Saturday Pet Blogger Hop 6-4-2011 "A Dog Day Afternoon Pool Party" - Part 1

Lexi, Nitro, Tallulah, Bailey, and I are excited to participate in this weeks Saturday Pet Blogger Hop. Special thanks goes out to our Pet Blog Hop hosts, Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume! If you would like to read some entertaining pet blogger posts in the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop, just click on one of the host links above or click on the purple Pet Blogger Hop button on the right side of our homepage. Happy Pet Blog Hopping!

A Dog Day Afternoon Pool Party!

It has been very hot here in Virginia this week (95 to 100 degrees) so we purchased the dogs a puppy pool. None of our dogs are crazy about water except for Nitro. He is always trying to get in the shower with me and I am always trying to keep him out of the shower. When Chris and I put some water in the puppy pool we decided to throw some of our dog's favorite toys in the middle of the pool hoping maybe one of them would just jump in and have fun. All four dogs were very curious about the water (except Lexi, she could care less about a pool). I was lucky enough to have my sweet husband Chris shoot some photos as I was trying to get the dogs interested in stepping inside the pool. Chris is an amazing photographer so here is Part 1 of our "Dog Day Afternoon Pool Party"....

 Here they are standing on the deck watching me fill the pool...

 Showing Nitro his favorite toy in hopes of getting him into the water...

 So far he thinks it is a new watering hole for the dogs in our family...

 He is looking at his reflection here probably thinking..."my what a handsome dog." I love the way his blue eye stands out against the blue water in the pool.

 Still drinking from his own personal watering hole...

 Still drinking...

 Tallulah standing next to Nitro whimpering because she wants her toy...

 First step...still drinking...man I hope he doesn't wet the bed in his sleep tonight or I will have more laundry to do.

 So close...

 I threw a piece of paper in the pool to get Bailey's attention...they love to eat paper!

 Nitro thinking of other ways to get the toy out of the pool...hmmm...

 He looks a little frustrated in this shot don't you think?

 Beautiful Bailey just watching the other two trying to figure out how to get the toys out of the new pool.

 So close...

 Almost...

 Darn, every time he goes to grab the toy it goes under water and he drops it again...

 He can almost smell the taste of victory in getting that darn toy out of the water...

 Tallulah taking a break from all the excitement...

Nitro was literally bobbing for his ball. He would get a hold of the ball and then it would go under water and he would drop it back into the water and then try again.

I love this shot because the blue of the pool is reflecting off of his little white Boxer face.

On to another big adventure today!

Today is Nitro's big day. He turned 10 months old this week and today at 1:00 p.m. we will be taking his AKC Canine Good Citizen Certification test at Field Of Dreams Dog Training Center. We have worked very hard every single day since he was three months old so he would be prepared to take his CGC test. He has been a pleasure to take out in public over the last three weeks. Because of his training, I can take him anywhere and he has the best canine manners (speaking as a very proud doggie mommy and trainer). Hopefully all our hard work will pay off and show in his test today. Once we pass the CGC Certification, we will then go on to the next level in his training by looking into what we need to do for his Therapy Dog Certification. Wish us luck!
Update on Nitro's test: Nitro passed his CGC test with flying colors. He did not make even one mistake and I am a proud doggie mommy! It's hard to believe a 10 month old, completely deaf boxer can do so well in such a short amount of time. After our test we went to Woofstock Dog Festival in downtown Roanoke and even though there were dogs everywhere, Nitro loose leashed walked right next to me the whole time. He is such a good boy!