Brown dog

A brown dog appeared on my back porch yesterday morning.



She told me her name was Petal, but I didn't believe her.
Petal has white feet.



Not brown.



Muddy paws are sure sign of good fun, right?

Black and White Sunday: Petal was a snow princess for a day

It didn't last very long.



Today we are participating in the Black and White Sunday blog hop hosted by You Did What With Your Weiner, Dachshund Nola and My Life In Blog Years.

Dreaming of snow

In July and most of August we received an abundance of thunder, lightning, and rain every day (or very nearly every day).

It was crazy. I can't remember ever getting this much rain in Southern Utah.

I absolutely loved it.
Now it is September and we're heading towards Autumn and it's starting to cool down.
Though, as far as heat goes, it has been a pretty mild summer anyway.

Between the (sometimes) mild heat and the frequent rain storms, I started wondering what winter would hold for us. I'm hoping for plenty of snow.

Because I have literally been dreaming of snow lately.


December 2005. Northern Utah.

I've been dreaming of seeing my goofy Lassie snack on the snow and lounge in it as if he's on a beach in Hawaii.

January 2008. Northern Utah.


December 2011. Southern Utah.

I've been dreaming of laughing at Petal as she burrows her face beneath the snow and then takes off like a bullet (because snow is her catnip).


December 2011. Southern Utah.

But mostly I've been remembering the crazy amounts of snow we use to get while living in the mountains in Northern Utah.
I know we won't get anything like the snow we got then, but a girl can dream. ;)

 That was some insane (and fun, unless you had to shovel the driveway, or you got stuck in said driveway) snow.


January 2008. Ella peeking to see if her doggy friend is home.

That is a six foot fence.
Or at least it was before the snow came and turned it into a four-ish foot fence (say that ten times, fast).


"Grizzly, come over and play!"

Believe it or not, we only got more snow that year.
It piled up and up and we wondered if it would ever stop.



It accumulated more and more and grew taller and taller until...


February 2008. View from our next door neighbor's backyard.

We got six feet of snow.
Ella no longer needed permission to go visit her boyfriend Grizzly, she just waltzed on over the fence and romped around in the snow with him.

One of the neighbors behind us had the brilliant idea to dig out a path way for their dogs (I think they owned retired racing Greyhounds, but I might be getting them confused with different neighbors), so they could maneuver around their yard a little more easily and wouldn't be able walk over their fence.
Well, Lassie, Ella, and my Aunt's dog (who lived with us for a little while) decided to hop on over and pay their yard a little visit.

Hopping over was the easy part, but getting back to their own yard? Impossible. They were stuck in the neighbor's yard and since they lived behind us, I had to either run around the block or cut through the backyards. I honestly can't remember which one I did, but cutting through the backwards sounds smarter and faster, so let's say I did that.

I go and knock on the neighbor's front door.
"Hi... um... My dogs are stuck in your backyard... Can I get them, please?"
We had a good laugh about that.
I walked the dogs home and, of course, found a better way to let the dogs out to take care of business, because as funny as it was, we didn't want that happening every day, several times a day.

We definitely won't get six feet of snow here (which is probably a good thing, because it does become problematic), but I hope we get enough to have some fun in, without getting muddy.



Yeah.
I'm kind of tired of the mud.
;P

You dirty, dirty dog

Following a few certain posts, which can be found here, and here, and over here, Lassie felt that I should make something perfectly clear.
While I may allude, here on the blog, to Lassie being a neat-freak who avoids mud as much as humanly dogly possible, he does— supposedly— enjoy getting dirty.
He does— according to him— enjoy the mud.
To some extent.
Now he's sure you won't believe him (I don't believe him myself), which is why he has provided photographic evidence.


Warning: this may come as a great shock to all.




GASP!
IS THAT MUD?!
ON YOUR NOSE?!
THE HORROR!
THE SCANDAL!
Do you have any idea how long it will take me to wash that mud off your nose?!
(Stop your giggling, Petal! He tried and that's all that matters.)


Was my reaction dramatic enough for you, Lass?
Yes?
Alright. Good.
Guess we're done here.

Remember, act scandalized.
;)


Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday Mischief: Mud, mud, mud

We're still getting rained on here in Utah. More than usual it seems like.

It's definitely not like Washington rain or anything, but still.

Ella and Petal have been having a blast in the mud while Lassie has been avoiding it like it was the flu.

Today I almost wished Petal and Ella would avoid it as well as Lassie does.

But alas, they did not. Instead they went and found some deep (up to Ella's chest) and very, very muddy water.

And yes, they took several dips into that water.

You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos. They were taken with a cell phone. Not too bad for a cell phone though!

This picture does not do Ella's dirty-self any justice.
See how her chest appears to be a peachish color? Her neck and white feet looked the same.
She had a lovely layer of mud alll over herself.
But no one, no one, can outdo Petal.


"Do I have a little something on my face?"

Yeah.
She had to have a bath.
With shampoo and everything (Ella only needed a quick rinse).
I think she might still be a little peachy-colored here and there.

Walking in the rain

This morning when we woke for our walk, we found it was lightly raining.
But we figured, since this is Utah and all, that it would probably only rain for another five to ten minutes or so.
It wasn't too hot or too cold.
So we took advantage of that and went for our walk.
It
rained
the
entire
time.
Of course it didn't rain hard, but we got pretty wet anyway!
And oh so muddy!
It was wonderful!

At first the Collies weren't so sure about this walking in the rain business.
"Get our fur wet? You're joking, right?"
But then they realized it wasn't so bad. In fact, it was nice and cool and refreshing!
Lassie played more than he usually does with Petal. She loved that.


We came home with two muddy and soggy Collies. Our bone dry and squeaky clean Mutt sure was happy she stayed home!

With the unfamiliar weather and the slight change in our walking routine (we usually walk the trail and then turn around and go back the way we came, but today we walked the trail and then went out onto the road and walked around the block instead (to get away from the slippery mud)), Petal was much more alert and would respond to me at the drop of a dime.
It made for one of those moments where you realize all your hard work with training really paid off.


Petal kept so busy on the trail. Everything smells stronger and different when wet! She loved sniffing everything.


"Alright, time for breakfast!"


We came home, dried the Collies, fed them breakfast, washed their muddy paws, and now they're napping.
I think I might join them. ;)

Have a lovely weekend!
♥

Wordless Wednesday: Light

4.26.2012

Rainy Day

"I see... "


"A storm coming!"


"A storm? Who cares about storms? There's no thunder or lightning, so... "


"Let's play!"
"Alright. I guess a game of Collie soccer wouldn't hurt. I'll do commentary."


"Petal takes off after the ball! The ball hits the fence and Petal is forced to make a sharp and rapid turn to avoid smashing into the fence and becoming a Pug."


"What do you mean becoming a Pug?! That's not how their faces came to be all smashed, is it?!"
"Of course not, it was only a joke."
"Oh, well, stop your joking around and—"


"throw my ball!"
"Fine, fine."


"YES! I GOT IT! I GOT IT!"
"No one cares, Petal, not when I'm looking this handsome in the wind."


"Look at how it ruffles my fur."


"Oh! Ow! Rain in my eye! Rain in my eye!!"
"HA HA HA, very handsome!"


"Get over here you little twerp!"
"Aaaahhhhh!"

There's nothing like starting off a rainy day with a game of soccer out in the yard. :]
For those who might be wondering, while me, Lassie, and Petal spent our morning playing the rain, Ella spent hers curled up in the warm house; she's not a fan of the cold or the rain.

Crazy Weather & Some Mud

We've been having some crazy weather lately.

It was nice for a few days, then freezing and snowing for a few days,

 
Feb. 2 
The Collie Couple.


and now it's nice again.

Very nice.

Except for the mud.

Feb. 9, Muddy Nose

Feb. 8, Blue Skies

Mud can be fun, but it can also be a huge pain.

It's fun to watch Petal run and slid around in it.

But the clean up afterwards is not fun.

And neither is getting a hug from a muddy puppy.

But I'm loving these beautiful blue skies.

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!