there, and I won't attempt to justify it (But I can, I swear!). Point being, the song "Moshes Me" down memory lane towards my teenage years haha. An exhilarating social time, where my friends and I "Rocked Out" from show to show without a care in the world. Funky hair, tight pants (Ya know, before males could buy them, and they had a name AKA "Skinny Jeans" ROFL), dancing, singing (screaming), crowd-surfing and spending wayyy too much time on Myspace. HAHAHA! Ahhh, those were the days. Whoa, sorry, tangent almost over. You know how music can often be a time machine?
Anywho, enjoy this hilarious, canine-related-clip, regardless of the tune. By the way, NO, we don't play any "Wild Music" back there with the dogs. We don't want to get them too riled up. At times it can be a "Most Pit" in here without any music lol. I stick to 98.1 King FM and even then, some of the suites are too amped up!
-Grant
P.S. It's quite funny how we change over time, especially in our youth. How did I manage a steady diet of that? It must have been the ladies I was meeting (O Grant, you are sooo dark and mysterious!), ok fine, maybe it was the beer? HA! Either way, I look forward to humbly laughing at myself in another ten years. ;)
P.P.S. Eureka! This super-funny show, Portlandia, definitely explains where my mind went, after the "Husky Music" spurred me to reminisce with awkward teen dreams haha. Just watch this clip also, and enjoy. It's a great show!
Today was our friend Tazzie's 6th Birthday. Happy Birthday Tazzie! And a thanks to Lisa (her owner) for bringing in homemade mozzarella dog treats to share with all of Tazzies friends here at the Fort. Be sure to grab some for your pup when you come in, there are plenty for everyone!
Lately we have been doing a lot of sprucing up at the Fort. Our current project is painting the interior walls. The low odor, satin finish paint we use works exceptionally well for this application. Here you see Jacob and I hard at work! With the bay doors open and the fresh air coming in this is my kinda painting!
We caught Aryan and Lola (these two might be distant cousins!) having a great Husky-style romp. They were fast friends today, and look like they will be for quite a while.
It's funny to see how dogs choose their companions. Some prefer to stick with their own breed, while others have a particular breed that they really enjoy. Still others look outside the species for their favorite companions! Check out these cool dog friendships.
Dogs are really fantastic creatures, so full of love!
When a working dog is stricken with any kind of disability, you have to re-assess whether or not continuing to work is in his best interest. When Gonzo went blind, the veterinarian offered the advice that this driven dog--still young and fit--needed to keep running. With help from his faithful brother Poncho, who is always lined up at his side, Gonzo gets to keep running as an active member of the Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel team.
A pet owner is crediting her Boston Terrier with saving her from a possible death, when the pup awoke her as their apartment was filling with deadly carbon monoxide. The dog may also have saved many others living in the same condo complex-- the source of the carbon monoxide was a neighbor's car in a garage below, running for hours in the night. Good thing that everybody made it out safe and sound!
You may have noticed Dave's mini-quiz on the chalkboard (what is the world's largest dog?)-- I'll give you a hint with this article about super-sized Zeus, the current Guinness World Record holder for the world's tallest dog. I thought that some of our dogs here were huge, but this pup definitely takes the cake!
And lastly, I'll leave you with a cool science-news article about the early domestication of dogs. It's amazing how much we can learn about the past by studying things (such as dog DNA) here in the present! This new study presents the ability to digest carbohydrates with ease (an important part of a dog's diet, though not essential to their predecessor wolves) as a key turning point in the domestication of wild dogs.
These two lovely ladies are proving themselves to be welcome additions to the Fort Fido crew! Three-year-old mixed-breed Stella and her sister, a nine-year old Viszla named Lilly, had their first playdate with us today. Friends and neighbors of longtime Fido regular Abbey, a spunky little wire-hair Fox Terrier, these ladies definitely know how to be sociable. Stella was a little more of the "social butterfly," while her older sister preferred to share her calm energy with the pack.
Stella made good friends with Marley, another mixed-breed who looks like he could have been her littermate! In this short clip of them playing, it is hard to tell who is who!
These good little gals are more than welcome back, and we would always love to see more of them. Assessments passed with flying colors!
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