Scampers Weekly Recap – July 1, 2016

Scampers Weekly Recap - July 1, 2016

In This Issue

Holiday Closing July 4th

Bellevue Four on the 4th

Did You Know?

Friday Funny

Heard 'round the water bowl

Pooch need a spruce up?

Your Pix

Scampers Daycare Hours

Dogs on Leashes Pretty Please

Holiday Closing July 4th
We're hosting a houseful of boarding dogs, however, Monday, July 4 is a holiday, so we will not be accepting daycare pooches except by appointment.

But... (see below), we hope you'll come and find us as Bellevue Four on the 4th!

Dear --Valued Customer--

We're in holiday mode, already. We are hosting a full house's worth of boarders, and all the pooches are in the party mood all this week.

We're doing our best to tire your pooches out so that they don't even hear the celebratory fireworks.

Please remember to keep your dogs safely and comfortably indoors to avoid those terrible, awful, super-frightening fireworks.

A Message To All Our
Canadian Friends
and Neighbours:

Happy Canada Day!

Bellevue Four on the 4th, 2016
Come visit the Scampers Tent

Scampers enjoys putting up our tent in support of Bellevue's annual Four on the 4th Dog Jog and Walk.

This fun event is designed to tire your pooches out so they sleep through those amazing but very loud Fourth of July fireworks - what a smart idea!

On the morning of the Fourth of July, come to Ashwood Park in downtown Bellevue, adjacent to the Library. Checkin starts at 7:30 a.m.

There are always hundreds of dogs, and hundreds of runners, walkers and joggers.

The non-competitive 4K dog jog and walk benefits Seattle Humane Society in Bellevue - registration is $20 for individuals, $30 for pairs, and $60 for teams of four. (Here is a link if you'd like to register online now.)

Patriotic attire is encouraged - there are post-race costume contests, with prizes.

Last year, the Antymis family were so proud of their beautiful tutu-clad girl, Willow, who waltzed away with the prize for "Wackiest Costume". It's clear to see this was truly a family affair, but as a result of their commitment to the cause their prize was a very fine gift basket complete with very fine bottle of wine.

Dress yourselves and your pooches up in spangles and tutus. You may just win a pretty fine prize of your own.

While you're there, be sure to drop by the Scampers tent to say hi. We have a fun raffle and ... maybe even some exciting news!

Scampers Camper Willow Antymis, Winner,
2015 Four on the 4th "Wackiest Costume"

Pooch of the Month - July, 2016 - Voting Now Open

It's that time again, folks. We've created a new album on our Facebook page and loaded it up with some of the best photos of your pooches.

To vote for your favorites, open the photos and click on "Like". The winning photo graces our reception area for the next month.

Did you know...

Dogs learn faster and are better at solving new puzzles when they are trained with positive reinforcement techniques. Just like young children, dogs often misbehave because they have a hard time understanding what is expected of them. Providing clear, consistent direction and immediate positive feedback when a desired behavior is performed will make training for you and Fido a pleasant experience.

When teaching a new trick or command, get your dog's attention by gently calling their name. Your tone of voice tells them that this new work is fun! Using your chosen word (sit, stay, etc.) and a really extra special yummy treat, ask for the behavior. Try moving a treat above the head, towards the back to get a nose to go up in the air (and a tail on the floor) for sit, or a flat, palm-out hand with a low, drawn out "staaaaay" while taking one step back to help shape the behavior without trying to physically force the dog into position. Physically moving the dog into position can be interpreted as play, which is great fun for Fido, and greatly frustrating to you!

When trying to teach a dog to stop an existing behavior, use behavior extinction or substitution. Behavior extinction works for things like jumping or excessive attention-seeking barking, which are behaviors Fido uses to get your attention - either cheerful or grumpy will do! Ignoring the behavior completely (without the use of "no", "off", "down" or physical touch like pushing down). Follow your stonewalling with an immediate reward of attention when the dog ceases the obnoxious behavior. You'll see them try even harder a few times, but they will quickly realize that the path to love and attention is through the calm behavior you want!

Happy Training!

Thanks to Elise Poston for this submission. Look for more Did You Know tidbits from Elise in future editions of Scampers Weekly Recap. Learn more at www.thefoxandthehound.org

Fun With PupPod at Scampers!

When you drop your pup off at Scampers, you know he’ll get lots of physical exercise running and playing with his buddies. But we make sure he gets plenty of mental exercise, too!

That’s because dogs are smart, and they need mental stimulation to stay healthy and happy. Learning new things can help keep their brains healthy, build their confidence, and prevent problems like barking, chewing and digging.

While group activities go a long way toward fulfilling a dog’s need for mental exercise, most get big benefits from one-on-one training time, games and puzzles. Which is why we’re so excited to offer PupPod to our clients!

Through lights, sounds and motion detection, PupPod encourages your dog to use his brain to figure out how to get a reward. The better he gets, the more challenging the tasks become. So he’s always learning new skills and expanding his problem-solving prowess.

Best of all, you get to watch video of your canine genius at work after each session!

Set up a profile on PupPod for your dog!

It's fun, it's easy, and wouldn't it be fun to see how they play?
(Click here to see video of Madi's Jax, hard at work with our PupPod.)

Pooch need a spruce up?

Chris Sugarbaker of Cut-N-Run, mobile groomer extraordinaire will make his next bi-weekly visit to Scampers on Tuesday, July 5th. His schedule fills up quickly, though, so make sure to get your reservations in early. If our current schedule does fill up, we recommend setting up a reservation for Chris' next visit, then, on July 19th.

Feel free to give us a call to schedule an appointment for your pooch, or ...

If you've created your GingrApp identity, you can set up your reservations now on GingrApp. When you make your daycare reservation, you'll notice the option to select "Additional Services". Choose the service you'd like to add, then confirm by clicking the blue bar on the right, then choose the date (again), and choose from one of the times available.

Weekly Features

Have a Cuppa Joe in support of pet rescue

Hey all -- look for our coffee service each morning when you are dropping off. We're donating the coffee and trimmings to the cause. Any funds we take in for cups of coffee will be forwarded to Homeward Pet.

We hope you'll opt for a quick Cuppa Joe from right here at Scampers so we can all help support canine rescue efforts.

This week, we are very pleased to be able to offer more of Debbie Jennings' fabulous event-themed neckerchiefs.

Debbie has donated a wonderful selection of July 4th neckerchiefs, in all sizes, as a contribution to our Cuppa Joe coffee service.

For a $5.00 donation to the Homeward Pet donation lockbox, you can dress your pet up in festive Fourth of July finery.

Weekly Report - We are delighted to report that this week we collected $69.00 for Homeward Pet through our coffee fund, with the additional help of Debbie's neckerchiefs. Thank you very much. We hope you enjoyed your coffee and wear your neckerchiefs with pride!

You are all Homeward Heroes!!

...Thank you so much for helping make our animals' futures bright!

- Alora Knapp
Development Coordinator,
Homeward Pet

Friday Funny

Every once in a while we come across a dog-oriented joke.

This one's today's:

Watch for the updates of our framed Friday Funny in our reception area.

We'll also make sure they're posted on our Facebook page so you can share them with your friends.

Heard 'round the water bowl

We're a pretty close knit group of pooches - we form strong friendships, and we get to know each other very well.

When new pooches join us, we love to introduce them around and get them started in their Scampering adventures - that's why they call us the "Welcome Waggin".

This week, our welcome waggin' crew has been super busy welcoming new pooches to the play yard.

On Monday, we welcomed Dixie Lab to the Big Dogs. She relaxed into her day very nicely and enjoyed hanging out with Cali, Olive and Ziggy.

Rylee came on Tuesday, quickly finding his groove with the quieter Big Dogs. Meanwhile, the Littles happily welcomed Gucci and Frank. Gucci was a little more reserved at first, but was comfy enough to share her day with new friends. Frank was a little more gregarious, and easily found a playful bunch that just fit his speed.

Echo made her way into the Active Big Dogs on Wednesday morning - she's a go-getter! Meanwhile, young Shea decided she wanted to romp and play with the hose - she and a lot of other hose fans. That's a pretty popular game with our campers! The Littles welcomed Cleo the Dachshund - she's got some years in her, but she's willing to learn new tricks.

Today, Cricket is making her way into the Little Dogs group. She's easing into things nicely.

CaliO and Toby play tag in the playground furniture.

We are wishing farewell and happy tails to three of our Littles this week. Chihuahua "brothers" Bruno and Paco have relocated to sunny Arizona. They promise they will come visit when they come north seeking the cool of the Pacific Northwest. Nala, of the flowing blond locks and soaring vocals, is making her way to beautiful North Carolina - fare-the-well, little Nala!

Hey, Peeps, don't forget, if you're curious about how we spend our days and you're not quite sure what those report cards really mean, you can watch the adventures in the photos and videos our wranglers are posting on the Scampers Facebook page.

There's also a ScampersDogs channel on YouTube where you'll find all kinds of fun videos, and we update that selection periodically.

Send us your pix

Every once in a while we receive a photo from one of our customers showing us what their beloveds are doing after their day at Scampers.

Scampers pooches and their new human babies

We've seen many of our Scampers families expand recently, and we're looking for pics of our campers tending to their new humans. We hope we'll see lots more baby and pooch pictures! Click here to send your pics in via email.

Maggie O as Big Sister - she takes her job very seriously.

Abbey S is helping Leo as he starts his athletic career.
He's almost walking!

It looks like Pliny's baby brother is
learning to walk too - fun times ahead!

Here's Aussie Ozzie O looking after his new baby, Tali. What a beautiful pair!

Luna Blue Pit is learning to enjoy her kid sister's attention. Emily is learning that Luna's a great big sister.

Gentle Golden Kenny is
taking very good care of
brand new baby Advay.

Tired Dog Series...

Jemma took a day off from Scampers to keep her mom company at home.

Buddy T stretches out
at his mom's feet at day's end.

Sera is pretty much wiped out after her day at Scampers.

Odie just needs a place to put his snout
while he takes a little nap.

Apparently, young English Setter Leica is getting lots of exercise when she comes to Scampers. Here's what she looks like at home.

Here's London giving us her impression
of a tired poodle. She's too pooped to notice
her lovely rawhide chewy.

We loved this shot of Sadie - the look on her face says that she's not pleased that her belly rub got interrupted for the sake of a camera.

Like many pooches, Swiffer enjoys the world through an open car window, even if he so tired after his Scampers day that he sleeps through it!

Bliss is a place to rest my head, a hand to stroke my neck.

It's a dog's life

This category of owner-contributed pics features dogs enjoying their extracurricular fun.

This is where we'll post the pics we've received of your pooches enjoying summer vacations, beach roaming, ball games, and any other such general exploring.

Congratulations to McKinley, Blue Ribbon Pooch

Little Miss Chomchom is all dressed up and ready for her tromp around Whistler.

Murphy C surveys his domain!

The real reason

We have also received some great shots documenting "The Real Reason" you bring your furkids to Scampers.

Ripley S' mom doesn't usually maintain
an open-door policy for her home office.
And this would be the reason.

Buddy T decided to do a little remodeling
as a surprise for his mom.

The famous Odie is at it again.
Mr. Champion Counter Surfer has his eye on the beautiful beignet!

Pretty Abby G is a very helpful pooch indeed. This lovely picture shows her effort at helping to unpack mysterious things at the office.

Canine Nosework Classes at Scampers

Dogs have an incredible sense of smell and an inborn desire to hunt. The sport of K9 Nose Work is designed to develop the natural scenting abilities of your dog by using their passion for hunting and their love of toys, food and exercise.

It's a great class for your dog to have fun, build confidence, and burn lots of mental and physical energy and you get to find out just how good your dog's nose is.

Vicki Francks, owner of Cascade Canines continues offering K9 Nose Work Classes using Scampers facility. If you'd like some information on the next round of classes, give Vicki a call at 206-849-7643. More information is also available as Scampers front desk.