Our weekend, in which I am pretty and we meet a boy

Heehee.  Another good weekend in the books!  We didn't go to doggie class this weekend because some people apparently thought they had a private lesson during the time we were to have our class, and they didn't want to make it a group lesson. (Really!  They must have never met us!   Hmmph!)  We hadn't yet left for class when Mom got the message, and since Mom was a bit under the weather, she didn't mind.  So we stayed home and napped.  And Saturday afternoon I had to go to the v-e-t for my annual visit during which I was told I was pretty (duh... as if I didn't know that already... although it never hurts to hear it from trained professionals).

Hi.  My name is Fiona and I'm pretty.

I also got stuck with a needle (which I didn't really even notice because I was more interested in the people telling me how pretty I am) and I had some stuff stuck up my snooter (which I noticed but quickly ignored because it's much more interesting to have people tell me I am pretty).  When it was all said and done, I am 56 lbs of very healthy prettiness.  Oh and Abby and I got our licenses renewed (although Mom wouldn't let me drive home - what is up with that?) so we are legal for another year.

Today we did our usual morning walkie followed by much frisbee time throughout the day.

Some of the action photos aren't the best, mostly because Mom is throwing the frisbee with one hand while trying to snap the picture, so sometimes the 'focus' isn't always the best.  But you get the idea from these!

Then, on our afternoon walkie, we encountered a boy who was wandering along the street.  When he saw us, he came running up to us, and once Mom decided he wasn't a threat, we all sniffed each other, barked a little, played a little, and continued on.  Mom thought the boy would head back to his house at some point, but he kept running ahead and then running back to us, and even though Mom kept urging him to go home, he stuck with us.  Of course he did.  Who wouldn't want to hang out with two fun-loving 'doodle gals such as ourselves?  When we got to our driveway, instead of continuing on his way, he followed us up the driveway, and when Mom opened the door to the garage, He.Walked. Right. In.  Like he owned the place!


Mom got us upstairs, and came back down to the garage to check out our friend.  It turns out his name is Rambo, and after some treats and some water, Mom found his name tag, and called his owners.  Rambo's family was visiting Park City from elsewhere and were off skiing, with no idea that Rambo had escaped from the house they were staying at.   Needless to say, they were quite happy to hear that we had taken him in, and about 45 minutes later, he was reunited with his Mom.  

However, I have to tell you, I thought Rambo was quite the handsome young chap (apparently he wasn't quite a year old).  And well-mannered, too.  We are very happy that it was easy to get him back to his parents, but we're also happy that we got the chance to spend some time with Rambo the Cutie!

Seriously!  How cute is he?!?

So yeah, it was a great weekend!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

Of Quilts and Class and Haircuts and Things

We've had quite the busy weekend.  First, it started off with a box from our Granny and Grandpa.  Technically the box was for Mom and Dad, but since the gift inside starred US, it is totally relevant to this bloggie.  Granny and Grandpa had been talking about making a quilt for Mom and Dad for Christmas, and Mom was happy when it arrived (Christmas is fluid when it comes to hand-made gifts).  But she was totally blow away when she opened the box and saw the quilt.

That's not exactly the best picture, but we wanted to give you an idea of the size of it.  Because it turns out that the quilt has pictures of us!  (And TaiChi and Ben and Billy and Bufus, because they are always with us.)  Grandpa got pictures from our bloggie and printed them on fabric and they were included in the quilt, along with pithy comments.  Check out some of them!

Me as a wee pup, hanging out with TaiChi the Wise

The upper left picture is me checking out Abby on her first day home.

MangoMinster immortalized forever in our quilt!

More pawsome pictures and stitching

We were all totally blown away by this - how cool is it?  And for Granny and Grandpa to put all that work into finding meaningful pictures and putting them in a quilt is beyond thoughtful.    I'll tell ya, we were all deeply touched by Granny and Grandpa's Very Cool quilt!  Thank you so much!!!  We'll treasure this always!

The next excitement was doggie class.  It turns out Jessi (the Turkey Hotdog Lady) is training a dog trainer for another Petco, and we were to be some of the trainer-in-training's first actual doggies.  Poor kid!  Apparently we are 'tough' because while we are very well-behaved, we're also totally spoiled; we get tons of attention at home, so we aren't actively seeking out human affection, we are free-fed (we always have kibble in our dish, to eat when we are hungry), so we aren't used to 'working for food' (we leave that to Mom!  Heehee!), and we have tons of toys, so we don't get super excited about new toys.  Jessi knows how to stimulate our mentals, but Riley the trainee was in for a bit of a challenge with us.

Hi.  Um, so you want us to do what today?

Dangling treat ball?  Okay, we'll pretend to be interested.

We actually had a good time with the trainee - we played hide-and-seek, we demonstrated our loose-leash walking skills, and we gave the trainee a chance to try to engage two doggies who are not easily amused.  (We actually ARE easily amused, but in a 'bitey-face on the bed on top of the humans' way, not in a 'here's  new toy' sort of way.)

Of course, after class, we spent time amusing ourselves in the manner we know best - frisbee and bitey-face in snow!

And then today, after some more frisbee time

Mom decided it was time for Abby's haircut.  All because Abby had taken to flopping down in the snow every few minutes when she got hot!

So, Abby got the same 87 hours of torture, ah, treatment I got last week - brushing, bathing, drying, brushing and grooming.

Here is her 'before' picture.

Cute, but furry.

Here are some 'action' photos...  Apparently Abby is Not Took Keen on having her face, feet, or front legs groomed.  However, Mom just cranked up the music and kept the HBO words to a minimum.

Abby not looking like a happy camper

Note Mom's grim determination!

And then the finished product...

Not perfect, but as our Granny would say, a man on a fast horse wouldn't notice the imperfections.

For those of you who are worried that Abby might be cold now that she is nekkid again, I can assure you she is very comfortable without all those extra hairs.

And I had to make sure she was still bitey-able.

Yep.  Still bitey-able.

And finally, in case you were worried about the paucity of photos of my pretty face, I won't leave you disappointed.

Heehee!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the (newly shorn) Hippobottomus

Doggie Class and *gasp*

So, as usual, we had our doggie class on Saturday morning.  Instead of traipsing off to TJMaxx or Bed Bath and Beyond, we had been asked to help 'socialize' a puppy.  Us?  Trusted with a puppy?  Seriously?  Needless to say, it was going to be supervised socialization, but we got all prepared.  Because you never know what sort of puppy craziness you might encounter.

Needless to say, we weren't quite sure what to do when we came snooter-to-snooter with little miss Cutie-patootie.

Hi!  My name is Ellie!  Will you be my friend?

With a face like that, how could you not like the little labramix gal?

Truthfully, Miss Ellie wasn't quite sure what to make of us at first... (In her defense, not too many people do.)

"Help!  Get me away from these crazy doodle gals!"

 But we got things sorted out quickly, and she was an apt pupil.

And we got down to the serious business of sharing toys.

Crazy puppy eyes.

And since crazy puppies can be a tad overwhelming, I took a few minutes to get some much-deserved scratchies.

Meanwhile, there were many attempts to wear out Miss Ellie (seriously, this young lady had enough energy to power a medium-sized city). 

Heh.  Doesn't she look all innocent and cute?  It to her forever to figure out how to get the treats out the Holee Roller hanging around her neck!  But apparently we were good in help Miss Ellie get used to other doggies.  I guess if she can handle us, she can handle anyone, right?  Heehee!

Now a final photo from yesterday's class.  Mom wants you to look at this because she thinks I was rather, erm, shaggy.

Me?  Shaggy?  I have no idea what you are talking about.

Well, apparently Mom was talking about giving me a *gasp* haircut.

A what?!?  Just because I get a wee bit toasty inside the house...

Anyhoo, Mom got everything ready, brushed me out, and then took me into the shower.  Um.  Can we skip this part, please?  Apparently not.  Nor could I skip the 'drying' afterward, which included a doggie dryer (like a hair dryer, but it doesn't blow hot air - just regular temperature air - and  sounds like the dreaded Vacula Monster).  Eeesh!  After that, Mom brushed me out AGAIN, and got me up on the grooming table and got to work...

Note Mom's "stylish" grooming garb.  Apparently it has something to do with "doodle hair sticking to everything."  What-EVER.  But her scrub-like thingys did prevent her from looking like a Yeti when we were done.  Although what is up with the face squeeze?  I might have been able to hold my head still without that.  Maybe.

Anyhoo, after 87 hours of grooming torture, Mom finished.  She has decided that doing more than one of us a day is too taxing on her mentals and physicals, so Abby will get tortured next week.  In the meantime, here I am, looking decidedly less shaggy.  At least now you can see my pretty face!

And I don't even have Yeti-toes this time!  You can actually see my tootsies!  There are a few straggly bits that Mom will have to go back and clean up, but for her second time grooming me, I think she did pretty well.  Maybe next week the Hippobottomus will be less shaggy, too!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus