I Titled!

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia28 Comments

Hi, it’s me, Xena! I know y’all were waiting to hear, so here I am, letting you know I got my Level 3 Canine Freestyle title. Here’s a picture of me with my ribbons. I can’t eat them, but I’ve been promised some steak for lunch. There’s also a bottle of Prosecca Champagne in the picture. Obviously, I’m not allowed to drink that, either. More about that in a bit.

Can you tell I’m still at the hotel? It’s much nicer than last time, when we went away for me to earn my Level 2B title and Mommy got mad and we changed hotels late at night. This is what happened. Now, before I go on, I want to tell you about my new friend.

On Saturday I met a nice Standard Poodle named Malachi. His Mommy is a dog groomer, just like my Mommy. He has sort of an Asian blend groom, which she did just for our get together in Ohio. He told me when he gets home that he’s getting his legs and body shaved so that he doesn’t have to get brushed all the time. Sounds like a plan.

Malachi was a Level 2. It was his and his Mommy’s first time to try to title. Level 1 is “on-leash” and we’re allowed to skip that level if we (we=the dog and the Mom or Dad) agree that the Mom or Dad can behave off-leash and stay with their dog. Even though Malachi’s Mommy was really nervous, he performed outstandingly with her and they got the equivalent of best in show on Saturday.

On Saturday, Mommy was really nervous and I picked up on that (of course) and I lagged behind and didn’t do everything we had rehearsed. Mommy was really surprised when we titled. We had to get at least 65 points to title, and we got 68.5 points. That is the first ribbon in the picture The second ribbon is for us coming in first in our class (Level 3). It didn’t matter that I was the only dog performing in Level 3. I was still #1! And everyone kept saying how cute I am. That should count for something, too, right? Especially since I had to put up with another bath that morning to be so cute.

Even though we got enough points to win the title, Mommy didn’t think we deserved it. We had a chance to perform again on Sunday to try to get a better score and a performance that didn’t embarrass us both. We knocked it out of the park on Sunday. (I heard Mommy say that, and I could tell it was a good thing.) I couldn’t get titled again, but I did get a score of 70.5 – two points higher – and another first place ribbon. All the other peeps were telling Mommy how great we looked out on the floor, what a great team we were, how we flowed together and gooey stuff like that. I even made up a new Freestyle figure toward the end. Mommy did real good following me, too! Now that’s teamwork.

Did you see that bottle of champagne in the first picture? My new friend Malachi won a bottle and wine glass just like that on Saturday. Mommy kept looking over at the one still there on Sunday, thinking, I sure would like to win that.

At the very end of every Freestyle event, one or two dogs and their people get called up to the front. Mommy was thinking Let is be us, let it be us. And it was!! It was us and Malachi!

I tied with Malachi for the award for High Artistic Achievement and the Joan Tennille award. (Joan Tennille and her husband Carl were the founders of the Canine Freestyle Federation.) I won that bottle of champagne and the glass for my Mommy! And Malachi’s name and my name will be engraved on the Joan Tennille plaque. I’m famous!

I am Xena the Title 3 Schnauzer Warrior with two titles, three new ribbons, and a half empty bottle of champagne.

Pee Ess: We’ll post my video as soon as my Daddy – who was the official videographer – gets it ready.

Guess Where We’re Going!

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia31 Comments

We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.

Lucy: This weekend I get to go stay with my friend Aoife (Eefa) and Aoife’s Mom and her brother. Her brother’s name is Rauiri (Rory). We haven’t met yet, but I am sure we’re going to be good friends too. This is Aoife.

Aoife is a sof-coated wheaten terrier.

Their Mom is so super nice, I’m wagging all over just thinking about visiting them for a few days. I’m so, so glad I don’t have to ride almost 10 hours in the car and then stay by myself all day Saturday and again on Sunday in a strange place. I can hardly wait to go on my own vacation to Aoife’s!

Xena: This weekend I get to ride in my car kennel a long, long way to Cleveland, Ohio to dance to my music and get my next Freestyle title! We’re going to stay in a nice hotel so we don’t have to get up in the middle of the night and move to a different hotel like last time. Me and Mommy have been practicing all our figures a lot in the basement, and I know just what to do. Daddy’s going to be the videographer – not just for me, but for all the dogs. I might even tell the other dogs that he’s my daddy! Do you remember when I got my first title? It was a year ago last November, before the pandemic thingie hit. If you missed it, or just want to smile again, you can see it by clicking here.

I have to decide which of my stuffies are going with me.

Mommy, I can’t choose. I don’t want to leave anyone behind now that Riley got his cone off. And they all are begging to go!

Mom: Dont’ worry, Xexe. I’ll help a couple of the smaller ones into your travel kennel and they will be waiting there for you when you hop in to go. And I’ll make sure everyone else is safe in your home kennel or up high where you-know-who can’t reach them.

Good! I’m going to go to sleep now so Friday comes faster!

We are Lucy and Xena, the visiting and traveling and performing girls!

Versatile Mexican Fajita Mix

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia30 Comments

Thanks to Shoko and Tyebe of the Canadian Cats and Nelly and Phenny of Easy Blog for hosting this yummy day.

Xena: Today we are presenting a typical recipe from our Mommy. It has no name. She has no recipe. She saw this on Allrecipes.com and winged it from there. When Daddy put it in one of his GF wraps and bit into it he swooned, re-devoted himself forever to Mommy, asked her what she was doing after lunch…

Lucy: Xena! You’re doing it again!

Xena: Fine. (paws) You tell it then, and let’s see how interesting it is (not).

Lucy: It’s not supposed to be interesting. It’s a recipe. It’s like reporting, and you know I’m the Ace Reporter in this pack.
Anyhoo, Mom didn’t take any pictures ’cause she didn’t know she would be sharing the recipe, but I’m sure Xena will come up with something to entertain you. This is basically how to make it.

Xena: So you’re honey will love you forever.

Lucy: *sigh* If you’re like our folks and are’nt eating lectins, put 3 colored bell peppers (you can use green too if you like them) in your Instantpot or other pressure cooker. Set the timer to 0 minutes and the setting to pressure cook normal. If you don’t care about lectins, then you can skip this step.

While that’s happening, peel and slice a small onion and begin to sautee it in olive oil (Mom uses that oil because it is good for you, but you can use whatever oil you want) in a large skillet.

Now, back to the peppers: When the pressure cooker gives that final beep, release the pressure and take out the peppers with a tong or something other than your fingers ’cause they will be hot. Remove the seeds and slice them into medium thin strips. Add to the pan with the onions.

Add a couple of chopped garlic sections, or more if you really love garlic.

After everything is cooked through and starting to carmelize, add a little bit (about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp) ground cumin.

If you have some cut up chicken or beef you want to add, now is the time. Mom had cooked a half pound of 100% grass-fed ground beef, and added that.

This is good over rice or in any type of wrap. We can’t tell you if the leftovers are good ’cause there weren’t any.

Xena: It smells so good, it will have you begging for some!

XOXOX from Lucy and Xena, wishing everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Happy Birthday Me (Riley)

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia44 Comments

We are happy to join The Cat on My Head for Sunday Selfies.

Yesterday, May Day, was my eleventeenth birthday! Dad Andrew and Mom Amy had a big yard sale that took up most of the day, so I didn’t get to do too much. But then Mom Amy came in and gave me the biggest meaty bone in the package! Me and Lucy and Xena all went outside with our bones and chewed happily for a long time. I left a lot of the marrow and some of the meat on it so I could work on it again today. I couldn’t figure out what the rush was with Luce and the schnauzer cleaning theirs off as fast as they could. Then, when we all got up to come in, Luce grabbed my bone and tried to take off with it! Mom Amy put a stop to that! She washed it off, bagged it, and saved it in the fridge for me. Lucy got a scolding, but that didn’t stop her from grabbing the smaller bone the the schnauzer had brought in and left on the couch.

Mom Amy’s no dummy, and neither is that little schnauzer. She said, “Xena, do you want to go out and get Lucy’s bone to chew on?” Xena ran outside, then through the porch doggie door, found the bigger bone, and claimed it as her own.

Anyhoo, I’ll get my BIG bone to chew again when Mom Amy gets home from seeing my peeps bro Adam for the first time since the beginning of March last year. And maybe she’ll have something else for me, too!

Here’s my selfie. I asked for it to be a side shot so you don’t have to see my vampire red right eye.

I get to lose that cone for good (I hope) Monday week. (That’s the southern way of saying a week from this Monday, for all you who aren’t schooled in the proper way of speaking.)

Don’t I look good? I feel good too! My happy indicator is wagging all the time now.
The red film sewn over my right eye looks awfully scary, but my eye isn’t hurting and we think it’s healing. The doc got my eye culture back and changed my antibiotics. I don’t care. They taste the same in the big hunk of Philadelphia Cream Cheese as the the other pills.

Have a happy Sunday and happy birthday to everyone else who has a birthday soon. May you get great big meaty bones (or whatever you like best).

XOX Riley *wags, wags, wags*

Nature Friday at Greenway (again)

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia17 Comments

We are joining Arty, Jakey, Rosy and Sunny of the LLB Gang with much thanks for hosting Nature Friday.

After our grand adventure at the Greenway last week, Mommy took us back the next day to try another trail off the main path. This trail started out with a sign saying the Boy Scouts had created it. That sounded promising, right? Well, sorta. Soon after we started along it, it started to climb. Not as steeply as the day before, but we were definitly going up.

The sun was shining in between the trees and everything was either green or brown. Once again, Mommy let go of our leashes and let us lead the way. Lucy didn’t want to get too far from Mom, so it was me who led. Before long, the path narrowed as the trees closed in.

We saw off to our left a huge tree that was uprooted. All the dirt was still on the roots, so we think it must not have fallen over too long ago.

The trail finally leveled out and me and Lucy, we both decided we wanted to be really close to Mommy. The problem was that she kept tripping over us or stepping on our leashes. You should have seen the nice little dances she did to avoid falling. Except once. She did fall once and her right ankle twisted just a little and she landed on the palms of her hands. We both were worried she got hurt and ran to her to see if she was ok. She said, “You know, girls, if I fall out here in the middle of nowhere and get hurt, it could be days before anyone found us.” (She wasn’t hurt.) So, thinking about all the meals we would miss in that time, we were much more careful — especially after Mommy said we would need to let her lead the way so we weren’t in her way.

We saw a lot of trees that had fallen over and were rotting, along with some that were rotting while still standing in place.

That one on the right scared Mommy and she hurried us past it.

There were a couple of signs with the word “Trail” and pointing which way to go. One was at a point where we could have gone kinda to the right and definitely up. As we started to go back down we got to a big downed log that had been cut in the middle to make a couple of steps.

That was nice. It was kinda like finding a present out in the middle of what seemed like nowhere.

The trail eventually led back down to the start of the trail we followed the day before. That explained the part of the trail where we could have turned to keep going up. We’re all getting to know the trails better, but there are a lot more to explore. We’ll save those for another day.

*wiggles and wags*

Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

Happy Tuesday Riley Update

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia35 Comments

Many thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting Happy Tuesday.

Riley had his one week recheck after his eye surgery. Lucy explained the best she could about how the veterinary ophthamologist removed some of his inner eyelid and sewed it with the tiniest of stitches over the large and deep ulcer eating away at his right eye. We’ve noticed over the past week that the yellow puss has all but disappeared and he has been keeping his eye open more, which means that the new antibiotics are also working, and it isn’t hurting much.

First the really gross picture, so you may want to just jump over this one if you are squeamish.

Riley’s right eye is all red – even the colored part – because of the overlay of the thin film of blood vessel-filled sheath that is sewn onto it. The job of this sheath is two-fold: 1. protect the eye, and 2. carry the healing medicine via blood to the eye.

We can also tell he is feeling better because he has started to play again. He is interested in his reindeer stuffie again, as well as the chew bones laying around the house.

We had to laugh at him standing up with a bone perched on the end of his cone, much like this picture of him laying down with the same thing going on. No one’s getting that bone from him without getting caught in his big cone. He has actually caught Lucy in it this past week and backed her through the kitchen. Yes, our boy is feeling better.

The specialist said his cone can come off in two weeks and his re-check is in three weeks. I feel like I can breathe again. Thank you all for your kind words and prayers and concern. It has meant so much.

Amy, aka The Mom

Grooming with Mom – JoJo

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia29 Comments

Lucy, Ace Reporter here on the Groom Beat.

Today we have a new yorkie to introduce to you. You may rememer Chaz and Chloe, long -time clients and friends. Their Mom knows JoJo’s Mom. So when JoJo needed a new groomer, her Mom asked, “Who grooms your yorkies? They always look so good on Facebook.” We got four-year-old JoJo in the next day, right after Chaz and Chloe. Here she is after her groom.

Her Mom said it had been four weeks, and apologized about how bad she looked when she dropped her off. Groomer Mom just kinda scratched her head at that one. Four weeks. Not long.

JoJo was scared and saying No! with her mouth when it was nail cutting time. Thankfully Dad was home during the groom and held JoJo in his arms while Groomer Mom trimmed her nails. With just her here and not a lot of barking and other stuff going on, we hope, with time, she will start feeling safer and less afraid. Her Mom loves her very much, so JoJo feeling better will make her happy, too.

JoJo’s Mom said she had been looking for a groomer who worked out of her home instead of one of these drop off and leave all day places. She was thrilled when she came back for her an hour and a half later and asked to make her next appointment. She said the last groomer had her coming every two weeks. (Well, that explains the apology for four weeks.) When Groomer Mom said she grooms her own dog every four weeks, and JoJo would do well with that, she booked the appointment right then.

We are happy to welcome JoJo the Yorkie to our grooming family!

Lucy, Ace Reporter, signing off with another successful groom.


We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.

Nature Friday at the Greenway

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia32 Comments

We are joining Arty, Jakey, Rosy and Sunny of the LLB Gang with much thanks for hosting Nature Friday.

We found some wild flowers–or maybe weeds–growing along our driveway. We are going to call them wild violets and wild daisies. We don’t know if that’s right, but it sounds good to us.

Mommy’s been trying to take us to the Greenway every day. Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and the afternoon temperatures in the low 60’s F. We love when Daddy comes too, but it’s really more fun when it’s just us and Mommy. She’s got an adventurous side that borders on dangerous, and that gets our blood running. Well, that, and she walks a lot faster when it’s just us. Yesterday’s adventure also got our heart rates up and our tongues hanging down. We took a side dirt trail going up. And up. And up. There were rocks and roots and downed trees to navigate. It was all woods on either side of us and not another soul in sight, dog or peep or squirrel or bear or coyote or…

Lucy: Xena, that’s enough. Just tell our story.

Xena: You’re no fun. Anyhoo. we passed some branch-offs and we asked to take the first one to the left, but Mommy said, “Let’s keep climbing and see where we end up.” She finally let go of our leashes and said we would all have to walk a little slower to get her heart rate down. So we did. Me and Lucy, we listen really good on our walks. We all kept thinking that around the next corner, the trail would start to go down again. Nope. Maybe around the next corner, and so on. It just kept climbing, and so did we. After we had climbed what felt like 87 miles we met a man coming down the trail and Mommy asked him where it went. He said it kept getting steeper and went to the top of Big Ridge. Now, I know you don’t know what Big Ridge is, but believe me, even the drive up it is steep and like a snake.

With that info, Mommy finally decided we would turn around and head back down. “Are we going home?” we both asked, and for emphasis, we both started coughing.

“Let’s keep walking the main trail loop around to the car. Then we’ll go home and I’ll fix your dinners,” she said.

All we heard was dinner, so we were definitely with that program.

We got to the giant tree that was laying across the path. On the way up the mountain big hill, I showed Lucy how to jump up on it to get across. This time Lucy went first. I jumped up behind her, but I wanted to see more, so I moved up.

I thought she was holding her tail up so I could walk under her. I didn’t realize it was because she saw something interesting. Then I saw Mommy had her phone camera pointing at us.

You want to take my picture ’cause I’m the cutest thing you ever saw?
OK, I’m saying “cheese!”

After Mommy managed to get over the big tree, she saw why she couldn’t get Lucy to look at the phone camera. There was another man with a big black lab coming up the mountain hill. The end.

Lucy: That wasn’t a good ending. You left everything hanging.

Xena: But…

Lucy: The guy detoured around us, we walked another 87 miles. On the way a couple stopped us so the lady could pet me *wags!* and asked what schnauzers were like. After Mom bored her half to death with long details, we finished the trail, drove home and had dinner. The end.

Xena: Well that was anti-climatic. I’ve gotta teach you how to tell a good story.

We wish you a happy Nature Friday! Xena and Lucy

Lucy’s Wordless Wednesday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia37 Comments

Thanks to Comedy Plus 
for hosting Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.

I am going to break the rules. Y’all know I am a rule-follower, so this is important.
I am so worried about my buddy Riley. He had to go to the doggie ophthamologist (thanks for helping me spell that, Mom) yesterday for surgery on his right eye. It wasn’t getting any better; in fact, the ulcer was getting bigger and deeper. We found that out on Monday when Mom took him in for a recheck. The special dogtor did something that is hard for me to explain. It was something like cutting a super thin layer of skin off the inside of his eyelid with a bunch of little veins and laying it all across the ulcer like a spiderweb to bring more blood and healing to the ulcer and I don’t know what else. Now his eye is partly sewn shut to protect it while it tries to get better. The eye dogtor is sending stuff from his eye away somewhere for a culture so he can be sure he’s using the right antibiotic to help it be OK.

Riley will still have to wear that big cone around his neck. I do kinda laugh inside when I remember this past Sunday. Riley made it his mission to try to knock all our peeps down at least once by ramming them with his cone. It would have worked on Mom, too, if she hadn’t been standing by the sink and been able to fall across it to save herself. Xena even stuck her head inside that cone to come snout to snout with him and ask him what the dog he thought he was doing! When he looked her in the eyes and said, “You’re next,” she pulled out and retreated like any smart dog or person would do.

Mom says she is half sick with worry over Riley. I can sense that she is emotionally exhausted. So, I want to close with a picture of Riley before this all started with his eyes…

Riley

…and ask you to please help me keep “seeing” him like this. I think maybe that will help him get better. POTP and prayers are welcome.

Love, Lucy

Grooming with Mom: Bentley and Maggie

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia19 Comments

This is Lucy, Ace Reporter, coming to you just minutes after two successful grooms.

Those of you who have been following our grooming stories may remember Louis and Laila, proud parents of three litters of beautiful puppies. Two of the pups from the second litter went to live with relatives, so they get to hang out with their pup pawrents a lot. The pups are mixes of shih tzu, Brussels Griffon and poodle, and are two years old now. Groomer Mom had all four of them – mom, dad, daughter and son – in for grooms.

Pictured is Bentley pre-groom. He’s a real good boy, probably 12 or 15 pounds.
His litter mate Maggie is a petite little girl, pobably not more than about 7 pounds. She is sweet, yet feisty. No pre-groom picture of her, but she was in the same condition as Bentley.

Groomer Mom guessed two hours to get them both done and she was right on the money. Here they are after being groomed, bathed and loved on!

Their Mom and peeps sisters were thrilled with the results and will be back with them next time.

This is Lucy, Ace Reporter signing off with wags and licks.

Xena’s Thankful Thursday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia34 Comments


Today we are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday, with special thanks to Brian for hosting it!

First, I’m thankful I got Thankful Thursday instead of Lucy, BOL!

I am thankful for my chew bones. They’re best when they still have meat and marrow on them, but they’re still fun to chew on when they are bare, too.

There’s lots of these laying under the furniture and under the couch cushions and out on the porch. Sometimes I let Riley or Lucy chew on them, too.

I’m also very, very thankful for my Daddy.

Daddy gives me my pre-made by Mommy breakfast every morning. He holds me when I demand ask him to. And he calls me The Little One and Little Girl. He loves me a lot.

Did you see the new purple collar on me in that last picture? It’s a special collar that is made to work with my body to repel ticks and fleas for four months without the use of any harmful chemicals. We’re still waiting to see if it works.

Lucy: I just want to say…

Xena: Lucy, no! It’s supposed to be my Thankful Thursday!

Lucy

Lucy: I just want to say I am very Thankful for a wonderful little sister named Xena.

Xena: Oh, uh, OK. We can leave that in. Uh, thanks, Lucy. I love you too.

This is Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess thankful for my sister Lucy who loves me.

Happy Xena Tuesday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia31 Comments

Many thanks to Comedy Plus for hosting Happy Tuesday.

One day last week me and Lucy followed our peeps bro Andrew outside. Mommy didn’t miss me until she heard me out front barking at an interloper walking past our house. She started calling me, but couldn’t find me anywhere until she looked out the front door. I ran in when she called, and I got lots of “good girl’s.” I don’t know why I got good girls, but along with them came a super good treat, so I’m not going to ask why. Treats make me happy.

Today we were headed out for a walk, and I hadn’t gotten my hated harness on yet when I made a dash for the yucca plant. If there’s one thing I love (and there’s lots!) it’s hunting small critters. That makes me super happy! Here’s how it started:

And suddenly I, the mighty [lizard] hunter, sighted my prey:

Do you see my happy indicator going? Now y’all know what I was doing out front by myself last week! That sly lizard is still there, so I will have another go at him soon.

I am Xena the Mighty Hunter Schnauzer

Update on Riley’s Eyes

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia36 Comments

After Mom Amy and Dad Jeff got back with wherever they took the girls all morning, Mom Amy loaded me up in the back seat of the car and off we went. I knew this could mean only one thing — another vet visit. My eyes hurt, and they seem to be getting worse instead of better. I’ve also had to wear this gawd awful collar of shame 24/7. It catches on everything as I walk by, and I yank it to get loose, dumping stuff on the floor. Not my fault! This is me in the cone just before I went into the new vet’s office.

My right eye really hurt and I kept it closed most of the time. Don’t mean to stick my tongue out atcha. I pant when I’m nervous.

After a little while in the opthomologist’s office, he left and came back in with Mom Amy. She had been waiting in the car like she was supposed to. Hmm, I thought. This can’t be good. It’s really not my fault I didn’t want him to touch my face or put a muzzle on me! He might try to steal my eyeball! I have big teeth and they look scary. Guess that’s why he went to get Mom Amy so she could “get bit” instead of him. Shhh, don’t tell her I would never bite her.

In the end, it took all three of them to get the muzzle on me and I still went crazy when the dogtor tried to put drops in my eyes. He did get some in, and real soon-like, the pain went away! Maybe this guy is OK.

Then he looked at my eyes in the dark with a special instrument, removed a suture, picked something else off my eyelid and even put a contact lense in my one eye. He said there was hair rubbing on it, and the lense would protect it until the swelling went down and he could see if that was the reason that hair could rub on it. After Mom Amy gave his minyan all her money and some plastic card, too, we went home with a sackful of pills and some new salve. I’ve got pills for pain, pills for anxiety, pills for infection, and others that I don’t even know what they do. I have a feeling I’m not going to be “uncomfortable” any more.

I’m back in the car ready to go home. Can you tell my eye already looks some better? (I’m told this is positive thinking.) I go back next week, next Wednesday. The people at the dogtor’s office said to be sure I get the strong anti-anxiety pills 1 1/2 hours before I come! Aren’t they nice?

Love and tail wags, Riley

Xena’s Sunday Selfie Poem

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia23 Comments

I once was a puppy in Jackson.
At three months I moved to my mansion.
And there I stood still
Looking out from my hill
While perched on my red leather stanchion.

I remember doing this when I was a puppy. I guess things haven’t changed much.

I remain Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess

We are happy to join The Cat on My Head for Sunday Selfies.

In Purrsuit of Flavours – Mom and Xena’s Choices

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia28 Comments

Thanks to Shoko and Tyebe of the Canadian Cats and Nelly and Phenny of Easy Blog for hosting this yummy day.

Mom’s favorite childhood treat is really funny. It’s not food at all. It’s a drink. And she got it every day! The recipe is easy. Walk to the corner grocery. Insert a dime into the machine outside the store. Pop the cap and drink.

Actually Mom liked hers unfizzy, so she popped the cap and let it sit around for a few hours before drinking.

This is Xena, and it’s my turn for my favorite food. It’s easy, just like Mommy’s. Get someone to go to the store and buy an apple. Then have that someone cut it in pieces and give it to you.

Lucy: *shaking head* Dear friends, maybe you should go visit some of the other posts if you want a good recipe.

Awww Monday, “Fast” Sunday

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia39 Comments

We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.

So you probably think I mean Sunday goes by fast. Nope. It’s just the opposite. Sunday is a s-l-o-w day. Why? Here’s what’s been happening on Sunday evenings.

Why’s Mommy still sitting out on the porch? It’s way past our supper time.

Oh crapola. This is Sunday. Why can’t she ever forget what day it is. Lucy! Go out and get Mommy! Start bugging her. Tell her we’re dying from hunger. We have to campaign for our supper.

I just don’t get why a night when you don’t eat is called a “fast” day. I wonder how long until breakfast.

I am Xena the hungry schnauzer warrior princess

Riley’s Surgeries

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia45 Comments

This is Riley. I don’t remember if I told you I’ve had ear problems for at least a couple of years. Sometimes, when you get to be almost 11, you don’t remember everything, you know? But I do know that my ears keep getting infected, and they have been miserable, and it’s been miserable having them cleaned out and then having the vet mess with them when they get too bad.

I really hate going to the vet. It scares me a lot, and it hurts to have them do anything to my ears and shots hurt, too. I freak out when they try to cut my nails, too. The entire lot of them aren’t strong enough to hold me still to steal my nails!

At the beginning of last month the vet suggested that it was time to “scope” my ears so he could see just what was going on. So early one morning, well before my wake up time, Mom Amy convinced me to get in the back seat of the car and we started down the road. I just knew she couldn’t be taking me anywhere good at that time of day, and I shook and cried and panted the whole 40 minute drive there. Oh, and it gets worse! They gassed me!! I fought like the devil, but in the end, I got really tired and fell asleep.

Miss Amy picked me up and I cried a lot that night but felt really good the next day. My ear didn’t hurt! The dogtor sent away what he cut out of my ear to get a histology report on what it is. Turns out it was a tumor, but the kind that is not something called malignant. Everyone seemed very happy about that. That’s not all they found while they were poking around inside my ear. They discovered that my eardrum has a hole in it! So I got more drops to put in just my left ear. It’s not so bad now that my ear isn’t hurting anymore.

Last week Mom Amy told my Andrew that she thought I had an eye infection. She saw yellowish puss around one of my eyes. Andrew said my eye was alright, and when she looked again it did look ok. Then, this past Wednesday night, I started licking my leg and using it to wipe my right eye. Over and over and over. Miss Amy got down on the floor with me to “see what was going on” and she found a little round lump on the inside of my upper eyelid. She said it looked like a swollen seed tick, but didn’t think it was. My eye was all red and I couldn’t stop blinking. Every time I blinked that dang thing rubbed against my eye. Well, you can guess what happened Thursday morning. I shook and panted the whole way there again. The dogtor said I needed to have it removed, and that I also had something smaller on the area around my left eye. I had to go back on Friday morning and breathe in that awful gas again.

I’m home now from having surgery on both my eyelids.

I mostly can’t keep my right eye open. They both turned out to be styes. The dogtor cauterized the one on my right eyelid. The other one was blocking my tear duct, and I would have lost that eye if it hadn’t been detected and removed. I wonder if that’s what private eyes do, detect eye styes. Oh wait, that’s a detective I was thinking about, not a detector. I’m getting pretty sleepy and not thinking too clearly.

My right eye is bothering me a lot. Since I ended up with this big ol’ collar around my neck, preventing me from rubbing it with my paw, I’ve been trying to rub my eye on other things, like the floor and Lucy’s behind. But she keeps whacking me with her tail. Anyhow, because of that, Miss Amy gave me a big dose of Xena’s sea beady oil. I’m starting to not care about my eye anymore. I’m getting pretty slee..zzzzzzz.

Thankful Thursday: These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things

Published on by Xena, Lucy and Chia39 Comments

Xena: Today we are thankful for some of our favorite things. I’ll go first. I’m thankful every time Mommy fills my food bowl. I have the self discipline to wait and not dive into it until she says, “Free!” Otherwise, I lose my supper for at least 87 seconds, and that’s a terrible thing to do to a starving schnauzer!

Do you want to know what all I got this time? Green tripe, chickie paw, spinach, saurkraut, orange bell pepper and blueberries! Those are all some of my favorite things!

Lucy: I have a lot to be thankful for too.

I love my friends and am so thankful for them.

From the left, that is my boyfriend Achilles, my BFF Ella and my house buddy Riley.

Riley: I love my reindeer.

I am thankful Miss Amy gave him to me for Christmas.

These are all just a few of our favorite things!

XOX from Xena, Lucy and Riley

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bites
When the bee stings, When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

Today we are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday, with special thanks to Brian for hosting it!