Although he’s very busy during the holidays, Santa found time to visit The Grand and help us collect food for homeless pets. With his help, we collected over 1,400 pounds of food that we donated to local animal shelters. We are so grateful to the Big Guy and to our clients for making this event so successful! Click here to see more photos of Santa visiting his furry friends.

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Our Playcare Pack had a blast at Reggie and Rockie’s Grand birthday party. Their mom worked with our team to arrange for yummy treats and fun parting gifts. The party was held on the lawn outside in the beautiful sunshine. It was a great day and a grand time had by all! If you’re interested in arranging a birthday party for your furry friends, just give us a call. Click here to view more party pics!

We love pets, and we know you do, too! To honor the special relationships we have with our furry family members, The Grand would like to share a column by Marti Healy that ran in the Aiken Standard. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Life Lessons from Katie (By: Marti Healy)

Katie is gone. And there is a Katie-spaced hole in my heart. She was my ancient, long-haired, calico cat, a true and loyal friend for the better part of 18 years. She was something over 21 years old. I had lost track of her actual age, I’m afraid.

She was asleep in her soft comfy bed, in the cool of the night, out under a waxing half moon and a handful of broken stars. It was exactly where she insisted on spending her final night on earth. Perhaps she sensed it was closer to God’s hand. And so he was able to take her gently, quickly, lovingly.

Katie was a frequent subject of my columns. In her later years, she was deaf as a stone, almost blind, struggled with incontinence and lived in an interesting, highly creative world just this side of reality. Wrapped in the cotton wool known as “feline dementia,” she frequently forgot who I was. She was often surprised that there seemed to be dogs living in her house – other times they simply didn’t exist to her. And, at the most unpredictable times, she sang what seemed to be very loud, very off-key, Broadway musical numbers in a voice that could peel wallpaper. Life with Katie was always interesting, never more so than as she progressed in age.

At first I searched methodically through all of her medical records, trying to find exactly how old she was. But since she was a foundling (as are all of my animal buddies) and fully grown at the time she came to live with me, her actual date of birth was always a best guess anyway. Eventually, I began to remember an observation I made long ago about cats and age … they simply don’t care. Age is completely and utterly irrelevant to them.

The dogs in my family have always celebrated their birthdays, of course. There are parties and funny hats and special doggy ice cream and presents to unwrap. Great fun. The cats, on the other hand, have never wanted parties per se. Treats should be daily and year-round. Hats should be worn only by dogs. And great fun can be had by simply watching said dogs wearing those hats.

Dogs love the silliness of birthday parties as well as the focused attention, it seems. After all, dogs are constantly celebrating important life highlights – from a mole uncovered to a delivery truck arriving, from dressed-up dinner guests in the dining room to newly planted flowers in the yard. Any occasion to dance and sing and be a bit of a show-off is greatly appreciated in the world of dog, I have found.

Life according to cats, however, seems to be much more in the moment, more fluid, one day to the next to the next to the next. The transitions from morning into night and back again seem to call to them with an unbroken rhythm. They sleep like liquid in the sun, then glide about in the shadows of the moon, all to an inner unceasing music of their own.

I’m sure Katie never gave a thought to or a whit about her age. She may have wondered why she didn’t find the ring from a milk bottle top terribly attractive of late – worth no more than a single poke and a shuttle under the refrigerator with it. She stopped jumping on the bed a couple of years ago, perhaps from old bones, perhaps from an increasing desire to be by herself. Her delusions appeared to keep her world interesting. And nothing took the place of a good long nap in a pool of golden sunlight or a quiet stroll under the silver-polished stars and a Carolina moon. Each was deeply appreciated one moment at a time.

I hope I have learned great lessons from both the dogs and the cats in my life. About celebrating all of the things that life gives us, as well as about living for this moment alone. They give me the best parts of themselves, always. I want to appreciate it adequately.

And, now from Katie, I greatly admire and accept with love this final breath lesson she has left me … about keeping life interesting, about dignity and peace and remembering to be near God’s hand.

Marti Healy is senior writer for The Design Group and author of “The God-Dog Connection” and a new novel, “The Rhythm of Selby.”

Congratulations are in order for our latest graduates of the S.T.A.R. Puppy Class. Olive, Kate, Brinkley, Avery, and Dodger passed the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy test with flying colors! As you can see from the photos above, the graduates celebrated with a well-deserved twilight pool party. We’re so proud!

The Grand Pet Resort & Salon is proud to announce our new partnership with Smug Mug, a high-quality digital photo sharing service. Powered by Smug Mug, you will now be able to access photos from The Grand. Just click on the “Photos” tab above and click on the Smug Mug image. We will upload new image galleries each week for you to enjoy. The best part is, you can download photos to your computer free of charge or purchase printed copies. Smug Mug offers you a wide-selection of print sizes and gifts, including T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, etc. You can customize any of these products with a special photo of your pet — just in time to buy thoughtful holiday gifts for friends and family!

The Grand Pet Resort is happy to announce that we’ve removed the stone gardens from the backyard and replaced them with K9Grass, the only artificial grass designed specifically for dogs! We love our new play yard and are thrilled with the product because it is especially designed to fight odors, is durable enough to withstand a rough and tumbling Playcare Pack, and is crafted with antimicrobial protection, which keeps all of our guests safe and healthy! We are so happy that our V.I.P’s (very important pooches) are enjoying the extra space to run, romp and play!

 The Canine Obedience Academy just wrapped up its latest sessions of the S.T.A.R. Puppy Class and The Good Citizen Beginner Class. Our puppies learned how to obey basic commands and practiced being S.T.A.R puppies by socializing with other pups and people. The adult class continued these basic lessons and also taught the students how to display good manners at home and in the community.

Many of you may already know our Academy Trainer, Kat, as she is a nurse at Hulen Hills Animal Hospital and Metro West Emergency Veterinary Center.  Kat has taught all levels of canine obedience and agility to dogs of every breed type for well over 10 years.  Kat is assisted by Tara, the manager of The Grand Pet Resort & Salon, who brings with her a lot of experience working with dogs in all capacities. Tara takes wonderful care of your pets who visit our resort, and she does the same for our students at The Academy.

Kat is expecting a precious S.T.A.R. baby of her own early this summer. After her bundle of joy arrives, Kat will enjoy some time off to be with her family. Once she returns and we’ve set the start date of the next round of classes, we’ll post the information right here.

There’s still a nip in the air, but our furry guests don’t seem to care. We just opened the pool for the season, and The Grand Pack celebrated with a rousing dip! Our signature bone-shaped pool is the place to be on warm days (or even cold days, according to the Labradors!). Our Pet Pals stay close by to ensure everyone plays and swims safely. We even have guests who haven’t mastered the doggy paddle, so we equip them with flotation devices that give them the extra courage they need to swim like big dogs. Pool time at The Grand is a unique experience filled with so much adventure! Stop by with your dog on a warm day and stay to watch the fun. 30 minutes of Pool Time is only $20. Our PlayCare Pack enjoys complimentary outings to the pool as an extra perk for their regular paw-tronage.