Author: Xena, Lucy and Chia

Job Confusion

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I don't know why we are here
I don’t know why we are here

I don’t often admit this, but…I’m confused.

Mom took me to a different workplace today. It is another church. A different church. She has her own office but there is no big comfy chair for me like at the last church. I couldn’t find the kitchen, either. And no one seemed to have any food at their desk. I am not sure I like this new place.

I want to emphasize that this is not the same place she has been taking me for the last few weeks. There is no food there either, but I did catch a baby bird right outside the door. I didn’t get to eat it, though.

I wonder if Mom has changed jobs again. I like to know what it going on, and I just don’t know what to think.  I remain Lexi, the confused schnauzer.

 

I think I almost died: the story of getting dog-bit

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June 8, 2014

Hysterical. Yes, I was hysterical. Wouldn’t you be hysterical if someone had hold of your tail with their teeth and was trying to tear it off? Wouldn’t you be hysterical if that same someone had already bitten you in the butt? Wouldn’t you be screaming your crazy head off if all that was happening to you? You know you would. There is a time for hysterics, and that was it.

 It was a lovely day for a walk through our peaceful neighborhood with my Mom and brother Riley. There are no sidewalks and only cars from the neighbors go by, so we were all strolling down the middle of the road toward the cul-de-sac. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a smallish white and brown terrier came tearing at us, curving around our right side where Riley was walking. Later, as her excuse for not rescuing me sooner, Mom related that everyone got behind her and she couldn’t see what was happening. As she turned to look, everyone kept circling behind her so it took her what was a very long minute to quickly turn the other way. Her first thoughts were that Riley was attacking and killing the interloper. The screams were deafening. When she finally got us all in front of her, she saw the horrible terrier was trying to tear off my tail. That was me screaming! At that point she had the presence of mind to grab me up into her arms and chase away that vicious creature. What, you may ask, was Riley doing all this time? I’ll tell you what – standing there like a big dope with his tail tucked between his legs, looking all worried.

 This dog’s mom came running out wanting to know if I was ok. Of course I wasn’t ok! Didn’t she hear me screaming!? I wasn’t shaking, so everyone must have thought I was ok. I was probably in shock. Someone should have administered first aid. Ice cream to the tongue is usually the best. But I was bleeding. Now, I could be vindictive and tell you what breed this little monster was (not schnauzer, I assure you). But I hear there are good dogs in this breed, so I won’t try to prejudice you against them. I think this one was just crazy as bat poop. Her mom said she was thirteen years old and had always attacked any dog she could get her teeth into. My Mom said she would inform her if there was a vet bill. Egads, could the day get any worse?

 So here we go back down the road toward home, me all dog bit and Riley all tucked under, and what happens next? A car bearing a small female child stops next to us, the window rolls down, and the lady driving the car says, “Oh, my daughter loves dogs! Can she see them?”

This would have been a good time for me to go running into the woods, but Mom had that pinch collar thingy on my neck and I couldn’t get away.

Thinking the woman would have some sense in her head and leave, Mom said, “My small dog here just got bit by another dog, so she would have to pet this big one.” Not to be deferred by a poor bleeding schnauzer or a seventy pound hulk, the lady came around the car and opened the door where the little one was strapped into a car seat. Mom started pulling Riley over to the car. To his credit – or lack of good sense – Riley does enjoy the little people and is very careful around them. This time, however, he started pulling away from the car, which meant pulling away from the child. Still pressing on with her agenda, the lady unlatched what by now had been revealed to be a one-year-old girl from her car seat, took her out and stood her up next to the big red dog. Riley rubbed her gently with his big T-Rex head and made googly eyes at her. For once, I was glad to be ignored. Mission accomplished, the lady strapped the child back into her car seat and shut the door. What happens when you remove a dog-loving child from a big, child-loving dog? Yep, the crying and reaching began. By the child, not by Riley. So Mom tries to take the Ri-boy back over to the car, but he was having none of it. Finally the lady drove on down the road, leaving us to make our way back home to take care of me.

Bad day rapidly getting worse…I got dropped into the dog bathtub as soon as we walked through the door. There was talk about disinfecting the wounds. I lost some hair on my left rump where the creature’s fang had punctured me. And I was bleeding from the underside of my tail. The good news was that Mom determined I didn’t need to go to the vet. Whew, dodged that bullet, as well as the inevitable glass stick up the patuti.

 Since the story of my misadventure winds down about now, this seems like a good time to go back to the story of Riley. Because of something bad that happened to him at the dog park, he acquired this nasty habit of attacking other dogs. Ever since then, everyone has been trying to teach him to be nice when he meets other dogs. I’ve noticed that he has been playing nicely with two dogs who live next door, and not bothering any of the other neighborhood dogs. So it seems that when the monster dog attacked me, he was torn about what to do. He was trying to be a good dog even though he knew I was in trouble. Then he could tell that Mom was upset with him for not helping me. And when the car came along, he thought she was trying to put him in it to get rid of him!. Twice! As in get in. No? Meet the nice child. Now get in. What a dufus

 Now that I stop to think about it, I guess Riley wasn’t having such a good day either.

 Later that afternoon the mom of the monster dog came to our house to see if I was ok. She figured out I was ok when I stood on the other side of the door window barking at the top of my lungs at her. I could hear what she was saying through the door. She had been a nervous wreck all afternoon and couldn’t take having this happen again, so her husband was taking the monster terrier to have her put to sleep. I am not sure what that means, but I do remember that when my step-sister Ivy went to be put to sleep, she never came back. What that means to me is that I don’t have to be afraid to take walks in our neighborhood. Mom seemed kind of sad the rest of the day, with lots of other mixed up feelings just like Riley. I was just glad I didn’t get killed.

 Lexi, the poor baby

I’m back to work

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May 22, 2014

It’s official. Mom started a new job and what an exhausting two days I have had. There were stairs to climb and people to meet. Then there were treats and lunches to beg politely ask for. I know it would be correct for me to say, “for which to politely ask,” but I am just not that snooty. So no e-mails, please. Unless, of course, you attach treats to the e-mails. Huh, I’ve decided that’s going to happen when birds fly. Wait, I think the saying is pigs, not birds. But we are all aware that pigs are never going to fly, and I do want to allow a slight possibility that I will get treats as attachments. One never knows…

But I digress. I was talking about my exhausting first day at work There were only two other people working there, but they seemed needy of my attention, so I worked pretty hard all day long. Then there was the “keeping out from under the rolling chair” work that I had to do. That work goes like this: lay down either behind or next to someone who has a chair on wheels. Relax, but not too much. You have to stay alert for when that friggin’ chair comes inching toward you – or sometimes barreling at you. Jump up like someone just tried to set your stubby little tail on fire and quickly scoot out of reach. And that friggin’ chair moves a lot! So you can see how hours on end of this routine can really wear out a schnauzer.

After a hard day at work one would think that I would come home to a good home-cooked Mickey D meal. Ha! What do I get? Nope, not sweet Mickey D hamburgers and fries, nor even the sweet potato and salmon crap dog food that I have grown to loathe. It’s a new flavor, chicken and something, made by the same stupid company that made the other crap food. And it’s not any better. I find that by sneaking boldly approaching my brother Riley’s food dish in the downstairs hallway, I can fill up on his breakfast before starving all day because I won’t eat what is in my own dish. Mom doesn’t understand how my belly gets so big when I am starving to death from never eating from my own bowl. Yeah, I can wait her out on this one. Hmmm. Riley looks like he has been losing weight. I wonder if he is on a diet.

Lexi, the newly employed schnauzer

The Starving Schnauzer

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Once again Mom left early in the morning without me. This is the third day in a row she has done that. I think that means she finally got a job to keep me in kibble.

 Speaking of kibble, I am so over the food she has been putting in my dish. It is a pretty dish. It is all shiny metal inside, and the outside is green with doggie paw prints on it. I licked the paw prints; they don’t taste like dog paws. They don’t taste like anything. And the shiny inside doesn’t help make this kibble taste any better. The kibble is salmon and sweet potato. OK, so I liked it a lot at first. But how many years ago was that? I am really tired of it. Image

That makes for problems because I don’t want to eat it but I don’t want anyone else to eat it either. That means I have to guard it.  For my birthday Mom got me canned food to put on it, so what flavor did she get? Salmon and sweet potato. Geesh! If she likes that food combination so much, maybe she should eat it. Maybe I should just stop eating until she gets me something better. That should show her!

Lexi, the starving schnauzer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boating and Fast Food

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It has been an exhausting couple of days. Two days ago Mom came home from wherever she had been for over an hour and I could tell right away she was upset. Not a little upset, either. She even told my Dad to get out of her way. Wow. He backed way up way fast and didn’t say a word. Quick as a wink she changed into her boating clothes, grabbed her boat bag and plopped me into the truck. She hooked up my pontoon and off we went to the lake. I started doing therapy on her while we were still in the truck – she really needed it. He face was salty and her eyes were red. We spent the whole afternoon in one spot on the lake. I swam around the boat once to cool off, then napped on and off and tried to do a little more therapy while Mom took turns reading and laying in the sun.

Even all the boating and sunning and reading didn’t help Mom’s mood. I hate to say I benefited by it, but look, when a dog gets to go to the lake and out to dinner at Mickey D’s, yeah, things were going my way. Seems like I was the only one she could stand to be around that day. You’d better believe I was careful to be a very good girl. I have never before had a McD’s hamburger. OMG it is good! Later that evening I heard her say that she was taking me back to McD’s the next day for my birthday. I starting singing and dancing, and everyone laughed. I couldn’t help myself, I just got so excited thinking about that hamburger.

When we got home that night Mom sat down in front of her computer and in a very short time yelled at my Dad to come quick. After getting yelled at earlier to get out of her way, he came running lickity-split to see what was wrong. She told him to read something on her computer and they both started smiling and saying happy things.  Now I know why Mom wasn’t going to the church to work and why she was unhappy today. She had to find a new job so she could make money to buy my kibble and other things. Everything finally worked out great. She is going to work at another church and she is going to work at a non-profit when she isn’t working at the church. She seems really happy about it. I hope I will get to go, too. I will do therapy and keep food cleaned up from the floor.

Finally, the sun came up the next morning and my real birthday day started. After several hours on the lake in the Sammy Joe, I went to the pet store where I found some ferrets I wanted but no one would let me have them. I found some treats and we got those. There were dog beds that I was not very interested in, so we didn’t get any of those, nor any of the collars, harnesses or clothes we looked at. It would have been cruel to buy those things on my birthday.

From there we went to Mickey D’s where I got another hamburger and a dish of ice cream. It was a hot day so we sat in the shade and ate our supper. I ate my hamburger in about five seconds flat plus an extra second for the pickle. Mom couldn’t understand why I didn’t dig into my cup of ice cream. Duh…she still had some of her fish sandwich left. Of course, when she realized that was the reason, she shared it with me so that I could move on to dessert. Once again it took her a minute, but she finally figured out I wanted her to feed me the ice cream with the spoon. Once we got that established, I ate until I got brain freeze. I mean, I saved her a little bit of the ice cream at the bottom of the cup.

On the way home we took a detour to the dog park. A big white dog wanted to “friend me.” I was polite but not interested, so I didn’t “accept.” Why is Mom laughing?  I hear people say this all the time, so I think I should be able to say it too, don’t you? What’s Facebook?

Lexi the fast-food schnauzer

 

 

I think I almost drowned

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OK, sure, I had on that hot pink polka dotted life vest that flies in the face of all that is called fashion. But I feed off my Mom’s emotions, and I think I almost drowned.
Let me back up a bit.
I was having a good, if not wonderful, day on my boat, the Sammy Joe. Yeah, yeah, I am still trying to get the name changed, but am beginning to think it might be like becoming a saint – you have to die first. So maybe we should just stick with the sainted Sammy Joe.
I digress.

I did my usual go in the lake for a swim as soon as the anchor is dropped. My beautiful black hair gets very hot in the sun and I know the lake water will cool me down. The water is actually still fairly cold this time of year, as well as dirty, but it does the trick. After being pulled in when I get back to the front of the pontoon, I shake and rub myself all over any towels and clothes that happen to be at my disposal. Satisfied that everything else on the boat is now at least as wet as me, I sun myself to dry on the bench seat. Today we were fairly near a camp along the shore. We were at least near enough that I could see and hear some of what was going on, so that held my interest for quite a while. Mom read her book in the shade of my boat awning, then she moved to a sunny position at the front of my boat and read some more. After about three or four hours of this I started getting just a bit bored. The wind had picked up enough that I wasn’t getting hot, so I hadn’t gone swimming again. In fact, the wind had picked up so much that it was creating waves that rocked us just like if we were caught in the wake of another boat. On top of that it didn’t look like there were going to be any treats today. I was just thinking about asking to go in for another swim when Mom pulled the anchor, started her up and headed back toward the dock. I stood at the very front of my boat, facing the side as Mom navigated the waves. When I face the front, Mom knows that I am playing hood ornament. I always go to the side when I want to go in the water. Seeing this, Mom stopped the boat, put the awful life vest back on me and dropped me into the water. What she did NOT do was drop the anchor.

I make it my business to always, and I mean always, swim in a clockwise direction around the boat, usually just once. This time I found myself moving faster than usual along the first side. When I made the turn to cross the back near the motor, I started feeling the pull of the water. I made the second turn to swim back up the far side and get pulled in at the front. Then I realized it was like swimming in place. I don’t know if the current was pulling me away from my boat, or pulling my boat away from me. I just know I wasn’t making any progress. Mom reached over the side but couldn’t reach me. She told me to swim harder, but I was swimming as hard as I was able. She reached down and started paddling with her hands to try to get my boat closer to me so she could grab me. I think in her panic she forgot about the new, never used paddle she keeps inside the bench seat. Thankfully, her hand paddling must have worked; her fingers finally twined through the long hairs in my beard and pulled me around to the front where she could lift me to safety. Normally, I would have objected to being pulled through the water by my face, but this time all I felt was relief that she had ahold of me. I am Lexi, the not drowned schnauzer.
Lexi on Boat 2

Both Dorothy’s (or Dorothies?)

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April 4, 2014
This time it was just my face that got washed. And I went to Rock City! It was an event especially for the kids, and there, dressed up like Cinderella in a fairytale, was my second Dorothy. For those of you who haven’t yet read my entire blog from way, way back when, I, Lexitheschnauzer, am the famous Toto on stage in Chattanooga. And if you haven’t read my entire blog, why not? For those of you not in-the-know, I was Toto in 2006 and again in 2010. Everyone in the cast was different the second time except for me, probably because I did so good the first time. And this was my Dorothy from the second time.

Me at Rock City with my royal crown.
Me at Rock City with my royal crown.

Anyhow, she was all dressed up different and had grown up from her high school self and none of us recognized her until she told us who she was. Oh well, she didn’t have any treats for me, so what do I care?

Later, we went into the gift shop to hear Kim read us a fairytale. I think this was my Dorothy/Kim, but it has been so long… I barely remembered her, and just couldn’t get excited over a story without treats. I know how this sounds, but it isn’t like she has ever made an effort to come visit me, take me for ice cream, or anything! How can she expect to keep up a relationship with me if she doesn’t do those things?

There were good dog smells all around, and my family was all there except for Adam and Riley, so it was still a good evening.

Lexi, the Royal Schnauzer

The Party

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April 1, 2014
I got a bath. An all over, nose to tail sort of bath. That meant that I was going somewhere – or that our bedding was starting to stink. I hoped it was the former. I realize that this happens once a week – the bath thing, not the bed stinking thing. But I am a very hopeful, positive thinking type of schnauzer. This time it was worth it, peach bow on my collar and all.

Mom and Dad and I met up with one of the church office volunteers in a parking lot, where we piled into her car and drove up a mountain. I was pretty distracted by the smell of food coming from the back of the car or I would have realized sooner how strange the whole thing was. Of course I recognized Mrs. C., who is often at the church when I go in on Thursdays or Fridays. But it never occurred to me that she existed outside of that building. I have never seen her anywhere else. Perhaps that sounds silly or naïve, but even a cosmopolitan schnauzer like me has a bit of a limited perspective when it comes to certain things. As it turns out, all of my friends who are office volunteers at the church exist outside of that setting. I found this out because we ended up at one of their homes, and lots of the other folks I know were there. My good friends Gail and Susan from the office were there too. I knew from the start this was going to be great because Mom brought my food bowl. We all went in the house and there was a big table piled high with food. It smelled delicious and got my empty tummy to start growling. Oh my, I hope no one thought it was me being mean!

Mom started the chow line and filled my food bowl with wonderfully yummy foods. I started wondering if somehow I had missed that it was my birthday, and this was all for me. Or maybe I was being honored for being the best Episcopalian church dog. Hmmm.

In any case it was a great evening with good friends, good food, and sweet wine – which I refused (so Mom drank my glass). We were sitting around outside, and I noticed when someone’s plate was empty, they would go back inside and come out with a full plate. So I went and scratched at the door, since I couldn’t reach the door handle, and someone let me in, as always happens. Mom finally found me and put more food in my bowl. She instituted the “no ham for the schnauzer rule,” but I got some of everything else.

I still don’t know the reason for the party, or why Mom hasn’t been going to work. I am going to think about that some more while I wait for my supper.

Lexi, the party girl

My life is in Power Point

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Dear faithful friends,

If you hit play you will see my life in something called a Power Point Presentation. Mom promises to get music with it soon, but I was so excited that I want you to see it now!

THE LIFE OF LEXI (2)

Lexi, the Power Point Schnauzer

 

Back at the Children’s Hospital

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Hello my dear friends. I am blogging again, BOL. BTW (which I found out means By The Way), BOL is Bark Out Loud, the dog equivalent for LOL  One has to know these things when one blogs, you see. And even more-so when one texts. Will someone please tell me what texts means? Talking about blogging reminds me that I have an e-mail account now, and I can get attachments, and still, no one has sent me any treats or biscuits of any sort. What’s up with that?

I still haven’t figured out what is going on with Mom, but I can’t continue to dwell on that. My life is much too busy with things like breakfast, snacks, treats, and therapizing. Speaking of therapizing, Mom drove me to the children’s hospital this morning so I could therapize all the sick kids. It was good today, with lots of kids needing my special attention. One very little boy, still in diapers. who used to be scared of dogs, but now has gotten used to us and even likes us. He has two older sisters who liked me a lot too, so I was on the floor surrounded by children petting me, just like in the old days at the theater. What good memories…

Then there was the little boy – toddler, really – who declared he was a-scared of dogs, so I thought I would just stand out in the hallway and look in at him with a smile on my face. He saw my pretty smile and made a dash for me. I guess he forgot to be afraid, because he pet me real good until it was time for him to take a ride in a big plastic wagon.

There was a big family in the hallway who didn’t seem to know what a therapy dog is and wondered why I was in a hospital for people. So my good friend Lois, who always walks around with us and gives me treats before and sometimes during and after my job, explained it all to them, about how I was tested and passed and come to make kids happy. I think she could have added because I am so beautiful and have a scintillating personality. (Do you like my new word for myself?  I have to bark four times to get that one all out. That is one bark plus one bark plus one bark plus one bark. Whew!) Mom indicated to Lois to give the one of my calling cards so that just maybe, if they read my blogs, they will understand better.

We are home now and my people brother has ordered pizza. I saw the delivery person and now I smell it downstairs, so I have to go.

Lexi, the scintillating therapizer

Why is Mom home?

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Mom has been home a lot lately. She isn’t jumping – or crawling – out of bed before daylight and putting on clothes and makeup and leaving me here at home without her. Something suspicious is going on. On the good side, she is taking me for more walks and we are going places together in the car, like the bank and the hardware store. The tellers at the bank all were looking out the window at me and thought I was so adorable that I got three – count them, three! – biscuits instead of just one. Mom tried to hide one in her purse, but when she turned her head I grabbed it and went as far away from her as I could to eat it. I took and ate it for lots of reasons: 1. I wanted it; 2. I hadn’t had any lunch; 3. It smelled good; 4. I don’t think Mom should eat it; 5. My tummy wasn’t full to bursting yet; 6. It was mine; 7. I wanted it.

Don’t you think those were all good reasons for me to take the biscuit? But I was talking about Mom being home, wasn’t I?

Sometimes she stays home when she is sick, but she doesn’t seem sick. The first two days I did therapy on her, staying close by her side, because I could tell something was wrong. She has been using her computer a lot, and she says she is ok, but I can sense something. She did go into work today – I could smell it on her – but not at her usual time.

She is eating a cookie now, so I have to go stare at her.

Lexi, the puzzled schnauzer

Busted

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February 11, 2014
Have I mentioned how much I love food? Except potato chips. And corn chips. I do not like chips. I don’t understand why people eat chips. But I am glad they do – that leaves more of the good food for me.

So I was at work with Mom and trolling around the office for what I could find of the edible variety. I usually check under my good friend Gail’s desk because there is often food around, albeit stale. Stale is OK as long as it isn’t chips. No luck there, so today I moved on to my good friend Susan’s office. Which is where I hit the mother load. There was a lunch sized white bag under her desk, and what was in it smelled just like I imagine heaven will smell. All yummy goodness. Glancing quickly around, I ascertained that I was, in fact, alone with this bag of delight. Concerned that Susan might be back at any moment, I firmly grabbed the top of the bag with my mouth and lifted it. It had a lovely weight with promises of great delights inside. With said bag gently swinging from my mouth, I started trot, trot, trotting for her office door. I got as far as the hallway and who should appear…time for a change of plans. We both stopped dead in our tracks, Susan with her mouth open, me with mine firmly closed. After only a moment’s pause, I turn on my heels and head for the other exit that goes into the break room, where we normally eat our lunches. Which is where she caught up with me. I opened my mouth and let that bag of deliciousness plop to the floor.

“”Fine, I thought, “you don’t want to share, just be like that. I know you always share with me, so I was just taking the initiative to save you the trouble.”

That’s when the stinger hit, as she said, “Oh Lexi, I always give you half my sandwich, and if you had just been patient, I would have been glad to share my lunch with you. But today you get nothing.”

I still got the pickle.

Lexi, the thieving schnauzer

Almost a Disaster!

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February 9, 2014
My Auntie Jen called this afternoon and even with my good doggie ears I couldn’t understand most of what she was saying. She was something called “hysterical.” My little cousin Piper – you remember Piper the schnauzer who lived with us for a while with his brother Milo – anyhow, my little cousin Piper got attacked by a big mean dog and all bit up. He lost part of his ear, too. The other dog actually ate it! Eeeewwww. That’s called cannibalism, and is just not acceptable in our part of the world.

My mom is Auntie Jen’s “person” so she always calls her when something important happens. I wanted to go therapize her (and Piper)  but we live too far away. Six hours away, to be exact. Mommy prayed a lot and so did I and so did my dad. Piper got to the vet in time and is going to be ok. He has holes in his head and his neck and is all bandaged up. My Auntie Jen is all bandaged up too because the big mean dog bit her real bad too.

Mom and I are proud of her, though. Once the big mean dog got dragged off of Piper (with Piper’s ear in his mouth) Auntie Jen threw herself on top of Piper and Milo so that bad dog couldn’t hurt them anymore. She’s a good Mommy.  Piper is going to be ok. Yes, I know, I already said that, and important things are worth repeating, right? And this is really, really important.

I think if my big brother Riley was there he would have killed that bad dog. He loves Piper a lot. Piper is his little buddy. At the very least, he would have done everything he could to protect Piper.

I hope that bad dog doesn’t hurt anyone else. She should be ashamed of herself and not get any treats. She should have to give Piper all her treats forever.

Lexi, the good dog

I am blogging

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January 15, 2014
I can’t believe it has been since September that my Mom helped me to bark a new blog – I learned this is called a blog, so I may use that word a lot for a while. I know Mom’s been busy, but come on! My blogs are quite important, probably more important than anything except my breakfast and supper and snacks. Definitely more important than brushing and bathing me and she sure has found plenty of time for that.

While it is true that to the casual observer I don’t have much to blog about lately, I do stay busy keeping my Dad on track. He works from home, mostly on his computer, so I am not really sure why he couldn’t write my blogs all day. What he is doing could not be more important …or so I thought. Dad has now informed me that my blogging won’t buy me treats or supper, so I had better leave him alone to do his own work. I still forget sometimes, especially when my tummy is growling in the middle of the day and I want my morning go-to-the-mailbox treat or my afternoon after-school treat. No, we don’t go down to the mailbox most mornings now, and I definitely don’t go to school, but that should not interfere with my treat schedule! I try to be helpful by going in his office and reminding him – often. Can you believe he pushes me out and shuts his door? Harrumph! That’s the noise I make when he does that. Not that it does any good.

On with my blog…

My beautiful hair has been growing very long and curly since the weather started turning cold. Mom knows I hate wearing clothes, so she lets my shiny black hair grow to keep me warm. I thought, “Yes! No more grooms!” But Mom still combs me and trims my legs and face and bathes me. Darn. I should have her post – another new word I just learned – a new picture of me in all my hairy glory.

Christmas was good with lots of soft, homemade doggie cookies. Mom made pizza flavored cookies, pumpkin pie flavored cookies and peanut butter cookies. I love them all, but the pizza ones are my favorite.

I have started back with Freestyle. It seems Mom and I have both forgotten a lot, so we work together on it most nights. Not for long, but it is fun and I get treats because I am such a smart girl. I do like to show off what a good dancer I am.

I guess that is all for my blog today. It is time to post it. Blog, blog, blog. BOL!

Lexi, the Blogger

Boat good, lake warm, Riley defects

Published on by Xena, Lucy and ChiaLeave a comment

September 16, 2013
Mom and I didn’t get to go to the lake at all in August. She and my dad kept going out of town and leaving me with my people brother – actually, leaving my people brother at the house with me. I am not sure who was watching whom. And it rained a lot all month so we still couldn’t go boating even when she was home.

Now it is September and the days are warm and the sun is shining and the weekends are for boating! I got in the water and swam around the pontoon three times yesterday. I mean, I got in the water three times and swam around the boat at least once each time. Just enough to cool off. Oh, that is the life!

The only thing better is that Riley has moved in downstairs with Andrew et al. I hardly ever see him. He is sleeping in bed with them every night and Mom took his food bin downstairs. Now I am the only dog in bed with Mom and Dad and have peace all day.

Yes, life is good.

Lexi, the excellent swimmer and only dog (again)

Mom was gone, look who’s moving in

Published on by Xena, Lucy and ChiaLeave a comment

September 15, 2013
Mom went on vacation without me the last week of August. Dad stayed with me. I am sure he couldn’t bear to go away without me again. Riley and I slept in the bed with him that whole week. I tried my best to keep Riley off the bed, but he is one persistent mutt.

No sooner did Mom come home (I was too happy to see her to be mad) than Andrew and Jentry and Conner moved into our basement. The basement is nice – it has a kitchen and two real big rooms and a full bathroom. They are supposed to be looking for a house and needed a place to stay. Riley is really, really happy. Sure, I love Andrew, but Riley sticks to him like glue. Also, nine-year-old Connor is playing with him every day. Dad jokes that we got Riley a boy. I don’t believe that every dog needs a boy, but Riley certainly seems to be grooving on it. Maybe this will keep Riley out of my hair. My beautiful hair.

Lexi, the hopeful schnauzer

RILEY’S DIARY: Mastered the Gate

Published on by Xena, Lucy and ChiaLeave a comment

August 4th 2013
Hi friends! Have I ever mentioned how much I hate walking into the dog lot. It is where we do our business. And everyone expects me to walk there and get all that nasty stuff on my beautiful paws. Even after the poo gets cleaned up, there must be some of it left in the grass not to mention the pee areas. I can smell it all and I don’t want to walk around there. So I came up with a solution. The gate is only one step off the patio, so if I can get through the gate, I have a whole big yard as well as a wooded areas where I can go to do my business. Mom has taught me to stay in the yard and not go in the road, so I mostly stay in the yard. Sometimes I go in the woods behind the house and sometimes down into the neighbor’s yard, too. But I always stay within earshot – of course, I have very good ears and can run very fast when called. When I am lucky, Mom opens the gate so I don’t have to go into that nasty area.

I have also figured out how to open the latch on the gate. It is really quite easy. I just flip it up with my nose, then push the gate open. To defeat that, Dad put a cotter pin in the hole under the latch.

Last week I was out running around the yard and decided I wanted to come back in, so I just opened the gate and came in. It was shut to keep my sisters from getting out. They aren’t as good as me about staying home. Lily just starts running like a crazy dog, and Lexi heads down through the neighbors yards looking like she has a destination in mind. Some day I will have to follow her and find out where she is going and what she is doing. Anyhow, they weren’t out in the yard, so the cotter pin wasn’t used and it was easy to open the gate.

I have been studying the cotter pin and think I understand how it works. The only thing is, I will have to grab it with my teeth to pull it out.

I am a bit particular about what I put in my mouth, too. I miss out on some treats that way because I take too long sniffing them and trying to decide if it is something I want to put in my mouth. Lexi ends up getting those treats because Mom gets tired of waiting on me to make up my mind.

It’s not that I am dull, I just think about things a lot. If I was dull I would just grab any food put in front of my face, like Lexi. Ha, ha, I finally got one on Lexi. Boy will she be mad if she finds out I said this. So don’t tell her, ok? I get tired of her barking at me sometimes, but I am not allowed to make an ugly face at her. It doesn’t seem fair, even if I am over three times as big as her. What us brothers have to put up with! I really do love her, and even more than that I want Mom to always love me. So I will be good to Lexi.

I hope everyone plays and has lots of fun today.

Riley

Sad times and I get left

Published on by Xena, Lucy and ChiaLeave a comment

July 26, 2013
It’s been a pretty sad couple of weeks around here. First, Dad had to have my sister Ivy “put to sleep.” Mom explained that meant she died and went to heaven. Dad cried a lot and didn’t eat much all week. Then he got a phone call and was upset all over again because his father died. I only met his father once, so I wasn’t too sad. I stayed with my dad a lot to try to help him feel better.

Next thing I know, everyone is packing their bags and getting ready to leave town. I was excited at the prospect of a trip – I usually get to stay in a hotel and eat scrambled eggs in the morning. Then Mom starts explaining to me about my brother Andrew coming to stay with me, and I get real upset. No! I want to go! Riley noses in on the action and Mom tells him about Andrew and Connor coming and he gets all happy-like. Aghhhh! I want to go, I want to go, I want to gooooooooooooooo!!!!

Lexi, the sad schnauzer