While the parents are away...

...the pups will play!

We've always had the luxury of shipping our canine children off to be with family or friends if Mike and I ever needed to be away from home for the weekend.  Tank and Kaia are usually pretty well-mannered (well, at least some of the time), but they can definitely run around like a couple of hellions, too!  It's sort of a Jekyll and Hyde type scenario...you're never quite sure what you're going to get!  Last weekend was the first time we'd attempted to get out of town since our big move to Pennsylvania this summer.  

Luckily, my trip to check out a new consignment shop in Elizabethtown proved doubly successful when I saw an advertisement for the Playful Pups Retreat :)  With a few phone calls and a little bit of running around the city (updating vaccinations, getting copies of medical records, and licensing the dogs with the city)...we took Tank and Kaia for a little facility tour and behavioral assessment early last week.  *sadface*  Neither one of them passed their behavioral assessment with flying colors...Tank was beyond scared of the twelve-week old daschund puppy who had crazy amounts of energy and, well, Kaia just looked at the door whimpering to try and find Mike and I.  

That being said, we weren't sure if either of them were going to be able to partake in the "doggy daycare" festivities that Playful Pups offered while we were gone for the weekend.  The staff assured us they were still OK to be boarded at the facility and they were willing to let both Tank and Kaia adapt to the new surroundings before giving them a second attempt at a behavioral assessment on Saturday morning.  And so, Mike dropped them both off Friday afternoon before we headed out on our road trip.  In the back of our minds we were both hoping they'd get along with the rest of the pups (and also hoping that Tank wouldn't harass Kaia to the point of insanity...as they were sharing a "Petite Pooch Room" all weekend long).  

Little Miss Kaia...so much smaller than the fire hydrant!

I'm guessing that's the closest she got to another dog all weekend!

Looks like a couple of chihuahuas are enjoying their time in the sunshine :)

How cute it Mr. Tank prancing around in the background!?!

...and apparently running to find something fun

He must have passed his behavioral evaluation...

Needless to say, we were relieved to see pictures of these guys hanging out with the rest of the pups...the center makes sure to post pictures from each day's playtime to their Facebook page; it made it much easier for the two of us to enjoy our weekend knowing that our dogs weren't biting each other's heads off or making trouble with the rest of the daycare kids! 

Mike picked them up on Monday morning and brought them home where they proceeded to spend all day and night s-l-e-e-p-i-n-g...guess it was a successful and exhausting weekend for all of us, not to mention that a three night stay for both dogs (and playtime) only cost us a total of $85!! I don't think we'd find that price at any of the kennels/daycare in MN!  All in all, it was a great experience with the staff at Playful Pups Retreat, we'll definitely take Kaia and Tank back sometime soon!!!