Chars Dogs and Dog Info

Today is the first day of the new year of 2009. Happy New Year! 

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions for myself, since I don’t seem to be able to keep them for very long. I have made some New Year’s resolutions for my dogs though. Here they are:

1. All dogs will only have one treat every morning when they go outside. They will not have three courses of treats as in the past. That is absolutely ridiculous!

2. Rocky will stop tipping over Daddy’s trash can, digging in it, and throwing all the garbage all over the room.

3. Rocky will also stop going on Mommy’s bed and trashing the covers so that it is a mess when she’s not around.

4. Fritz will quit going in Mommy’s room when she is in the bathroom getting ready to go to bed and snatching Bubba (the teddy bear) off her bed onto the floor. 

5. All dogs will come inside the house when called, especially Shelby.

6. Midnight will not get into a fight with Shiloh and tear her fur out.

7. All dogs will clean up their toys and put them back when done and not leave them strewn throughout the house for Mommy and Daddy to pick up.

8. Midnight will not try to jump over the fence to meet the new next door doggy Sidney.

9. Shiloh and Rocky will stop running after rabbits in the backyard.

10. Shelby will quit chewing up her teddy bear so that Mommy doesn’t have to keep sewing the bear up. 

I’m sure our five pups can stick to these resolutions!

Yeah right!!! 

My five furry kids are the love of my life. We are all suffering through the perils this recession is causing us, but I try to not let it interfere with my dogs happiness. I still buy them the high-quality premium dog food I have always fed them. I still buy them the healthy treats. The two schnauzer boys still get groomed every seven weeks. And they still drink bought water rather than drink the stinky water that comes out of my faucet. If it is time for their annual vet appointment and shots, they go as scheduled. Yes, they are spoiled and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

I really haven’t cut spending a bit on them. It is not the fact that I have tons of money and I really should cut back, but I just can’t seem to do it. I have not purchased medical prescriptions for myself at times, so that I could buy what I needed for the pups. Not smart, but just how it is. They have always come first in my life and always will. If we are short on money for a certain week, and they need dog food, we eat hamburger and don’t eat out that week. 

All for the love of the dogs… 

Do you have it set up in your will what will happen to your dogs in case of your untimely death? It sure is something to think about. If you die unexpectedly, unless you have something specifically set up, your pups will probably go to the pound. If you are like me, you don’t want that to happen to your precious dogs.

I have it set up in my will, that if something happens to my husband and me, my dogs are to go to a good friend of mine. I know that by doing this, my pups will be loved and taken care of like I would want them to be. Many people make wills to make sure their wishes are carried out with regards to their possessions and money. Why not do the same for your beloved pets?

When you take your dog for a ride in your vehicle to the vet’s office or groomer, does he get sick? You know, the nastiness: vomiting and diarrhea. 

Luckily, all my five dogs can handle travel in my car relatively well. Shiloh absolutely LOVES going for a ride in the car. In fact, she wants to go all the time! Rocky acts a bit on the nervous side though. When I take him to the groomer with his brother about once a month, he is all over me while I am driving. I try to drive and he is trying to get in my lap, trying to make me hold him and trembling all the way. Thank goodness it is only about a six minute drive to the groomers. 

Many years ago, I had another dog who could not ride in the car. We would get about two blocks from home and up it all came. It didn’t matter if he had nothing to eat or drink for hours or not. I tried short rides to try to ease him in.. nope, didn’t work. Needless to say, we didn’t go for any rides in the car unless it was an absolute necessity.  

Today was our first snowfall. It snowed overnight with light snowflakes gently falling to the ground. By the time we went to bed, there was enough snowfall just to cover the grass. There was plenty for my furry kids to run, jump and run through it again. They love the snow. Midnight came in from outside just covered in snow. Since she is all black, it really stands out. She’s funny when it snows on her. She’s not like the other dogs who can’t wait to shake it all off. Midnight prances around with it on her like saying, “Look at me! Isn’t this neat?”

All my dogs except Fritz love the snow. He’ll go out and play in it as long as it is not too deep. He’s kind of short to the ground and if it touches his belly, he’s done. He doesn’t like it one bit!

I just hope that old wives tale is false. The one that says whatever day you get your first snowfall, it tells how many more snows you’ll have during the year. Like this year it snowed on the 30th so that means there will be 30 more snows during this winter. Gee, I hope that’s wrong!

Today I promised you that I would explain how my dogs rule me regarding their supper time. I swear, these dogs can tell time. Right on the button (well almost) they know it is 7 pm and time for dinner. They start dancing around, playing rough with one another, jumping up on me, all to tell me it is time to feed them. I better get up and feed them or they will just get rowdier and rowdier until I feed them. How they know that it is supper time is beyond me. 

When you have five dogs, there has to be a certain structure in feeding them. I set all the bowls on the table and fill with food, and then I have to feed them in order, and they expect that. Shelby, the boss of the house, gets her food first, then Midnight. I go back and get Shiloh’s bowl and feed her. I pick up the boys bowls, Rocky and Fritz, and give them their food. I have to go in order because that is what they expect. I always wonder what would happen if I switched it up. They would probably be real upset. 

I know some dog owners free feed but I can’t do that because I have a couple of pig dogs in the household and they would eat everybody’s food all at once and leave none for the others. I can’t even leave a dog food bag on the floor. When I do, somebody gets into it and eats like there is no tomorrow. Nobody ever fesses up that they did it, but I know when Fritz is involved because when it happens, his little belly is so full and firm, I know he was involved. He is a little guy so I know he’s not the one that bites through the bag. One of the bigger dogs has to help. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

My dogs have me under their little paws. I realize that because of what they make me do. Just like when I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is let them out to do their job. After they come in, they get their favorite treat-chicken jerky. They love it and I swear that Shelby can’t live without it. When they come in from outside, they all sit by where the goodies are and act a little nuts until I give them their jerky. Shelby grabs her piece and runs down the hall and goes into her daddy’s room, jumps on the bed and chews it up in peace, away from everyone else. I have unfortunately gotten into a habit of giving them 3 different goodies in the morning. For awhile they would ask to go out, one after another, until they got all their favorite goodies. I got smart on that trick and decided to just give them the 3 treats, one after another, instead of letting them out each time. They get the jerky first which they finish up in about five minutes. About ten minutes after that (if I’m lucky) they are begging for their next treat. The second round is a veggie treat. After they are through with that, they are again begging for their third course. That treat is part of a homemade cookie that I get from the local dog bakery. I inform my furry kids that treat is it until supper time and to go lay down. Magically, they eat their cookie and go lie down and don’t beg again until supper time.

Supper time is a different story, and I will explain our doggy supper time tomorrow. 

At the time I got Rocky, I was working at a pet shop and one of my good friends I worked with was named Lisa. On one of my days off, Lisa called me at home and was all excited about the two puppies they had just got in. Guess what breed they were? Yep, miniature schnauzers! Well I grabbed my husband and flew down to the pet shop. I told Brian he needed a velcro schnauzer like my Fritz. (I think he was always jealous of my affection for Fritz) We got to the pet shop and they had these two light silver colored miniature schnauzers. I picked them both up and said the first one that gave us a kiss was ours. They looked identical and they were both boys. Well, Rocky was the one we picked and brought him home. (Thanks Lisa, like I needed another dog ) I couldn’t think of a name and Lisa thought of the name Rocky and I thought it fit quite well. 

Rocky (also known as Scooby, Rocky Roo) was soooo cute!! All the other dogs loved him, except Shelby. Shelby was like “ANOTHER DOG!!!) She was not a happy camper. If Rocky would try to lay next to Shelby or rub against her, Shelby would jump away and give a little growl. Rocky loved everybody. I think he thought Shiloh was his mommy. He would always want to lay next to her.

Rocky is like a two year old kid. He is full of energy and always getting into everything, still to this day. If I leave the door open to my room, I’ll catch him in there messing all the covers up. Rocky is all the time trying to get in his dad’s garbage can. He still likes to pester Shelby. No other dog in the house messes with Shelby-she’s the boss. Rocky is different. He’s not scared of her at all and is always trying her patience. He is always into mischief, but look at that face, you gotta love him!

So those are my five dogs and my hubby has put his foot down: NO MORE DOGS!!! I think the reason I kept getting dogs, besides the obvious reason that I love dogs, is that when I lost my dog Crissy many years ago, it broke my heart. I was so depressed and upset that I didn’t even go to work for two days. It really tore me up. I seem to think for some reason that if I lose one now, I will have the other four dogs now to console me. However, I now realize that if something happens to any of my five kids, it will still break my heart because I love them so much. Sometimes it’s difficult taking care of and paying for the needs of five dogs, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

I got a phone call one night from my son, Ernie. Ernie was living with his dad at the time and his dad and his wife had two miniature schnauzers that they had since they were puppies. They were named Fritz and Buster. They had been kept in a crate all the time except to go outside to do their business. They also had an older dog who didn’t like the schnauzers because they were all the time nipping at the older dog’s feet. They kept the schnauzers in a crate to avoid the problems. The pups were hardly ever let out of the crate. They were turning a year old and it was time for their yearly vaccinations. My ex and his wife had decided that instead of spending the money to get their shots, they were going to take them to the dog pound. When my son called me and told me, I was livid! I told him I’d be right over to get them. Ernie knew how I loved dogs, especially miniature schnauzers, since my previous dog that I had lost passed away was a miniature schnauzer. 

I drove the 35 miles to go pick up the pups and brought them home. When I took them out of the crate, I was appalled! They were all matted and covered with feces and urine. I don’t think they’d ever been groomed. I called my friend, Lisa, in panic, pleading for her help to at least give them a bath because they stunk so badly! She came right over and helped me bathe them. They still smelled a bit but were a lot better than before. The crate went out with the trash.

I made an appointment to have them both groomed and took them to my vet to get them their shots and checked out. The vet said they were in great health and should be great. After a few days, I learned that having two one year old pups along with Shelby was a little hard to handle. They were not housebroken so they were peeing everywhere and a real challenge. I had a large cage that I had used for Shelby when she was a pup so I had to put them in the cage whenever I was gone or asleep until they were trained. I was working at a pet shop at that time and had decided after talking with my vet and the pet shop owner to let someone adopt one of the pups. A regular customer of the pet shop was looking for a new dog to keep his current miniature schnauzer company and I thought it was a great fit.  Based on Ernie knowing the pups more than me, I adopted out Buster and kept Fritz.

Fritz was born May 28, 1999 and he came to our home in August 2000. Much to my surprise, Fritz got along great without Buster. He was housebroken in no time and became my little buddy and velcro dog. What I mean by velcro dog is that he goes everywhere I go, even the bathroom. He never leaves my side unless I go downstairs. I think he is scared of the steps. I usually sleep on my side and Fritz lies right beside me. He is like my baby. I know with dogs like with kids, you shouldn’t have favorites, but…. well you know. 

So know we have 4 dogs in our household, for now…… 

After owning Shelby, who was part Australian shepherd, I had searched the internet find out more information about this breed. After learning more about them, I knew I wanted another Australian shepherd doggie. I looked into the Australian shepherd rescue groups as I wanted to adopt a dog that needed a home. I located the Aussie Rescue & Placement Hotline in Pennsylvania that had groups located in a number of states. They had a representative in Iowa with whom I got in contact with. I was approved for adopting a rescue and the search began. A blue merle Australian shepherd by the name of Carly who was about 9 months old was rescued from a private residence. This dog had been kept outside all of the time on a chain. A neighbor had reported the owner because they had seen that for a number of days, the dog was not fed nor watered. The ARPH went by and picked her up, cleaned her up, got her spayed and heartworm checked and she got all her shots. Most blue merle’s have copper in their coat and no tail but Carly had no copper in her, alot of white and a tail. I saw pictures of her and fell in love. She seemed to get along well with the other fostered dogs so we made a date to meet the representative up by Chicago and pick her up.

 I enlisted the help of my good friend Lisa and we headed up north for the trip. We met with the representative, Jayne, and as the dog walked out of the car I could tell she was much bigger than Shelby was and that kind of surprised me but otherwise she looked great. She was quite shy and Lisa ended up sitting in the backseat of the car with her for the ride home. She seemed to love the car ride. And so began the saga of Shiloh…

I renamed her Shiloh Lynn (my girl dogs middle names are all named Lynn after my sissy SharonLynn). She was born April 21, 1999. When I brought her home, Shiloh and Shelby sniffed each other a bit and then got along great! The first thing Shiloh did was follow me to my bedroom while I changed my clothes, promptly jumped up on my bed, sniffed around and peed on my bed.  But the look on that face, how could I be angry? I immediately showed her to the outside yard and she figured it out from that day forward.

Shiloh has always had the personality of being a mother dog. If one of the other dogs whimpers or whines for some reason, she is all over them, making sure they are okay. I think she would have been a great dog mommy. She is the sweetest, most lovable, huggable dog I have ever met. Whenever I need a hug or I’m feeling blue, I can always count on Shiloh to let me hug her and help me feel better. I don’t know how the prior owner could have treated her the way they did. She sure didn’t deserve it. 

Her tail is her biggest attribute and I can’t see her being without her tail like other Aussies. When we talk to her, she wiggles her butt and swings that tail and it is sooo cute! Thus her nickname: Wigglebutt. In fact, she’ll answer to Wigglebutt quicker than to Shiloh. I am so glad I adopted her. She’s been a great addition to the family.

So now we have 3 dogs in the family, so far……