Is she a short haired Collie?

I get this question a lot when I'm out walking the collies. People who are familiar with the breed know right away that Lassie is a collie, however not everyone realizes that Petal is too. They always seem surprised to hear it and they almost always ask "Is she a short haired collie?"

Uhhh. No.

First of all, her hair is already much longer than a "short haired" AKA smooth coated collie.

(image found on Google)
Smooth Collie.

Petal the Rough Collie.

Second of all, collies can take up to two years to grow out their full coat. Petal is a year and a half and you'd be surprised at how much a young dog can change in just six months!

Third, female collies tend to have thinner coats than the males. So it's not likely that she'll ever have a coat as full as Lassie's.

Fourth, she actually did have have longer hair on her belly area, but when I had her spayed, she obviously had to be shaved.

Fifth, her mom's hair is quite a bit shorter than my Lassie's and her dad's hair looks to be about the same as Lassie's. This will have a lot to do with how long Petal's will get.

Sweet Ella

Awww. ♥

New Collars

Recently Lassie and Petal acquired new collars. Ella didn't need a new one, which is shocking because she's usually the one who needs the new collars. Ella has had her collar for nearly a year and a half now. Her collars usually only last a month or so. But last year I bought her a Dublin Dog All Style, No Stink collar and she's had it ever since!


Snoozing in her stylin' collar.


I fell in love with Dublin Dog's Daisy Daze collars and got a yellow one for Petal.



Then I decided that Lassie really should match his sisters, so he got one, too.


Yes, that is my hand & yes, I took pictures of their collars during nap time. ;]


Come July, Dublin Dog is suppose to have new colors/patterns and with Ella's birthday being July 26th, I have a feeling she'll be getting another collar next month.

Evening Stroll

Petal has a backpack and Lassie wears baseball caps! :D

Petal's first trip to the dog park

My family and I took Lassie and Petal to the dog park Monday evening. The closest dog park is about 55 miles away and this was Petal's first time ever at a dog park. She did very well!

Jetta (dog running), Petal and Zoe (black dane pup).

My favorite thing about the dog park is watching the dogs interact, of course, and watching the owners, too. I find it completely hilarious how everyone's dogs went so well with their personalities/appearance. For example, there was this older guy there who was all proper and polite with his very proper Poodle. Then there was this tall, very beautiful girl with her lean, tall and gorgeous Weimaraner, both of which seemed to have a love for life. There was a German Shepherd with her athletic and outdoorsy owner. There was a couple with two dogs, one of them was some sort of Setter/hunting dog (I forget the exact breed) and she went perfectly with the man, while the laid back Great Dane puppy went very well with his wife.

Lassie & Zoe.

While watching everyone, I noticed that my poor Petal seems to be socially awkward, like I am (though I feel that I have gotten better). Rather than playing with the dogs, she spent half of her time running along beside them, watching them play together. Sometimes she would start to chase them, but as soon as they turned around to chase her, her tail went between her legs and she would look at them like "I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!"

She spent the other half of her time trying to get the little dogs in the small dog area of the park to come over to the fence and play with her. Apparently they're more fun or maybe they're just less intimidating (though I hardly think so).

Petal: "I was meant to be a little dog."

Despite her socially awkwardness, she still seemed to have a great time and she was definitely a very happy girl (and very exhausted once we got back in the car to go home).

With time I think Petal will get use to the dog park and pretty soon she'll be everyone's best friend. Or a pest to everyone, depends on how you look at it. ;]

Petal & Zoe.

The poodle owner described Petal as "exuberant" I think it's the perfect word for her.

I just don't understand why he seemed so surprised. Does his dog not jump and bounce around for joy at being leash-free and in a completely new environment?

Petal's First Camping Trip

At the last minute my family and I decided to go camping for my birthday. Since my birthday (the 26th) is around Memorial weekend, and we literally decided on this camping trip at the last minute, we were only able to get one night in Zion.

Turns out one night was plenty anyway. Zion was very very hot. But we still had a good time and, for Petal's very first camping trip, it went very well!

Petal helping me open my present.


Taking shelter from the blazing sun.


Lassie wanting in the tent!


Relaxing.


The three amigos!

Which reminds me, we ate at this really great mexican restaurant in Zion called Amigos. Their food was great and they even allowed the dogs to sit on the patio with us!


Petal enjoyed sitting in the camp chairs. Crazy little dog.


The car ride to Zion and home was absolutely crazy. We had to cram seven people, three dogs, and enough camping gear for seven people and three dogs in an eight passenger van. Lassie and Petal were squished in the backseat with me and Miranda and for a little while on the way home, Lassie was laying on Petal!

As is to be expected, we came across a few challenges while camping (like trying to keep Petal quiet and assure her that she didn't need to bark at every moving thing and trying not to melt in the sun), but all in all, it was a pretty good trip.