Keeway's Comfy Kennel is closing its doors

We lost our ambassador of 14 years to a long, hard fought battle with cancer over this miserable, brutal winter. The pain of losing him was just too much to bear and I had to re-think what I wanted to do. While the last 12 years has been a great experience and I will miss my clients, I've made the decision to go back to the dog-eat-dog corporate world that I came from (sorry for the awful pun). We'll keep the blog up for a while - but it will come down in a month or two. To all my clients, thanks for the trust you placed in me, to my guests, I will miss the furry chaos and fun. But most of all, I miss my ambassador, RIP, my sweet Prince Keeway.

Holiday stories from Ye Olde Comfy Kennel

Maybe it was the cold, wet sloppy weather yesterday. The Pack didn't want to hang out at the park for very long and seemed more than happy to get back into the nice warm canine assault vehicle (the van). It might have been all the fun and excitement of having a bunch of other dogs to play with and a great big box of chew toys. Maybe it was the moon. It's hard to say why it started.  But it started early, much too early and old Mr. Rex was the first to notice. It must have jarred him awake from a sound sleep because he was in no mood for it. He gave it his best, authoritative bark to demand calm and make it stop. But it was too late - it had started and it began to take on a life of it's own. When it moved up the stairs, old Keeway harumphed and let out a long, low growl. I opened one eye and saw 4 little heads staring anxiously at me. "Oh thank goodness, you're awake."


I threw my slippers on and wandered downstairs where I found Rex standing on his bed. "Good, you're up, maybe you can make it stop." That's when I noticed it was still pitch black outside and something was terribly wrong. But it was too late, the pack was already thundering down the stairs behind me. "Woo - Hoo! Playtime! Throw the ball, throw the ball!" Rex laid down with a loud harrumph. "Tell the young ones to settle down and go back to sleep, I'm not ready to get up and whatever you do, do not throw that ball." He was right, of course. I went back to bed and tried to ignore it. Today we are going for a long, long walk.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Dog boarding in Watertown, MA - Welcome to Keeway's Comfy Kennel

We provide highly personalized in-home dog boarding, dog day care and dog walking services in the Watertown, Belmont, Cambridge, Brighton, Waltham and surrounding areas.We want your four legged family member to be as comfortable at our house as they would be if they were home. That's what we strive for. That's our goal. We're not a big corporation, we're a husband and wife who truly, genuinely love dogs.

Keeway's Comfy Kennel is proud that our company was a corporate sponsors (and our team was the top fund raiser) of the 6th Annual Paws 4 A Cure Walk on Sunday, May 19, 2013 at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA sponsored by PAWS 4 A CURE. The mission of Paws 4 A Cure is to provide financial assistance for canine and feline owners who cannot afford veterinary care for their beloved furry family members otherwise. If you feel you can help or would like to learn more about this great charity, please click here. Here's a picture of our team (Team Hot Flash) at the event!


Check out our great reviews on Care.com!

Turkey and dog fur in Watertown

It's the day before Thanksgiving - or as Keeway calls it, "Tanks Gibbing." I don't know why I think he calls it that, I'm guessing he understands English better than he can speak it. The adorable Miss Bridget arrived very early this morning which caused lots of excitement. Even old Rex decided it was worth getting up off the couch to chase the new dog around the living room before returning to his morning nap. Keeway knows the "new guest has arrived" routine and immediately began fussing about getting his "new guest" cookie. Quickly following his lead, the rest of the pack joined in to say "what he said!" So everyone got cookies before breakfast, before sunrise actually. Thanksgiving is fun here at the Olde Comfy Kennel because I have lots of company in the kitchen as I'm cooking the Bird. Dogs love the smell of roasting turkey and both Labradors and Golden Retrievers are naturally helpful breeds. They "help" by laying on the kitchen floor, inspecting the refrigerator (every single time it opens), testing the kitchen trash bucket (it locks) and, of course, providing much needed affection during a grueling turkey bake. That last act of "helpfullness" might seem to border on begging for turkey, but Labradors and Goldens are much too smart to outright beg. Instead, they use their beautiful eyes and personalities to remind you that they have always been there for you, they would do anything, ANYTHING! for you. And, on the off chance, if maybe, you need help eating any of that very, very large turkey, just remember that we are here to HELP! No pressure - but don't feel you have to eat that whole turkey! Oh, they are very subtle. And yes, dogs CAN have turkey. Tryptophan is not poison for dogs, that's an old wives tale. It does, however, give them incredible, unspeakable amounts of gas. As every Labrador owner knows, nothing, but nothing can clear a room faster than thermonuclear Labrador farts. Just because they CAN have turkey does not mean it is a good idea. Trust me on this one.

Mr. Rex visits Keeway's Comfy Kennel

Mr. Rex is a big, beautiful Golden Retriever and a regular guest here at Ye Olde Comfy Kennel. He has been here so many times, he actually has his own spot on the couch. Rex is a little older, but he still has a playful, mischievous puppy attitude. He's also right up there with Keeway in terms of being scary smart. Like Keeway, he considers human commands to be more like guidelines - to be followed eventually and at his convenience. He has also figured out some very clever (and histerically funny) ways to communicate with humans. For instance, Rex can say "I don't feel like getting in the car right now" by laying down on his back with all four paws in the air - and pretending to be unable to move. He gives you a look that says "I really would love to go with you, but suddenly, I can't seem to get my legs to work - sorry!" This leads to some pretty funny conversations, as in "OK Rex, what do you want to do?" Since Rex understands English he'll pretty much tell you. For instance, if he feels like going for a walk around the block, he will stand up, pick up his leash with his mouth and hand it to you. If he feels like taking a nap, he'll pick up his leash and head right for the front door. What he won't do is get in the car. Unless he changes his mind, in which case he will get in the car. When we get to the park, Rex also rules. He loves to swim and he loves to play with other dogs. So saying something as silly as "Hey Rex boy, come on, it's time to go" causes Rex's ears to stop working. Again, the look. "I would love to do whatever it is you're yelling about, but suddenly, I can't hear a word you're saying - sorry!" If for some reason, it really is time to go, you have to walk back to where Rex is engaged in water sports, put his leash on and start walking him back to the car. Now he'll look at you with those beautiful Golden Retriever eyes and say "Oh, you want to get in the car, why didn't you just say so?" Right about then, Rex will say "Here, let me help you with that leash." He then grabs the leash out of your hands and runs back to the water - where his ears mysteriously stop working again. By now we have a few fellow dog owners who are helping us by laughing hysterically, which is really not helping our full blown case of the giggles. Rex, of course, will eventually join the pack in heading back to the car. Whether he wants to actually get in the car is an entirely different blog post. But you get the idea.

Oh, it's good to be a dog! One of our guests just being HAPPY!

Best of the Old Posts, The Tail of Floyd, the Lab puppy who decided he was NOT leaving!

Every once in a while, we have to bring back some of the funniest blog posts. And this is the funniest of them all. Enjoy!

A few years ago, during the Christmas holiday week, we had an adorable chocolate Lab puppy named Floyd. Floyd really lucked out that week because we had another Lab puppy staying with us too. She was exactly the same age as Floyd. So he had another Lab puppy to play with from dawn till dusk. She slept at the foot of our bed and Floyd slept in our bed. As soon as we stirred, Floyd would do his best sneaky Labrador crawl to the end of the bed, make sure the little female pup was still asleep, then leap in the air and pounce on her. Boom! Off to the races! She pretty much fell for this trick all week, much to Floyd's delight. Floyd would then dash out of the bedroom with the little black lab puppy in hot pursuit. She would generally catch him by about the time he got to the living room and give him a good thrashing, as far as puppy thrashings go. Which obviously is not much, but enormous fun nonetheless.

On top of all this fun, we had a ton of snow that week. Which meant we could all go play on the golf course at Fresh Pond. Floyd had never, ever, seen snow (he was born in the early summer) but boy did he love it. He dove into snow banks, figured out how to slide down hills on his tummy and just had a rip roaring good time for a couple of hours every day. Floyd was a remarkably smart puppy with an amazing disposition. Labradors are smart, but little Floyd was a regular Albert Einstein! He saw kids sliding down hills on their little sleds and such, and Floyd figured out that if you got a running start, why a puppy could get a fun ride down the hill too! Floyd was scary smart. And he LOVED snow! That week we had several feet of it, so Floyd got to play in the snow every single day. Floyd was in puppy heaven!

When his owner came to pick him up, he put Floyd's leash on and started heading for the door. This is where it starts to get really funny. Floyd planted all four paws and pulled backwards as hard as he could. His owner chuckled and said "Well, I guess Floyd had a really good time here." As he pulled Floyd closer to the door, Floyd spread himself sideways, front paws on one side of the door, back paws on the other. Floyd made it very clear that he had no intention of leaving, in fact, Floyd was NOT leaving!

After his owner got him past the door, Floyd used the same technique with the railings of the stairs. Kenny and I are now in full blown hysterics, even his owner is laughing. He finally has to pick Floyd up and carry him down the stairs.

But it's not over yet. As he's dragging Floyd to the car, Floyd is using every trick in the book to get out of his collar, which we can see from the front door is starting to work. Just as his owner gets him to his car, Floyd slips the collar! Zing -Floyd comes flying back up the stairs and starts pounding on the door. By now we're laughing so hard we can't even talk and Floyd's owner has to carry Floyd all the way down the stairs and all the way to the car. And Floyd is putting up a mighty fight, wiggling like crazy trying to get out of his owner's arms. Brian, his owner, is having trouble because he is laughing so hard he can barely carry Floyd.

Floyd came back stayed with us one more time before his owner Brian moved out to California. The second time Brian just scooped up Floyd and carried him all the way to the car. Unfortunately for Brian, he forgot to close all the windows in the car. So as he came back to get Floyd's food and toys, Floyd jumped out the window and shot past him and back into our house. Fortunately, Brian has a great sense of humor, because Kenny and I were in complete stitches and were of no help whatsoever.

We love it when our guests are excited to come to our house, but Floyd was the only dog who was truly adamant about NOT LEAVING!

“Hard Choices”

I’m borrowing that title from my dear friend Vicki Croke, the former animal beat writer for the Boston Globe and now world famous author, film maker and all around wonderful person. Years ago Vicki wrote an article by that title where she shared her personal experience of letting her dog go to Rainbow Bridge after a brutal fight with cancer. It was one of the most read articles ever published by the Boston Globe. 

Today, one of my clients made that hard choice. When you’ve been in this business as long as I have, you grow to love the dogs you have the privilege of caring for. As my dear clients know, I am truly passionate about my work (I still find it very hard to describe what I do as “work”). I know the searing heartache of losing a beautiful, loving dog to disease or old age. It seems so unfair that these amazing, loving creatures, our perfect companions, who give us unconditional love and somehow manage to take over our lives, our homes and yet are only with us for a fleeting moment in time. 

But they do, they are and we love them all the more for it.  Letting go is the hardest choice every dog owner has to make. Personally, I find solace knowing that someday, at a place called Rainbow Bridge, I will be reunited with all my dogs. 

I’ll see you there Miss K.

The Cookie Game, Best of the Old Posts Series

Keeway, being the frighteningly intelligent Labrador that he is, has developed remarkably clever ways to obtain his favorite treats, Flint River Ranch cookies - from my husband Kenny. One technique he uses is to stand by the door pretending that he has to go out. That will get Kenny up off the couch and start putting his collar on. As soon as Kenny stands up though, Keeway scoots over to the closet where he knows the cookies are. Kenny falls for this every time. "Oh, you really don't have to go out, you want a cookie don't you?" Now Kenny is happy that he doesn't actually have to take the dog out, so he does the easy thing and gives him a cookie.

You would think that Kenny would catch on to this ploy. Well, you can't fool my husband more than 200 or 300 times, before he finally gets it. When Keeway plays the "Cookie Game" as I call it, he is standing by the door with his tail wagging like crazy and he has a huge grin on his face. Now when I tell him, "No more cookies, go lay down" he gives me the starving Labrador look and lays down with a loud "haarrumphh" - and then Kenny looks at me and says - "maybe he really does have to go out." AARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

Xander is bonkers about squirrels!

Xander is a very happy, bouncy little guy and he's very certain that if anyone would just let him off his leash, that he would be the world's greatest squirrel slayer. Perhaps even a legend in the dog world. Unfortunately for Xander, there is a huge tree in our back yard, filled with several generations of squirrel families. Xander can see them, smell them, but, but, but....he just can't get over that big porch! Otherwise, watch out squirrel population in Watertown, the Squirrel Slayer would be upon you!

A halo appears over our Angel Missy!

Hubby adores Missy and the feeling is very mutual. He calls her his "little angel." So when we saw this "miracle" occur, we knew we had to share this. Just kidding. (Actually Kenny just put the round tug toy on Missy's head while she was napping) He had an awful week with terrible neck pain and Missy hopped into the second bedroom and slept with him for several nights. She gave him big wet kisses when he woke up (almost) screaming in pain. So, he started called her his little night angel.

Just thought it was cute....

Keeway's Prayer

Dear God: Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.

I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.

The sofa is not a 'face towel'.

The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.

I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.

Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.

I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table

I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.

LancetheCat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

Best of the old stories series

Since this blog has been around since, oh, 2004, we have literally hundreds of posts and funny stories. Here's a funny one.

Hubby Hates the Cold

Since he gets up very early, he has the job of taking everyone out for their morning constitutionals and feeding everyone breakfast. In the early morning winter hours, it's often bitter cold. Usually he takes two dogs out at a time. One particularly frigid morning, I guess he figured he would get it over with in one trip. So he leashes up 4 dogs, including big Keeway and heads out into the snow covered back yard. In his slippers and pajamas mind you, with just a sweater on. Now Keeway, like most Labradors, takes great care in finding the absolutely perfect place to do his business. This involves a complete investigation of the whole yard to find JUST the right spot. So I look out the window and see Hubby being dragged around the yard in his slippers by Keeway with 3 other confused dogs on leash.

Now I can't read lips, but it wasn't hard to guess what he was saying to Keeway. Finally Keeway finds the perfect spot and settles in. Now, one of the other dogs finds a perfect spot and pulls Hubby's arm in completely the other direction. He's now doing his version of the Swedish gymnast split, when the third dog finds her perfect spot - behind him. Down he goes, right into the figid snow. Lip reading isn't even needed now, I can hear him. ARRRHHGGGG! He looks like one very unhappy snowman! He's covered with snow, jumping up and down to brush the snow off himself and, to his credit, waiting for the last dog to do his business.

I hear him coming in the front door and he is NOT happy. But I can't resist, I yell down from upstairs in my sweetest voice - "Honey, don't forget to take the dogs out." Since we're a family blog, I can't print his response.

I RESCUED A HUMAN TODAY

Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels.

I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.
I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.

As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage.

I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today.
Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.

As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life.

She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me. I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.
Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.

A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.

Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms.

I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side.

I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.

I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor.

So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors.

So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.

I rescued a human today.

Please support your local shelter.

Swimmin' dogs

A little advice for this kind of weather...

A note to all my fantastic clients. It's January 20, 2011, 7:45PM and the temperature outside is 11 degrees. It's going to be below freezing for 3 or 4 days in a row. Dogs will get frostbite on their paws in 15 to 25 minutes in this weather, depending on the size and breed of your dog. Of course, if you have an Alaskan Husky, you don't have to worry that much :-)

However, if you take your dog for short walks in this weather, just remember that their paws are painfully cold when you get home. We use old fashioned udder cream (yup, just like on a farm and yes, it is exactly what you are thinking it is) and rub it onto their paws after short walks in this weather. You can probably find it online somewhere, the stuff I use is called "Udderly Smooth." Although, anything with some lanolin oil will work too. It keeps their paws from drying up from frostbite, holds in some warmth and keeps the skin on their paws from cracking.

Please be very careful when walking your furry family member in this kind of weather. Really SHORT walks!

Oh Lord in Doggie Heaven Can I Pleeeeease have another cookie?

The Holiday Pictures!

Lot's of treats, hey, it's the holidays!

Madison and Nell relax with the Pack Leader

Labrador tug o' war!

Billy is invisible!

Did you know there is a cat on the counter?

The Holiday Pictures

Perle finds a squeaky toy

Dogs and cats!

Oh this is just too cute! click here

Sunset on Keewaydin Lake

The dog who had the second most fun at Keewaydin Lake

I know we said that we had never seen a dog have more fun than Sally at the lake house. However, Sammi comes in at a very close second! Of course Sammi got to stay for a whole week and Sally only got a weekend. Sammi's favorite thing to do is go swimming. She can swim for hours. Once she got comfortable with the lake, she got in the habit of swimming over to the public beach to say hello to everyone (we're in a small bay area of the lake) The funniest thing was when she decided that she would go out to greet all the kayakers. Lot's of people kayak on Keewaydin Lake because it is so beautiful and there is not a lot of power boat traffic.

When Sammi saw people in kayaks, she would swim out to say hi. This of course, produced howls of laughter from the people in the kayaks. Sammi is a very strong swimmer, so swimming all the way across the whole bay to greet a person in a kayak was no big deal. People could not believe that a dog was swimming out to greet them and when they finally noticed her, they would first just stop and look on in amazement, then they would start giggling as it became obvious that she was swimming out to see them and once Sammi swam around their boat and let them pat her on the head, they were in full blown hysterics. Then Sammi would calmly swim back across the bay and see what Keeway was doing.

Sammi discovers "frogging"

Frogs are great fun to chase! Impossible to catch though!

Sammi goes for a ride in the boat

As you can see, this is a pretty powerful speedboat. Whenever we take a dog out in the boat for the first time, we go very, very slowly and they are leashed securely to the boat for safety reasons. If they like the boat (and you can always tell) then the second time we'll take the boat up to cruising speed. (leash on for safety at all times) We don't have a picture of Sammi zooming across the lake at full power, but let's just say, it was a really hot day, and the wind felt GREAT! Big smile on Sammi's face, face into the wind! WOOO HOOO!

Keeway in in his usual, "I'm the king of the world" pose!

Sally's Big Adventure in Maine!

We've taken many of our client's dogs to our summer house in Maine and every dog has lots of fun in the huge yard, the acres of woods to chase chipmunks in and if they like to swim, well, it's doggie heaven.

Our weekends pretty much revolve around entertaining dogs. ( Yeah, I know we need to get out more :-)

However, tall Sally, had the most fun we have ever seen a dog have. Any activity at all, like, "Sally, want to go for a walk?" - was greeted with enthusiastic leaps in the air and joyous spins, WOOOOO - HOOOOO, Boy do I ever!!!!!

Two things that we've also never seen before. One was Keeway playing his stick chasing game on land and in the water with Sally as his play partner. Usually, if another dog chases his stick, Keeway will sigh and walk away. Not with Sally! Sally is a Labrador and knows that loud growling, hard tugs and dirty trick are what make this game so much fun! The other thing was Keeway letting Sally have some of his supper. No dog has ever gotten Keeway's food! EVER! But Sally asked politely, Keeway hesitated, then walked away from his food bowl and let Sally have the rest of his food. This has to be a first, not just for Keeway, but in the whole Labrador world!

So here are some pictures of Sally's big adventure.


OK, we need to decide which way to go!




OH! You know the Labrador Tug-o-War Stick Game! OK, little one, game on!






OK, You know the game! Cool! So few dogs do these days!





OK, not sure about this boat thing!




Hey! This boat thing is not bad at all!





SWIMMIN!

Maya goes on a big adventure to Maine, whew, that's a BIG lake!

Talking dogs, Oh so cute!

Just too cute, could not resist. We've been trying to teach Keeway to say "I love you" for a long time and he's almost got it, but this is just too funny!

My favorite dog story

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble.

At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother of pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.
"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there" The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.
"There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for them.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

"This is heaven," was the answer.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the gold streets and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell."
"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."

Some outdoor pictures for a change, Maya at the park

Maya plays in the stream. This is BeaverBrook park, one of two parks that we go to. the other one is Fresh Pond.

Maya at the park!

Maya does her I can stand up trick!

OK, Now they stop! Hey you can see Indy's face!