Petal's Big Girl Bed

Petal's getting bigger and bigger everyday! She's going to be seven months old next month! Time's flying! And because she's growing like a weed, we had to get her a new kennel. Or, as I've been calling it, her "Big girl bed".

Me and my Mom searched through Amazon.com and found the coolest cage. It's a Pawhut 42" metal, folding crate with divider. I think the fact that it folds is the best feature! No assembly whatsoever. You simply unfold it, lock the front and back securely into place, and viola! The crate also has, not one, but three doors. One on the front, one on the side, and one on the top (perfect for dropping a treat or toy inside without your dog barging out).

It's a pretty big cage, measuring at 42" long, 28" wide, and 31" high. I'm not sure how big Petal will grow to be, so I used Lassie's measurements. Right now she has too much room in there, so I stuck the divider in there.

She's not too fond of it at the moment. I think she misses her old bed, which was a plastic, cargo kennel. It was nice and roomy when she was little, but now that she's bigger it's not so roomy anymore.

Last night she cried quite a bit, but settled down when I covered her crate with a blanket (not dark enough, perhaps?), but then she woke up early in the morning (she usually likes to sleep in— I know, I got lucky) crying. So I put the divider in there this afternoon, hopefully she'll feel more secure with it being a little less spacious and a little more cozy. We'll see how she does.

And I thought this was pretty funny, so I'll share it with you.

This morning my Mom and I were in the kitchen talking and the dogs were hanging out in the family room. We keep a gate up in the kitchen doorway to keep the dogs out, and thus out of the trash can. So there's no way in, unless you're one of the cats and can leap over the gate, or go through the lame hole in the wall. It's not really a hole, it's more like a glassless window with a splendidly pointless view of the family room from the kitchen, and a kitchen view from the family room. On the kitchen's side of the window-hole, the sink resides beneath it— which is why only the cats can get through it. It takes a graceful, and stealthy, cat to balance along the sink's edges to get to the counter and then onto the floor without seriously injuring themselves. No clumsy puppy of mine could ever achieve this without breaking every dish in sight and taking a trip to the vet's office.

On the family room's side of this wanna-be window a small table, with folded blankets on top, sits underneath it. Petal has recently discovered that if she puts her front paws on the blankets on that table, she can see through into the kitchen, and snatch things left on the window's ledge. Today, however, whilst excited to be up and out of bed, she took a spontaneous leap through the air while approaching the table, and ended up on top of it. Back feet on the table, front feet on the ledge of the window. I was in shock— I think I even gasped—, not expecting her to actually make it. I thought for sure she'd end up falling on the floor. And apparently she had been expecting the same thing, because as she looked around and realized what she had done, her ears went flat against her head, and she started shaking; afraid to get down or even move at all.

Only a collie can achieve such a naughty act on accident and immediately become fearful of it. If that had been Ella, the lab mix, she would've leapt on through— crashing through the sink and onto the floor. Then she'd look around, as she'd wag her tail, as if to say "Did you see what I just did?!"

But not Petal. She hadn't meant to do that and instead of taking advantage of the moment, she froze in her spot and waited for me to come show her how to get back down to the safety of the family room floor.

Silly dog.

Blast from the Past.

While looking for an old picture of Lassie to show to a friend, I started feeling nostalgic and went browsing through more old pictures of Lassie and Ella. I'm blown away by how much they've grown! And so quickly, too.

Just look at how small Lassie was when he was just a baby! This picture had to have been taken the end of 2004 or beginning of 2005, not sure. The other dog pictured was our family's Great Dane, Talos, or Tal for short. He was Lassie's buddy and teacher until he passed away.

Lassie's very first camping trip! My word was he orange! His coat alone has changed so much. However, his seating habits haven't changed. He'll sit on your lap, or on your head if he can, or stairs, or chairs; anything he can back his butt into, he'll sit on.

Lassie's 2nd birthday. I did, indeed, throw him a doggie party. We invited the dogs in the neighborhood that I use (before we moved) to care for when their owners were away. I stuck party hats on them and baked Lassie a paw print shaped cake to share with them. They played for hours outback in the yard and even in the house. His party was a huge success, and, apparently, it was pretty exhausting, too. ;]

Hanging out in our old bedroom. What a handsome boy he is.

Oh my, look how tiny she was! What a sweet little angel. She's grown so much! She's still as pretty as can be, though.

What a goofball! She's still crazy and silly, though she doesn't lay like that anymore.

My dog can sing and play guitar! She's gifted.

Look at that sweet sleeping face. So peaceful.

Petal's only six months old and I've only had her for four months, so she doesn't have much of a past yet, but we can't just leave her out can we? Of course not! Besides, she has grown so much already, I can't hardly believe it.

The day after we picked her up from the Vegas airport. That sweet little face of hers allows her to get away with everything. She's just too cute for her own good!

Aww! She fell asleep in the car, snuggling her purple monkey Kong Wubba. So sweet!

Fallen asleep at the end of the bottom bunk. I think she looks a bit like a bear cub in this picture. I love her little pink paw!

"Time for my extreme close-up, Momma!"

I just love these guys and I can't believe how much they've all grown! Sometimes I wish I could make them stop and have them stay my little puppies forever.

Muddy Waters

On Friday me and my Mom took the dogs to this trail nearby our house. To the right of the trail (or left, depends on which end you start at) is just a bunch of bushes and then big gaps of open areas. To the left there's a dirt hill— it's actually more like a dirt wall. But if you climb up that, on the other side there's a great big, long ditch with muddy, muddy, muddy water in it. What a great place for a dog to go and cool off and get all dirty, right? Of course! My dogs love it, and even though they come home a mess, I love it, too. It's a blast watching them play together in the mud and water. Not to mention the exhaustion that takes over them afterwards, that's nice, too. ;]

Not sure what's going on here. Looks like Lassie is investigating and Petal looks like she's trying to tell Ella something. Good luck with that, Petal.

Petal— while trying to walk Ella— managed to get herself tangled up in Ella's leash. I'm not sure how she does these things, but it was pretty funny to watch Petal pull her own foot right out from underneath herself.

Told you the water was muddy! It's like a great big mud puddle.

She almost fell in; that's what that face is about. She's such a spazz.

The girls had a blast chasing each other through the water.

Lassie enjoyed the cool waters, too. And the mud. What dog doesn't love mud?

During a nice game of tag, Ella looks behind her to see Petal is catching up quick! Better run Ella!

Smack! Ella got her good. Right in the chest.

Did I mention that Petal had had a bath just hours before this? So much for that.

Kicking back after a long, hard day of play.

Smile Ella!

Is it just me, or does this seem to be a classic lab look?

That'll teach me to give her a bath.

And that hair standing up on her back? It will not stay down. It's like a doggie cowlick.

After they were good and tired (and wet and muddy), we went home, fed them dinner, and then they each settled down in the family room with a treat to chew. A good day, indeed!

Introductions...

So I'm new to this whole blogging concept, but I had a dog blog in mind for awhile now that I thought might be fun, so here I am, finally starting one.

First of all, as you may have guessed from the nifty little image there, I have two collies and a mutt. I adore them and spend every moment with them. Whether I'm cleaning up after them, chasing them down to get that sock from their mouth, going for a ride in the car with them, walking them, or just laying around with them; they're never far away and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Next I'll introduce my doggie crew, or pack, to you.

This is Lassie he's a male, purebred Collie, and he's five years old. His birthdate is October 9, 2004, and he came to live with me on December 8, 2004. He's the first dog I've ever owned. I was thirteen years old when I earned and saved up all the money needed for him (and his plane ticket to get him from Oklahoma to his new home here in Utah). I babysat all the time to get him, and he was well worth all the work and the waiting! I did so much research on the Collie breed, too, and owning and caring for a puppy. He's a fantastic dog, so I think I did a pretty good job. ;]

Lassie is my best friend, and my partner in crime. It's rare to see one of us without the other. People are often amazed by his devotion to me, but that's just who he is. He's my baby boy and we do everything together. He knows everything about me and I know everything about him. I don't know where I'd be without him, his friendship and loyalty has helped me through so much.

Ella, a female Lab mix, was next to join my crew. Ella was a rescue that I adopted on September 30, 2006. She was born July 26, 2006 and bounced around from foster home to foster home until she was adopted by me. I was told she was a Lab and Australian Shepherd mix, but I don't see a bit of Aussie in her, I think she's more like a Greyhound with her long neck and incredible speed to go with her love for running. Ella is boxy and sturdy, but so beautiful, and she has a heart of gold. She loves everyone, really, even if you make her nervous or aren't too fond of her, she'll still love you. She loves to play in the water, but baths are just okay. She's excitable and will do her happy dance for you whenever you come home, or just walk into a room. She loves to bring you presents (shoes, toys, socks, paper), but you can only look at it! You can't actually have it! Ella also loves to talk and will go around telling everyone they're "ruuuude!" often. Ella and Lassie are the best of friends, though they do get on each other's nerves at times, but that's just what siblings do. ;]

Our newest addition to our little crew is Petal! She's a purebred Collie and just barely six months old. She was born December 6, 2009 and joined the family February 16, 2010. Petal, still a young puppy, is full of so much energy! She keeps me, Lassie, and Ella very busy, but we love her. She's a silly little thing and has recently discovered that she has a very beautiful voice, so she talks allll the time now. She's a good girl though, she knows many commands already, and loves to learn, play, and run. Her and Lassie have a blast playing hide and seek with each other, and her and Ella love to run and jump together. Petal loves to go "snorkeling" in their water bowl and will stick her entire head in there to get the desired toy from the bottom of it. One of her favorite things to do, though, is hanging her head out the car window. She absolutely loves doing that and the second she's in the car she'll start barking to have her window rolled down for her. She's such a pretty puppy and everyday she's getting bigger and bigger and looking less and less like a puppy. I'm curious to see how she'll change as she grows.

I suppose I should introduce myself, as well. Well... my name is Marquie, I'm nineteen years old. My birthday is May 26, making me a Gemini, if you're into the Astrological signs.

Clearly I love dogs, very much, haha. I hope to one day certify Lassie and Petal as therapy dogs, so they can visit nursing homes and other places. I love to write, which was another reason for me putting this blog together, to combine my love for my dogs and my love for writing.

I'm one of five children and am the oldest. My favorite color is blue. I love music, Drake Bell being my all time favorite artist. I still play computer games from my childhood, and still love reading little kid books, and watching cartoons from the 90's.

I often get weird, or even disapproving, looks when I tell people that, no, I'm not going through college, and no I'm not driving just yet, and no, I'm definitely not dating. I have no interest in college, and had no interest in driving until just recently, and dating? No thanks! Maybe later.