It's MY bloggie and I'm going to vent. So there.

If I hear “cute puppy” this or “smart puppy” that or “what a good puppy” One More Time, I think I’m going to hurl. Seriously. The Little Monster goes to PetCo for her Puppy Class and Mom comes back gushing about what a wonderful puppy the beast Abby is, and how everyone at the store thinks she’s So Cute. Oh please. They only see a hotdog-eating, eager-to-please little ball of fluff. They don’t see the monster that she becomes at home.

Good grief. You can see her tonsils.

That's my ear!!!

Even Mom and Dad buy into her shtick. I mean, they get so excited when she poops outside. Woo-hoo. That’s definitely Nobel prize-worthy. *sheesh*

And yesterday? Yesterday totally takes the cake. Mom takes The Monster to puppy class (which is still a class of one – probably because no one else wants to contaminate their dog by being around the Spawn of Satan), and the store is hosting a pet photo thing. So Mom gets some pictures of Abby looking (and I quote) “angelic”. Angelic?!? I think Mom must be stopping by the pub next door or something while Abby is sucking up to the dog trainer, because “angelic”? Not the Abby that I know. I take that back. She can work it when she wants to. I mean, here is the face that she puts on when she's suckering people into buying her Cute Puppy Act.

*gag*

Note from Mom: PetCo was doing one of those fund-raising things, and well, I couldn't help myself. And actually the first 6 pictures we got were a disaster as Abby couldn’t sit still to save her life. But we took a few more after class, after we had been practicing ‘sit’ and ‘down’ for quite a while, and yep. She’s cute. Painfully cute. We are getting hard copies of the pictures (alas, we couldn’t get digital copies), so when they arrive, I’ll figure out how to post them. But OMD. Abby was really working the Cute Puppy thing. Unfortunately, the photographer won’t be there tomorrow when Fi has class, so we’ll have to wait to get her portrait done…

*sigh*

But, at least I can still bitey-face her.

And while she thinks she can do snow-zoomies...

Here short little leggies means that she pretty much sticks to the places where the snow has melted.

While I can enjoy the snow in all its wonderfulness! Because I am all long-leggity-like.

*neener neener*

*kissey face* (unless you are Abby, in which case it is bitey-face all the way)
-Fiona

My Birthday Weekend - an Update

Just a quick update from Party Central.

After my Mom decided that we should have a Birthday Weekend, our first activity was a nap. Naps are good. Naps with Mom are even better!


Then, after the nap, we went on a hike.


Then, after the hike, Mom told me that a box arrive. A box For Meeee!


Of course, I had to investigate it immediately!
Do I look upside down to you there?!?

TaiChi and I investigated the contents, and found they met our approval.

These are Quite Yummy! Mom says that there are other 'things' for us, but she hasn't elaborated yet.

BTW, there have been some experiments with the Party Hat and the Tiara. So far? I'm not super excited about having things on my head, so Mom and Dad have had to ambush me.
Very sneaky of them...

TaiChi, however, has had no issues with the Tiara (I think it's because she's been certain of her status as Queen for the last 17 years....)

And Bufus? Well, he's been Very Tolerant. He doesn't like the Party Hat, but if this isn't proof of his love for Mom and Dad, then I don't know what is!

Does that look like a Happy Cat to you? Yeah, I didn't think so, either....

More later. Mom is mentioning something about pressies!

*kissey face*
-Fiona the Birthday Girl

Sixth Folder, Sixth Picture

The distinguished Mr. Farley has tagged me on the Sixth Folder, Sixth Picture thing. I have a wee bit of a problem with this because when I open up Mom's Pictures folder, it sorts the folders differently than when I open up the pictures in Blogger. So, I'm going to post both. I think this all happens in part because Mom only organizes her Pictures folders by date, and not by category or anything. So this is the real Sixth Folder, Sixth Picture, by date:



This is my older brother, Ben, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge last December. He had cancer, and Mom and Dad are sad that he left this world much too soon. Mom's eyes are a little red even now. He was a big, handsome guy, and a Thinker of Deep Thoughts. Mom and Dad say that there are times, with a certain hair cut, or from a certain position where I look Very Much Like Him. They wanted to have one of his puppies, but that didn't happen, so they got me, instead. I think that the Universe wanted to make up for Ben not getting the chance to be a father, by making me look very much like I could be his daughter. Which is very cosmic, but very cool. And it sort of freaks Mom and Dad out (in a good way, I think), sometimes. Anyway, in this picture, Mom and Dad had just got the House With Wheels, and Ben testing out the couch. Clearly, he approves. And I'm glad he broke the couch in - because it is Just Perfect!

Okay. Now the second picture, which is what Blogger seems to think is the Sixth Picture from the Sixth Folder (try saying THAT five times fast!).


This is from this winter in Parker. I think it was early January, during a cold spell (hence the hat and fleece jacket on Mom). I am in my favorite spot, helping her read. Who says I'm NOT a pillow dog? In fact, I'm STILL a pillow dog. It's not my fault that the pillows are So Small. Besides, I was helping keep Mom warm. Note from Fi's Mom: this was NOT exactly the most comfortable reading position, as my 'backrest' kept squirming around on me.... But she is a good heater!

I don't know what Mom is talking about. I was comfortable, so where's the problem?!?

Anyway, those are my pictures. Some time I'm going to have to go through and pick a picture from each month and post it - because there are a lot of really cool pictures in these folders....

The weather is supposed to be nice, so I think I might convince Mom to go on a hike today. Which, of course, means treats for me!

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Dog(?) trainer

Today the 'dog trainer' came. I really don't know why we need a dog trainer. I'm a Good Dog. I don't need to be trained.

Fi's Mom: Yes, Fi you ARE a Good Dog. We just want you to be a Great Dog, so that when clueless people let their 100 lb untrained dogs out without collars on you can ignore the 100lb missile hurtling at you and continue to ignore them when they sniff at you while their clueless parents try to pull said 100lb collar-less dog off you while you are trying very hard to lie on the ground patiently. It wasn't your fault that the clueless lady couldn't control (or even get a handle on) her dog. *ahem. But really. How Stupid Can You Be? If you know that your dog doesn't respond to voice commands, how could you POSSIBLY let the dog out without even a COLLAR on?!? Fi's a little skittish around other dogs, and as such, jumps around when approached by strange dogs (one of the behaviors we are working on). Not that I blame her. And there's not much we can do about other dogs' behaviors. I just wanted to vent about the totally clueless woman who kept yelling how 'friendly' her dog was as he was trying to take my knees out. All that aside, I think Fiona can be a Super Dog.

See. I'm a Good Dog. That other dog? He might have been 'friendly', but all I know is that when we were finally able to get away without being chased (thanks to Mom giving the clueless lady some of MY treats to control HER dog....) I had slobber on the bridge of my nose. Nothankyou.


Anyway. The "dog trainer" is really a Human Trainer. I know all sorts of things (like how to wait by a door when it is opened, and how not to pull on the leash), Mom just needs to learn that if she wants me to DO these things , she needs to liberally apply treats. Luckily the trainer is teaching Mom this. I think with practice, Mom will eventually apply treats when appropriate (read: all the time) and she'll be happy.

And the trainer has a Big Bag FULL of treats. So she can show up whenever she wants.

But since Mom was busy learning how to apply treats, she didn't get any pictures. So I'll leave you with some pictures from my time at the park yesterday.

See, I 'sit' just fine, thankyouverymuch.

And I run around with rubber balls REALLY well!


*kissey face*
-Fiona