Finding a boarding place or Kennel outside Toronto ,,, Greet and Meet

Google...  Toronto dog boarding ... No
Google.... Markham dog boarding .... No
Google.... Oakville boarding....  No.
Google again... Toronto dog boarding and scroll down

That's interesting.  

We took Goldie up in Uxbridge (1 hour drive from Toronto downtown core)  We found a place where Goldie can run around in the farm area.  It's all fenced.  She can meet other big dogs and play whole day. But the business owner has to meet her first. It's so called Greet and Meet session.  I talked about it later.

What's Greet and Meet? For professionally run businesses, they would like to make sure your dog is healthy with up to date shot, not showing aggressive behavior to others.

We know Goldie is a big young girl. She is strong, she is young and she has a lot of energy.   And we only have her for a few months.  We are still not clear about her behavior under different circumstances.   Off leash park is totally different than the doggie camp.  That's because no every single dogs has their owners with them.

The good thing about this boarding place, they let their dogs out from the house one at a time.  So Goldie will not be overwhelmed with all the new dogs at the same time.    It was an interesting experience.  I never really met a Malamute dog before.  And they had one there.  It's very good looking big dog.  Damn! I forgot to take pictures.

We spent about 40 mins at the doggie camp/boarding place.  It's absolutely well managed.  They told us they would pair up dogs to sleep inside the same room which is stable-like. And if dogs love to crates, they are available too. It's heated floor (they claimed), I am not quite sure but CAD50/night on the weekend, the concrete floor better be heated in the winter.

At the end, we let Goldie stay there for one night.  Ouch!  that's what I sounded like when we paid the fee.  And she had a very good time.  Looking forward to bringing her there for a 2-week doggie vacation

Big dogs or small dogs are not the same

Most guys love big dogs.  They like their dogs as big as possible.   It seems strange to me for condo dwellers keeping big dogs at home including myself.  Being a dog person, I know big dogs need more food more exercise more space.   But for Great Dane owners, they would not agree me completely.  Great Dane are calm, mellow,  or lazy.  They are perfect for inactive owners.     Not to my surprise, Goldie loves GD.  It just like us walking up to 7 ft tall persons.   She looks like and would love to wrestle GD dogs. 

For a 7 months old GD, it is same size as Goldie.  Goldie is not small.  She is a 72 lbs girl.  GD dogs can outgrow easily and they become taller and bigger.   I would love to have one but Ratty said  the breed GD is a heart broken breed.  This breed doesn't live long.   Its sad.  For Goldie she is half Lab, she has Lab gene.  Lab will have hip problems when they age.  And she also has Husky gene. 
Same genetic hip problems will pass on to the next generation.  So now I know might have to carry here when she becomes older.  Big dogs are cool but hip problems are not avoidable

Recently I had a chat with my colleague. His big dog is having ligaments problem.  And he and his wife were debating if they should let the dog have the surgery.  For people never had any dogs, they wouldn't understand.  They would think it's a dog and its old. They would advise you to put it down.  For dog owners who live with their dogs day in and day out,  they want to keep their dogs as long as the dogs are eating and sleeping.  For me, goodness forbid, it's very painful for me to trap inside an immobile body if it happens to me.  Why would we want our beloved old dogs going through painful surgery and recovery.  That's most big dogs owners would need to make that decision at certain point.

For small dogs, I don't know how small dogs function.  If small dogs function like big dogs, then why big dogs need bigger heads.    Sorry for being judgemental, i think most small dogs are not smart.   is it because they have less brain power from their small brains.  I never saw small dogs acting normal.  They are either acting nervous all the time or they are just igoring my existence.   They don't do trick ike big dogs.  They are usually spoiled.  To the extreme, some small dog owners walk their dogs with baby strollers.  What's the point!   My dad would roll his eyes and shake his head if he sees any stroller dogs.  Dog slaves. We all dog owners are.  Ha ha 

No matter what size of dogs you have, all dogs love their owners.   They love to be with you.  They love to go where you go. They love to eat what you eat.  For guys, if dogs can play video games, I think this world population will drop drastically.

Hey Goldie.   Sit! 

SIT

SIIIITTT!

SSSSSIIITTTTT!

....

She is too smart to listen I guess.  I am so dumb. 

Crate or Give it up

Ratty and I had a big discussion on the fate of Goldie. Back on the day of adoption, I made it very clear to the shelter staff.  The dog will be returned if it's proven to be a destroyer.   Goldie is a big time destroyer.

Since she starts living with me, she ate STUFF (cookies, pastries, dog treats and so on) which was stored on the kitchen counter.  She miraculously disassembled the TV cable box remote.  The balcony screen door was torn. DVDs/CDs/empty boxes are destroyed.   We traveled to the Pittsburgh and I bought a very nice thick pink collar with pattern, she chews the buckle.  So it's gone.  Not to mention, the garbage/recycle bin were searched completely.  She can't speak but she knows what she has done.

So steps to prevent her to be destroyer
1) child lock for the fridge (a little bit of think ahead but she does not know how to open the fridge yet)
2) remove all the grocery item on the kitchen counter.
3) never leave the balcony door open with screen door closed
4) hide all the remotes, DVDs/CDs and boxes
5) no more nice collar for her.

It doesn't even stop her from destroying other things, she is just being a dog.  They are bored, they chew.  They are nervous, they lick.  They are threatened, they bark..  They are scared, they hide.  So what's wrong with that?  If it's not their fault, it must be Ratty's and my fault.

CRATE... CRATE .. CRATE.. that's what you need to do.  I am totally against this idea.  I think dogs are not supposed to be in one spot for 8 hours.  They should be running around just like us.  Wait a minute.  I have been told by so many dog owners they crate their dogs.    I still don't believe in it but I need to.

Goldie is smart enough, she doesn't like the crate, she knows what is going on.  But sorry, it's not penalizing her.  It's just making sure I provide a comfortable spot for you to stay 8 hours and I won't be mad at you when you are misbehaving.

My heart told me not to crate the dog. She seems fine every time I come home after being created for hours.   However, I see how she doesn't want to get near to the crate because it's not as comfortable as the sofa. And most importantly, Ratty doesn't want to give her up.  So. there is the cheapest solution I can find.

Her friends

Everyone has friends. Dogs too.   Karim just found out my blog.  So I am going to call him Ratney here.  That's our communication code.

Ratney and I take Goldie to off leash park together on the weekends.   There is one group of dogs Goldie likes.   A  3 months old husky girl as show in the picture, a 6 months old yellow lab boy and a 10 months old husky mix boy.    As you know Goldie is already two years old plus, she is the big sister in the group.   Surprisingly, she is quite nurturing.   I am not say she gives her milk which she doesn't have.   She just plays gently with them.     When you dog plays well in the park,  you are a proud dog parent.  

Labrador Retriever and Husky mix are big time shedder and chewer

Remember to get your dog a car seat harness for the road trip.  Yep right.  Lab/Husky mix is a very smart breed.  They like to stick their head out and enjoy the breeze.  Oh wait, the harness actually prevents them to go out too far.  Then what would they do?  

The dogs will try to break free.  They can't use their paws and they don't know the mechanism of the seat belts.   But they know the harness is not a good thing they want to attach to.  Goldie started to chew the seat belt quietly.  She decided to chew the harness and the seat belt at the same time.   She must enjoy it.   When I was driving, she was licking the harness and seat belt like cow hide.  Next time I know, she was chewing them.   My Tucson is 2013 model and this year is 2013.  If you were me, you would probably scream your head off.   So I asked my friend to unbuckle her, closed the windows and pulled over at the rest area.  My heart was broken.  I can see my seat belt is still ok but the harness is in bad shape. 

What's missing in the picture?   A frustrated dog, a frustrated car owner and a friend found this situation is hilarious.  Geeze....   6 hours road trip is not good for the dog.  Maybe tranquilizer is needed next time.  Oh wait.  there is no next road trip for her. She will stay in dog hotel.

One more thing I noticed, Goldie coat color changed.  She shedded all her white coat and the reddish brown coat is coming out for the summer. Well, where does her hair go?   EVERYTHING.  I picked my nose, her hair was there too.  No kidding.  I bought so much tool.  The ridiculous purchase was Furminator.  Yes it works, but not working well when your dog is so hairy.  And also it's expensive.  I ended use a tool I bought from Target.  I looks like a metal blade with teeth. You apply minimal pressure and the dog hair just come over like dandelion seed.   Goldie, after the road trip, we come to the conclusion that you are a handful dog but we still love you.

Dog can pull their muscles too

The question is how my Goldie got injured.   She is a big girl.  She weighs 72 lbs and in the dog world she is a large girl.  Because of her size, she is not keeping herself away from any commotion. Actually, she enjoys throwing herself into any kind of commotion, especially in the offleash park

On 17 Jun, two big mouth French bulldogs were fighting.  Within seconds, Goldie was there. She barked her head off.  Was she there to be a cheerleader or be a negotiator.  Who knows!  French bulldogs are cute when they are puppies. When they are full grown, they are just like big hard giant sausage rolls running around in the park.  They are fearless and they are strong.  Without out of portion height and weight, they are  runners.  When two were fighting, Goldie was tripped by one of them.  I did not notice she was limping until two dogs were leashed away by their owner.   And the owner came and said sorry and said "I don't usually take both of them here.  The white is my foster dog.  He is a bit aggressive"  My reaction inside my head is "you stupid idiot should not take the aggressive one in the park" but I shrugged and said "Well sometimes dogs misbehave, it's OK".

Poor Goldie, she limped back to my place. Lucky she just pulled her muscles.  Otherwise,.....

Road trip to Niagara Falls

"Don't forget to buy a bench seat cover for your car.  And then the seat belt for you dog"

After a month. Goldie finally got her booster shot. Her rabies shot was done by the shelter. Nevertheless, a lot things been done by the shelter, there were still a lot of checkups required.   Her blood test for heart worm came negative.  Now she is on the Advantage.  A medication keeps fleas and ticks away.

Back to the story, it's not surprising a lot of people from Toronto were leaving town for a vacation.   Niagara Falls seems to be the easy choice.  So Karim and I  drove out with Goldie.   We did not know what to expect and apparently it was a mistake.

Dog should be buckled down to the back seat.   With a 70 lbs dog sits at the back seat, you don't know what to expect.   Goldie is a young girl, she is curious.  My new 2013 Tuscon seems to be a perfect fit for her.  But she moves around.  She wants to stick her head out for the car, lean against the door, put her two front paws and lift herself up.  So she can stand.  Hell No..

After almost two hours on the road, she became very impatience.  She wanted to get out. She started to climb up to the front.  I was driving at that time. She knew I am occupied.  So it opened up a free way for her to be mischievous.  There is no way Karim can control her.  He is just a play mate to her.  I am the alpha.   We managed to pull over and gave her a toilet break.    The round trip experience was painful.

The first thing we do after we drove home.   We went to pet store and looked for dog car seat harness.    No way i am going to drive her around without it.

If possible, give her a buzz cut would be nice.  So I won't breathe in her hair in the car anymore.