Doggie Classes

Hi! When we left you, Abby and I were zooming around the park, carefree and enjoying the halcyon days of summer.

Now, we're all serious-like.


Kinda.

You know, as serious as we can be.


Which isn't particularly serious. Did I mention that my sister is a goofball?

*ahem*

Abby and I are back in Doggie School. You would think that by now, we know how to be doggies, but apparently, Mom wants us to work on the finer points of Being A Dog. Heehee. Actually, Abby is signed up for a Canine Good Citizen prep class. 'Good Citizen!' As if! She's my little sister, and lemme tell ya.... Actually, she's enough of a suck-up, that she might just be able to pull it off. However, the class is being taught by Jessi - the woman who teaches Mom how to feed us turkey hotdogs - and you would think Jessi would know Abby well enough by now to know what a pest she is! Heehee.

Anyhoo, Mom didn't get any pictures of Abby's class, because Mom was too busy trying to make it look like Abby actually belonged in the class. Mom and Abby came home with a long list of things Abby is supposed to be able to do for the test. Let's just say that Abby has a bit of work to do! Mom says she'll try to get some pictures, as there's a very handsome standard poodle in there, as well as a statuesque Swiss Mountain doggie girl (I think the Mango would swoon!) and some other well behaved doggies.

My class meets on Fridays, and I made sure Mom brought the camera. My class has 4 doggies (including me). There are two Weimaraners:

Kaley (on the right), who is the youngster of the pair, and her older brother Hunter, who is 10. I didn't spend a lot of time getting to know them, as we were supposed to be focusing on our parents, and not chatting with each other, and these two were trying to be Good Doggies.

Of course, that didn't stop me from socializing with the other doggie in the class, a Labradude named Cooper.

Hi Cooper! I'm Fiona!

Here's another picture of Cooper:


He's still a young labrapup, but quite the handsome little fellow!

And here I am, looking quite studious, if I do say so myself!


Before we got into the lesson part, Jessi gave me scratchies and smoochies.


I mean, how could you not give scratchies and smoochies to a face like mine? Heehee!


The first part of the class was out in the parking lot, and I was able to show Jessi how good I am on a leash, and how I can pay attention to Mom even when there are other doggies walking around near me. When Mom has turkey hotdogs, that is!

After we did stuff in the parking lot, we all got water, as it's hot here. I know people in the rest of the country are dealing with 100+ degree temps, but for us, 85 is pretty hot - especially when you don't have central air conditioning, and when you are doing doggie classes in hot parking lots....


Hunter decided he had had enough of the heat and called it a day. Those of you who know us, know that we have a special fondness for senior doggies, and we didn't blame the old guy for taking a nap!


We did all sorts of fun things in class, most of which involved Mom feeding me turkey hotdogs and cheese at regular intervals.


By the time we were getting ready to move inside (we're doing the classes at Petco, so when we go inside, there are all sorts of distractions...), Mom was getting pretty good at feeding me turkey hotdogs! Another 5 weeks, and she should be a real pro!

When we went insides, we did all sorts of things, like trying to stay focused while Jessi walked around squeaking squeaky toys (um, I didn't do so well with that...), and while adoptable doggies were being taken out for test drives, and while all our classmates were walking around. And then we had to do scary things like lie down and let all the other doggies in the class walk past us (good thing Mom had a big supply of treats!). I was doing pretty well with things, until I got a little, erm, distracted at the end of the class...


Hey, I was focusing on treats, and not on the other doggies. That's good, right?!? Besides, if they didn't want me to lick them, they shouldn't hang these things at snooter level! Heehee.

Apparently, Mom was "very pleased" with how I did in class today. Me? I was very pleased with Mom's lack of stinginess with the treats! I had a fun time, and I'm looking forward to 5 more weeks of Mom learning how to feed me turkey hotdogs. (You'd think she'd have learned by now, but apparently she needs regular refresher courses!)

When I got home from learning how to be civilized around other doggies, I decided to celebrate with a little bitey-face with my sister!


Heehee!


I'll keep you posted on things, but I will say, the cool thing about these classes is that Abby and I each have our own special time with Mom, since we are in different classes (and we get a break from each other!).

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

*Heavy Sigh*

Okay, I confess. Even since little monster butt mutant puppy (aka Abby) learned to swim, she has been a total ball hog. Seriously. She dashes out into the water like her butt is on fire

And gets the ball before I even get a chance to get my big toe in the water.

I taught the mutant how to swim, and now she's stealing the ball. All. The. Time. It's annoying!

She is SUCH a ball hog that Mom and Dad have started bringing two balls, so the mutant super swimmer can go do her super swimming thing, so I can enjoy calmer, non-mutant-infested waters.


This also gives Dad the opportunity to continue to hone his throwing-two-balls-at-once skills.

As an aside, Mom totally got lucky with that picture; if she had been trying to get a picture of the ball in the air, she would have failed. But since she wasn't even trying, she got lots of pictures of balls flying through the air.

Anyhoo, we apparently give off some sort of friendly vibe, because whenever we are at the park, other doggies want to join us. Or maybe we just have uber-cool tennis balls. I'm not sure which.

Two days ago, we were joined by "Stormy" who had escaped the not-entirely-watchful eyes of her young owners. Abby, being Abby, had to be all social-like (giving me a rare opportunity to steal the ball).

Today we were joined by CP (or something; I didn't really get her name, and Abby's asleep right now, so I can't ask her), who is a Belgian Shepherd. She didn't ever want the ball, she just wanted someone to swim with. So while I was chasing my own personal ball, Abby and CP did laps around the pond.

At least I got my own ball while they were off doing their thing...

And they seemed to have fun together.

And CP was a pretty friendly sort.

As for Abby? She kept going long after the rest of us were tired....

Crazy mutant tennis ball-hog puppy. *sigh*

In other excitement today, I saw an old friend. Way back when I was a wee pup (I was 10 weeks old in this picture), Uncle Larry brought his new (at the time) Australian Shepherd puppy to the House With Wheels, so we could play. King is a bit older than I am, and at the time was smacking me down pretty seriously (most of the pictures are really blurry, so I'll spare you the pictures). I was such a wee bitty thing!!!! (Yes, that red ball of fluff was me!)


Anyhoo, I have only seen King on and off over the last 2 years, and very briefly. Today, King came over with Uncle Larry, and while Larry was talking house stuff with Mom and Dad, Abby and I spent some quality time with King.


Just for reference, King weighs 35lbs, while Abby is close to 60lbs (the recount has not been done yet, so her weight is still a guess, but since her butt is bigger than mine, I'm thinking she weighs more than me), and I'm 56-ish lbs. Needless to say, we had a GREAT time!!!

Anyway, I'm a little miffed that my "little" mutant sister is now a demonic swimming tennis-ball thief. But at least Mom and Dad recognize that Abby is a ball hog and have given me my own tennis ball to chase. But still. I ask you, where is the gratitude from the youth of today?

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Demonic Mutant Tennis Ball Hog Puppy

PeeEss: If you question my claims that Abby is demonic, this should give you all the proof you need:

Biggify at your own risk....

All Kinds of Excitement!

Yesterday we took the day off because Mom and Dad were doing "work" (which seems to consist of lots of time on the phones and computers...) and by the time they got done it was too hot for my mutant puppy sister to go on long walkies, so we stayed home. And I discovered some potentially disturbing news. As you may (or may not) have noticed, my mutant puppy sister is getting bigger. Mom and Dad have been speculating for some time as to how big she is getting, and so yesterday in a very unscientific (and very ignominious) manner, we were both hefted up to a friend who was standing on a scale. Since the initial reading was a bit sketchy, our exact weights are a bit questionable. Fr'instance, I showed up at 53 lbs. Last time I was weighed at the vet, I was 56. So either I'm dropping weight (which, I guess, is possible with all the walking and swimming I am doing, but I doubt it, because I didn't really have any extra weight on me), or the scale was off.

Regardless (or, 'irregardless' as the case may be), using this same technique, the mutant puppy was 56 lbs. Meaning that even if the scale was off by a few pounds, she still weighs more than me. Hello?!? I have demanded a recount, and after the holiday weekend (Saturday is Pioneer Day in Utah, and it is a WAY bigger deal than the 4th of July in this state - seriously... I could go on and on about how some residents of this state seem to think that founding 'Zion' - with all the religious implications that go along with that - is much more important than a bunch of colonies freeing themselves from oppression... But I digress...)... after the holiday weekend we will be stopping by the vet's office, with the Official Scale, so we can have this answered for once and for all.

However, I might be willing to concede that Abby is getting a tad bigger....


Anyhoo. I'll get back to you with the recount. On to today.

Today must have been Official Take Your Goldendoodle on a Walk Day. Because we saw three separate goldendoodle - who were not us - today.

First, we met Rocky. Rocky is 7 years old, 90 lbs, and Very Handsome. Notice how Abby is all social-like?

Rocky was quite the gentleman, and was accompanied by his sidekick, Popcorn.

Popcorn was quite the cutie, too, even if he wasn't a goldendoodle. There was much speculation about whether Popcorn has some poodle blood in him, but he's cute, no matter what!

But moving on. We got to the park, and saw this goldendoodle:

We didn't get a chance to be introduced, so I don't know anything about him/her.

So, we started playing with the ball.

So, we were swimming along (or, in Abby's case, wading along and waiting for me to retrieve the ball from the deep water so that she could attempt to steal it from me), when we met Another Goldendoodle!

His name was Bode (like the ski racer... yes, we live in a ski town!), and he was Very Interested in playing ball with us.


We were perfectly happy to let him play with us (Abby is VERY social, and I am becoming more and more social). However, after a while, he had to go home, and swam off....

After Bode left, we went back to playing in the water. Abby still hasn't quite figured out the swimming thing, but she's getting closer.


For now, however, she's perfectly happy to watch me get the ball and then try to get it from me when I get back to her depth...

Since she puts all that effort in, I let her get the ball occasionally...


Here is a video of some of today's adventure. It's a little out of focus because Mom was trying the 'zoom' feature with some lack of success, but it does show me actually swimming! (And it shows the Mutant Puppy anxiously awaiting my retrieval of the ball!)


For those of you who get this bloggie via email, here is the direct link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omKvgRuKRGo

So, another great day! And yes, Goldendoodles are taking over Park City!


Heehee!

*kissey face*
-Fiona the Swimmer and Abby the Mutant Wading Puppy