Canine Reunion

Becca, as her usual, did her best and organized wonderfully the event.  As the event came nearer she got impatient and stressed while Diego, who had been acting like he had his head in the clouds every second of his life, didn’t notice it and that frustrated his sister even more… Anyway the great day came and every one was excited. Iris had Malakai do even more obedience and socialization classes just to be sure xD

In the  morning all the staff was awaiting for the guests to arrive when Iris showed up with a strange expression on her face

    -          Diego… Malakai isn’t in his kennel…

    -          What! Sarah! Ethan! Didn’t you check all the enclosures and kennels!!? – Shouted angrily the boy

    -          Y-yes… We did – Answered the girl – I don’t know how he could escape…

    -          Diego… - stepped in Mattia- Calm down and go search that dog- suggested while embracing protectively Becca who was on the verge of an attack of nerves – I’ll take care of the rest.

    -           …All right… Becca? – He smiled at her - Don’t worry sis…  Iris?

    -          S-si?

    -          Andiamo a cercare quella peste-

    -          Diego! Wait… - interrupted Becca – If the guests arrive before you come back with Malakai?

    -          Let Syèl greets the guests

    -          But he’s only a pup!

    -          Exactly, and if he’s just the half of what his dam is, it all will go just fine – And sais so walked away

    -          …What if he’s like his sire though?- mormored the red-haired girl

The first ones to arrive were a german shepherd and soon after him a Siberian with their  really nice owners Abby and Ashley. Becca introduced her-self and the staff to the guest apologizing Diego’s absence with some sorts of “routine problems” and showed them a bit of the sorroundings. Abby, Appa’s owner, talked about how she was happy to be there, having the chance to meet with owners of other kennels and amazing dogs. Becca found them very interesting and, while the dogs were playing in a fenced in area with Syel, invited them to follow her so they could see where they  would stay. In the meantime more guests showed up: a couple of DBK’s friends who brought along their new sibe puppy, Alistar, and their old saluki Charlie and soon after arrived a Black german shepherd with an interesting guy as his owner.  The staff took care of them while Becca was with the two girls. In the afternoon also Emma and her dog Shasta came along- the woman explained that she decided to join the event because she had been very busy with work at the kennel lately and needed to take some time off from it. She also had received a new dog of a prestigious breed, Shasta  precisely, that she needed to spend some time with. The new coming,she  continued,  was a little bit shy around the others and she thought she needed to be socialized with different types of dog but their kennel wasn’t the right place for this considering there were no variations in size.

They were all chatting and relaxing, talking about news, shows and everything related to the dog’s world that they soon lost the conception of time and surroundings while the dogs socialized well with each other too. At first both people and dogs were nervous but the tension did not last too long: Becca found Abby, Ashley  and Emma lovely and so did Mattia and DBK’s staff. The handsome german shepherd’s owner, Castiel was too an interesting guy with a brilliant but strange personality while Alistar and Charlie’s owners, Diego’s long data friends, proved to be, as usual, the life of the party.

Even if  Diego, Iris and Malakai  still didn’t show up they all ate an early dinner outside. It was chilly, and cloudy, so they decided to have some hot cocoa! Abby chatted with Ashley, Emma and Castiel about how hot it was where she lived, and how Appa and the rest of her Siberian Huskies used a dry sled for the most part, because there was no snow. They also were in awe at how huge the kennel was, their dogs were probably very happy! With huge relief of Becca Diego came out  with Malakai, or “Hot chocolate”--which was a bit ironic since they were all drinking it.

“Welcome to Del Bosco Kennels, I hope it was worth coming all the way to Italy!” Diego said with a slight Italian accent. “I’m bummed that I wasn’t the first to greet you, but I had to find this escapee here...” He said sarcastically but serious. “Iris gets so caught up in work that sometimes she forgets how fast Malakai can get out.”

Eveyone laughed, and some of the visitors crowded around Diego, asking him all sorts of questions. He certainly knew a lot! Abby stayed by and listened, she knew any question she had for him would be answered! She sat down cross legged and pet Malakai. Appa in the distance saw her petting Malakai, and got a bit jealous! He ran up to Malakai and inspected him for a bit, but then dropped into a playful pose and ran around a bit to get Malakai to play. It definitely worked, because the piebald husky leapt after him!

“Looks like Malakai made a new friend!” Diego pointed out, trying to break away from the horde of questions. “Let’s follow them, and I can give everyone a quick tour of the outside.”

As they walked around the kennel’s huge grounds, the dogs still played, but would come closer towards their human friends if they strayed too far from them.

“Looks like another kennel has arrived!” Ashley pointed out as a huge Great Dane came romping across the field near the edge of the woods.

Appa was pretty freaked out, the fur on his neck rose triple the size! The Great Dane just wanted to play, so while Appa cowered with his tail between his legs, Wish, Malakai and the Great dane wrestled around in the grass soon followed by the puppies Syel and Alistar while Nero, the GSD preferred to sit and watch them with Charlie and Shasta. Shasta was a very calm dog and at first it took her a few minutes before leaving the side of Emma. However after a while she simply walked to the new dogs, trying to play a little, but still, she kept her distances. Emma tried to encourage her and cheer her so she would socialize more but it was clear that Shasta wouldn’t  just jump around like Appa or Malakai in fact she greatly preferred to lay down on the grass and watch the other dogs’ idiocies xD and that was when Syel decided to bother tha big lady. Emma started to worry and looked from a distance, but everything seemed to be just fine, it was amazing to see her interact with the younger one. The puppy got excited and pulled on Shasta to force her to get up and play. Having a motherly instinct and being submissive, she just went along with it. Later on, she started to socialize with the others by the side of the puppy and made friend with Nero.

Iris too had joined the guests with Sarah and Ethan when they all saw a snow-white truck entering Del Bosco’s  grounds. A boy and a Piebald husky pup were inside.

When the snow-white truck pulled into the parking lot, Nakota’s blue eyes scanned every square inch of the surroundings. There were so many things to sniff! Spotting other dogs, Nakota yipped in excitement. The pup wriggled around in his seat, antsy to explore. The truck was parked, and Gunnar lowered Nakota out of the passenger seat. The man glanced at the sky. Dark clouds hung above. Gunnar hoped it wouldn’t rain. After a quick stretch, the pup became energetic. With a playful grunt, he hopped once and attempted to charge forward with all of his might towards the other dogs. Being rather small in size, his charge wasn’t very successful, and he seemed to forget that leashes didn’t allow dashing off. Gunnar tugged at the young dog’s lead in a light but firm way. “Hey. Just because we’re here doesn’t mean you are allowed to loose all manners. Heel.” He told Nakota, who huffed, but turned to stand at his handler’s side. “That’s better! Good boy!” Gunnar praised, patting the pup on the back, who wagged his short tail in return.

The two then made their way towards the other dogs and handlers. It seemed they were some of the last to arrive. Gunnar flicked aside a strand of light blonde hair from his face as he took in the surroundings. Young-looking handlers and dogs stood together, socializing. Putting on a friendly smile, he introduced Nakota and himself to Diego and Becca. The piebald husky ran in tight, happy circles at their feet. The puppy loved meeting new people. Diego and Becca filled Gunnar in on what the three-day stay would be like, and the activities offered. The young man listened carefully, holding back Nakota, who was determined to meet the other dogs. The pup strained at his leash, yipping impatiently.

The next day they all woke up to the sound of rain outside. Many of the dogs were already out of their private kennels, and were in the house with their owner. Diego had said there would be activities or sports for the dogs, but at this point they will have to wait till it clears up first.

Abby and Ashley both looked at each other--they knew they’d be outside alot today because Appa LOVES rain! And where ever Appa goes, Wish was sure to follow. Abby and Ashley soon found themselves sipping hot chocolate again--in a covered seating area outside, where they could watch their dogs. Soon another husky joined in, which we immediately recognized as Malakai. Diego soon followed and sat to talk to Abby and Ashley, telling them about one of the many times Malakai had disappeared for a day… or more xD.

    -          I assure you! - He laughed – I never met such a escape artist! Gemma too used to escape but he wins over all our dogs put together…

    -          Really?

    -          Absolutely! I’ve cought tons of colds because of him  xD  but Iris is the one to have heart attacks xD

They all burst into laugh after some chatting he also ended up explaining how the kennel used to be a hotel.

The day passed and the dogs had switched off repeatedly between running in mud and rain, and being passed out in their kennel. They had met a few other dogs on the way, but most of them didn’t want to be outside in the wet.  It was announced that lunch would be served in Diego’s house soon.

“Oh great, we can’t take Appa and Wish in to the lunch like this! Appa isn’t red and white, he’s red and brown now!” Abby said jokingly.

Ashley laughed, “Same with Wish! I know what we can do with them, though!”

“What?” Abby asked confused.

“We can take them both to Carmine! He is Del Bosco Kennel’s groomer! He is very good at what he does, I heard, so Im sure they will be all clean before lunch!” Ashley explained.

Abby and Ashley visited Carmine, who gasped when he saw the mud-dogs but for the ladies he would do anything…

“Challenge accepted!” he exclaimed cheerfully.

The two staff of WKC and WWKC watched Carmine shower them down, and actually learned alot. Wish was a bit uneasy through the whole thing, ESPECIALLY the blow-dry. Soon they were all clean and poofy. Ashley and Abby thanked Carmine and hurried to lunch. Appa and Wish must have known they looked clean and fresh--because they both had a strut to their walk.

During the day everyone got to know to each other better and Becca found out to like Castiel and Gunnar a lot. Carmine even started joking with Gunnar, who didn’t really seem to appreciate it though, about his name: in fact Gunnar was also a DBK’s dog who Carmine feared the most.

The last day came and everyone was a bit sad but this didn’t stop them from sledding!

Early the next morning, Abby went out into the main area of the house and saw some of the trainers were wearing gear and stuff. Before she could even ask, Diego got up and announced that today would be all sorts of games and play-competitions, “Welcome to Del Bosco Kennel’s officially sledding and bikejoring competition! Today is all about fun, and friendly competition with other kennel dogs! If you’d like, you can pair your dog up with another dog for a team of two, but that means one of the trainers will stay behind! Winners will receive a treat and a slice of huge pizza!” Diego announced cheerfully, and added, “No, the pizza isn’t for you of course. The dogs can share the pizza, you can have the treat!”

They all laughed, and when he finished talkingeveryone got back to prepare their dogs. Ashley volunteered to manage the sled, if Wish and Appa buddied up. THey decided to use a sled instead of the bike, because it might be easier since the ground was still soggy and wet from the rain before. Some dogs did not want to know anything about pulling anything (Shasta, Charlie, Domino and Nero) and some others were too young so Diego leased for the event some of DBK’s dogs (Rua, Gemma, Malakai, Jet, Tai and Mascara)

AAAnd soon they were off! Appa and Wish ran together-pulling Ashley. Emma went on with Tai and Gemma.  Gunnar chose Rua and Malakai but brought Nakota with him. Diego instead took Jet and Mascara.

At the end of the day when it was time to take the group photo becca almost cried from happiness…

Diego and DBK’s staff hope to hear more of you and your dogs and hopefully to see you soon!!!