*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

Uh-oh. Abby's Getting Bigger

Mom and Dad took us on a hike yesterday (Mom only got minimal pictures - she promises to do better next time).


After the hike we stopped by the vet. I had to have my heartworm test done (I'm fine - Mom just likes to check once a year, even though we get heartworm meds regularly - she figures you can never be too safe) and Mom and Dad decided to get us weighed.

Me? I'm a lean, mean (okay, maybe not so mean) 57 pounds. Go me!

But my crazy monster sister? She's 46 pounds. 46?!? Hello! She's only 6 months old (well, not quite - she'll be 6 months in another week). I think Mom and Dad got a mutant puppy when they got this one. Hey. They used to test nuclear bombs in Utah. A mutant puppy could totally happen.

+

=

Needless to say, there has been much mutant puppy wrangling going on....

Oh crap. This mutant puppy is a MONSTER.

Good thing I'm quite elastic!

In other excitement, Flat Brutus has been spending some quality time with us. He hasn't made it on any hikes with us because it's been windy, and well, Flat Brutus is a bit of a lightweight, and Mom didn't want to lose him.

However, he got to frolic in the snow that we had at the beginning of the week. Yeah. Really. Snow.

And he's been dipping into the treats....

But he's easy-going, and a good guy to hang out with.

Mom and Dad have a local autocross on Monday; Abby (aka Mutant Puppy) and I will be staying home with Jessi, The Woman Who is Training Mom to Feed Us Turkey Hotdogs, but it sounds like Flat Brutus is going to get to go for some 'ride-alongs'. Mom promises to get pictures!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Mutant Puppy