The life of a collie!

Scarlett has a couple dogs shows this coming week.  My daughter, who works at a kennel, took Scarlett to work with her today.

As it turns out, we have a very rare collie!  She loves relaxing in a bubble bath!  She's had a bubble bath, been spa shampooed and conditioned, she had her gentle no tears face cleanser, she had a soothing massage, she had her ears cleaned, her teeth brushed, her nails clipped and her coat furminated, and then played in the sunshine with a golden retriever named Chloe...now she is asleep in the air conditioned kennel office!

Scarlett - "Can someone fetch me a bottle of Perrier?  I have had a long day!"

Many Collie Thanks!

We have won a few give-aways and the collies wanted to express their gratitude!  They won some great treats from Finn and Gizmo from their awesome Bingo game.  The treats, from Cloudstar, are healthy and packed full of vitamins.  But the collies only care about how delicious the treats taste!  These treats really gets their drool flowing!

They come in three formulas.  One for sensitive stomachs, called Dynamo Dog Tummy, which is made with pumpkin and ginger.  Cloudstar also sells a treat for healthy skin and coat, which is made with salmon.  And they have two versions for hip and joint health.  One is made with chicken, and the other is bacon and cheese.  They love them all, but out of the four varieties, I think the salmon is their real favorite.

We also won these really yummy Kong chewy treats from our friends Reilly and Denny .  The collies were so excited when these arrived they helped my daughter open the box!  They will happily pose for any picture, as long as I have one of these treats in my hand!

We won one more give-away, this one was from The Lassie Network!  They sent us a stuffed Lassie, and Lassie watch and book, and even some Lassie pins.  The collies are obsessed with the stuffed lassie and keep trying to steal him!

Thank you everyone for the wonderful treats and gifts.  They each arrived last week, and the collies now think ALL the mail delivered is for them!  They get so excited when the mailman pulls up now!

And the collie awards go to...

We have been given a couple awards, and wanted to thank the bloggers who gave them to us, and share them with a few of our favorite blogs.

We received the Super Sweet Blogging Award from Tails of teach.  Thank you so much!  If you get a chance, head over to Tails of Teach, it’s a great blog about a smooth collie!  (You will see some amazing pictures on Teach’s blog!)  Here are the Super Sweet rules:

1.  Thank a blogger for nominating you.  Please see above ... done.

2.  Include the award image on your blog.  Again please see above ... done.

3.  Nominated and notify a baker's dozen sweet blogs for this award.  (see below)

4.  Answer 5 Super Sweet questions:

  

Cookies or Cake?  While we have made the collies a cake on their birthdays, they only get the tinest sliver.  But Cookies are their favorite, as they have won a few different kinds from some fellow bloggers. (which will be our next post)

Vanilla or Chocolate?  Vanilla, no chocolate allowed! J (The human members of the family prefer chocolate though)

What is your favorite sweet treat?  Frosty Paws!

When do you crave sweet things the most?  When our humans are eating something sweet, and won’t share!

If you had a sweet name, what would it be?  Not sure…maybe “Sugar and Honey Collies”

We want to give this award to the following blogs:

a day in the life of a goose

acd6pack

bertdidit

colliesofthemeadow

cowspotdog

finnhoward

gospelofgoose

heartlikeadog

howsamseesit

hylightsfarm  (please stop by this great collie blog and make them feel welcome!)

keywestcollies

lifeatgoldenpines

mydogSam

thelonelydogs

thechronicleofwoos (please stop by and wish Thunder well, he is feeling a little under the weather!)

We also received the Versatile Blogger award from Gizmo  and from shebas life story. Thank you so much!  Both of these blogs are full of wonderful posts, and we really enjoy reading them.  So please stop by their blogs and say hello.   Now the Versatile Blogger Rules:

Add the Versatile Blogger award photo on a blog post.  - done.

Thank the person who presented you with the award and link back to him or her in your post.  - Also done.

Pass the award along to favorite bloggers.  Contact the chosen bloggers and let them know about the award.  I will start notifying everyone.

Share Seven Things About Yourself.  - See below

Seven things about us:

1)This is our 150^th blog post!

2)We enjoy hiking with our humans, and we love to visit new parks!

3)We have new baby brother.  Our human sister recently adopted a baby hamster, we call her/him Dobby.

4)Pumpkin kitty was naughty last night, and tried to break into Dobby’s cage! (It was 2:00 AM and Pumpkin and Dobby woke up the entire house, Mom was not happy!)

5)We all want to play with Dobby, but we aren’t allowed because she is so little.

6)We were asked to do our first review, and that will be coming up soon!

7)Scarlett has some dog shows coming up in a couple weeks, and we are all hoping she will do well!

We want to give the Versatile Blogger award to the following blogs:

dakotasden

dogsnpawz

wyattgardens

mygoldendogblog

angusandmilosadventures - please stop by and let Jet know you are thinking of him!

mistyshoreschesapeakes

molliesdogtreats

murraysmouth

onecollie

mypawsitivelypets

petblogsunited

positivelybarking

romp-roll-rockies

twocolliesandamutt

thethunderingherd

spottyspottypolkadotty

browndogcbr

colliesandlife

mygirlzgotpaws

somethingwagging

carolfromdownunder

talesandtails

24pawsoflove

stellroselong
meyouandzu

(Yes, we know we gave a few extra awards out, but we wanted to share the awards with as many of our blogging friends as possible.  And since we received the Versatile Blogger award twice, we figure we can award it with up to 30 blogs!  If it were up to us, we would share the awards with all of you!  If we missed you with this round of awards, don't worry, we will get you next time!)

Finally, we wanted to share an award that we created last year.  It's our own special Heartwarming Award.  It's to be shared with a blog that has touched our heart.  (that's the only rule)  We chose to give it to two bloggers, as you can truly feel how much they love their dogs.  And we also think they could use a little extra support right now. 

thechronicleofwoos. and ros-angusandmilosadventures - we are thinking are thinking of you both!  Feel free to pass this award onto anyone you would like!

Wordless Wednesday - Chloe

She was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever known.  And she will always be missed.  (Chloe September 1995 - May 2010)

(not so) Wordless Wednesday

I read a post on a friend's blog, that reminded me of the illustrations below.  It was created by Dr Sophia Yin.  They have been going around Facebook for awhile, so I thought I would share them, in case anyone wanted to read them, or share them with the children in your lives.

 

Dr Sophia Yin's blog can be found by clicking on her name.  It is a wonderful blog, with a lot of useful information.  You can purchase her books and DVD's by clicking on this link.

Seeing beautiful...

We have recently been visiting a lot of parks here in New England.  During our hikes, we have been blessed with some truly beautiful scenery.  Today there is a blog hop called “Seeing Beautiful,” and we think it is a wonderful idea for a blog hop and for a post about the beauty we have discovered the last few months during our journeys.  The idea for the blog hop came from the Seeing Beautiful Blog, our friend Sugar, has joined them and has also been "Seeing Beautiful," and today is her one year anniversary, so stop by and check out their wonderful blogs.

 I want to begin with the first chance we were given to see beautiful in our lives.  We traveled about half across the country to the collie national show.  During our trip from New England to Wisconsin, we traveled through many states.  Because of this trip, we were able to visit parts of our country that we would have never seen during our lifetimes.   And when we reached the show site, we were able to see something both beautiful and historic.  The show was located on banks of the great Mississippi River!

Locally, we have been visiting our state parks.  During our adventures, we have been fortunate to see beauty on both large and small scales.

From waterfalls…

To covered bridges…

We have seen the beautiful panoramic views from a Stone tower on the top of a mountain…

We have discovered the beauty of an antique lighthouse…

As well as the beauty to be found sitting quietly by a lake or ocean…

We have seen beauty in the grace and elegance of yearling foals…

And we have even discovered the beauty that can be found in our very own yard…

But I still think one of the most beautiful things anyone can ever see, is the love that is visible in another’s eyes…



This Spring we have been fortunate enough to have our collies help us discover the beauty all around us, and we can’t wait to see what beautiful things they are going to show us this Summer!

Meet Scarlett!

Today is Scarlett’s day!  She is the youngest collie in our family, and another smooth girl. (poor Ryder!)  Scarlett turned one on May 1^st.  She was born from an all smooth litter, and she was the only girl. 

 

Even though she is the youngest, Scarlett seems to think she is in charge.  She bosses the other collies around, and steals their cow hooves from them.  And some how, even though she is the baby, she gets away with it.  Of course we stop her when we catch her doing it, but the other collies sit back and let her do it.  She also has a talent for stealing things she shouldn’t have.  I’ve lost count of the times I have seen her happily trotting past my bedroom door, carrying away some stolen item to her dog bed!  She has such a bounce in her step when she is filching our belongings, I always have to laugh.  Kori was also known to be a thief, but now that she is almost two years old, she has stopped most of her petty larceny, and I am hoping that Scarlett will also mend her ways!  She and Kori are best friends, and I have seen her learn new things by watching her big sister, so maybe she will follow Kori’s example.

 

Scarlett isn’t always naughty though.  She wakes up each morning full of joy and greets me as if we have been apart for weeks, instead of just asleep for a few hours.  When we are out on a walk, running errands, or at a dog show, she greets every person she meets as if they are her long lost friends.  When she sees someone approaching her, she begins bouncing side to side, and she wags her whole butt, not just her tail.  Because of her effusive greeting, people are already smiling and laughing before they even reach her. 

 

Sisters are awesome!

 

At home, after she is tired from playing, she loves to snuggle.  All the other collies will cuddle with us, but not each other.  But for some reason, they all allow Scarlett to snuggle with them.  She prefers to curl up with my daughter and I, or Kori, but I have also seen her with the others.

 

Both of Scarlett’s collie parents have very laid back personalities, and Scarlett is very different from them.  But she does have their friendly demeanor, and their good looks.  We have high hopes her future as a show dog.  With very little training, she already steps into the show ring like a veteran.  So there is one place that she is all business!

 

No matter what happens, Scarlett brings a lot of joy and excitement into our lives.  She makes us laugh, and as made her own special place in our family.

Meet the rest of the family:
http://collie222.blogspot.com/2013/06/meet-kori.html
http://collie222.blogspot.com/2013/06/meet-ryder.html
http://collie222.blogspot.com/2013/05/meet-holly.html
http://collie222.blogspot.com/2013/05/meet-abby.html
http://collie222.blogspot.com/2012/12/kitty-time-on-collie-blog.html

 

Holly reviews a new dog sport!

This weekend I was able to try a new game.  It is called "Doggie Fun Zone," and it's a combination of a lure course and agility.  The dogs all had a blast, and it was fun to watch them, and I could not wait for it to be my turn!

During my first run, I was so excited, I accidently jumped the fence!

But by my second and third run, my mom said I was a pro!  I was one of the oldest dogs participating, but I was also one of the fastest!  When we left, I kept looking back and barking.  I clearly did not want to stop, and most of the dogs felt the same way, but mom said I was getting too over-heated.  For barking outloud Mom - I could have played all day! 

 

 

The next event is this weekend, held in Deep River, CT.  It is to raise money for cancer research.  But the company is based in Florida, and they travel to many different states, so the next event could be in your state!  If you have the opportunity, make sure your mom or dad takes you to a Doggie Fun Zone, you will give it four paws up!