Wordless Wednesday

Except that it's not Wednesday yet, and it's not wordless.  It's called artistic license!  Heehee.

So, remember right after Abby did her Good Citizen thingy, Petco was doing the photograph thingy?  And then Mom hauled me in the next day?  Well, some of the pictures of Abby have come in, and Mom is anticipating the DVD of all of our photos in the next couple of days.  But in the meantime, here are some pictures of the hard copy photos of my sister, the total ham.

 Total hambone!  But, I'll admit, she looks pretty cute.  You know, for my sister and all.

 In this photo, Mom was trying to emulate the picture she got of Abby when she was a puppy.

This is the photo Mom was trying to imitate.  Frankly, I think Abby looks WAY more serious as a puppy than as an "adult."

Mom calls this Abby's "Jesus photo" because in the original it looks like she's got a halo around her! 

Abby's 'model' strut.

This one is Mom's favorite.

Abby is such a suck-up, smiling at the camera like that!  Alas, I was not quite as cooperative.  But you'll see when Mom gets the DVD with my pictures!

*kissey face*

-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

What HAVE we been up to?

So, what HAVE we been up to, now that we are Good Citizens, you ask?  Well....  We've been going to the park a lot...

\

And we've been getting in some quality bitey-face time.

In case you're curious, that little fence in the background is to keep a certain sister of mine from sneaking through the one hole in the bushes and barking at innocent doggies walking down the street.


Oh!  And our hurdles showed up! 

We weren't using them there - other than as an obstacle around which to zoomie!

But we have started using them.  Mom has been setting up both of them, but to get the video, she just filmed one hurdle.  We're not exactly Brutus and Carmen (yet... well, maybe never, since apparently we can do sheep herding trials every weekend, but Mom still can't find a local place for dog agility, so the backyard it is!)

Here's our latest video (Mom's still learning how to use the basic movie software on her computer...): http://youtu.be/1x2Zbxqadwg

If you can't see the video, here are a few still 'highlights':

You'll notice in the video (or the last photo here) that Abby tried to get a treat from Mom for running beside the hurdle, rather than over it.  Mom was paying attention and made Abby go back and go over it to get her treat!


And the other excitement?  Abby has been going to MORE doggie classes!   Jessi (the turkey hotdog goddess) has a class on Saturday mornings, and she wanted another doggie in the class, so I went the first week (when Mom almost took me to the car show, instead), and then decided that since Abby gets Saturday Morning Crazies, class would be a good diversion for her.  And the class has Abby's buddy Sherman, the English Bulldog:

Heehee!  Look at that face!

And Lulu is also a frequent member of the class, so everyone is happy!

Abby's got a couple more weeks of class.  In this class she's continuing to work on Good Citizen stuff, as well as "high stress" situations where she's supposed to stay focused on Mom.  As you can see from the not-so-high stress exercise, Abby is shifty-eyed, and tries to avoid making eye-contact with Mom.  Apparently, however, Mom said Abby is "doing well" in spite of her shifty-eyedness.  

Well, apparently I'm doing SO well that I am not even doing classes.  Or maybe there isn't another class right now.  Something like that...  Heehee.  I do miss seeing Jessi every week.  And I miss the extra Vienna sausages... so maybe I'll have to talk to Mom about another class!

There is a rumor, however, that we might have a playdate tomorrow with Lulu!   Jessi has recently moved, so she now lives much closer to us than she used to, and since our park is usually empty, and Lulu requires a lot of zoomie time, Mom and Jessi are trying to coordinate a time where Abby and Lulu and I can all have crazy funballs times together!  I'll keep you posted!

*kissey face*

-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

PeeEss:  In case you were wondering about that picture of Mom in Abby's doggie class.... well, it was 35 degrees this morning, and still "a bit nippy" when Mom and Abby went to class, hence Mom's long-sleeve shirt.  You can't see the lady with the standard poodle, but she had a sweatshirt on.  It's nice during the days, but starting to get cool at night!

Pedigree's Write a Post, Help A Dog Post

According to our good friend Tank, who heard from our buddy Bocci, Pedigree is donating 20 lbs of food for each bloggie post between now and midnight Sept. 3rd, 2011 that mentions the Pedigree Foundation. The Pedigree Foundation is dedicated to helping shelters and rescue organizations who help the millions of dogs who, through no fault of their own, wind up in shelters each year.

My sister Abby and I are Very Lucky Doggies. We have loving parents who take very good care of us, making sure we get the proper food and exercise, training, and regular healthcare. And we have a lot of doggie (and kitty) friends who have saved their humans from dog-less (and cat-less) existences when they came home from shelters and rescue homes. (A house without a dog? Or three? Perish the thought!)

So we think it's pretty cool that Pedigree is donating dog food to shelters Just For A Bloggie Post. Seriously! Twenty pounds of food! If you've ever had to carry twenty pounds of food up from the garage (not that I have, mind you, but Mom has), you know that's not an insignificant amount of food! Needless to say, we think a few minutes of our time is a great trade for a shelter to get 20 lbs of food. And we strongly encourage all of our doggie friends (and their assistants with opposable thumbs) to do a quick post for the Pedigree Foundation before midnight on September 3rd (that would be midnight Eastern Time, BTW). It's free kibble for shelters, so go! Post! Now!

We'll be back to our irregularly scheduled posts soon. But in the meantime, here's a couple pictures of Abby who was determined, even on her first night home, to Never Miss a Meal.   Now go do your own post so other doggies don't miss meals!  It costs you nothing but a few minutes of your time!

She's totally sacked out!  Heehee!

*kissey face*

-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

PeeEss:  If you want more information on the Write A Post, Help a Dog drive, check out Bocci's post - he's got all the information:   http://boccibeefs.blogspot.com/2011/08/pedigrees-write-post-help-dog-2011.html  And then go write your own post!

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