Back to Doggie Class!

Back to our irregularly scheduled posts!  (Grandpa would probably say, "They're not irregularly scheduled, they are just unscheduled and sporadic."  But our Grandpa is a bit of a 'concrete-sequential' thinker, while we tend to be more in the 'abstract-random' realm.  And Mom is split between between 'Abstract Sequential' and 'Abstract Random'.  Which means she can Think Deep Thoughts and still somehow communicate them to others.  I guess that's why she's an academic type, huh?  Kind of a fun test, actually, if you like that kind of stuff.)   Mom was 'Busy Doing Stuff' last weekend, so Abby and I went to daycare, and there were no funballs photos for us to post.

However, this weekend, Mom PROMISED that we could go to doggie class, so we headed off to Petco, to get in some edjumacation.  And since it was about eleventy-billion degrees out, class was held inside (in the newly remodeled and expanded Petco - complete with ferrets for us to bark at...). We suggested a squirrel cage to provide some indoor amusement, but apparently the Petco management didn't like our suggestion - no doubt worried that the tree rats would break into the bird seed stocks!   They did, however, have a cage of kids, which was pretty cool!

Mom, we think they should fence kids in all the time!

Heehee.

Today's doggie class included a girl named Mesa who was still working on her socialization skills.   We spent a lot of time 'sharing' - which mean lots of time with us in the 'down' position and getting fed treats (the idea was for Mesa to see that there were plenty of treats to go around, and she'd get rewarded for waiting for her treat - it worked really well, and we ALL got lots of treats).

Jessi, you need a third arm!

 
Seriously, we got a lot of treats.  And that's the whole point of doggie class, right?!?

We could do this ALL DAY.

Yep.  This doggie class stuff is AWESOME!  (And dried lamb lung?  Best. Treat. Ever.  Even better than Vienna sausages.  Just saying...)

And, of course, Abby posed for a few more Silly Photos for Garth's Silly Photo Contest.   If you haven't entered Garth's contest yet, go over and check it out.  There are some totally awesome prizes, and what is more fun that Silly Photos? 

No Idea what she was looking for there.   Squirrels?  Lost children?  Who knows what goes on in that brain of hers...

Seriously, that girl has a few screws loose.

Me?  I'm just pretty!

After doggie class, we got to stop by the Magic Cheeseburger Window!  It wasn't even my birthday (which is July 10th, just in case you were wondering), or anything!

10 plain cheeseburgers, please.  Just charge the lady driving the car. Thanks!

Heehee!  

Tomorrow, even though it is supposed to be about a million degrees, I think Abby and I will do some training for the Blogville Olympics.   We're totally entering the Discus (frisbee) competition, and probably the Freestyle Zoomies competition, too!

We'll keep you posted!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

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