River Had A Sleep over

A wonderful fun filled active 3 days. We sure had fun! River is a very active little girl! Just as smart as a whip, full of pi** and vinegar, and eager to learn!
When she was here we had a mixture of dry sunny days and snowy blowing days. We even thought Spring had sprung, the ground was thawing, leaving yucky water pools everywhere. Fun to run and jump through but oh so messy.  Im sure her mom and dad had to give her a bath when she returned home. 
Just when the yard was starting to dry up, BAM, the very next day blizzard! Snow all over again. It didnt deter River from wanting to play outside. She ran and frolicked just like a puppy should.
Oh puppies, oh puppies!  Remind me again when they start to calm?  She did a great job reminding me to pick everything up and move things out of her reach.  The nice part was she brought everything to me and said,"Hey Lady, look what I found." Is it for me?" Oh how I laughed.  Slippers, gloves, toques, spare mats, dog brushes and pencils!  Well okay the pencil was in bits. Oh my I learned too.

Hey Lady? What's over there?

She ran circles around the other dogs and begged for their attention. Every minute of every day. Princess MollyDawg did her very, very best to make her listen. Lady May displayed her many attitudes. She stays in a defensive mode and will not be played with until she feels confident. She snarled and growled and pushed her away many times. I could see the look in her eyes when River walked (read ran) into the room. "Oh bother, here she comes again. Brace yourself!"

Royal K9 Korner has a few routine nap times, 10 am, 3 pm and again after dinner 7 pm. The first time we had to show River it was nap time by putting her in the crate. Everybody went to sleep and so did she. By the 3 pm naptime River already knew or was tired enough to get it. 

Day 1 10 am naptime

She simply chose a mat and curled up all by herself. What a good and smart little girl she is. It didn't take her long to figure out, we were going to have ALOT of outside play time. She ran and chased and jumped as much as she wanted. She was even polite when we practiced some leash skills and some recall.  She's still learning to be patient with the older dogs who dont have the same energy level as she does. That will come. 1 year olds cant be expected to know everything right off for heavens sake.

When it was bedtime she curled up beside our bed with the others. We placed the safety gate around her bed to prevent any sneaking at night. She certainly didnt need it. She slept like a baby all night long. When the others woke for there morning piddle we had to wake Little River.
It didnt take her long to realize this was a short playtime and the day hadnt actually started. It was back to sleep for a few hours before breakie. She eagerly complied and fell fast asleep again. She has wonderful manners at eating time. She makes perfect eye contact and sits politely until she's given the eat signal. 

Fast asleep all night long

Friday was a vet day for the Royals so River was able to come along for the ride with us.  All the dogs are seat-belted in and River is no exception. She watched out the window for awhile then just curled up and slept the entire way.  What a calm little traveler she is.

Are we there yet?

Wake me when we get there please

Waiting patiently for dinner

 River learned alot of house rules as well as outside rules this visit. We know it wont take her long to remember them on her next visit.
She is more than welcome to visit us again any time at all.
Check out her photos soon to be loaded in our Facebook album here. Royal K9 Korner Photos/River

The Boys Meet The Girls

The introductions  this weekend involved our girls Princess MollyDawg and Lady May allowing Lil Molly a chance to meet the boys, Dax and Andre. We wanted them to feel comfortable and accepted into our pack.
We had quite the afternoon and evening on Friday and Saturday morning.  They were full of finding rank and jostling for position.  Oh my! They never sat still for a minute.  Well that's not entirely true. Sunday was definitely more laid back.

At first everyone pretty much stayed in their own space

We did our usual one on one meets. With five dogs that takes a bit of time. We also spent lots of time going in the house and coming outside to get used to the feel of it.  We continued until it was too dark to play outside.

By the evening I was able to actually drop the leads and let them interact more normally. Everyone was finding their position and feeling more confident within the pack. It was Andre who surprised me. He took a little bit longer to warm up to the girls. He was not ready to have any stinky girls pestering him.  Lil Molly, who tends to be pretty persistent,  really only wanted to make friends and check him out.  He just said, "No, not right now!" So off she sulked. She was only here over night, which turned out to be just the right amount of time for an opportunity to meet the boys. The next meeting will be more,"Oh, hi I remember you!"

Lil Molly decided her safe place was in the crate

Of course as usual Dax had a field day deciding which toys had the best stuffing. While Mr. dignified Andre, watched in disbelief. 

Dax didn't even stop playing long enough to eat. He did a quick buzz past the food and right back to the toys. After dinner we set the boy's crates in the living room to make them feel more at home. Just in case they decided they wanted to nap. 

Dax took a sniff and decided it was still play time. The girls on the other hand had themselves buried up to their shoulders checking them out. I swear if they could fit ....
Of course I didn't get a picture of that. ((sigh))

We kept our separator gate up for the evening so Dax could romp and play. They still didn't know that after dinner is quiet time. Lady May was not impressed with toys going flying through the air at her.  Everyone else was quietly snuggled on a mat or a crate. Even Andre was starting to crash. 

What's for dinner? Ok, later then.

What stuffing??

Ya, but I don't have to go to bed yet. Right Lady?

"Shouldn't my brother be resting now, Lady?"

... and he did rest. He settled right down beside Andre and fell fast asleep. 

Shhhh. Don't wake him.

 Now we are very rule oriented here. No dogs are allowed on any beds or furniture. Especially new comers. Certainly not without being invited. We are the pack leaders and that has to be well established.  Just because you're so bloody cute does not mean you're going to get invited up on my lap any quicker than anyone else around here. So make sure you remember that.

Ya ya ya! I know, they got an invitation on the very first night. So sue me. 

That night they slept in their crates beside the bed. They were as quiet as mice.  From time to time I could hear little Dax wagging his tail, and hoped it was happy dreams and not anxiety. It took all my control to leave them snuggled up in their crates.  Their mommy told me this is where they are most comfortable sleeping.
Now I don't usually break mommy and daddy's rules. However, after all, this IS ROYAL K 9 Korner. and the next night I just couldn't let them stay in their crate.
So they joined the pack around our bed and slept with out a single peep. They slept so soundly, when the girls woke me up the next morning to go out, I had to wake the sleepy boys to come join us. Awww too cute! 

Just to ensure their safety, I put the gate up around their bed. 

We woke up to fresh snow on Sunday morning, and the temperature had dropped. Everyone went without a lead and did their business like they'd been in our pack forever. They had full run of the yard and interacted very well. There was no hesitation heading back indoors.  We went out again before day light.  Princess MollyDawg was asking and generally when one asks, everyone wants go. Well this was just not what the boys wanted at all.    They didn't even stop to take a breath let alone do a quick piddle. They just bolted from the back door to the front door in a split second. I laughed so hard.  They were having no part of a second onslaught of this winter stuff this early in the morning. 

Later in the day there was lots of time to play in the snow. Little Andre loves running and chasing the ball. The cooler temp did not bother him one bit.  Little Dax could only play a short while then he headed right back indoors. I left the back door open for him. He would dash out to us in the yard do a couple of quick zoomies around the yard and BOLT right back into the house. Just enough to say, "Hey Lady! Look at me Im outside!" At one point I tucked him inside my coat just so he could join us for some fresh air.  We saw lots of the cute behaviors from Little Dax. he was forever after Lady May. "Hey! Im a boy how come you don't love me? I even saw someone say, "I'm a boy and therefore you must kneel to me regardless of rank." "Oh ya!?" said someone else, "Royalty over rides rank buddy! Back off"
There was lots of learning this weekend.  I'll be uploading pictures and videos soon. Watch for them on Facebook 

Dax- "I promise, I only want to cuddle"

"Oh and my brother wants to share your mat as well."

Once they'd had their 5 min snooze they were back up and at 'em all over again. I'll have to purchase a second small ball for these guys. One just isn't enough. We have loads of various sized ones here. Apparently only one that is just the right size.

These little fellas are welcome back any time at all. Even daddy fell in love with them. An invitation to snuggle with Daddy says alot!

We hope you visit again soon boys. 

Who is Lil Molly?

I thought everybody knew who Lil Molly is. Some people have asked.  She's the visitor who's been here the longest. Way before we changed our name to Royal K9Korner Daycare. Her and her sister Lily first started visiting way back when they were wee pups.
They were the puppy's that showed us how well King played/protected and cared for little ones. Lily moved away at an early age but Lil Molly has stayed in town.

Lil Molly 2009

King and Lily 2009

Lil Molly is now nearly 9 yrs old. She is a solid member of our extended pack and all the dogs who visit here must also eventually meet and get along with "our" Lil Molly. She spends many of her weekends and holidays with us. This link will take you to view an 2011 Happy Easter video  She knows the ropes and rules, even though she tries to break every one of them, every visit.  She is one of the reasons I make sure to get enough sleep at night. This little girl is not slowing down, even though she's starting to get a bit long in the tooth. Her energy and eagerness to play ball are endless. This video is 2 years old but her energy has stayed the same.
5 Dogs enjoy play time at Royal K9 Korner



Lil Molly has learned that a visit with us may quite likely involve a photo shoot and dress up may very well be required. Since she has been with us since puppy-hood she really doesn't squabble about it.  She has no choice. It's do, or you get no cookies. Simple as that. No skin off my nose, and that means Princess MollyDawg gets more!

Lil Molly - "Wearing a bandana, this isnt so bad."
Princess MollyDawg - "Just wait, There's more to come!"

"Ooh, I see. But we get cookies right?"

"When do the cookies come?"

 Lil Molly was also the first to try out the outdoor bath. We now have hot and cold running water to make the baths more comfortable. What a difference it makes. No more having to haul buckets of hot water to fill up a kiddie pool. This year will bring an even better, completely modified bath station. I can't wait. Oh and Lil Molly will again be our test pilot.

Lil Molly - "Why is it always me to go first?"
Lady May - "How's the water buddy?"

Lady Mia, Squire Seven, Princess MollyDawg
and King celebrate King's rebirthday.
I don't know how Lil Molly escaped this weekend. 

"... but you caught me at Christmas. Oh brother"

Lil Molly decides on just the right rose to pick for
her mommy's birthday present

Halloween around here, Just you wait!

King always allowed whatever,
encouraged all to participate
and never complained

Little Squire Seven disguised
as a smurf dragon

So keep this in mind if any of your sweeties visit us on any special occasion. There's a pretty good chance they'll be subjected to a photo shoot. They will also sooner or later visit with Lil Molly.  I can already sense the need for a scheduled quiet time being a must. Oh good grief!

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