New Snow. Sort of.

First, a little Mango Minster house-keeping:

The Thundering Herd is completely correct; in times like these, where we have a paucity of snow, a snow gun is a necessity,  not a luxury.  Thus it cannot be considered a bribe.  So thanks for the offer, Frankie, we'll take it, but we are assuming this is a donation made in friendship to help us cope with unfavorable weather conditions and not an attempt to unfairly sway my judging decision.  If the delivery man needs our address, let us know.

We'll just hook it up to our neighbor's hose so we don't use OUR water!  Heehee!

Speaking of snow.... Mother Nature decided to tease us yesterday with an inch of snow.  Seriously.  An inch!  Why bother?  It's better than nothing, but we've still got bare patches in our yard.  We are supposed to get a HUGE change in weather patterns near the end of the month, but in the meantime, we'll keep hoping for Frankie's snow gun.

However, we did the best we could with the little snow we got...

Seriously pathetic amounts of snow.

We did get in some zoomies (heck, we'll do zoomies in mud), but we need some SNOW!!!

 Did I mention that we need some snow?  This time last year, we couldn't stand where we are standing now - there were FEET of snow here...

This is it?!?  Seriously?!?

Hey, Mom... where's the snow?

And by this afternoon, our snow was melting again...

Not that it stopped us from a little more bitey-face action.

And more zoomie action.

And, of course, we can still look cute.

Or, in Abby's case, play keep-away with the squeaky ball....

We'll keep working on our snow dance.  And wait for the delivery man to bring us our snow gun!  Heehee.

*kissey face*

-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

Mango Minster 2012 - Cutie Patooties

Yippee!!!  It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!  It's Mango Minster time!!! And to make it even better, I am returning to Mango Minster as a judge for the second year in a row!!!  I don't know how I got to be so lucky, but it's true!!! And I'm SO EXCITED!!!!  Last year, I had the great honor of judging the Bad Sports - a category that is near and dear to my heart.  I'm not a Bad Sport, but I had the privilege of living with TaiChi, a Grand Master of Bad Sport-itude. 

This year, I have the fantastic honor of judging those of you who are deemed Too Darn Cute (and yes, you know who you are!).   It's going to be tough to handle the ginormous amount of cuteness that abounds in this competition, but I feel I am up to the task.  After all, I KNOW cute.

Me as a Cute Puppy with TaiChi!

Check out that cute little button nose of mine!  Heehee!

But I don't want you to think that you have to be a puppy to be cute.   Cute comes in all shapes, sizes, ages, and species....

Mom and Dad are partial to 'doodles but you get the idea...

So as a judge, what am I looking for?  Well, honestly, I can't really quantify it - like I said, cute comes in a whole bunch of different forms.  BUT, I will tell you that a bunch of pictures in your entry post will really help; some of you cuties I have known for a long time, some of you are new to me - while I will do my best to learn as much about each of you as possible, it will help if you can show me the versatility of your cuteness with multiple pictures.

Age is no barrier to cuteness!

I know all my examples are poodles - I can't help it; I've only got Mom's photo albums to draw from, and there are lots and lots of poodles.  However, don't think I'm biased toward poodles - I appreciate cuteness in all its varieties!

So don't be shy - let me see you in all your cute glory.  Make me go 'Squee' with your cuteness!  I can't wait to see all the entries!

Let the games begin!  And if you don't know much about Mango Minster, or want to learn more about how to be a part of the Greatest Critter Show in the Universe, check it out!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, Too Darn Cute Judge, Mango Minster 2012

PeeEss: I'm TOTALLY not taking bribes.  Well, I'm mostly totally not taking bribes; I mean, as fellow judge Loki pointed out, EVERYONE has their price... I just don't know what mine is... However, I fully expect any bribes from you cuties to be wrapped in pink and have a big bow on it!  Heehee.   Seriously, I don't need any bribes, as your overwhelming cuteness is reward enough!  :-)

Hi 2012!

Being fans of Science, we're going to go along with NASA's belief that the world will NOT come to an abrupt end in 2012.   However, the start of the new year brings with it one of the worst snow years in decades for us. Really.  Look in the background of one of our zoomie pictures....

Look at that grass on the side - there's grass all over the place in our yard.  And almost no snow.  This is TERRIBLE!

So, Abby and I thought we might appease the snow gods with a bitey-face snow dance...

 

 

 

 

I'm not exactly sure if that will appease the snow gods or not, but it was fun!  And we'll keep you posted if we ever get any snow.  I can just hear Granny now: "Be careful what you wish for!"

In keeping with the new year, we decided to bark a lot, to chase away any bad spirits from 2011.  We may not have scared off any spirits, but we got the attention of all the dogs in the neighborhood, who decided to join in the noise making!

Heehee.

Even more exciting that all the bitey-face and barking, however, is the start of Mango Minster 2012!  We are HUGE fans of Mango Minster, and while we might be a wee bit biased, we think Mango Minster is THE BEST DOG SHOW IN THE UNIVERSE.  Seriously.  It is totally awesome!  Entries are open until Feb. 5, but they are only allowing 20 entries per category, so get your entry in soon!  Abby has been really pushing to enter this year, and since the rules say that there can only be one entrant per household, this year is going to be Abby's year!  Look for her entry shortly!

Happy New Year from all of us!

*kissey face*

-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

Mango Minster Entry: Abby the Working Stiff

*sigh*  The Hippobottomus wanted to write this post herself, and while I am a bit leery of setting some sort of precedent, I have to agree that she is the best one to write this entry.  -Fiona

HI!!!  It’s Abby here.  Yes, it’s actually me!  I was able to wrest control of the computer away from my older sister long enough to post my Mango Minster entry.   It took some work, but I was able to persuade Fi  that I could best present my case for being a Working Stiff.

I know, you're thinking, "Abby, we know working Goldendoodles, and you are no Clive."  Well, I agree, I am no Clive - but then I don't think there are too many dogs in the world that are close to being like Clive.  But, I am a Working Stiff nonetheless.   If you look at some of our other bloggie posts, I  know it all looks like fun and games, but trust me, if it weren't for me, our entire household would grind to a halt.  Allow me to give you some examples and I think you'll agree, I'm not just a cute lay-about, I WORK.

First, I have spent my Entire Life trying to train Mom how to feed turkey hotdogs.  I started training Mom when I was a wee spud of 10 weeks old, and have been working with her ever since.  Mom is a bit dense when it comes to turkey hotdog dispensing, so trust me when I tell you this is WORK.

Here, at a mere 12 weeks old, with the help of Jessi the Turkey Hotdog Goddess, I am demonstrating the Proper Turkey Hotdog Delivery Technique.

As I have mentioned, Mom is not a quick study, and I have spent almost two years training Mom.

 

This has not been an easy process, and I fear that I will be spending my entire life giving Mom 'refresher training' in how to feed turkey hotdogs.  

But I do far more work than just that.  Here are some bullet-points from my resume:

I've tried to teach Mom how to throw a tennis ball (that was a bit of a failure, but you know what they say about silk purses and sow ears...)

I let Mom know when it it time to mow the lawn.

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

And I do my part with the yardwork by helping with the pruning!

Check out ALL my pruning work!

I take care of Dad when he's sick, by being a Puppy Hat (TM).

I hold down the snow.

I hold down the floor.

I humor Mom with her crazy 'photo ops'

I provide comic relief when needed.

I make sure my parents get regular exercise.  

Likewise, I make sure my sister gets plenty of exercise.

I protect the property from tree rats and other miscreants.

I make sure Mom updates our bloggie at least every once in a while.

I finally crate-trained Mom.

I make sure Mom eats her veggies.

And I do tons of other stuff around the house, like, I've eliminated Mom's need for an alarm clock - 5:25am is a perfect time to get up; it's not my fault that I don't know which days are 'weekends' or 'holidays' and which days are 'work days'....

Most importantly, I am a foil for my sister.  If I weren't around, I have a feeling Fi would be called a 'rotten dog' on occasion.  But with me around, Fi is always The Good Dog, because I have generously taken over the role of 'Rotten Dog' all so my sister will shine. I'm the one who tries to run down the hill to greet doggies on the street so Fi doesn't have to.  I'm the one who runs off with the tennis ball while Fi stands around looking well-behaved in comparison.  I'm the one who barks at potential intruders when they are 2 blocks away, so Mom and Dad have plenty of time to prepare.   I'm the one who rolls in poop at daycare and has to be given an 'emergency bath' while Fi looks fresh as a daisy.

I've got my 'Bad Dog' face on here to emphasize the point.

It's not easy being the Bad Dog, but I'm willing to make the effort, so Fi looks good.  All the time. And it takes work for me to be Bad, since my natural inclination is toward cuteness.  It's also not easy making sure everyone in the house does what they are supposed to while also presenting my sister in the best possible light, but I'm a Working Stiff, and I get it done!

So, to sum it all up, I may not be a certified service doggie, but I've got my hands totally fully trying to keep Mom and Dad in line while keeping my big sister out of trouble.  It's a full time job and I honestly don't know what my family would do without me!   So I am definitely a Working Stiff!

*kissey face*

Abby the Working Stiff Hippobotomus