We are doing good!

Sorry for the delay in the update! Mommy and Mama are in Florida, enjoying Disney and having a ball! They really needed a vacation. So we got a vacation of our own. We are staying with Nanny and Poppy M. and it's awesome. We get lots of treats and Nanny is really good at giving us our pills. You see, Rudy is still on the allergy pills and omega 3s, and in January, Izzy got a stoopid UTI and is now on antibiotics. It was pretty scary actually. She had some blood in her pee, so naturally mommy freaked out and took her to the vet, and they had to get a pee sample, and then send the culture to a lab. They even did an x-ray to make sure it wasn't stones. Luckily nothing showed up on the x-ray. We were so relieved.

Anyway, Poppy is giving us lots of belly rubs and taking us on walks. We miss Mommy and Mama but they will be back in a week.
love Rudy and Izzy

Holiday time of year

It's that time of year again! Mommy is getting her address book out, and planning our annual photo shoot for our Christmas cards! BOL, I can't imagine what she will think of next! If you want to get a card from us, we would love to send one, so please pawmail us your address. If you are participating in Schnauzers Rule holiday card exchange, we will already have your address.

Thanks and love to you all!
Rudy, Izzy and Angel Ben

Dog walking problems

I am so frustrated I could just cry. After nearly four years, I am still no good at walking the dogs. It seems like I am making every mistake, and no matter who I consult, or what I try, those two stubborn schnauzers do what they want. Even though I they both had initial training. I have multiple problems, and I’m begging for advice. I don’t always like walking my dogs anymore, and that breaks my heart. Here are my problems:

1. Izzy (4 years old) pulls like crazy. I switched from her leather collar to a martingale collar and at my session with the dog trainer, he showed me how to correct her when she starts to pull forward. So that’s what I do, and 2 seconds later she is pulling again. I have to correct her a least twenty times during the walk, and that’s a low estimate.

2. Rudy (6 years old) is incredibly stubborn, and could move concrete digging in her paws if she wanted to. If there’s something she wants to smell, then she yanks and pulls to get to it, or, digs in her paws and refuses to move from what interests her. This is really hard to deal with when trying to train Izzy.

3. I have Izzy’s lead in my right hand, because she needs more correction and I’m better with my right hand. I have Rudy with my left hand because she insists on walking next to the grass to get the good smells. However, on the way back, this doesn’t work (if I take the same route). Should I be switching sides of the road to make sure Rudy always gets the grass side? That seems a bit passive on my part, and then Izzy doesn’t get to walk next to the grass. If on the way back, I walk so that Izzy is next to the grass, then Rudy is constantly darting in front of or behind me to get to the grass. I’ve tried shortening their leads, but then they both seem to pull harder. Either way, their leads get tangled multiple times per walk. I’ve tried a double coupler, but Izzy just ends up dragging Rudy along.

4. The trainer said that I should walk Izzy separately, because she needs the corrective practice, and also because she needs more confidence. Right now I figure she walks twice as much as Rudy, because she tries to walk ahead and then if Rudy pees, she backtracks to pee right where Rudy peed. Then she tries to bound ahead again. However, walking Izzy separately is really hard for me, I have limited time, and not only that, I can’t imagine taking one on a walk and leaving the other home to look out the window! And no, I don’t have anyone to help me walk them.

What do I do? I realize most of these problems are probably my fault because I haven’t been pack leader, and all that. I try to be confident, and give them commands like “halt” when I want them to stop. That works probably 60% of the time. But the pulling is exhausting, and correcting her constantly doesn’t seem to be working. Izzy is not food motivated, so bringing treats to entice her doesn’t really work.

I am so sad, because I used to like walking the dogs, but it seems like it’s getting worse, and it just breaks my heart that I don’t even want to walk with them any more. :( I need help. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Mommy Sarah

OMD - we are a diary pick!

Thank you Dogster for making us a daily diary pick, and thank you to all our friends for your well wishes! Rudy's insect bite is all but gone now, thank goodness. Izzy's hot spot is still sore, because Mommy is a BAD MOMMY, and forgot to put the cone back on after Izzy ate, and she scratched it all up again. That was yesterday. So since Mommy found it and cleaned it up again, the cone of shame has remained ON, despite Izzy's pathetic-looking face and begging eyes. Mommy has to keep the cone on Izzy for her own good! The guilt, though! She hates it so much. Hopefully in another day or two the cone can come off.

Mommy is feeling a bit better too. She was feeling really down and sad with all the news, but, believe it or not, the Olympics have been really inspiring and fun to watch. It's still hot and muggy here, so Mommy is spending time downstairs, and bringing us down with her cause it's the only "sort of" cool place in the house.

love to you all!
Rudy and Izzy

Rough week for us and Mommy!

Boy, did we have a yucky week! First of all, it was very very hot for Newfoundland, today it felt like 36 C/96 F - which is WAY TOO hot for pups here in Newfoundland who are not used to it! See it wouldn't be so bad except houses here generally don't have air conditioning, just air exchange or fans. So, we've been wearing our cooling kerchiefs (Mommy puts them in the freezer to get nice and cold). Mommy likes heat but not humidity, and this humidity is BRUTAL.

The humidity tends to cause hot spots for Izzy, and she was doing SO good, but of course, last night, after one of the muggiest days of the year, Mommy came home to see Izzy's face bleeding, full of pus, and a big circle with the hair torn out. Besides freaking out, Mommy feels so bad, because maybe she would have seen her scratching had she stayed home instead of going out for the night. :( Anyway, we had the cleansing solution from last time Izzy had one, so Mommy cleaned her up really good, and put on the antibiotic cream, and then the dreaded cone of shame. Poor Izzy. Mommy is just trying to keep it from getting infected, so we don't have to go to the vet, because it feels like we live there. :(

Which leads us to Rudy. Rudy went and got bitten by some weird insect, likely a spider. Although Mommy didn't know that at the time, and freaked out. It was a big red circle with a dot in the centre. It looked (from trust internet pictures) like ringworm, or a tic bite. Mommy and Mama both freaked, and decided Rudy had to see the vet. She wasn't scratching the bite, but trying to lick it (rather unsuccessfully). Anyway, Mommy took Rudy to the vet, and the vet looked at it for about 30 seconds before deciding it was a bite, and it was Rudy's intense allergies that made it look so bad. 12 hours later and you could barely see it. Thank DOG the nice vet didn't charge for that visit.

So, hot spots, insect bites, holy humidity, and on top of that, Mommy had to submit an article for publication (the deadline was this week), so it was a rather stressful week. Mommy says it's a good thing she doesn't drink or she would be an alcoholic! Although, come to think of it, a bodka dwip would not go astray!!!
love Rudy and Izzy's Mommy Sarah

Mommy feels sad

There's a lot of sad things in the world, and sometimes Mommy can't see past them to see the good. Of course these bad things are everywhere on the news, on the internet, and really hard to avoid. She tries real hard, but she's depressed and anxious no matter how hard she tries. We pups give her as much love as we can, which helps a lot, of course. And the dogtor has Mommy on medicine to help the sadness, but the agitation and sadness sometimes are too strong for the medicine. Mommy gets tired a lot too, cause it's just tiring to be sad and nervous all the time. So, if you pups have a minute, could you put your paws together and send POP and prayers for Mommy? She just wants to be well again. She says it's a long road to recovery, and she knows that some of you understand how bad it can be sometimes. Thank GOD for dogster buddies. Mommy is taking some time off facebook, and watching tv - we think that might be making the agitation worse. She's gonna get out her cross-stitch again, and try to do things that make her happy. Luckily, that means lots of doggie snuggles.

love Rudy and Izzy

Back from our doggie vacation!

We had a wonderful vacation at Auntie Jill's house! While Mommy and Mama baked in the sun in Cuba, we got to go on doggie vacation! Jill and her hubby Ed have a farm with hens, turkeys, a rooster, even doves! They take dogs in whose Mommies and Daddies are going on vacation, and as you can see from the profile pic, it was a full house! WE LOVED being at Auntie Jill's. It was a real pack mentality, and Jill told Mommy we were good as gold. We got to go on real long walks in the woods and play with the other doggies. In the picture above, we are all waiting patiently for a treat! We are glad to be home now though, so we can start our routine barking out the window again! There's no place like home!

love Rudy and Izzy
p.s. Mommy and Mama had a great time in Cuba, but they are real glad to be home too.

Mommy is STRESSED

and you know what that means! STRESSED spelled backwards is DESSERTS! A few days ago she made apricot raisin cake and now she's jonesing for some banana bread. We like this trend. Cake is the best smelling stuff in the whole world! And if a crumb drops to the floor, all the better!

All joking aside, Mommy has decided to limit her facebook time considerably, cause it is so much fun she is on it WAY too much. And that won't get a thesis written! So, the best way to keep up with Mommy Sarah and us pupses is through this page right here! This dogster-fing is much less stressful than that book of faces-thing, so feel free to drop us a line or keep up with our diary right here! After all, we couldn't go off the grid entirely - Mommy would get the shakes or sumfing!

We love you!
Rudy, Izzy, Angel Ben and Mommy Sarah

Uh oh...

Mommy is getting mad cause Izzy is a jealous, jealous dog. She tackled Rudy when she got out of the tub, and was growling very loudly at her. She does this a lot lately. She is jealous whenever either Mommy or Mama give Rudy necessary attention for her skin condition. What do we do? It's getting ridiculous. Izzy sounds like a big massive rottweiler, the sounds she makes, and Rudy just lets her pounce on her.

(Mommy speaking) It looks like playing, but it seems pretty rough sometimes. I usually never hear a yelp, but today I did, and then Izzy backed off. I have tried grabbing Izzy by the neck and saying "no" firmly, but as soon as I let go, she goes right for Rudy again. If I separate them in different rooms, as soon as I let them out, Izzy bolts for Rudy again to pounce/attack. It freaks me out cause it seems like it is getting more frequent. We are both giving Izzy lots of cuddles and loves too, she is definitely not "left out" but she seems to think she is. I can't let Izzy in the tub with Rudy because it's special dermatological vet shampoo, and Izzy doesn't need to be bathed twice a week anyway. When they play, as soon as Mama gives Rudy some attention, Izzy stops what she is doing and pounces on Rudy, growling loudly and biting at her neck. It's like she HATES it when we give Rudy any attention. Now if one of us wants to play with Rudy, the other Mom has to hold Izzy and distract her! This is not a good solution. What do we do? Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!

love Mini Mischief, emphasis on the MISCHIEF

Saying good bye to our Sonny

We all said goodbye to Mommy's family dog (he lived with Nanny and Poppy), Sonny last night. He is going to Rainbow Bridge later today. We are quite sad, Sonny was such a beautiful, kind old man, and we are going to miss him dearly. At least he will meet Angel Ben at the Rainbow Bridge. It is such a hard decision to have to make, even though he was sick and old. We love you Sonny, with all our hearts, and we don't want to see you in pain anymore. Fly free, sweet boy.

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/361676