This trio is a sight for sore eyes. Manney is a handsome, reddish-rusty, nine year old Golden, who absolutely adores his siblings. His younger sister, Toffee, is a gorgeous, seven year old three-legged Siberian Husky with enough feistiness for the three of them but a sweet and  nurturing side to her too. Jack, a little black and gray Terrier mix, who we think is between six and eight years old,  just joined the gang a few months ago when his mom rescued him off the streets. It was love at first sight when he became apart of their family, like he had always been with them. He looks up to his big brother, and is usually never out of eye sight of him.

We get the pleasure of seeing them two times a week. Out of the three, Toffee is the player. She loves chasing the tennis ball with her girlfriends, Bella and Lucy Puppy. When no one else is in the pool, she loves to lie in the water by herself to cool off. Manney and Jack like to mingle through the group of dogs, sniffing and greeting everyone, before finding a comfortable spot to lie down and rest. One of their favorite spots to lie down, especially during the summer, is on the cool, wet, concrete underneath one of the misters. Although they have many friends to play and hang out with, they love to play with each other. Manney and Toffee are very vocal with each other. It’s entertaining to watch them, because it’s like they’re yelling at each other, like human siblings do but it’s all in good fun and they’re goofing around. They love to wrestle too, rolling around on the ground, beating each other up. They’re great dogs, and the bond between the three of them is so loving and caring, you can’t help but smile when you see them together.

Talli a.k.a. “Talli Ho” is a four year old black lab who has been a faithful daycare comer since 2006. This girl lives for her tennis balls and water play! All you have to have is a tennis ball and an arm that never tires of constantly throwing it for her. She races for it and brings it right back putting it at your feet and she would do that from sun-up to sun-down 365 days a year if you let her. Remember in the movie “Up” when the dogs say, “Squirrel!” and they all lose complete attention at what they were doing to look for the squirrel? That’s what Talli does when she sees a ball. Now take her ball obsession and times it by a thousand for her water play and that would be her obsession for water. She could spend hours digging at the bottom of our baby pool and eating the water. She also makes this high pitched barking sound letting us know she’s having a grand ‘ol time!

Talli’s BFF in the whole wide world is Patina, a five year old yellow lab. These two have been inseparable for years, having created a very special bond. They play together, wrestle with each other, nap together, pretty much do everything together. Each of their moms knows whether the other one wasn’t at daycare because of how not tired they are. Talli of course has other friends too. She plays with Cooper the Pugador, Big Ben the Goldendoodle and Hippie Chic the Lab.

All in all, Talli is a well rounded happy girl who’s out to have a good time.

These two siblings are like two peas in a pod, always together following one another wherever the other one goes. Piper is a five year old black and white Tibetan Terrier mix with a smile that lights up a room. All you have to do is ask her to smile and she’ll look up at you, curl up her top lip and her pearly whites sparkle out. Cody is a jet black eleven year old Chow mix who loves attention! He could spend all day sitting next to someone as long as he’s getting a full body rubdown.

Piper and Cody have been coming to daycare and grooming for six years. They come every Friday and every Friday is the same routine. Dad will drop them off bright and early in the morning, they’ll hang out with their friends until the afternoon, then they happily go into grooming for either a brush out or a bath, and they end their day with their favorite dog treat, a smile and a butt rub!  

Even though Piper and Cody aren’t the biggest of players, they have many friends that they hang out with. Ally and Myia the American Eskimos, Moby and Rupert the Schnauzers, and Manney the Golden and Toffee the Siberian Husky are their closest friends. Piper and Cody are a perfect example of how brothers and sisters should act, whether you’re human or canine. They take care of each other, have each other’s back and love one another.

Oliver is a one and half year old black with brindle pit mix who has been coming to PAWS since last year. He has endured some rough times in his short life, but has made a major turn a round and is now loving life. He was rescued from a hoarder and coming from that environment, he was extremely unsocialized around people, wouldn’t go through any open doors, had never been inside a house etc etc. He was rescued by Cooper’s Chance Rescue and has been living with his foster mom since then. She started bringing him to daycare to socialize him and after a couple weeks he was pulling to get into daycare!

Any dog would love to have Oliver in their daycare group! He’s a great player and loves to run around wrestling with his friends. Some of his many friends include Archie the Shepherd Mix, Comet the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Payton the Lab Mix, and Paige the Golden. Another one of his favorite activities to do during the day is splashing around in the pool. Oliver is a sweet and loving boy and anyone would be lucky to have him as their dog.

Joey (a.k.a “Jo Jo”) is one of the most lovable, sweet, nurturing, and fun to be around Cocker Spaniels you’ll ever meet. This handsome fellow was actually named after the famous Joey Tribiani from the T.V. show “Friends”. Joey absolutely loves coming to daycare, it’s all Wendi can do to keep him still long enough to change him into his daycare collar before he races into meet his friends. Once he’s through the gate there’s no stopping him from running around the entire yard getting everyone including the counselors into a hyped up ready to play, play, play mood! As his ears fly in the wind, his lips pulled back and a happy go lucky grin on his face, he zooms from one end to the other.

Joey gets along with anyone and everyone. Some of his friends include Chill the Chihuahua, Rupert the Schnauzer, and his crush Miya the American Eskimo and that’s only a few of his many companions. His bubbly personality makes him hard to resist.

Ally is a ten year old American Eskimo and Myia is a seven year old American Eskimo. Both have been coming to daycare and grooming since it was a Ruff Life back in 2005. These two sisters could be considered the Paws Princesses. Everyone is always “ooohing” and “awwing” when they see them, commenting on how beautiful their snow white fur is and how they prance around with such poise and grace.  They have bright brown eyes and cute little button noses. They’re definitely a sight for sore eyes but don’t let their beauty fool you, they will roll around in the dirt just as much as the next dog.

Out of the two, Ally is the more outspoken. She always speaks her opinion whether it’s about a dog coming into daycare or someone passing by the fence, she’s usually the first one to say something. Ally is more likely to be found basking in the sun by herself or sitting in a counselors lap. She has that sassy, "I can do anything and nobody can tell me what to do" attitude and her boyfriends, Chill the Chihuahua and Ogilby the Labradoodle find that very appealing.

Myia on the other hand, has a softer, quieter nature but loves to play! She goes along with the crowd and is happy to do whatever her friends are doing. Rumor has it that Joey the Cocker Spaniel has an eye for her and may be asking her out soon, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Harold is a 13 year old sophisticated and admirable cocker spaniel who has been coming to daycare and grooming since 2003, back when it was a Ruff Life. Ever since the Dog of the Month came to fruition, Harold has been campaigning for this role every month for the past three years. Perseverance, a lot of hard work, and endless nights at Starbucks making buttons, signs, and t-shirts has finally paid off for Harold and his manager, who happens to be his mother and of course his biggest fan. Harold is a great role model for any dog, new or old, who comes into daycare. Making friends with everyone, he shows them how to wait patiently going in and out of doors, how to share toys, and the utmost important how to finagle extra biscuits out of the counselors.

Everybody give a big WOO HOO to Villa La PAWS on Shea's November 2009 Dog of the Month, none other than Lucy Puppy!

Lucy Puppy is a very smart, energetic, almost three year old cattle dog mix who has been racing around our yards since she was a youngster. One might wonder why an almost three year old dog is still referred to as a puppy? Well because Lucy is what we call a perpetual puppy! As soon as Lucy enters the gate in the morning, you know she’s going to get the party started! And when we say “party”, we mean the “ball playing party”. When you look into those intense brown eyes you can just hear her saying “Throw the ball, throw the ball, oh please just throw the ball!”. And so we do… over and over and over! She has been “training” the counselors since she was a baby and she has trained them quite well!

In her free time Lucy and her Mom like to run agility and in true Lucy style, she races around there too! It’s definitely something to see!

Murphy’s not just about the glitz and glamour, though. He’s a staunch supporter of community service, and donates his time as a therapy dog. There are few things that a cuddle from Poppa Smurf won’t set right. He even tries to set a good example for the other dogs at daycare, along with buddies Romeo, Chill and Mimosa, the latter two having been awarded the prestigious DoM award in the past.

Raise your glasses in a toast to the Paws on Shea's September 2009 Dog of the Month, Mimosa! This bubbly little Maltipoo is utterly charming, and has many counselors as well as fellow daycare-goers wrapped around her little paw. Mimosa is a shamelss flirt; her top three boyfriends are fellow Maltipoo Murphy, the aptly named Shih tzu Romeo, and cool Chihuahua Chill. When Mimosa isn't driving the boys crazy, she can usually be found camped out on a counselor's lap. But don't think that she's just some idle lap-dog. Mimosa can chase a tennis ball with the best of them. Of course, she could use some work on the retrieving aspect of that particluar game, but that's neither here nor there.

Mimosa isn't just some one trick pony either (so to speak). She's got a veritable bag of tricks, the extent of which we have yet to see. Like what, you may ask? Well, let's put it this way: she doesn't drive herself to school... yet. Mimosa is one little girl that should not be underestimated. After all, big things come in small packages!

Remember that old movie, The Shaggy Dog? The one that had the guy trapped in the body of a dog, so although he looked like a dog, he still thought, comprehended and reacted like a human? Well, that's Charlie!Now, there is a difference between a dog that’s too stuck up to associate with other dogs, and a dog that thinks of himself more as a person. Charlie definitely falls into the latter category. There is nothing haughty or pretentious in his manner. He’s great with the other dogs, very polite and receptive, everybody’s buddy. He even has a girlfriend, the lovely Storey, herself a former Dog of the Month. It’s just that when he comes into group, he goes around and gets acquainted not like a dog going into group, but a counselor. And, true to form, he spends a majority of his in-group time hanging out with the counselors, helping them keep an eye on the group. Hat's off to Charlie... dog and assistant counselor of the month!

Don’t let Kacey’s imposing stature fool you – Kacey is truly a gentle giant. Though still a few months shy of his 2nd birthday, he already dwarfs almost any other Airedale terrier! In spite of this, he’s a very mild-mannered guy. Kacey occasionally engages in a little water play, or have a ball trying to catch a ball. The operative word in this instance is “try”. Kacey is an expert at “almost had it”, a master of the near-miss, the originator of “oh, so close”.

Kacey also has somewhat of a distinctive gait… or rather, prance. He picks his paws up unnecessarily high and seems to trot around like a pony. Maybe he’s practicing for a career in equestrian sports? The fun continues when he picks up speed and really starts to move, bounding around in a way that almost defies description. Suffice to say that once you see it, the thought of Kacey loping and tromping will never fail to bring a smile to your face.

Baxter is also one of our most enthusiastic ball-players (although not necessarily one of the best!). His eye-mouth coordination could use a little work. But hey, who cares, so long as he’s having fun! And speaking of fun, Baxter has one of the most hysterically funny displays of excitement we’ve ever seen. Dubbed “the Boot-Scoot Boogie” by Wendi, Baxter will race around the yard with his butt tucked ridiculously low, to his boots, you might say. In short, he bounds around while sitting!

Also known as “Baby Bo”, this golden child has been a daycare regular since he was but a wee pup.

Although he’s grown since those days, he’s just as cute and playful as he was back then – more so, in fact.

Bo is great in group because he’ll play with anybody, so long as they can keep up with him.

Bo is not just wonderful with the other dogs – he makes each and everyone of us here at the PAWS feel like a million bucks when he says hello. His face splits into an ear-to-ear grin, his tail wags so hard his entire body shakes and he just generally acts like he hasn’t seen you in years. It is flat-out impossible to walk away from a Baby Bo greeting without a smile of your own.

Dozer is a red and white Pit Bull Terrier who just turned a year old in January. Pearl is a white and red Pit Bull Terrier who we are guessing is about 1 ½ - 2 years old.

Both of these dogs came from rescue. In fact, Pearl is actually a foster still looking for her forever home. Dozer fortunately has found his “place” and won’t be going anywhere else! Dozer has been coming to PAWS for about six months now and Pearl has joined him in just the past two months.

They both LOVE coming to PAWS to see their friends and, of course, play ball as much as possible. They don’t like water play but there are lots of other things that they love to do! They sometimes bring their other brother Heinz, a rescue Shar Pei X, so he can join in the fun too! Unlike Pearl and Dozer, he loves to play in the water. All of the Murphy kids will play with anyone who can keep up with them. They have all been a welcome addition to our PAWS family!

Storey is a beautiful two year old Australian Shepherd. She has been a very welcomed addition to the PAWS roster.

She is super cooperative and loves to play or just hang-out with all her dog and human friends. Don’t let her beautiful appearance fool you; she acts much like a tomboy. She can get rough and tumble with all the kids… big and small.

Storey is so well liked she gets invited to all the birthday parties! We think deep down Storey loves to wear the sparkly hats….she thinks she looks beautiful (wink, wink)! We, as counselors, like it when SOMEBODY wears the stinking hats! Amber says she looks like “a princess with her sparkly hat, in a far away land waiting for her Prince to carry her away”.

Hippie Chic is an adorable yellow lab with a really cute pink eraser nose. She is almost 6 years old now but she doesn’t look or act a day over 6 months! She has been coming to PAWS for just over a year now and without a doubt she is the life of the party! What would we ever do without Hippie Chic on our daycare roster? She loves to cause a “puppy explosion” when she enters the gate in the morning. She can hardly wait to get her collar off and our collar on before we throw open the gate for her to run wildly and skidding to the next yard where all the dogs are. This is where said explosion occurs. Everybody is always excited to see Hippie Chic. She has many, many boyfriends always buzzing around her waiting their turn for a romp with Hippie. If Hippie were a person her social calendar would be full. She’d have a date every night! Hippie brings a tremendous amount of exuberance and friendliness to PAWS.