Summer!

Wow! It's been a long time since I wrote.
Earlier this month, Momma took us camping. It was all the way in North Carlina at this place called 4 Paws Kingdom. We had to ride all day with our seat belts on. When we got almost there, it started raining so hard Momma had to pull over, but by the time we got there, it was only raining just a tiny bit. It was really cool place: woods and fields and streams to sniff around, a cabin with a fenced front porch to sleep in, and - would ya believe: no kids allowed! My kinda place for sure!
Raoudi liked wading in the pond and the stream. Momma wanted me to, too, but I said H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks NOOOOoo. What, you think I'd get wet on purpose? Anyway, I got to run around a bunch of parks without a leash, and smell a bunch of new smells and bark at sounds I never heard before. Momma said it was crickets and frogs.
Since it was the middle of the week, we almost had the place to ourselves. The staff all called us well-behaved. I was bummed we only got to stay three days, but Momma promises we'll go back.
Then we went to see Reece and his pawrents and his brother and sister. They treated us like they were really glad to have us there, and let us on the furniture and had agility stuff in the back yard, and we had three humans to pet us instead of just one.
We did three days of agility. Momma said I did a good, good job, but I wasn't very fast sometimes, so Momma got a chiropractor to look at me. She said my chest was whopsided to the right and my tail to the left and my mid-back was locked up. After that I ran faster, but Momma messed me up not signaling some turns and crossing in the wrong place and pulling me off stuff. I'd have had my MAD if Momma had told me there was a turn coming and not to go in that tunnel my nose was pointed right at {{SIGH}}. Reece is getting really good: he got his Starter Jumpers title and his first Snooker leg - Momma says he's another Snooker Scnauzer like me and Raou.
Reece's Mom and ad took us out on their boat, but we had to wear life jackets, and Momma expected me to swim. Good greif, woman, do you really want to drown me? Reece swam and even went to sleep on a raft, the little dare devil.
Momma's been workin a lot since we got back. I went to the vet and got my back X-rayed like the chiropractor suggested, but it was just fine. They cleaned my toothers and stole some of them
:(
It's so had here I haven't wanted to do much outside. Mom says no more agility until September, and it's too hot to practice in the yard more than a few minutes, even when it's hardly even light outside yet.
That darn Diamond and Dubby who kept taking my fox both got adopted, so now I can play "Gimme that" with Mom in peace at least.
Mom, when can we go back to the No Kids Allowed place?

Rocke

A very good barkday

Last week Momma got us a teeter of our very own for the yard. Raoudi said it was his, but I told him it was my 10th barkday comin up so it must be for me, but he could use it, cause he's not so good at the teeter in competition sometimes. Anyway, we've both had fun with it and got lotsa treats.
Tonight when Momma got home, she took me and just me to Nashville Pet Products. They always give us treats, but when I asked if I could have one extra for my birthday, they let me stick my nose in the treat bag and grab a mouthfull before Momma could say no.
She bought me and just me a vanilla rawhide. I've got it up her on the couch with me. I'm about tired of chewin it, and I kinda want a drink, but Raoudi's tryin to get it, so I can't put it down. Momma said somethin about 'the little boy who stuck his finger in the dyke' that I don't get - all I know is nobody better try to stick a finger or a claw on my goodie.

Rocke

The Cold Weather Crazies

It's been below freezing for days now, and only expected to get worse. Tonight it's gonna snow - not much compared to a lot of places like Mini-Snowdah where our bud Ernie George and Shadow Bear live, but this is Nashville, where a single flake can produce a riot over bread and milk at Kroger.

Mean Momma makes us go out when we wake her in the pre-dawn hours (there are a lot of those these days, it seems) but our foster brother, Klaus-The-Twerp, screeches so that Momma lets us back in after a couple of minutes.

Momma says she can't get any peace to do her work for Klaus galloping around, tossing toys for himself to chase, foster sis Princess carrying off her shoes and everything else to her crate, and even Raoudi and I are acting nutso.

I can't find my beloved Red Fox, and Princess has my Hedgie Hog, so last night I got the big, big Hedgie (it used to have a Santa hat, and it's almost as big as Klaus!) and taunted Momma with it. She
gave chase, and we had a fine game of "Gimme THAT", ending with her tickling my belly on the couch, while Raoudi and Klaus tried to jump in from either side. I used to always love to get my belly tickled when I was little, and would kick my legs like pistons as long as she would do it, but usually don't want to play it so much any more - I had forgotten how much Momma loves that game.

Raoudi said his back was itchy from the dry air and was wallowing around on his back in the floor like he was trying to break dance. Klaus jumped on him and Raou retracted then pushed up with all four of his legs, sending Klaus flying up in the air! Then Raou jumped up and started jumping back and forth from the couch to the chair, with Klaus nipping at him from below every time he jumped.

She was trying to type on the 'puter this morning and when she turned around in the desk chair for a minute, I leapt into her lap, and Klaus tried to put his feet up on the chair to nip at my butt, and sent us spinning round and round.

Momma says it's "Cold Weather Crazies" and vows we're gonna play outside when she gets home and burn off some energy if it kills her. If we get enough snow, she may get to take a vacation day, and says we're gonna go on a snow walk if she does. I don't think we've gone on a snow walk since Syd was alive. Those boots Shadow Bear wears are starting not to look so bad.

Antifreeze law

Our State Senator, Janis Sontany, sponsored a bill to make antifreeze taste bad so pups don't lick it up, or have some mean person give it to them, and get poisoned by it. It passed, and takes effect Jan 1, 2010! We're so proud to live in Ms Janis' district. She's sponsored a bunch of other bills to help animals, too , like making animal cruelty a felony and against chaining dogs.
But, Tennessee is now one of only 7 states that have such a law http://www.petfinder.com/pet-news/law-passed-to-curb-pet-ant ifreeze-deaths.html. Mom says when Tennessee is on a list comparing it to other states, it's often a shamefull one, but not this time!
I wish all our friends would write their Senators and tell them to pass a law like that in their state.
Thank you, Senator! We love you so much we're gonna let Mom send you some of the cookies she baked for us for your dogs.

When's he gonna learn?

Raoudi was trying to get Momma to quit talkin' on the phone and come snuggle with us. I told him not to get in her face. I told him to stand on the couch and stretch and look cute, and she'd come, but what did he do? He got right in her face and yawned. Uh oh! Sure enough, she said "Oh! Raou, your breath! She went down the hall and returned with the toothpaste and the dreaded buzzy tootherbrusher thingie, and atacked him with it. Then she came after me. I tried to hide, but she found me. I tried passive resistance, flopping down on my back, but she got me anyway. Nice going, little bro!

Ewwww! It bit back!

I was so excited that Momma got Chinese food last night. Usually that means we get bits of carrot , and the celery she doesn't like and picks out, and she almost always drops a piece of the fortune cookie when she opens it.

I thought I got super lucky when a plastic packet hit the floor and went un-noticed. I've gotten catsup packets a few times, and it's yummy. So, when Momma sat down to eat, I grabbed it and trotted off to the bathroom to hide and enjoy my goodie.

Well, I bit it, and it bit back! It was bitter and hot and it burned my tongue. I hopped right in the bathtub and rooted up the non-skid mat and licked up all the water under it. Momma heard the pop-pop-pop of suction cups coming loose and came to see what was up.

"Don't like Chinese mustard, huh? " she asked when she saw the packet and the yellow goo on my poor nose. "Serves you right" she told me. Sheesh! Poor dog in agony, and she's not sympathetic at all. She did get the evil stuff off my nose, at least.

If you ever find a packet, make sure the contents are not an ugly yellow-brown before you bite into it. Yuck!

Arrest Made In Sleepy Hollow Murder

BOL - couldn't resist sharing this local headline.
Turns out it refers to a shooting that occured near the intersection of Sleepy Hollow Rd and Rychen Dr in the far south part of Nashville. The orginal story listed the location as Rychen Dr - not nearly as noticable, huh?
It's really a sad story, about two 22 year olds shot in an apparent drug deal. I couldn't help but look to see if it was committed by a headless horseman, though.
In other news, a puppy mill called a nearby county's animal control and asked to have all their dogs picked up yesterday. No word yet
on what kind of dogs were involved. Momma's tempted to try to find out, specially since she thinks their director is sexy and well-spoken.
While she was lookin' at their site, she looked at the site of the shelter she got my bro Raoudi from - it's not far from the puppy mill place, and they're having a soup and baked goods and book sale tomorrow. She said maybe we'd go, even though it's an hour away - after all, look what a treasure she got from them last time, and Momma loves to read. Wonder if they'll have homemade goodies for us? Hmmm....

In Hiding

This morning Momma left with both Basha and Gizmo and didn't bring them back - seems Giz is gettin adopted and Basha's goin to a permanant foster.
So, that leaves just me and Raoudi. Never ever since I've lived here has it been just two of us and Mom in the house. Momma says she hasn't had just two since August of 2000 when she brought Bo home to live with her and Syd and Annie, and that was before she bought the house.
So, is she relishing having us all to herself? No, indeed. She brushed the heck out of us, bathed us both and has cut my hair and is now trying to pluck hair from my ears. I hate-hate-hate ear plucking. Momma says I have the world's hairiest ears and she swears when she plucks the deepest ones, my tail gets shorter.
I've managed to get away and get under the couch, but she's waiting with the plucker thingies. HELP!

Back in whack

This afternoon Momma came home and whisked me away without Raoudi or the fosters, saying we were going to something called a chiropractor. I didn't know what that was, but I enjoyed the ride.

We rode a long time in the car. When we got out, we were at a place where there were a lot of horsies and a barn. We went in the barn, and there was an office in it.

This nice man talked to Momma and petted me, then they sat on this little table with me between them, and the man ran his fingers down my back and talked to Momma. He said something about my neck and my back and one hip higher than the other, and Momma nodded. He felt my feet and said I was good about letting him do it.

Just as I was thinking I could get used to this, I heard a click, and something thumped me on the back, then it thumped and clicked a bunch more times. I didn't like that clicking sound at all.

When he quit all the thumping and clicking, Momma said "Thank you, Dr Rodewold". Doctor??? I didn't know a chiropractor was a doctor. Momma said my back was outta whack and now it should be better for the competition this weekend. Dr Rodewold said I was a really good boy, and he really liked me.

I hafta not dance or jump or play rough until Saturday. I hope I can run fast and jump good, so all that clicking and thumping will be worth it. I can't believe Momma fooled me into going to the doctor.

Dog Day!

Today was Nashville Humane's Dog Day, one of our favoritist days of the whole year.
We got there early and got a good spot for Mom's chair by the contest ring, then walked around to all the booths to look at stuff and get free treats and lots of petting. Aunt Glenda came and brough Bonnie, who was one of our fosters a long, long time ago.
We were in the costume contest with oursurfer dude outfits and Bonnie wore a lobster costume. A basset hound dressed like a banana won, a pug dressed like a spider was second and I forget who was third.
Mom bought Raoudi a raincoat . I have on old one I hate - mostly cause I hate rain anyway.
Then was the trick contest. Most of the dogs got stage fright. We did our act pretty much like in our Dancing With The Schnauzers Video.
A German Shepard won - he couldn't dance, but he spun and poke and gave five and stayed while his mom threw a ball. Shoot - we coulda done that, too. Anyway, we won Mom a T-shirt from Dog Day and she loves it.
Our friend from agility, Gordy, won the fetch contest, even though, well, maybe partly because, he's thirteen.
That was the end of Dog Day. We were beat, but Mom's friend from work, Mr Dallas, wanted her to come over to Germantown for Oktoberfest. I mean, we're German dogs, so we figured it was only fitting for us to put in an appearance. I'm glad we did, cause people who were drinking too much beer had dropped kettlecorn and bits of chicken-on-a-stick all over, and Raoudi and I got to be the clean-up crew. We got lots of petting and lots of attention for our mohawks, and Momma talked to a lot of people about rescue. There were a few shreiking little humans, but Mom made sure they didn't get me.
We are dog tired now. Poppa called and said Bella K has fleas. He's coming to see our agility competition next weekend. I just hope it doesn't rain and give Momma any ideas about how cute we'd be in our raincoats together.

Rocke