Canines Unleashed Spotlight with Ann and Zoe

2011-12-30T13:55:00.000-05:00

Today we took advantage of having "only 67" dogs and took out our tunnels for some indoor fun. Some had a great time inside the tunnels and others spent their time on the outside of the tunnels rolling them around on the floor. And then there was Molly Fassler and Molly Anna Pictured below

Molly Fassler says "Let the young ones use the tunnel. I'm catching up on my nap time."

Molly Anna says "Naps are good but these pillows they gave us are kinda hard!"

Tunnel Day @ Canines Unleashed

Hannah

Duncan

Bailey

"I'm gonna try and run past Hannah"

"Hey ! Who turned out the lights?"

Duncan trying to get the ball through the tunnel.

Bailey claiming tunnel space

Morrie

Riley L says "Why go through the tunnel when you can go around!"

Bailey still in the tunnel


Riley says "Okay, I'm in the tunnel. Now get out of my way!	"(In the background Samantha looks on.)

Pirate

Pirate and Bailey

Zoe and I would like to thank everyone for making it another great year at Canines Unleashed. Happy New Year to all.

It's A Girl!

2011-12-12T11:23:00.002-05:00

Zoe, Ziggy, Dallas, and Doppio would like to announce the arrival of their new baby sister, Diva!

A Blue Harlequin Great Dane, Diva was just eight weeks old and very petite when she arrived last week and came all the way from Michigan. Diva got her name for her early penchant for her mom's purse (and anything else shaped like a purse) and she's already living up to her name with a fancy coat befitting only the most hardcore (and stunningly gorgeous) Rodeo Drive shopper. She's quick to answer back the most common question people have when seeing her, "Yes, daaahlings, I am real."

If you want to catch a glimpse of her the next time you're in, just look for the flashing bulbs of the paparrazzi (or just ask).

Speaking of births, we're busy celebrating a bunch of birthdays in December. Happy Birthday to Naya, Tootsie, Snowflake, Chauncy, Meatloaf, Niki, Preston, Willow, Sasha F, Toby H, Hannah, Buddy W, Maurice, Mazie, Casey R, Angel, Khloe & Lexie, Folger, Marlynn, Harley T, Madden, Jax, Toby S, and Tyson. We'd sing to you, but you'd all howl and drown us out.

We've added a few new dogs to the Canines Unleashed family, too! Please join us in welcoming Riley P, Talulah, Teddy C, Choco, Bella B, Pirate, and Tucker F.

Our winter preparations are continuing. In our last post, we showed you what the dogs are doing to get ready for the snow. We've got some changes inside as well. Our little dog room has been closed down for the winter and our "Littles" have been moved to a prime location in a section of one of the larger playrooms. All their furniture and toys have made the trip too, so it's a home away from home, so to speak. For now, you can see the Littles on Camera 3 (aka Large Breed 2) if you're watching online, but we're in the process of getting a camera in place for a better view. Please bear with us while we make this change.

We're now ready inside and out! Ok snow, bring it.

Practice Makes Perfect

2011-12-05T16:02:00.001-05:00

We're still enjoying unseasonably warm weather for December and the dogs are asking us when it's going to snow. We're trying to distract them from those kinds of thoughts, so today, we practiced some skills we know we'll use once 30 feet of snow is on the ground.

Gretta and Bellona showed us that the top of the dog house is just as high as a pile of snow. Step one: Climb on top. Step two: Survey the yard. Step three: Brag to the other dogs that there's only room for two.

Riley says, "I'm shorter, so I'll practice getting on shorter snowbanks." Bellona was not impressed. Riley pointed out that she has a lot more fur than Bellona does and thinks she's going to have the last laugh when it's a real snowbank we're talking about.

When it comes time for fun (sliding down the snowbanks), Bentley will be ready. He got lots of practice in today.

Ready....set....

.......Go!

Meanwhile, over in the Littles yard, Teddy was practicing some sliding skills, too.

Jeter coached Giselle through her snowbank sliding practice.

Back over in the big yard, Roy and Murphy hatched a plan to include windows and doors when building their snow fort. Now, if they just had thumbs....

Gus practiced herding snowballs. You can't let those snowballs run loose, you know.

Freckles played keep-away from Romey and Bentley with her Goughnut Stick (aka Cigar). She thinks all this snow talk is just silly nonsense.

Abby says, "I don't need to practice...these legs are like doggy four wheel drive!"

One thing's for sure...when it does snow, we're ready!

Seasons Change

2011-11-16T09:03:00.001-05:00

There's a chill in the air and it seems though we've enjoyed a fairly warm fall season, snowflakes are in our near future. With the change in seasons come some changes here at Canines Unleashed.

Since our last post, we've added some new members to our daycare family and welcomed: Lexie K, Piper, Rooney, Jackson, Caesar, Tia, Pippalina, Vincenzo, Lily V, Mick, Brody, Chloe, Willie, Rocco, Hudson, Bella T, Daisy H, Barney, Dewey, Molly B, Dunkin L, Bailey C, Riley L, Zoe K, Miley, and Rosco. And the list keeps growing!

Though weekday enrollment is up, our Saturday daycare enrollments have been down for some time, so we made the decision to no longer offer daycare services on Saturdays. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. However, our retail store remains open on Saturdays from 8:00-4:00 for all your shopping needs. What a great time to come in and shop for the holidays without a certain furry someone sneaking a peek at what "Santa" will be bringing!

Speaking of Santa...holiday preparations are underway in our retail store and our Christmas Corner will soon be fully stocked! Festive holiday ties, collars, and sweaters will be back as in previous years, along with holiday toys and treats. What Christmas stocking would be complete without one of the very popular antlers for chewing? We have a huge selection of elk, deer, and moose antlers - all naturally shed, so no creatures were harmed in the making of this super-tough chew toy. While we're on the subject of tough chew toys...if you've got a toy-destroyer at home, make sure you check out the Goughnut. Probably "the" toughest chew toy available, the Goughnut comes in the original ring shape, a stick shape, and now a ball, all in several sizes for any dog. These toys are so tough that the manufacturer backs them with a free replacement guarantee if your pup chews through to the red inner core. Wow! We've also got a new spin on some returning favorites this year and we're calling them our "ginormous" toys. By the way, did you know "ginormous" is now listed in the dictionary? Some old favorites are now available in a super-huge size: the Hide-A-Squirrel plush toy (we also carry the Hide-A-Bird and Hide-A-Bee in the smaller size), animal squeaker mats (so many squeakers, it's like bubble wrap for your dog), and the Invincibles line (they keep squeaking even when punctured). We're pretty sure we've got something for every size dog or type of chewer that's out there, so be sure to do some of your Christmas shopping with us. Also, watch the Clipper Magazine for our upcoming ad!

Besides stocking our lobby with Christmas goodies galore, we are very busy working on our annual holiday pictures, too. As you can imagine with the large family we have, it's a huge undertaking and we started this process a couple of months ago. Though we will be able to continue the tradition of these holiday photos, we regret that we will not be offering printed Christmas cards this year.

The change in seasons also brings with it some sad news for us to share and this month we had to say goodbye to someone we loved very much. One of our very first customers, Darche, passed away. A Basenji (known as the "barkless dog"), Darche had been with us since 2003 and had a unique and fun-loving personality, despite his serious expression. With a nose like a bloodhound, Darche could tell us with absolute certainty when there was a missed cookie or microscopic crumb of kibble that had fallen out of reach. He was never, ever wrong. He could be mischievous too, once working in cahoots with his best friend, Fender, to knock over all the faux trees in the "Park". We're sure they were both pointing at each other when their deed was discovered..."he did it!" A staff favorite, though, was when he'd run at full speed around the playroom. Everything in his body showed he was having a blast, yet the serious expression was a sharp contrast with the fun we all knew he was having. Every staff member had a smile while watching.

Though we are all heartbroken at the loss of Darche, we are also thankful that we were able to spend so many years getting to know and love this sweet, serious-faced, but fun-loving and smart little boy.

As always, we thank you, our loyal customers for giving us the privilege of caring for your family member and allowing them to be part of our family. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you for the next post!

August 2011

2011-08-03T09:44:00.008-04:00

Hi folks! Sorry that this blog has gotten away from us this past year. We will try to do better at keeping you updated on pics, plans and happenings throughout the year. For those of you that don't know, Sharon Kraushaar, was promoted to Manager of Canines Unleashed at the end of 2010. Sharon originally came on board as office manager after working for over 15 years in the office and as a buyer at Andy's Produce. Canines Unleashed had grown so big so fast that my focus had to be on the dogs and unfortunately the office suffered. Sharon came on board and whipped the office into shape with her amazing organizational skills. She also revamped and automated the way we do things up at the front desk and behind the scenes in the office and brought the company into the 21st century. Along the way, it occurred to me that those organizational skills could be put to use organizing the "people" of Canines Unleashed as well. It was at that point that Sharon was promoted to Manager of the company and the re- organization of the entire company began. It was a massive undertaking that would have left a lesser person running for the door but happily we are just now emerging on the other side and even in this economy Canines Unleashed is better and stronger than ever before due in very large part to Sharon. Sadly for us, leaving sometime between now and January will be current management staffer and my daughter, Amy Liberati Rivard. Amy graduated last year from her studies to become a paralegal and has been working for us full time while free lancing part time for various lawyers. She has decided to try to pursue her paralegal work full time. On a happy note : Amy and her husband will also be welcoming their first child in January. Amy has done everything you could possibly do at Canines Unleashed over the years from running the company in my absence, retail supervising, offsite event co-ordinator, website and blog, supervising the back, and of course being the beloved "face of Canines Unleashed", not to mention filling in for any position I needed her for including cleaning positions. There is nothing this girl has been unwilling to do and I will miss her dearly not only as her boss but also as a proud mother. Wherever she lands next, they will not regret it . Please join me in wishing her well with both her new emloyment venture and the new addition to her family. With Amy leaving, I pulled out all the stops to fill a hole in our management team and finally persuaded Jen Edgerton, whom many of our long time customers will no doubt remember, to come back and complete our management team. Jen was one of the people who was instrumental in growing Canines Unleashed from the small company of the old days to the premier dog daycare that you see today. Jen's position will be Supervisor to the pack leaders in the back. She will also be helping us out with front desk duties in the early AM and late PM. Welcome back Jen ! Also, I would like to give a grateful shout out to Alexis and Jenda KwaitkowskI for helping us out this year. Although Jenda left us a year ago to persue a career as a vet tech at Liverpool Village Animal Hospital, she has graciously filled in whenever I call with an emergency temporary vacancy to get us through. Before leaving us for college and LVAH , Jenda had been employed by Canines Unleashed since she was 16 years old. She is also an accomplished artist who has painted our walls with our famous bus and every time I adopt another Dane, she comes back to paint them on the bus. Along the way we luckily acquired Jenda's sister Alexis who left last year to enter college. Alexis came home for the summer and didn't miss a beat in picking up where she left off at Canines Unleashed. I have never met such a natural at this job. She will be leaving for her 2nd year of college this week. These girls are 2 of the hardest working employees we have ever had. A big Thank you to you both for helping us out in our time of need. And a big thank-you to their parents for raising 2 of the greatest ,hardest working, but most of all genuinely nicest kids I have ever met..

2010-07-16T14:18:00.008-04:00

Hi Everyone ! What a great 2 weeks of weather we've had. Sunny and down right hot. Great pool weather and we've been taking advantage of it. Don't worry though, there is always air conditioning to be had by anyone who would rather stay in and lounge around. On days when it is over 90 degrees we do have to limit free access to the yards so that no one gets heat stroke. We are getting ready to start our staff's busy season anytime now. (which is August through Christmas) The new dogs will start appearing as soon as school starts but even as soon as August 1st we will start our Halloween picture shoot. For those of you who were not here last year, we dress up each and everydog in costume and in October we will email you a picture free of charge. It seemed like a good idea at the time when I had a roster of 20 dogs. Now that we have over 500 dogs it is quite a large undertaking and we must start in August to get it done by October. In the beginning of October after the last dog is shot for Halloween, we start all over again and go right into Christmas pictures. Christmas pictures and photo xmas cards are always a big hit at the holidays. And of course everydog will continue to get a Birthday picture when they come on their birthday. We are also re-organizing Canines Unleashed as a whole. We have quite a few people leaving us in the next few weeks and in the fall for various reasons. Some of our remaining staff members will be put in different positions throughout the company and a training program will be ongoing for those new members of our team that will be coming aboard. Please be assured that throughout all of this the safety of your dogs is uppermost in our minds and you will not see a difference at all in the care your dog receives here. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to email me personally at : annie@caninesunleashed.com Thanks Ann

Pics from the past 2 weeks

2010-06-26T15:42:00.012-04:00

Finally a new post

2010-06-24T14:58:00.007-04:00

Hi All ! Zoe and I have been quite busy the last couple of weeks and we apologize for not being able to get to the blog. It is more time consuming than we originally expected but we will try to keep it up at least once a week. We have pics and videos from the last 2 weeks. I will post the videos first (below) and then quite a few pictures in an additional blog (above) Thanks for your understanding. Ann & Zoe www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQr4trab1qU www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3VAVtL46cs www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DvYRretbEI www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHqmP2T1Le0 www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE2r1uy3DFY www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBtwF5E1iwg

Friday June 11th - week in review (part 1)

2010-06-11T16:31:00.021-04:00

Hi all !

June 7th - 11th brought us 5 new dogs and 7 birthdays.

On Wed we welcomed Layla (2 yr old puggle)and Gidget (3 year old Jack Russell/Beagle).

Layla was shy at first with both our pack leaders and the other dogs but by the end of her first day she was comfortable with the people and that's the first step. We look forward to her continued progress. Gidget was in the large room with the whole pack within the first hour she was in the building.

Thurs we welcomed Cooper K (1-1/2 year old golden). Cooper......well, Cooper was a typical Golden. He had no problems at all and fit into the pack like he had been here all his life.

On Friday in our littles room we welcomed Holly (1-1/2 yr old Bichon) sister of Katie the Sheltie

and Daisy (13 week old Shih Tzu) sister of Rosie. Both were happy to have siblings in the room with them to show them the ropes.

Birthdays this week :

Gracie (Greater Swiss Mountain Dog turned 2 along with her brother Pax (Hound Mix) who turned 1.

Timber (Eurasier) turned 4 years old

Dublin (Golden) turned 5 years old

Nemo (Corgi) turned 2 years old

Samantha (Aussie) who hasn't been here for a while due to an agility injury, came back for her birthday this week. She turns 5 years old

Katie P. (Sheltie) turns 3 next week but we celebrated today

Since the sun finally decided to come out today, we brought out the agility equipment for the first time this year. The littles were not too impressed but the big group had alot of fun both in the tunnel outside and on the jumps. Enjoy the pics above and the videos below.

One more special note from the week :

Dozer, our rescue Great Dane came back on Monday this week bouncing back from a couple of near death experiences. He is recuperating in my office for another week or 2 but he is strong and looking great and is just about back to normal. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts, prayers and concern about Dozer. As many of you know it was a special project of mine to get

Dozer away from his past situations and into a loving home and get him healthy and happy.

He has just that in his home with Caesar (Mastiff) and Maddy (Poodle) and of course his wonderful new mom Joni. Hopefully we have past our last hurdle health wise and Dozer will now be able to live the long healthy life he deserves.

Everybody have a happy healthy weekend and we'll see you next week to do this all again !

That's it for now ..........Ann & Zoe

1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmpIuSc-sQ

2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-eeWIWDQhk

3) www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6sVQI8UQVQ

4) www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq2yKLvNBYo

Weeks pics in review - "Daycare Buddies"

2010-06-04T10:59:00.008-04:00

Pictures from the week.

A week in review

2010-06-03T15:22:00.003-04:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial day. The weather was perfect and all of us here had some much needed time off. I apologize for the blog not being updated. There has been so much not so good stuff going on here behind the scenes that it has been difficult to find the time. In addition we have been trying some new technological things with the blog (which of course is not working) So please be patient. Besides the tech problems in trying to improve the blog, we came back this week to more disturbing news regarding our extended dog family, as well as employee shake-ups and drama. Within the next few months some employees will be going, some will be staying, and some are undecided about their futures. Not to worry on that front. Our core group remains unchanged and the care your dog receives will be the same Canines Unleashed standard as always. I will see to that myself. As far as the dogs go, we lost another family member with the death of Kobi the 8 yr old Great Dane of Jolee and Mark. Kobi has been a Canines Unleashed family member since 2003. She had a difficult life first living with Wobblers Disease and toward the end Bone Cancer but through it all managed to have a good life too thanks to Jolee and Mark. We all loved Kobi and will miss her terribly. It seems that now that we are in our 8th year, we are having to say good bye way too often to some of our best friends and the frequency to which it has been happening in the past few months have taken a toll on each one of us. Although we know it is inevitable we have not had an easy spring here as far as deaths are concerned and are hoping for a summer drought in that respect. We also found out that Dozer (5 year Old great Dane) who has been sick on and off for weeks and even close to death a few times had another near brush with death over the weekend. He was rushed to the emergency clinic once again. This time he bloated. Great Danes are the number one breed for bloat. There is usually only a small window of opportunity when this happens to get to a doctor in time and undergo surgery to untwist the stomach before the oxygen supply is totally gone and the dog dies. And even if they get to the surgeon in time an overwhelming amount of dogs don't make it through surgery. Thanks to quick thinking and action by Dozer's mom Joni, he underwent emergency surgery and is once again on the mend. This time we hope for good. Although it was major major surgery, we expect him to be back here bouncing around in a few weeks. Okay Dozer, we'll settle for "walking around" at this point. Just get strong and well and come back to us buddy cause we all miss you. To end the week on a good note, today alone we had 4 new dogs and 3 birthdays. We welcome Rosie and Duffy (Westies) , Moose (brindle pit mix) and Kuma (black Lab). Happy Birthday to Tyson R(7 yrs old), Lucie P (3 yrs old) and Shadow P (4 yrs old) I will try to post a couple of pictures from this week tomorrow. Thanks again for your patience during this trying week. Why do the shortest work weeks seem to last the longest ?

Happy Birthday!

2010-05-27T17:21:00.004-04:00

Hi Everybody! It's Zoe! I know we don't usually have two posts in one day, but I just wanted to wish my favorite human a Happy Birthday.

You all know her as Ann, but I call her Mommy. I just want to say thank you for all that you have done for me over the years. You are the best Mom ever. Who else would have created a playcare just for me?

On behalf of myself, Ziggy, Dallas, and Doppio, we just want to say Happy Birthday and We Love You!

Love and Licks

Zoe

Wed - 5/26

2010-05-27T06:49:00.015-04:00

Hi All 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50zw7Q5sgpI 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWrBvXkhJe0 3-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqgRI24z2b4

Monday - Dozer's Back !

2010-05-24T12:01:00.012-04:00

Hi All !

Today is Monday and we have 70 dogs.

We would like to welcome Jake (cockapoo) to our Canines Unleashed family. Jake turned 1 year old last month and started out with the big kids today. He is doing so well that he is already in with the big pack and having a good time. Welcome Jake ! (see pic #1)

Today, even with the relatively low number of dogs, we happen to have 7 boxers with us so we decided to proclaim it "Boxer Day" and try to get them together and take a picture. This was no small feat because, as some of you boxer owner's know, they have alot of energy and the attention span of a grain of sand. We tried to do it on the equipment outside but couldn't get more than 5 at a time before boxers 6 and 7 would leave out of boredom. (see picture #2) SO we went inside and after trying for quite a while Jill, Amanda, and Lindsey finally accomplished the impossible and got all 7 together. They are not all looking the same way but just to have them in the same shot was a major accomplishment (see pic #3) they are from left to right on the couch ; Sherman, Ricky, Cal, Otis --- on floor left to right: Henry A., Shockey, & Harley.

Good job Girls !

As most of you know last Monday was a very trying time for all of us. Besides the untimely death of our beloved Riley Eck and a few other things that I won't bring up again, we also had gotten the news that Dozer (Great Dane)who had been mysteriously sick for about 10 days now had taken a turn for the worst and was gravely ill. It was touch and go for a while and we weren't even sure he was going to make it. It is with great elation that I announce that Dozer has not only made a miraculous recovery but has already returned to us today at Canines Unleashed (See pics #4-#7 ). I can't tell you what seeing him did to me. I grabbed him and kissed him and wouldn't let go. He just wanted me to leave him alone and go back and play with his friends which I reluctantly let him do but at naptime he lay in my office and I can't tell you how happy it made me just to watch him sleep.

For those of you who don't know Dozers story, he spent the first 2 years of his life locked in a bathroom and beaten with a belt. The people that rescued him from that situation didn't really know too much about danes (they had 2 other dogs) and he never really fit in with them. They decided after 2 1/2 years of the other dogs beating him up and him being a sort of outcast in the home to give him up on Craigslist which is where I found him and decided to rescue him and find him a good home. When he came to me he had lost over 30 lbs in the last year alone. He was just skin and bones and had a hole in his leg that the previous owners said was from him chewing on himself for the past 2 years out of boredom, and he did alot of shaking almost like a constant shiver. You could actually see right through to the bone and tissue in the hole in his leg. Despite all he had been through he had the sweetest disposition. And when he leaned on me and looked up at me with those deep set eyes I knew all he wanted was for me to love him and keep him safe. I took him to the vet and gave him good food, some antibiotics for the hole in the leg that was infected, and lots of love and he was on his way. One more hurdle to over come was that he was afraid of other dogs. He also , at 5 years old, didn't even know how to play with toys or what to do with a bone. He was fine with my 4 dogs at home although he never left my side to be with or play with them but the daycare terrified him. Little by little he got used to it and one day we turned around and he was actually playing with the dogs. I was so happy that day at his breakthrough. He now loved coming to the daycare and was truly a different dog than the one I took in. During this time he gained over 30 lbs, his leg was doing much better and the shaking mostly stopped except in times of stress. Where he was sad and timid before he was now gaining confidence and starting to open up and even carry himself differently. But mostly it was evident that he was happy! The staff here and all the customers fell in love with him and soon there was a waiting list of people who wanted him. At the top of the list was Joan Mitchell who already had 2 dogs coming here --Maddy (standard Poodle) and Caesar (English Mastiff). After a brief adjustment period it was clear that Dozer had finally found his "forever" home. Which is why we were all so devistated that after coming so far and finally finding the kind of home he had wanted for 5 long years and also after being in that happy home for only a matter of months that Dozer became so gravely ill.

So he's back and getting stronger everyday but best of all he has that twinkle in his eyes back

and so does Joan. Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes. Sometimes there is a happy ending.

That's all for now

Ann and Zoe

Friday Pool Fun

2010-05-22T09:34:00.004-04:00

I thought the pictures could speak

for themselves today. Double click the arrow above

Enjoy !

Thursday - pool day

2010-05-20T16:24:00.001-04:00

Today is Thursday. We had 101 dogs. We welcome Shadow a Golden/Husky mix to our C.U family. (see Picture)

Shadow will be 4 years old in June and came for just 1/2 a day to try it out and although he was pretty shy he did make it into the big room and we hope we'll see him again soon. We decided it was kind of muggy so we would bring out the pools. For some of the young ones this is the first time they have been introduced to water. The "littles" were not very impressed and some in the large group decided they would rather stay inside but the group that did go out in the big yard had a blast in both the pools and the sprinkler. We have many videos today so I'll let them speak for themselves. ENJOY !

1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEG_-7jGXoU - Sprinkler -

2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=py959Dq-9Mw - Sprinkler 2 -

3) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf4vhUb5Gr8 - Big Yard Pool

4) www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXY8W8bc6ak - Big Yard Pool 2

5) www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJO_q3TX40M - "Littles" Pool

6) www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVBJo5Y5Igg - "Littles" Pool 2

That's it for now Ann and Zoe

Wednesday

2010-05-19T18:06:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! Everyone was really tired today after our big day yesterday and our emotional day on Monday. Sometimes the highs and the lows can be so exhausting. It's only Wednesday and it seems this week has already been 2 weeks long. And even though we had 106 yesterday and only 94 today (did I say Only ?) todays dogs didn't even skip a beat and gave us another run for our money. They were absolutely crazy....... mostly in a good way. Lucy T (Old English Sheepdog mix) graduated from the littles to a small group of larger puppies and did great. It's kind of like in baseball being called up from Double A to the Triple A team but not yet ready for the Majors. Wow ! I am so not into sports and I don't know how this stuff is coming out of my mouth and into the blog ! Last but not least happy 1st Birthday to Enzo the cockapoo. Hope you had a great day Enzo ! Our videos today are of 2 of our smaller groups. The larger puppy group wich Lucy joined today and the group of adults that for various reasons could not have free access in the yard today so they had a rambunctious play group indoors and we filmed a little bit of it. Enjoy ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev51nzTnx30 www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKUKqTVi3QY www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEjNP3jxtHo www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN1ikdsQB40 That's it for now. Ann and Zoe

Busy Busy Tuesday

2010-05-18T17:51:00.000-04:00

Hi All !

We had so much going on today (Tuesday)

Let me first back up to Monday and welcome Otis

(Boxer- see 1st pic picture above) to our Canines Unleashed family. After meeting only 1 dog Otis decided he wanted to go straight into the large pack, which he did within about 30 seconds of entering Canines Unleashed, and he never looked back. Rarely do we see a dog with such never ending exuberance for life even when faced with a pack of over 100 dogs. He wasn't intimidated in the least. He just saw it as an opportunity to make

100 new friends. We expect Otis to be a very entertaining part of our family.

Back to Tuesday. Today (Tuesday) we had a special guest for the day. Peter Chen, a photographer from the Post Standard, was with us for the entire day. (See Pic #2) He was one

of the few guests that has been through pretty much every aspect of what we do in a day (Although he didn't stay after closing to help clean--what's up with that Peter ?) Peter was also one of the only people brave enough to do it entirely in the pack with the dogs. Sometimes when

we have a guest it upsets the balance of the pack and we have to work harder to keep everything under control but Peter was as relaxed in the pack as if he did this every day and the dogs were so well behaved and I think they were happy to have someone new to look at for a change. Hahahah! Seriously though, we had a great time with you Peter. We hope you enjoyed it too. Stay tuned for info on when to see us in the Post Standard.

While Peter was snapping pictures, three of our "Young Ones Pack" (Satchel, Mario, and Bently)

didn't even seem to notice he was there. When these guys are together they are always in their own little world and fun is the name of the game. See pictures #3 & #4.

And finally, we are happy to announce that Minnie the great Dane (pic #4 above) has made a breakthrough and has joined our big pack today. Minnie came to us as a very shy dog afraid of other dogs. She has spent the last few weeks in small packs of dogs just learning that Canines Unleashed is a fun place and other dogs are not necessarily something to be feared. It was a hard road for Minnie. The first day she was in a pack of only 5 dogs and she was scared, nervous, and uncomfortable the whole time. We slowly moved a few more carefully selected dogs into her pack each time she came and today she moved through the big pack with the knowledge that we had her back, nothing bad was going to happen to her here, and Canines Unleashed was a fun place. Nothing is more rewarding than to know we have made a difference in a dogs life. That is what we are here for. Whether it's to help a dog gain confidence and get over some of their fears, to help find a dog a forever home, or just to watch them have fun and happily be a dog. That is what Canines Unleashed is all about .

Monday we had bad news about some of our daycare dogs it seemed almost all day long. From gravely ill, to someone moving , to even a death. We had heavy hearts and there was a gloom over the daycare. It made me, and I'm sure some of my staff, wonder if we could really do this job and over and over again go through the end of the inevitable short lives of these "friends" that we love so much. But then today, in my mind partly because she knew we needed a boost, Minnie makes an unexpected breakthrough and we again feel like we made a difference in her life and what we do here really does matter. And as the other dogs, who also feel our pain, gather round each of us for much needed kisses we have a really great day and they once again give us the strength to start to get over yet another loss and show "US" for a change

what Canines Unleashed is all about.

That's it for now

Ann and Zoe

Monday 5/17

2010-05-17T17:12:00.000-04:00

Hi All,

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of one of our long time C.U. Family members, Riley Eck. Riley was an 8 year old shepard/husky mix who has been coming to Canines Unleashed for over 6 years. He was such a happy dog and always seemed to have a smile on his face to go along with his wagging tail. We all love you and will miss you Riley Boy!

Friday and Saturday 5/14 - 5/15

2010-05-15T20:13:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! Friday was quite a busy day around here. Along with the 100 dogs we had today we also had 2 new dogs, 4 Birthdays, 2 tours and an evaluation. Needless to say there was no time for friday videos. The new dogs were Sadie, a 4 month old Corgi, and Brownie a 10 month old puggle. They both were additions to the "Littles" group (at least for now). Sadie was a little spitfire and jumped right into the playgroup while Brownie prefered to sit back and watch for a bit before she ventured in. Both dogs came back for their 2nd day today (Saturday) Happy Birthday to Ollie and Jabba both 1 year old and Max P and Caleb. Speaking of Saturday, we had quite an active group today so we decided to let the saturday moms and dads see what a playgroup is like on a saturday video. We had 15 dogs today. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_537GjYZBI www.youtube.com/watch?v=T28PgIJoEIs

Thursday 5/13

2010-05-13T13:46:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! Today was a great day. We not only got to play outside but inside we got our bubble machine going. The dogs always love it when the bubbles come out. Today in our littles room we had Bentley N. (Biewer Terrier) in for his first day at Canines Unleashed (see Picture Left). Bentley just had his first Birthday on 5/3. We welcome him to our "Littles" family. I actually got the videos up pretty easily today. I still don't have any idea what happened on Friday. I apologize again for those missing videos. Some days you got it and some days you just shouldn't even get out of bed !!!! That's it for now. Enjoy todays videos "Littles" - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm3OsjnG4RI "Bubbles" - www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnndCFOEDa4 "Outside Play" - www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzUHd1gSFBM Ann & Zoe

Mon - Wed

2010-05-12T12:15:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! Well I tried all weekend and couldn't get our Friday videos up onto the blog so I give up on those. To recap the week so far: Monday we had 82 dogs Tuesday we had 105 dogs Today (Wed) we had 88 dogs Happy 4th birthday to Molly Ross (Golden Doodle) Happy 1st Birthday to Charlie (Great Dane) It has been a pretty uneventful week so far. The rain and the cold has again dampened our spirits around here but just when we think we can't stand it anymore someone senses we are at the end of our rope and plants a big wet kiss on us and makes all things possible again ! Most people don't have a job like that........without a harassment suit!!!! HAhahahah! Thats it for now. Ann & Zoe

Friday - Happy Mothers day !

2010-05-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! Today is Friday May 7th and we had 102 dogs. Happy Birthday to Teddy D. We at Canines Unleashed would like to wish everyone a very happy Mothers day ! For some reason these links are not working right now. I will keep trying to fix them and delete this message if I am successful. 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?=PXg9b-MS00O 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?=I4PawAVUI04

lazy Thursday

2010-05-06T15:03:00.000-04:00

Hi All Not much out of the ordinary happening today. You would never know there are 100 dogs here. Mostly everyone is just hanging out today. Not alot of running not alot of noise. Just a real mellow day.

The only 2 that will not stop are Carmelo and Atlas (Husky puppies). They have been inseparable today and non stop playing. They even went so far as to take a nap together. At first we didn't think that would work but soon after lights out they were in each others arms fast asleep. As soon as the lights came on they were at it again. Thats what a power nap will do for you. (See Carmelo and Atlas above)

Happy Birthday to Rudy (Beagle) and Daisy G (Black & White mix) both 2 years old.

Tuesday and Wednsday

2010-05-05T13:59:00.001-04:00

Hi All ! Tuesday we spent a few hours in the dark during the thunderstorms and for a while after. See 1st photo of Guinness (chocolate lab) trying to hide under the desk in the office thinking it was the apocalypse. There was no fence, wall or door that could contain him while the "sky was falling down" so I let him stay in my office. Everybody knows if your head is hidden then no one can see the rest of you !! Hahahah! There were 102 dogs on Tuesday. Happy Cinco de Mayo (Wed) Today the sun is shining. We have 93 dogs including quite a few "littles" .

Brody (Cairn Terrier) decided he wanted to sit in the chair that Jack (pug) was already sitting in (picture #2 above) even though there was an identical chair right next to them that was empty.

All the littles had a great time today both in their yard and inside in the tunnel (see video). www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQL7D6Wdwzk A very Happy Birthday to Beatrice (Ridgeback) . Beatrice and mom (Helen) are long time customers of Canines Unleashed from way back in the old building. If my paperwork is right Beatrice is 11 years old. That is so hard to believe because she looks and acts like a much younger dog.

But then again Beatrice I look only 29 Right ?...........Hahaha!

Monday 5/3

2010-05-03T13:37:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! Zoe here. My mom is taking the day off and she gave me full control of the blog today. Well the Fingerlakes SPCA show was yesterday (Sunday) in Skaneateles. It is the first time Mom and I haven't done it together in over 6 years. Mom says I'm getting older and I have to slow down and retire. She says the shows are just too much for me now but sometimes I think it's her that's getting older and can't do the shows. We probably will never see eye to eye on that one but hey don't bite the hand that feeds you right. I think that also goes for getting her mad. Heh heh heh. Amy and Amanda were at the show in our place. I wonder which one was standing in for Mom and which one was standing in for me........anyway they told me some of my friends from Canines Unleashed came out to see them including Emmitt, Brody and Riley, Ms Martha, Delia, Drew, and Tator. (see pics above) Paxton also came out to visit but Amy told me that she lost power in the camera as she was taking his picture so we apologize to Pax's mom and Dad for no picture but Pax was there as well. Despite the constant threat of showers, I hear a good time was had by all. A special thanks to those that stopped by. Today (Monday) we had 82 dogs. We would like to welcome Lily C. (Havenese)(See Picture above) to our Canines Unleashed family and our "littles" pack. Lily fit right in on her first day here. Before mornings end she was playing and having a ball like she had always come here. Well, thats it for now. It's time for my beauty rest. Have a GRRRReat Day !

licks and love---------Zoe

Friday - April 30th

2010-04-30T13:18:00.000-04:00

Hi All !

Today we have 105 dogs. We would like to shout out a very happy 1st Birthday to Monte the Beagle. Monte has gone through a lot in his very young life including abuse and a dog bite that left a large scar on the top of his head. His mother and 9 siblings were rescued from Tennesee and brought here to Manlius. When he came to us in February he was very very shy and just sat in the littles room and watched the other dogs. Monte now, in 2 short months,is a different dog. He plays with everyone in the littles room and comes up to every one of our staff members to greet and kiss them. His life has drastically changed for the better. He now knows that people and other animals can be fun but most of all he has learned what love is. He adores his parents and his new home and they adore him. Despite his rough start in life he is as sweet as any dog could be and we wish him a very Happy Birthday and many more to come.

Amy and Amanda will have a booth at the FLSPCA walk in Skaneateles this Sunday.

Lots of booths and fun things to do besides the walk. If it rains don't worry. They have a nice big indoor pavillion to keep everyone dry while they shop.

Take the dog and go see them and say Hi !

For info go to

http://www.flspca.org/

Thanks for another great week at Canines Unleashed and have a wonderful weekend !

Ann and Zoe

Thursday

2010-04-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

Thursday brought us 100 dogs. Happy Birthday to Mia D. (Boxer) 2 years Old We welcome back Koala (Keeshond) who hasn't been here yet this year.

Wed Videos

2010-04-29T11:20:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! Wed was another High energy day. With 99 dogs that felt like 150. Maybe thats because there were alot of body slammer danes here. ("Duke of Earle", Doppio, Dallas, Dozer, Zoe F, and Ziggy) Another reason it seemed like 150 dogs yesterday was because MoJo was here. Mister MoJo is a Basset hound mix. He is small in stature but big on fun. Mojo loves everyone and everyone loves to play with Mojo. Usually it's one at a time but at one point, Mojo had the entire room chasing him at once. I tried to get a video but the battery on the camera was dead. (figures right ?) In our littles room it was only day 2 for Lucy T. (English Sheepdog Mix). On her first day she was a little shy in the beginning and warmed up nicely by the end of the day but yesterday she started playing right away and I do believe she played with every single dog in that room. She learned very fast how much fun we have here although she doesn't quite know why someone always has a camera in their hand. Wait till Halloween and Christmas Lucy. You ain't seen nothin' yet !! Hahahaha! Happy Birthday to Stella (Goldendoodle) 3 years old. Welcome to Jazzy (Maltipoo) who had his first day yesterday (Tues). I will have the videos up soon. I took them home last night to upload and in the middle of uploading my cable (Internet) went out. Not my best week this week but I'm trying. 1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxYWjohCn60 2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=54vLt77nujE 3) www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdeKCyNO4YQ 4) www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc89b9FaBn4

Monday 4/26

2010-04-26T14:49:00.000-04:00

Hi All ! I'm not doing too great at posting the videos. It's going to be impossible to post videos everyday. It just takes too long and I'm not getting anything else done. I will have to scatter the days the videos are taken so hopefully everyone gets to be seen at some point. I do have videos from today but I am still posting fridays right now so bear with me. Today is kind of a gloomy Monday. We had 82 dogs (normal for Mondays). We opened up the entire facility for them (except for the littles part) and they had access to the back yard as well. As you will be able to see on the videos, Harley and Sherman (boxers) seemed to have the most fun today. They tried every ball we had in the place and enjoyed playing with each and every one of them. On one of the videos we were outside in the yard when sirens went by. Everyone started to bark and howl at that point. The high pitched squeal you hear is Roy (the Bichon) joined by Henderson (Chocolate lab) and Dozer (Great Dane). This happens everytime the sirens go by in the summer. Its very entertaining (unless you happen to be our neighbors!!!!! ) Hahahah! I'll get the videos loaded as soon as I can. 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X-oS5IZUcU 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEaehSCdxlw 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hipR4jQWqKg 4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY49KEow3ac 5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqGIbPEoghY 6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBTqB3k950Q Just want it noted that after a week and a half for the first time I finally got the videos posted on the same day they were taken. Okay so its 9:45 pm........it's still the same day !!!! I'm going to bed now.

Friday

2010-04-23T16:28:00.000-04:00

Hi Gang - I spent all day Sailing ( Garage sale-ing) Looking for crib mattresses. I scored 2 for the daycare but we need many more. If any of you have any that you are not using or see any used ones for sale please bring them to us. We will barter for a free day or pay you direct if you prefer. We had 104 dogs today. Cosmo and Blue (Weimaraner brothers) came back to play with us. We haven't seen them in over a year so that was a nice surprise. It was Lucy T.'s first day today. (see picture above) . She was in our "Littles" pack. She was shy at first but ended up finding a friend in Nalah (Japanese chin) and who doesn't have fun when Nalah's around ????? Amy took some video's while I was sailing. Check back this weekend and I'll hopefully have the links. Till then have a great weekend and we'll see you back on Monday.

1 ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N36GvbwDC74

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMx5IvJeUIs

3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTRyRmz-4LA

4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rATQxF1x4bE

5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouHDW6pbXk4

6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex8d9jmAbLI

Yesterdays videos

2010-04-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

Okay I finally figured it out. Wednesdays videos are now being uploaded. There should be 4 videos below to click on by the end of the day. Enjoy ! 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWuCfSdil0c 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_lelyol2JU 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpIYCFs2NLQ 4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGoDjLC_kg4 Today (Thursday) we had 97 dogs. Happy Birthday to Riley G. (black Cockapoo) 5 years Old.

No videos yet

2010-04-21T12:07:00.000-04:00

Well its wednesday April 21st. Today we have 97 dogs. It's a wild, fun group today so I thought why not shoot some videos of the 4 different playgroups that we have going. It seemed good in theory but it proved to be more than I can handle at the present time. It is now 12:15 pm and the videos were shot pretty easily with my new Flip Cam that I bought exclusively for this purpose. However, I have tried everything, wasted all of my morning on this, and still cannot figure out why the movies won't upload. I even tried to upload them to youtube and I can't do that either for some reason. Maybe someday I can figure it out but obviously not today. Sorry. Sometimes I think people over 50 should not try new technological things. Well today is my baby Doppio's first Birthday. He is such a big boy (120#'s and still growing). I miss having a little puppy but since he is Dane #4 I will refrain from going out and getting another. I'm sure my husband will be happy about that. Speaking of Birthdays, happy 2nd birthday to Schmutzie (black labradoodle). Please send thoughts and prayers out to Jezzabelle the bloodhound who underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor yesterday. That's it for today. I'll keep trying on the videos but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. Have a good day !

Sunny Tuesday

2010-04-20T15:07:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone. Today is Tuesday Apr 20th. It's sunny and warm and the dogs are just loving this weather. For those of you who are keeping track we had 104 dogs today. 26 littles (our name for small dogs) . In that group of littles we welcome Jewel (see picture above in blue chair). Jewel is a 10 month old Corgi / King Charles Spaniel Mix. As you can tell by the picture, she's a real cutie.

On the extra large size today we have 7 Great Danes, an English Mastiff, a Great Pyrenees, and Corona our resident Saint Bernard and Sargent at Arms. If there is any problem in the pack it apparently is Corona's job to take care of it quickly and efficiently. She was self appointed but it works so she has kept the position for 6 years now.

Our youngest puppy pack of Mario (yellow lab) , Bentley (boxer mix) and Bozley (great dane) have now moved into the large playgroup. Bozley is not here today but when he is, although he can certainly keep up with the other two when he wants to, he is pretty laid back as most Danes are but look out for Mario and Bentley. Both are here today and having a ball. They may appear small compared to the others in the large group but don't underestimate them for a minute. They are both a force to be reckoned with. I wouldn't be surprised if either of them rose to the top of the pack when they get older. They are only 4-5 months old but they make up for their age in shear determination to get everything out of life that they can. Carmelo (husky) and Riley (black lab mix) are also a part of this pack and are also in the big playgroup now.

I got a message this week from "Asa" the Leonberger. Long time customers from the other building will remember Asa. He and his mom moved to Italy about 5 years ago. Both are doing well and promise they are moving back home.....Someday.

Well, that's it for now. Please don't forget that we welcome your comments on this blog and if your dog is computer literate, like Zoe, we welcome his or her comments from their day at Canines Unleashed as well.

Ann & Zoe

Slow Monday

2010-04-19T14:29:00.000-04:00

Today is Monday April 19th. Taxes are finally done and there is nothing left to do but wait for the warmer weather. Only 75 dogs today because it is spring break for alot of schools. I know it seems ridiculous to say only 75 dogs but really it almost seems empty. hahaha! I would like to welcome Gabe today as the newest member of our Canines Unleashed family. Gabe is a Weimaraner. (See photo) He will be 1 year old this week. He had a great day today. Hopefully the first of many fun filled days ahead. Happy Birthday to Sasha & Sabrina. They are littermates (Springer Spaniel/ Sussex Spaniel mixes) and they are 1 year Old.