Anything Abby Can Do...

Heehee. Let me just say that I love my little sister. But what are little sisters for if you can't harass them? I think Mom's brothers would totally agree with that. But I digress... You know how my sister has been in this super-intensive doggie class for 6 weeks to learn to be a Canine Good Citizen? And how Mom has spent TONS of time practicing with her so she'd pass her test? And how she passed her test on Tuesday? Well, I think it's pretty cool, and I'm proud of her. Because, frankly, she has a puppy brain, and it's amazing she can learn anything.

*ahem*

No, really, I'm proud of her.

In the meantime, while Abby has been toiling away in her CGC prep class, I've been in an 'Adult 2' class - way more fun and games, and far less 'serious stuff.' Well, today was the last day of my class, and when it turned out that my buddy Cooper wouldn't be at class, I got to play with Lulu...


And Mom asked Jessi (the Turkey Hotdog Goddess) what it would take for me to get ready for the Canine Good Citizen test. After a bunch of yammering, they decided to do a 'practice test.' And I did just fine. So fine, in fact that since Jessi didn't have a class right after my class, Mom asked if maybe we could do the real test. You know. Since we were there, and everything.

And guess what?!?

I passed! So just like my sister, I'm now officially a Canine Good Citizen! And I didn't have to do a 6 week prep course to pass, either! AND, Mom didn't douse herself in Vienna sausage juice. Neener-neener! So yeah, anything Abby can do, I can do better! Or I can do it at least as well as she can!

Heh. Actually, I'm NOT going to rub my non-Vienna sausage-scented results in my sister's face; we are both Good Citizens, and that's cool with me!

Besides, I can still put the smackdown on her whenever I want!

Heehee.

Anyhoo, this does not mean that we are now all edjumacated and done with stuff. In fact, now that we've got Mom trained on the blue cheese/Vienna sausage dispensing, we want to keep going to school - why stop when we've finally got her trained? Besides, I'm sure Jessi has Super Secret Vienna Sausage Dispensing Techniques that Mom is now ready to learn!

Thanks, Jessi! We all think you are PAWSOME!!!


And for those of you who are Lulu fans (and really, who isn't? I mean, she's a Bug - how can you NOT love her?), here is a gratuitous Lulu picture. (Since I was being tested, Mom didn't get any photos of me.... But Lulu photos are good, too!)

*kissey face*

-Fiona (CGC) and Abby (CGC) the Hippobottomus (for the record, 'Hippobottomus' didn't fit on the AKC form...)

My Sister the Good Citizen!

Yup, it's true! Hard to believe, I know, but it's true! Abby passed the Canine Good Citizen test today!

Heh. Does that look like the face of a good citizen to you? Awww. Okay, I won't harass my little sister too much. I'm actually pretty proud of the little goofball!

When Mom came home after Abby's first class with the list of things Abby had to be able to do to pass the test, Mom and Dad were both pretty skeptical. I mean, the test requires my inherently goofy sister to be, well, less goofy. Personally, I didn't think there were enough Vienna sausages in the world to make that happen, but Jessi (the turkey hotdog lady) did an amazing job in instructing Mom on how to administer Vienna sausages (and blue cheese!) in such a manner that Abby could contain her inherent goofiness. Jessi did a great job in giving Mom homework assignments, and suggestions of things to do that might "help Abby succeed." Heehee. That sounds all stuffy-like, but it's true - without Jessi, there's no way Abby could have passed this test.

Of course, Mom didn't get any actual photos of Abby being tested because Mom was 'handling' Abby, but here's a pre-test photo of Zoe and Lulu, Jessi's dog. Lulu was there to, uh, observe. For the record, Zoe is a Greater Swiss Mountain dog (and at 130 lbs, is the biggest doggie Mom has ever walked) and Lulu is a Bug - a Boston Terrier/Pug mix.

And to celebrate after the test! Heehee.

And and just so you know it's official...

I guess that means Abby is now certifiable, huh? Heehee!

*ahem*

Oh, and Mom had a Winning Day all around, because not only did Abby pass her Good Citizen test, but after the test, Mom saw this:

See, when Mom took me to my 'special Saturday doggie class' last Saturday, there was a Mustang car show going on VeryClose to Petco. And Mom was MIGHTY tempted to take me to the car show, instead of the class. But since Jessi had arranged it so I could go to the class on Saturday (instead of my regular class on Friday, where I would have been the only student), Mom skipped the car show.

But when she saw the car after Abby's test, Mom knew that she hadn't "missed" anything - she saw the only car she needed to! And she took about a zillion pictures of it.... For those of you 'not in the know' this is a Ford GT. Ford only made it for 3 years, and a grand total of 4038 of them were produced. Mom first saw one down in southern Utah (and laughed because the Highway Patrol rode alongside the car for about a mile while the cops oogled it), and has been enamored of them ever since. Mom figures these two cars were probably two of the 'stars' of the show:

But enough of that. If you want to see the zillions of pictures, ask Mom and she'll email them to you. Seriously, she was like a little kid and got pictures of EVERYTHING - the interior, the engine (that was actually signed), the front, the back, the exhaust... I've mentioned that she's crazy, right?

So enough of that and on to me. When Mom was doing all this work with Abby for the Good Citizen thing, I did a lot of the stuff, too. Mom hasn't figured out how to train one of us at a time, so when Abby was practicing the 'down' while Mom walked 20 feet away, I was practicing, too. And I've been working on 'loose leash walking' in my own classes, and we've even done the 'meet and greet' thingy in my own classes. So, now Mom's thinking that maybe I could be a Good Citizen, too.... Hmmm. I'll have to think about this one.

In the meantime, I've got another doggie class on Friday, and I guess Mom will talk with Jessi then about whether I'm "ready" to be a Good Citizen. If Abby can do it, how tough can it be?!? And I know Abby got a lot of blue cheese while preparing for the test, so I might be up for it.

Other than that, we've been playing at the park a lot. We've have a number of different doggies 'join' us while we are playing, and it's been fun. This short little sausage looking thing is Katie, and was much quicker than her little leggies would have you believe...

Katie's Dad was worried she'd 'interfere' but we had no issues - we have fun with other doggies!

And, of course, Abby and I have plenty of fun just with each other!


*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus and Canine Good Citizen

Nekkid Pictures AND Video

Heehee. Today was another hot day (upper 80s, which for us, IS hot - I know the rest of the country would LOVE to have our weather... until it's snowing in May, and then maybe not so much...), so Abby and I were happy again to have our short hair cuts.

For those of you who like the fuzzy faces... our buddy Clive has a fuzzy face, and he's very handsome, but Mom and Dad like to see our pretty snooters (their words, not mine!).

And the haircuts were good for Park Zoomies. We were Super Streamlined!



I did NOT have my regularly scheduled doggie class today because I would have been The Only One - all of my classmates are on vacation! So, I am going to go to a Different Doggie Class tomorrow morning, with new and exciting classmates! I'm sure Mom will take pictures (and have to explain to the other humans about our bloggie so they don't think she's weird taking pictures of the other doggies). However, since I didn't have my class today, and Mom didn't want to take Abby to Petco to get ready for her Good Citizen test (the shopping area where Petco is located is Crazy Busy on Fridays, and Mom didn't want to hassle the traffic if she didn't have to), Mom decided to stimulate our mentals in other ways.

For Christmas (or maybe Abby's birthday, or something), Granny and Grandpa got us a 'beginner agility set.' We don't have any agility programs nearby (well, not that Mom knows of) - the closest is about 45 minutes away (on a good day), and Mom thought it would be a good idea to see if it was anything we were remotely interested in before she started driving us to Salt Lake (or invested in 'real' equipment). Anyhoo, Mom thought today would be a good day to play with the set. We have tried out the jump once before, and even though it's not the highest quality in the world (okay, it's a little flimsy), it works just fine for us, and we're having fun. Mom also thought this would be a great chance to get some video. Even though she had never used the video recorder on her camera before.

So... I present to you a short video of our adventures:



If you can't see the video, use this link: http://youtu.be/YtGDclgiiXo

Let's just say it is a testament to our love for Mom that we allowed her to film us. I mean, if she wants to look silly for the world to see, that's okay... But seriously, we had fun! And apparently Mom amused herself in making the video.... And feel free to chuckle all you like - Mom doesn't really know what she's doing, but she's promising to study up...

If you can't see the video, here are a few 'snapshots' from the video...


Yes, Abby knocked the bar down there...

Clearly, we're not going to be challenging Brutus and Carmen (aka The Flying Frenchies) any time soon, but we had fun, and it seemed to keep Mom amused!

More park pictures and pictures from my class later this weekend. Stay tuned!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

We're Nekkid!

Heehee. That should bring in some interesting Google searches!

*ahem*

But really, we're nekkid.

You remember my shaggy face from just a few days ago?


Well, I am decidedly less shaggy now!



And my sister?

Shaggy.

Now, non-shaggy.

But still as goofy! Heehee!

However, now that I'm nekkid, I'm all sleek, and streamlined!


And much cooler! It was almost 90 today, and I gotta tell ya, it's nice to have gotten all those hairs cut off! And I'm sure I'll be super cool at my doggie class tomorrow! I'll keep you posted!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

Serious Funballs Times!

Hiya! So we've been doing all sorts of funballs stuff in doggie class. Well, I have. Abby's been trying to cram for her Canine Good Citizen test next week. More on that later...

At my class last week, Jessi (the turkey hotdog lady) brought her dog Lulu to class. (You may recall that Lulu was also at Abby's class last week.) Now, I've known Lulu for a while. Sometimes when Jessi would dog-sit us, she would bring over Lulu, and we'd have crazy good times. For a 14lb Bug (Boston Terrier/Pug mix), she can hold her own with the big dogs. It's always good to see Lulu.

Hi, Lulu!!!

Last Friday at my class, we were working on 'leave it' and Lulu was the 'demo dog.' She was first given something nommy to chew on...

And then told to 'leave it' and is distracted with something even more nommy (in this case, a bit of Vienna sausage).

Clever girl! Heehee.

There aren't alot (okay, any) pictures of me 'leaving' things, because when we were outside I wasn't really interested in any of the 'distractions' like rawhide chews, or cookies or even a tennis ball (hey, I had been at the park earlier...) - nothing was quite as interesting as the Vienna sausage bits, so I mastered that quickly. And let Mom take 'snooter shots' instead.

Hi Mom!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering about Lulu, even though her Mom is a "professional trainer of dogs" (to be more precise, she trains humans in efficient methods of turkey hotdog delivery), Lulu is a bit of a free spirit, and her Mom prefers her that way. So, while us other doggies were learning to 'leave' things, Lulu was busy checking out the box of goodies.

She's no dummy! Heehee.

But lest you think this is an all-Lulu post (which I'm sure Jessi wouldn't complain about), let me sneak in a picture of ME from the class. You know how Abby has been practicing lying down while Mom walks away from her?


Yeah, well, I can do that, too.

See?

Anyhoo... Speaking of my dear little sister. She's got her Canine Good Citizen test next week, and so this week's class was a 'practice test.' The class started off with a little socializing, as some of the uh, "more excitable doggies" (which may or may not include my sister, but probably does) need a few moments to compose themselves. Especially when the ever exciting Lulu is around!


Obviously Abby had to get all the latest gossip from Lulu and Denver...

And Lulu had to make the rounds - and make sure Mom didn't have any extra blue cheese on her fingers! (Check out that tongue! That is totally designed for efficient blue cheese removal!)


And then they got on with all the tests (which Mom doesn't have any pictures of because, well, she was trying to handle Abby through these adventures). Apparently Abby did OK (although I have intelligence which suggests that Mom might have slathered her fingers with blue cheese), in everything other than the 'greeting a friendly stranger' test and 'getting pet by a stranger' - in both of those tests, Abby is supposed to remain sitting while she either gets pet, or ignored while Mom shakes hands with the "stranger." Being the social butterfly that she is, Abby gets excited and doesn't like staying seated for long. She finally 'passed' both of them in practice test, but it took a while. Mom's not quite sure how she's going to help Abby 'cram' for this part of the test, but she'll work on it.

Of course, Abby will suck up to Jessi, to make Mom look bad.

What a suck-up! Heehee.

Even when the 'friendly stranger' approaches - Abby is all well-behaved. So at least we know she CAN do it... The question is whether she WILL do it for Mom! Heehee.


Anyhoo, I have a feeling Mom is going to be taking Abby to Petco to work on things a few times before the test. Which is cool, because bully sticks come from Petco, and I think we're getting low on bully sticks. Hint, hint....

I'll keep you posted!

In other excitement, we've been having funballs times at the park!


Zoom-zoom!

And before you ask about bitey-face photos, we've been bitey-facing, but usually in the early morning or in the evening (when it's cooler), and Mom isn't happy with any of the pictures she's taken. But rest assured that we are still doing serious bitey-facing!

Oh, and you might notice that I'm a bit shaggy...


It's a bit hot, and when my darling sister zooms around the yard and through the bushes, she picks up burrs and stickers and things. So apparently we are going in for haircuts on Thursday. So stay tuned for 'nekkid photos'! Heehee!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

PeeEss: Mom wants to post a picture of Indie, the pitbull in Abby's Good Citizen Class. She and Abby are buddies - always causing trouble. I think in this particular picture, Indie is being removed from Abby's Bad Influence!


Mom loves her face (well, Mom loves all of her - Indie is still a puppy - 8 months old - and such a sweetie!)... So here's a little more Indie-love!


And a gratuitous Lulu picture!

Kissey face! Heehee!