Park Times!

Okay, we've been slacking a bit on the blogging department.  All that modelling was Hard Work!  Heehee.

Anyhoo, we've been busy with 'stuff.'  After the Mango Momma's Most Excellent Weave Pole Instructional Video Mom has been inspired to get us out with own own weave poles.  But since we've only had one attempt where we've had more than two poles set up, we don't have any pictures or video yet.  But one of these days...

On Sunday, we had another playdate with Lulu the Bug.  For a short little thing, she's quite speedy...

We had quite the funballs time, and look forward to future playdates!

Today we went on a walk on the Multi-Use Trail (MUT).  We haven't been on this trail in a while, and it was good to get out and go for a long walkie.  The weather was really nice - high 50's-low 60's (i.e. perfect) - so we really enjoyed ourselves.  We also, of course, stopped by the park, and got in a little tennis ball action.

Check out that vertical leap!

We were all into catching balls out of the air today!

Two tennis balls makes for twice the fun!

Happy park times!

We have also been doing bitey-face zoomies in the backyard, but Mom has been slacking with the bitey-face photos; I'll have to talk with her about that.... But I didn't want you to think we had given up biteying each other in favor of modelling.  Although my sister is a HAM.  At daycare they have pictures of all of us, and mine is an action photo (duh!) while Abby's picture is yet another photo where she's Totally Hamming It Up for the camera.  Who'd've thunk that the Hippobottomus would aspire to be a model?  Heehee.

*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!

My Sister the Super Spaz

Before our Granny retired, she was one of Those School Teachers - you know, the teacher whose class you prayed to not be placed into. Mean Mrs. Marshall she was called. And one of the things Mean Mrs. Marshall would do to kids who stepped out of line was make them eat lunch with her, rather than with their friends. Why do I mention this?

Well, when Abby got to her Canine Good Citizen prep class today, she was being a Super Spaz. Yeah, really. Abby. I know, hard to believe, huh? Heehee. Because Abby was all spazzy, she had to go sit with the teacher!


However, I am sure that Granny never used Vienna sausages to get her students to behave. (Although, if Granny's students were eating the school lunch, maybe she did!) Jessi worked her magic, and Abby started to pretend to be act like a good dog. BTW, I am not trying to suggest that Jessi is Mean; I'm saying that Abby, like some of Granny's students, needed a little, uh, up-close-and-personal attention to behave like a good doggie.



However, Abby had to stay with Jessi for quite a while.

Not that Abby minded. Abby first met Jessi when Abby was 10 weeks old, and has never forgotten that Jessi is The Original Source of Turkey Hotdogs.

Abby as a 14 week old suck-up.

But I digress... Jessi got the wild beast that is my sister to calm down, and Abby went from Crazy Puppy...

To suck-up puppy (yeah, so she's a year and a half old - she'll always be a puppy!)....


She may be bigger, but that just means she's a bigger suck-up! Heehee.

Look at her, all good citizen-y in training!


But as soon as she got back to Mom?

Goofy puppy.

Heehee.

Meanwhile, the rest of Abby's class was, well, less goofy.

Zoe and Denver just hanging out like REAL Good Citizens.

Hefner, being the handsome standard poodle that he is.

Banjo, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel, being a good little doggie.

Okay, enough of the Good Doggies. Let's get back to my little sister and her class today. She and Mom had to approach another doggie/person pair, and Abby (and the other doggie) had to sit while Mom and the other person shook hands. Let's just say that A LOT of Vienna sausages were involved in this process...

Yes, Mom is shaking hands with the wrong hand, but her right hand is covered in a Vienna sausage/dog slobber combination...

Yeah, um, Abby's got a little more work to do before she's ready to past that part of the test! Heehee.

Then, Abby had to attempt to do the same thing that I did last week. She had to sit in the middle of a circle of doggies and attempt to pay attention to Mom... Emphasis on 'attempt.'


Mom had to dispense a whole bunch of turkey hotdogs to get this:


And you'll notice when Abby was one of the doggies walking in the circle, she kept trying to eat Mom's fingers off in an attempt to get at the turkey hotdogs...

Heehee. I think Abby's got a fair amount of work to do before she's ready to be a Good Citizen, but Mom is hoping that with Jessi's miracle-working abilities, Abby might be ready to pass the test in a few years, ah, in a few weeks. Or maybe Abby is just being a goofball to get the extra turkey hotdogs... Hmmm... I must ponder this behavioral cleverness... Heehee.

Okay. Enough about Abby and her ability to snarf down turkey hotdogs and Vienna sausages. Let's get to a few funballs shots from us at the park yesterday morning...



Good times! And yes, I've got the greatest sister in the world. Even if she's a goofball!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

PeeEss: Mom would like to thank Jessi for getting some pictures of Mom during our doggie classes. She'd also like to thank Jessi for molding us into the fine, upstanding doggies that we are today!

Another Day at the Park

On Saturdays our usual walking trail is invaded by tons of people on bicycles who don't know the rules and/or don't have the courtesy to warn people when they come up on them from behind so Mom and Dad like to take Saturdays 'off' from our walks. But since we still need our exercise, Mom and Dad take us to the park in our neighborhood, instead.

Which is cool, because there is much zooming involved.

Zoom-zoom!

Lard Butt, erm, Abby actually zooms around, too.


Nothing like having the whole park to ourselves to run full out!

Is it me, or does Abby look abnormally LONG there? Heehee!



C'mon, Dad, throw the ball!!!!

They don't call me The Amazing Flying Fi-sters for nothing, you know! Teehee!


Seriously, can you have enough zoomie pictures? Nah, I didn't think so.


It has been hot (for us), so even when we go out in the morning, we get pretty hot and tired from all the zooming, and even I slow down after a while!

I'm done now. Let's go home!

And it leaves Abby totally pooped. At least for a little while, so it's all good!

Heehee!

Moose update: Our moosies have ventured elsewhere in the neighborhood - apparently they weren't super excited about some of the trucks that were going up and down our street and disturbing their rest. However, Momma Moose seems to be a sharp one, and I'm sure Baby Moose is being well taken care of. If there are any more sightings, I'll be sure to let you know. And Mom wants you all to know that while she worries about dog-moose interactions (and is also not so excited about cleaning up their, uh, 'parting gifts'), she realizes how Super Cool it is to live someplace where we have moosies (literally) out our front door. And Mom will admit that she really couldn't get enough of Baby Moose - Mom was on the front porch For Ages taking pictures of them. I think Baby Moose knew it and was posing!

See! I think Baby Moose is smiling for the camera!

Heehee.

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus