Holiday Etiquette For Dogs

1. Be especially patient with your humans during this time. They may appear to be more stressed out than usual and they will appreciate long comforting dog leans.

2. They may come home with large bags of things they call gifts. Do not assume that all the gifts are yours.

3. Be tolerant if your humans put decorations on you. They seem to get some special kind of pleasure out of seeing how you look with fake antlers.

4. They may bring a large tree into the house and set it up in a prominent place and cover it with lights and decorations. Bizarre as this may seem to you, it is an important ritual for your humans, so there are some things you need to know:
- don't pee on the tree
- don't drink water in the container that holds the tree
- mind your tail when you are near the tree
- if there are packages under the tree, even ones that smell interesting or that have your name on them, don't rip them open
- don't chew on the cord that runs from the funny looking hole in the wall to the tree

5. Your humans may occasionally invite lots of strangers to come visit during this season. These parties can be lots of fun, but they also call for some discretion on your part:
- not all strangers appreciate kisses and leans
- don't eat off the buffet table
- beg for goodies subtly
- be pleasant, even if unknowing strangers sit on your sofa
- don't drink out of glasses that are left within your reach

6. Likewise, your humans may take you visiting. Here your manners will also be important:
- observe all the rules in #4 for trees that may be in other people's houses. (4a is particularly important)
- respect the territory of other animals that may live in the house
- tolerate children
- turn on your charm big time

7. A big man with a white beard and a very loud laugh may emerge from your fireplace in the middle of the night.
DO NOT BITE HIM!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Definitions For Rottweilers

LEASH: A strap which attaches to your collar, enabling you to lead your person where you want them to go.

DOG BED: Any soft, clean surface, such as the white bedspread in the guest room or the newly upholstered couch in the living room.

DROOL: Is what you do when your persons have food and you don't. To do this properly you must sit as close as you can and look sad and let the drool fall to the floor, or better yet, on their laps.

SNIFF: A social custom to use when you greet other dogs. Place your nose as close as you can to the other dog's rear end and inhale deeply, repeat several times, or until your person makes you stop. This can also be done to human's crotches.

GARBAGE CAN: A container which your neighbors put out once a week to test your ingenuity. You must stand on your hind legs and try to push the lid off with your nose. If you do it right you are rewarded with margarine wrappers to shred, beef bones to consume and mouldy crusts of bread.

BICYCLES: Two-wheeled exercise machines, invented for dogs to control body fat. To get maximum aerobic benefit, you must hide behind a bush and dash out, bark loudly and run alongside for a few yards; the person then swerves and falls into the bushes, and you prance away.

DEAFNESS: This is a malady which affects dogs when their person want them in and they want to stay out. Symptoms include staring blankly at the person, then running in the opposite direction, or lying down.

THUNDER: This is a signal that the world is coming to an end. Humans remain amazingly calm during thunderstorms, so it is necessary to warn them of the danger by trembling uncontrollably, panting, rolling your eyes wildly, and following at their heels.

WASTEBASKET: This is a dog toy filled with paper, envelopes, and old candy wrappers. When you get bored, turn over the basket and strew the papers all over the house until your person comes home.

SOFAS: Are to dogs like napkins are to people. After eating it is polite to run up and down the front of the sofa and wipe your whiskers clean.

BATH: This is a process by which the humans drench the floor, walls and themselves. You can help by shaking vigorously and frequently.

BUMP: The best way to get your human's attention when they are drinking a fresh cup of coffee or tea.

GOOSE BUMP: A manoeuvre to use as a last resort when the Regular Bump doesn't get the attention you require..... especially effective when combined with The Sniff. See above.

LOVE: Is a feeling of intense affection, given freely and without restriction. The best way you can show your love is to wag your tail. If you're lucky, a human will love you in return. If not, you can always sniff their crotches.

I've just been tagged by my buddy Jake!

I have been tagged by my buddy Jake who was tagged by his gorgeous galpup Abby!

OK, here's da rulez:

Tell 7 random facts about yourself.

Post these facts & the game rulez in your diary.

Then tag 5 dogs (don't forget to list their names) who must tell 7 random facts about themselves. Let these dogs know they've been tagged by sending them a Paw-mail or rosette.

OK ... here's 7 facts about me ...

1. I love to take naps anywhere in da house, so long as it's on a human bed.

2. One of my fav toys ... any big cardboard box that I can shred to bits and play tug wif my bros

3. I love to go on car rides wif my skin pawrents

4. I like Mommy stroking my paws - but I will NOT let anyone get near my nails. That's a NO-NO!

5. I love to cuddle up with Momma on the couch late at night after I'm done pestering bof my Mom and Dad wif playing ball games :) (I fink I wear dem out!).

6. I love to sit in front of my Momma, stare at her and den lick her face and her neck while she cuddles me and strokes my face.

7. I love meeting people (altho I'm more cautious than bof my bros when new people come around - it takes me longer to let them pet me) - but when I've checked them out for a bit, I enjoy all the attention and I give it right back to dem!

Thank you Jake for tagging me :)

OK, I'm gonna tag:
Oso, Max, Belle, Goofball Mavredes the First, Charlie

OK everyone...YOU'RE IT!!! Lets have some fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feeling SO honored! I was voted Ruler of the Week :)

I don't know what to say! I'm all giddy right now.

I was told that I was voted Ruler of the Week in Rotties Rule starting today - so I wanted to thank everyone who bestowed this honor on me :)

I love you all - and I love all your lovely skin families!

I'm having a great week so far - the weather's hot and sunny, so I'll just stay indoors most of the day - I'm not too keen on the heat! I'll stick to playing inside and take a few beauty naps in between :) mommy's got some Sunday Roast in that oven and it's smelling oh so yummy! so I can't wait till we eat :)

I really, really feel like hugging you all right now! so big ol' hugggzzzz to everyone!

~Nikita

RIP ... Blue-Max

I never got to meet my big furry bro Blue-Max, but Mom and Dad have pics of him and they tell us stories about him.

He came to live with Mom and Dad a week after they were married! He was their first furry baby :)

It was my Mom who asked my Dad if they could go to the local animal shelter - "just to look". My Dad said "You KNOW what's going to happen if we go there!" ;)

Well, they went - and my Dad was mesmerized by the cute ball of fluff! He seemed a lot bigger than all the other doggies his age - 8wks old. He was in a cage with about a dozen other doggies - they kept picking on him for some reason - nipping him. He just wagged his tail and wanted Dad and Mom to keep petting him. I think he got a bit teed-off at the other pooches nipping him, so he turned around and BARKED REALLY LOUD at them and lunged towards them - they all stepped back and huddled in the corner after that! Then he skipped back to Mom and Dad all proud of himself, wagging his tail and wanting more cuddles! Dad said "OK, this is the one - he's something else!" :)

At the shelter, they warned my pawrents that he'd been taken back twice by two different families - seems he wasn't very good with children. They also said that if they couldn't adopt him out - they'd be in a difficult position since Blue-Max was not a very "friendly" pooch :(

Of course my folks took him! He was a CUTIE! He was a Husky-Lab mix. He also had the brown eye of a Lab - and one Husky blue eye! :) He was a very handsome puppy! HUGE "lion-cub" paws! Everyone who looked at him always said something about his two different colored eyes - and his HUGE PAWS!

Back then, Mom and Dad lived in a big apartment - but of course, not much of a yard - so they'd take him out 3-4 walks a day.

A year after they got Blue-Max, Dad brought Capn' Cody home - from the swamps! They became great pals :)

After a while - a family with 3 boys moved in the upstairs apartment. They were loud and not very nice to my bros! Every time my folks would be out - they'd come home to find butter knives, metal cars and other things thrown in their tiny yard! Another time they come home to find both Blue-Max and Cody all wet - someone had thrown buckets of water on them - or used a hose!

One day, my Dad was out to work - my Mom was out buying groceries - she comes home and finds Blue-Max whimpering and dragging himself across the floor! She runs to see what was the matter with him ... a few minutes later Dad walks through the door. Then they notice a small hole in Blue-Max's thigh! They rush him to the vet. Apparently it was from a b-b gun! When they went home - they see one of the upstairs neighbor kids firing a b-b gun into the air. They go and tell their parents what had happened to Blue-Max. The kid's parents don't do anything about it.

My Mom told my Dad that they had to move - there's no way they could live there any more! It was very difficult to find someone to rent them an apartment with two BIG dogs - especially when they saw Blue-Max! They said "no way!". So they decided to buy a house with the biggest yard for the pooches! They found the perfect place - and they put a big fence all around.

Well - the 2+ acres of yard wasn't enough for Blue-Max I suppose. He kept digging under the fence - sometime he'd just climb the 6ft and go roaming around the neighborhood. People were very afraid of him.

The vet told my folks that he'd be less inclined to "roam" if they "fixed" him. So they did. And for some reason, Blue-Max started to get worse. In the beginning, he became "allergic" after the surgery - he was all red and bleeding - my folks were back and forth to the vet to make him better. After a few weeks (when his inflammation and bleeding were OK), he begun to roam again. One day, he even busted out the living-room window when he saw a boy on his bike!

The weeks and months carried on - and Blue-Max's personality was changing. He'd wag his tail and call you over to cuddle him - and within 2mins he'd turn his head and start barring his teeth and growling! People couldn't get anywhere near the fence - he wouldn't bark - he'd just stalk them, going closer to the fence and show his big teeth! Everyone stopped coming to their house. No one wanted to go near Blue-Max!

Even with Mom and Dad ... he'd always listen to them - but suddenly he just stopped obeying them too. There came a time where no one could go anywhere within 20ft of my Mom. And he'd even snarl at her too sometimes. She'd get upset and cry - and she'd try to cuddle him - he'd be OK for a minute and then he'd do the same to her - snarl.

They brought in 3 different trainers. The last one, they paid him over $1,000 for 3 days! NOTHING ... He told them no way could he deal with Blue-Max! On the third day he ran to his car yelling - "no way!".

A little while after that - Blue-Max got out of the yard and went roaming again. That day - he bit a man. Thankfully, he didn't press any charges against my folks - but warned them that if he ever saw him again - he'd do something "about it".

My folks decided to have Blue-Max checked out by the vet - there was something wrong! They run different tests on him. The vet told them that Blue-Max had something like a "brain tumor". He also told them that he'd suspected for a long time that Blue-Max was also part Wolf hybrid. He said it wasn't Blue-Max's fault he was like that - his "illness" made him the way he was. Told them there wasn't much he could do about it - Blue-Max didn't have much time left :(

Blue-Max became very sick, very quickly after that. My folks didn't want him to suffer any longer! They took him back to the vet - they kissed him - they cuddled him - they cried :(

Blue-Max is an angel now ... he was with my pawrents for six years. They still look at his pictures - and my Mom always has tears in her eyes when she thinks about him!

RIP Blue-Max ... you will always be remembered!

Mad-Max ... RIP sweet angel

Last night, Mommy and Daddy were thinking about their furry babies that had past away. They showed us lots of pictures of them. Daddy still get teary-eyed whenever he remembers his bestest friend in the world - Mad-Max! I really don't think he will ever truly get over his loss :( Dad had him before he met my Mom. But my Mom always feels as if she knew him forever - from the stories Daddy tells her - and because he'll always be a part of Daddy.

One of Dad's friends told him that someone had a Rottie who needed to find a home for him. Dad went there and fell in love with him. Mad-Max was about 6 wks old! Dad knew all about doggies - he'd grown up on a farm in KS and they always had 2-3 dogs at a time (and a bunch of cats too!). Dad of course was older and wasn't living at home then - he traveled all over the States with his work (wireless communications) - so hotels in different cities and towns every week were his "home".

Mad-Max got to travel all over the States with Dad. Loved the motels and always got his very own Queen-size bed too! :) He also enjoyed riding with the "guys" on the crews - Everyone loved him!

Mad-Max protected everyone - he loved them all - and was always a joy to be around. He was a BIG BOY - weighed 147lbs! and was a big hit with the human and furry LADIES :) he enjoyed every bit of adoration from them!

Well, the years went on - and Mad-Max grew older. Then came the day that he crossed the bridge over the rainbow. He's an angel now - and every so often, we think about him and know that he's looking over us!

RIP Mad-Max ... you'll always be remembered and loved!

Remembering 9/11

Hello Fellow Furries!

I didn't do much today. I napped quite a bit. It was too hot to run around outside - especially when there's no air-conditioning in the yard! I much prefer to stay indoors - play and take naps :)

Today, my pawrents seemed like they were sad. They watched some things on that picture box. My Mommy cuddled me when we laid on the couch together - she kept saying to my Daddy "All those lives - all those families" shaking her head and teary eyed.

She said "Our thoughts go out to each and every one of them - and to their families".

Please keep them in your thoughts - I think I'm beginning to understand what she was saying :(