My sister Isis went to the bridge yesterday

Yesterday morning everything started out like normal. Dad woke up and ate breakfast and Isis (my kitty sister) got up and went to the kitchen to scope out the human food situation. But something happened. Something very bad. Isis fell and let out this weird sound. Mom tried to get her to the vet, but the vet said she was too late. There was nothing that could be done. Isis must have had a seizure or something and fell. Mom wrapped her in a towel and both my parents stood there leaking from their eyes. They lifted me up so I could see Isis. I picked on her like i always do, but she didn't do anything back. She just laid there.
Mom and dad put her in a box decorated with her picture and some writing on it along with her favorite toys. They then put the box in a hole in the back yard and put stones over it. When we came back in the house, i ran into the living room on the rug Isis usually lays on where i run over her and she just gives me a sour look, but rarely fights back. She wasn't there. i sniffed around for her, looking in her favorite spots - under the bed, in the closet, but she never showed up.
Mom kept leaking out of her eyes, looking at the things she couldn't put in the box buried in the back yard. I tried to cheer her up, but nothing helped. She and dad left and came back with another cat to "help fill the void".
This new cat does a lot of the things Isis used to, but this guy stands up to me. I am beginning to think I am no longer alpha around here. He sneezes a lot and he has really bad gas. Worse than me even. Isis never made that awful smell before like he does.
Every night before bed, mom always has a bowl of strawberry ice cream. Isis always sat next to her, reaching for the bowl, trying to pull it towards her. Mom would always save a little bit for her to eat just before the bowl was empty. Isis would only eat strawberry ice cream. Dad tried to get mom to eat something because she hadn't eaten much all day, she just cried when i tried to get her to eat her favorite ice cream. I couldn't cheer her up yet again. I tried snuggling with her all night, but she couldn't fall asleep. I don't know what to do to help her out.
As for the new cat, he is taking up a lot of attention. He forces himself on mom and dad with total disregard for my neediness. He was named "Apollo", which is the god of healing. I think mom and dad need a lot of that.
-Isis

My Birthday. . .kind of.

So, mom celebrated my birthday on Monday the 7 with my fur cousins, Meg and Jackson (the last pic on my page). This wouldn't have been a problem, accept my birthday was really on the 11th of this month. Mom dropped the ball, and not in the good way. But if she hadn't, she wouldn't have taken me out and found my new sister, Isis. Mom and dad weren't sure about her until she kissed dad on the nose and she was saved. Isis is doing okay, but i don't think she understands I was here first and she has to do what I say. The second night she was here, she was playing with a monkey on a string. I just glared at her while chewing on my bone. The more she played, the harder i chewed. Then i couldn't take it any more and got up, grabbed it from her, and threw the monkey back down on the rug where I was chewing. I then picked back up my bone and glared at her while i chewed and guarded her monkey. Then she had the nerve to pretend she didn't care and walked away. That really got under my fur. We are getting along better now, but we still have a ways to go before she sees things my way.
So that was my week, my family messed up my birthday and now I am stuck with an attention seeking, family hogging cat.
-Athena

Christmas and New Years

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Mom and Dad went back to Germany to visit Oma and Opa, so I had to stay in the states with Grandma and Grandpa over the holidays. I had a GREAT time playing with their pup, Jackson! We played tug of war and chased each other everyday. Grandma made me lobster for my New Year's dinner-it was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! Finally, mom and dad returned and i went CRAZY when i saw them packing the car because i thought they were going to leave me again. We are all back home now and i have done three checks on the back yard for squirrels.
As for my parent's luggage, hopefully the airline can find it and i can get my Christmas present from them...
-Athena

Happy Barkday to ME!

Today is my second birthday! I am getting a special cake just for me and a bag bigger then me full of toys and treats! I already found the toys last month-mom walked in and found me playing with them and took them away from me-but at least i get them back today.
So i was threatened with a bath tonight because it has been rainy here in western KY and oh, what the humidity does to my hair! So after my bath we are all going to Petsmart to get me a new swqeeky monkey since dad threw away my old one. And while we are there, they are going to sign me up for...obedience school-ON MY BIRTHDAY! Who does that?! At least i don't have to go to class today-i plan on sitting back with the new stash and eating all the cake i can handle.
-Athena

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

Here are the rules:

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary!!!

1. I like to wake mom and dad up every morning. If they do not wake up after my first attempt, i pull back the covers and stick my tongue inside their ears.
2. I am only quasi-potty trained. I know to go to the bathroom outside or on the pee pad in the basement. but i also go anywhere else in the basement i want and upstairs if i am angry at my parents.
3. I know that if i am not allowed outside due to inclimate weather, i can bark and mom will offer me "second choice"-a treat for my trouble.
4. I run the household.
5. I like to bark without any reason.
6. I am bi-lingual-and can also sometimes ignore both languages equally.
7. In best German tradition, I am an excellent soccar (or fußball) player.
-Athena

New Haircut

I just got a new hair cut last week-we are doing it a little differently then most schnauzers to get me the cutest cut ever. we are leaving some parts of my ear hair, the hair on the top of my head, and other places longer. This makes dad happy because he loves long hair and mom thinks i look like the sweetest puppy ever! I would post the picture, but dad is the stereotypical German in that he is too cheap to let me have Dogster plus. But mom is the typical American and can whine like no one else. I predict that dad, being german, will hold out for an incredibly long time, but in the end, the American will win. And then the American will rub it in that the German lost, yet again. This all sounds so familiar.....
It's too bad mom couldn't handle money well, she knows dad has to run the money, not only because he was a german banker, but mom has unrealistic financial expectations. This has gotten her into trouble in the past.
But on a good note, I got a pair of muttluk boots on clearance at petsmart last week (yet another one of mom's impulse buys). My paws have been pretty rough and the pavement has been hard on them. I look just pathetic in my boots now, but i think i can get the hang of them.
-Athena

I got spayed yesterday...

but mom picked me up today. I am not myself, yet. Mom tried to give me some doggie tylenol, but i won't eat it. I had a little bit of one. I am moving around the house a little more after my nap. Mom took me on a little walk infront of the house to use the bathroom earlier. She doesn't want me to do too much. She made me some chicken noodle soup for lunch...i didn't drink much of it. I did go crazy with my chicken tenders-she can't keep those from comin' fast enough. well, time to watch the birds and squirrels in the back yard and go through my ASPCA day kit mom signed dad up for-and we won!
-Athena

Happy Halloween!

I looked so cute in my halloween shirt! Mom is going to have to put the pic in later (our usb cord is broken). I got to meet all kinds of cool kids and help hand out candy-I was the star! Mom and dad ran out of candy and had to scour the house for stuff sent over from grandma and grandpa from germany (mom doesn't understand german and almost gave out the chocolate that contains alcohol-thankfully dad caught her), along with some easter left overs-the parents were warned they were from easter, but the kids couldn't resist pez dispensers. Mom also brought home a new snow suit for me-dad even said it looked cute, but I just stood there, humiliated. I thought the sweater mom got for me over the weekend was going to be all the torture i had to endure. Mom keeps insisting i am going to Berlin in the winter (if not this one, surely the next one) and is projecting her own issues with cold weather. So now i am stuck looking like a lopsided marshmellow. I'm sure she'll also post some pictures of that once she can download pictures again.
-Athena

Aaarg! A new groomer!

Well, my last groomer did not return mom's calls, so we had to find another one. She's really nice, but i am naked! She cut the part of my beard closest to my eyes and i look a little funny. I guess she had to because my allergies wer making that gunk build up around my eyes. Mom is going to ask her not to cut the bear, leave my furnishings a little longer, and start my skirt up higher (she said she wanted it to be higher, but just followed what the last groomer did). So, mom, dad, and i talked about it and we really like her. But what makes any haircut worse is the fact that i am in heat-my butt is swollen and all over the place. I look soooo rediculous! Mom took me on a walk yesterday and i was all over the place. We only had a run in with one other dog, though. As for my halloween costume, mom is trying to make it (I am going as a german beer maid) and she is going to get dad's "Auf Wiedersehen" when she presents it. Mom was never a seamstress and a dirndle is hardly the way to start.
-Athena

The new car

My parents bought a brand new car over the weekend-finally, a car with my own door that i can hang my head out of! I have my own window and no one has to pull seats forward or deal with that mess! Mom and dad buckled me up last night and put on my doggles. I had so much fun cruizin', that i didn't even notice the doggles. Mom is going to take a pic of me riding this way. I can now climb in and out of it with no help (other then someone opening the door for me). I love it! I can't wait for my next ride tomorrow.
-Athena