Collie antics + Too much fun with editing

Prepare yourselves for a dozen photos.
Okay fine, a little more than a dozen.
There's 15 photos in this post.



I love watching these two play.
Though sometimes I have to step in because Petal gets a little too crazy for Lassie's liking.

I used both Photoshop Elements and Photobucket to edit these pictures obnoxiously wonderfully.
Incase you were wondering. ;)

I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday!
Do you have anything fun planned with your pups this weekend?
We currently have no plans. Unless you count my small to-do list that I really should be working on tackling right now, but I'm blogging instead, because it's more fun.

Are you in for a weekend full of fun?
Or a weekend full of chores?
Or maybe a lazy weekend!
Whatever you're doing this weekend, do it well and enjoy. ;)

Just so we're clear...

I may have been bragging about how well behaved Petal was the other day, but she doesn't want you guys going and getting the wrong idea or anything.

She's not a perfect angel ALL the time.

A dog has got to have some fun after all.

So this is Petal. On crack.

Not really, but she was being crazy last night and that's not even the half of it, honestly.

This video is actually pretty mellow considering how wild she was last night. She was barking, digging at the bed, rolling around on it, snapping at moving feet, etc. She always calmed down when I pointed the camera at her though, but when I turned it off, she'd go crazy again.
Goofball.

And now I'm off to take her for a good walk/run, to ensure we don't have that same crazy Collie on our hands again tonight. ;)

Happy Saturday! Have a lovely weekend!

Collie Soccer Video

I recently showed you all some pictures of Petal playing soccer. I also mentioned that I should record it sometime and a few days ago I did. I got several little clips on two different days of her playing soccer and I threw them all together in a quick little video.



Sorry about all the noise. It's been insanely windy around here this week! Feel free to watch with your speakers off or on low, there's not much to listen to anyway. ;]


Have a lovely weekend!

Crushin' Bottles

Lassie, for as long as I can remember, has absolutely loved the sound of crushing a plastic bottle between his teeth. So when he found this plastic bottle it was just asking to be crushed.



Literally.
So he crushed it between his teeth and looped around the couch as he crunched on it. I went for the camera and he ditched the bottle on the floor, of course, so I missed getting any pictures of him with the bottle, but I did get a few of Petal with it. She's fond of crushing them, too, but mostly she likes to chew the tops.


"What? You and Lassie said it yourselves: it was asking to be crushed!"

Ella thinks they're both insane, of course, chewing up squeakers pulled from innocent stuffed animals is where it's at!

Collie wrestling and different playing styles

I love watching Lassie and Petal play together.
It's so fun to watch two dogs of the same breed play. Of course it's fun to watch any dogs play and interact together, regardless of breed, but there's just something about watching dogs of the same breed.
Collies, for example, like to herd. They like to challenge their minds and they're quick thinkers and learners. So you'll see them putting these traits to use when they're playing and since they both have the same instincts, it's interesting to see them use them on each other.

Like, for example, the way Lassie and Petal wrestle is very different from the way Petal and Ella wrestle or even the way Lassie and Ella wrestle (if you can call it wrestling).
Petal often gets her butt kicked by Ella in the wrestling department. Ella will smack her down to the ground and they'll wrestle and wrestle and then break off into a run (which Petal starts because Ella gets too intense for her sometimes).
Lassie and Ella don't wrestle much anymore. Their wrestling matches consist more of Lassie sunbathing and Ella coming up and smacking him until he gets annoyed and then she runs off, hoping he'll chase her, and sometimes he does.

Though Lassie won't wrestle Ella anymore, he will wrestle Petal. Why? Ella's style is too rough. Petal's style is much more like Lassie's, so he prefers to wrestle with her. Lassie and Petal don't pin each other to the ground, ever. But pinning Petal to the ground is Ella's favorite move. Lassie and Petal's wrestling matches are also considerably more moderate than Ella's. And, in a way, they're more graceful too.
But they're also louder, because they like to trash talk each other. ;)


These pictures are about a month old, but this is how it's done. ;)


Petal likes to wrap her front paws around Lassie's neck and bite at his ears and mane. Then when he bites back, she leaps away and runs a circle as he nips at her. Then they nip at each other's faces and bonk their long noses together (I call this sword fighting, haha). They bark, they nip at each other's feet, they duck out of the way, they jump back, they run a circle and come back for more. It usually ends in a high speed chase around the yard and then it's over and onto the next game. They won't go at for ages on end like Ella likes to do. With my Collies, they like to play a few different games during their play sessions outside and nearly all of their games involve me in some way. Ella is the opposite. She'll play one game (wrestle, chase, or fetch) until she's tired and then she digs (of course) and the only game she needs me for is fetch (unless we're playing indoors, then she does like to play tug with me).

It's fun to see how different they each are. Even Lassie and Petal, being the same breed, are much different from each other. And even though Ella's our resident mutt and mystery dog, she has some things in common with Lassie and Petal.

What about your dogs? How do they like to play with other dogs? What's their favorite game to play with other dogs?

Collie Soccer

"Hey you, lazy human, put that camera down and come play soccer with me!"


"Unless you think you can't handle it."


"Wow! That was a good kick! Come back here, ball!"


"I'm right on your tail now!"


"Well played, human."

Petal's way of playing soccer is actually very amusing. She often looks like she's trying to herd the ball. She also likes to run around with it in her mouth and it's a good sized ball (from Planet Dog, just incase you were wondering, not endorsing anything ;), as you can see, so she drops it often and goes after it again. I should get a video of her playing with it, because it really is very adorable.

Demanding Collies

"Hey Mom, wanna play with me? I'll go get a toy!"

"No Mom! I'll go get a BETTER toy and you will play with ME!"

"Hey Mom!"

"Hey Mom!"

"I got a ball!"

"I got a rope!"

"PLAY WITH ME."

"NO, PLAY WITH ME."

Good thing they both got distracted before they made it back to me. I didn't have to choose.

Happy Saturday! Enjoy your weekend!

Lassie's Idea of Playing Fetch

Lassie's version of fetch is fairly simple. Not that the traditional version of fetch isn't simple, it's just not Lassie's style.

His idea of fetch is, sure, I'll go get it! I'll even bring it back, but good luck getting it from me.


"Here Momma, throw it again!"

Here he is bringing it back and looking all sweet and like he's just begging for you to throw it for him, aww.

 
"Really Momma, take it!"


I reached down to take it and he whips around and runs off with it, probably laughing at how silly and gullible his human is.

He's just like Lucy.

 
(credit)


The Saturday Pet Blogger Hop!

How to Make a Collie Snow Angel

Today Lassie is going to show you all— Collies and NonCollies alike— how to make a Collie Snow Angel in just five easy steps!

Step 1: Pick a good spot in the snow, lay down, and commence rubbing your snout around in it.


Step 2: When ready, begin kicking legs around in the snow while still rubbing your snout around in it.


Step 3: Begin rolling your whole body around in the snow.


Step 4: Keep rolling! You may have to lick a little snow off of your face and, if you have any, you may also have to ignore your doggy sibling/s if they try to distract you and get you to play with them instead. You mustn't get distracted, this Collie Snow Angel making is serious business.


Step 5: Once you're satisfied with your snow angel, get up and shake off all that snow!

And that is how you make a Collie Snow Angel! ;]


Quick little note: I updated my Q-tip Review with a little note about the Precision Tips. The smaller, Purse Pack of the Precision Tips are not available for sale, see the post for more details. Thanks!

Fun with the Kong Flyer

As you may know, for Petal's second birthday I got her the KONG Flyer.

And she is in love with it.

Which makes me so happy. I was worried she would rather play with the collapsable bowl, haha.

But she loves this frisbee so much more than that bowl!

She loves to carry it around in her mouth. She'll even carry it out into the yard for me.

She runs like a crazy little Collie and even tries to jump up and snatch it out of the air.

She hasn't succeeded yet, but it's still cool to watch.

I've been using treats and the clicker to teach her to bring it back to me so I won't have to chase her down for it, haha. So far so good! We've only worked on it twice with the clicker and she's catching on really quickly.

Gotta love clicker training.

And a bright Collie. ;]

Anyway, on to the pictures!


Chasing it down.


Bringing it back like a good little Collie.


Posing with it.






Throw it again! Throw it again!



I know, I know. There are hardly any action shots.
Turns out holding a clicker, treats, camera and throwing a frisbee all at the same time is rather difficult!
So I got distracted with having her pose with it instead and by the time I decided to try and get a few more action shots in, the camera battery died, haha. Oh well. Next time. ;]

Also, just thought I would share this because I find it pretty funny: I fell down the stairs today.
Well, okay, that's a little dramatic. I slipped off the last step and landed on my butt in the snow and hit my back against the steps. Yeah, it hurt, but mostly it was just really funny because Petal turned around and looked at me like "Why are you on the ground?" Then she play bowed and started hopping around in the snow. "Is this a game?! It's a game, isn't it?! I wanna play! Let's play!" Silly dog. And while she was doing this Lassie was sniffing me and making sure I was okay, then he stood nice and still so I could use him to pick myself back up.

And now my back is sore.
But Petal's reaction still makes me laugh.

Yay! More snow!

Yesterday, at midnight, we finally received a generous amount of snow, just in time for December!
Ella acts pretty excited about it, but that doesn't mean she wants to be out there any longer than it takes to do her business. ;] So she stayed in the nice warm house while I took the Collies out to play in the snow! And now I have pictures and a video to share with you all.


Petal zooms!



Petal & Lassie. Note that in the last picture Petal is showing Lassie the yellow snow (that she created) and explaining to him that we don't eat the yellow snow. ;]


Pretty little snow angel.

It was really windy when I recorded this and the sound was super obnoxious, so I threw in a Christmas song instead. Enjoy!



Is anyone else enjoying some snow? What do your dogs like to do in the snow?

Chasing you

I love watching these guys run and play together.

I especially love to see them run. I don't know what it is about running dogs, but I think it's beautiful.

And yes, most of our snow has melted away. Darn. :[

P.S. Thank you to all the brave men and women who have and are serving this country.
And happy 11/11/11. Did anyone else make a really big wish at 11:11 o'clock? I definitely did. ;]

Winter Wonderland!

This morning we woke up to a lovely winter wonderland!

My dogs LOVE the snow and so do I, so we went outside to play.

Well, okay, so the girls played while I took pictures and Lassie explored.

I'll get you, Ella!

Snow bunny.

Hey Mom, wanna hear a great story?!

Covered in snooow!

I WILL get you, Ella!

You should know that he ran right smack! into the camera after this picture.

 

Really, Mom, it's a great story. It doesn't matter if you've heard it before! Let me tell it again!

WhatEVER, Mom! I'll just tell someone else my story then!

Now I wish I had some hot chocolate.

Is anyone else enjoying some snow? :D

Or do you and your dogs hide inside?