We are joining Arty, Jakey, Rosy and Sunny of the LLB Gang with much thanks for hosting Nature Friday.
The sighting:
The evaluation:
The approach:
First contact (almost):
The Schnauzer and the Tortoise:
No turtles or schnauzers were hurt in the making of this video.
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!!
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*
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
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.
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.
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
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…
…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
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.
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: 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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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!
We are joining Comedy Plus with much thanks for hosting Awww Mondays.
Shania: After meeting Lambie, and asking her for help with our tormentor, she came up with this suggestion.
We, the stuffies of Xena, have formed a support group. At one time or another, every stuffie in this post has been a victim of domestic violence. For fear of retribution, we will not name him, the perpetrator. All we will say is that he is huge and red and has lived here on and off for the past ten years. We hope by us speaking out, he will be encouraged to seek help for his violent nature against stuffies.
We have provided a forum today for our abused stuffies to speak out against the violence perpetrated on them.
#1 My name is Eleephant, and I am a victim of Stuffie Domestic Violence. I have lost my left ear and the tip of my trunk. Because of this my hearing and sense of smell have been impaired. My tail is missing, which sometimes affects my balance.
#2 My name is Oscar, and I am a victim of Stuffie Domestic Violence. I lost my nose, and now I can’t taste my food. My beard is permanently messed up, and my eyes are scratched, making it difficult to see “him” coming.
#3 My name is Ludwig, and I am the victim of Schnauzer stuffie love that turned violent. I bear the scars on my right side to remind me how much X loves me.
#4 I am Brownie Bear, and I am the victim of Stuffie Domestic Violence. I lost my nose, and I can’t smell anything. My berries no longer taste sweet. My eyes are scratched, and the distortions make me dizzy.
#5 I am Lexi’s bear. I am a long-time survivor of Stuffie Domestic Violence. I had a happy and peaceful life up until around 2009 when a large puppy – who has grown into a large dog – came to live with us.
Lexi always called him Dufus, although I don’t think that is really his name. My dear friend was helpless to protect me against multiple assaults. I lost both my ears and rely upon sign language. My right leg carries a permanent scar, and my left arm is missing. I had several surgeries and am fortunate to still be here. Rainbow Bear and several other stuffies have sworn to protect me, but there is only so much they can do against Giant Dufus. If their protection fails, I will simply lay down and go to be with Angel Lexi.
#6 I am Winter Bear and I am a survivor of Stuffie Domestic Violence. You can see that my right ear is mostly missing. Even though I like to stay awake and active with Xena and my other friends all winter, sometimes it’s just too much to keep avoiding the Big Dog and I go to hibernate with the other bears.
This is terrible! I knew there had been violence in this house, but not to what extent. I, Xena, pledge to do a better job of protecting you all.
I didn’t mean to hurt you, Ludwig. I got a bit carried away.
Oscar, thank you for not naming me, but we both know who chewed off your nose. I’m sorry.
From now on, if I see He Who Shall Not Be Named coming after any of you, I will get Mommy to help you.
Stuffies: We invite any stuffie out there with issues they need help with to join our Stuffie Support Group. Together, we can be stronger and raise awareness that stuffies have feelings, too.
This is a story about a little dog and her cardiological-caused seizures. You can read about the difference between that and true epilepsy caused by neurological seizures here in this short and easy-to-understand article.
I had just lost my first miniature schnauzer, Freda, when I got word that a family needed a home for their little schnauzer. When I met them just off the interstate, the mother told me the dog was about nine months old and had a slight heart murmur. I never did get a “good” reason why they were re-homing her. I brought her home, and we renamed her from Daisy to Evie – our GSD was named Ara (short for Aragorn). I immediately made an appointment with my vet. At the exam, Dr. Sally got a worried look on her face and suggested I take her as soon as possible to UTK (University of Tennessee at Knoxville) vet school. There she was diagnosed with a class 4 heart murmur, about as far from “slight” as you can get and still have a live dog.
Since little Evie didn’t have a strong ticker to pump that blood vigorously through her veins, she didn’t have much energy. She couldn’t jump up on the couch or even run through the house. Somehow Ara understood this. Sometimes when I took them out, Ara would run zoomies back and forth in front of Evie, slowing only slightly as he approached her. At that point she would grab ahold of the loose skin under his neck with her teeth and hang on while he ran around the lawn with her. Do you have the image in your head of a GSD running with a large tick swinging from his throat? Go ahead and laugh…that’s what it looked like!
Slowly in that first year with us, Evie began to develop other problems. I held her close to my heart as she experienced her first, terrifying seizure. Because her doctor was aware of her heart problems, she realized this wasn’t true epilepsy, which is caused by neurological problems. Evie’s seizures stemmed from cardiovascular problems. She was placed on anti-seizure medication, which reduced the frequency of the episodes. All we could do was hold and comfort her as these seizures continued throughout her short life.
We tried to help her have as “normal” a life as possible. She thoroughly enjoyed going boating with us.
She loved her big brothers.
That’s Sammy on the left. He wasn’t thrilled about another schnauzer in the house, but soon learned that Evie wouldn’t (and couldn’t) dominate him like Freda had.
And, like most pups, she loved to sprawl out in safety and comfort on the big bed.
Evie had a “thing” for metal objects. Noting this, her loving grandparents bought her a set of old-fashioned metal measuring spoons that she greatly loved to chew on.
One day, shortly before we returned home from work, little Evie quietly left her kennel and her many illnesses behind as she passed over the Rainbow Bridge. She was only 19 months old. She was loved.
You can find your local Epilepsy Foundation and make a donation by clicking here.
Shania: I saw you sitting up here on Mommy Amy’s desk and I’ve come to find out who and what you are. I’ve never seen you here before. Are you friend or foe? Where’d you come from?
I’m Lambie. I come from God.
OK, seriously, who are you?
I’m Lambie. Back a couple of years ago there was a terrible shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. A Christian church was right next to B’nai Zion Synagogue where Miss Amy works. The synagogue building is no longer usable, which is why Miss Amy has been working from home for over a year. After the shooting, but before the shul became too unsafe to work or worship in, the children at the church gave me to B’nai Zion. It was their way of reaching out in love to to say how sorry that happened to the folks up in Pennsylvania. The little ones held me and prayed over me first. They wanted everyone who encountered me to feel God’s love.
Then why haven’t I seen you here before? The office was here in our house for a long time before even I came.
The office was just recently moved upstairs. Before that, I sat up on the top of a book shelf…way up where no one saw me. Now you see me, and I hope you feel loved, too.
You know, I do, Lambie. I’m glad you’re here. Maybe you can help us with the Riley problem. He wants to rip out our guts. Maybe you can help us by helping him with his anger issues.
Xena! Come meet Lambie! Lambie, why don’t you go wait in the red chair for Xena. It’s more comfy there.
Xena: Who are you and how’d you get in my house?
*sigh* Here we go again. Miss Xena, read the message I carry with me. I think that will explain everything.
Oh my goodness! I am blessed. It worked!
I know, Miss Xena, that you worked with your Mommy when the office was downstairs. I used to watch you from up high. Sometimes some of your stuffies came with you. You were always kind to them. I know you’re the one in charge around here. I’m very pleased to be here with you.
You, you watched me from up high?! You’re a lamb, and you came from up high… *thinking* You just wait right here, Lambie, and I’ll go get you some clover or whatever you want. We’re going to be great friends.
Today we are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday, with thanks to Brian for hosting it!
We are happy to join The Cat on My Head for Sunday Selfies.
Lucy: Mom, could I do the Sunday Selfie today? Please? I’ve been a good girl all week, and I’ll pose real pretty.
Hey, wait, what’s Riley doing there behind me?
Dagnabbit! Get outa my selfie, Riley!
Riley: You photo bombed my selfie. (See here.) Fair’s fair.
Riley: Ahhh, I finally got my selfie.
Thanks to Comedy Plus
for hosting Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Lucy: Right from the first time I met baby Xena, I was so happy to have a sister. We played a lot, inside and outside.
This video was taken when she was still a puppy in 2017. We still run together and play outside every chance we get.
Happy Saint Patricks Day, my friends! May the road rise to meet you and may the wind be always at your back…and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
XOX Lucy
Simple observations, analysis, and common sense comments
Angel Sammy and Teddy Make TWO
Following in the legendary pawprints of Lexi the Schnauzer
Follow the antics of our loveable crew
It's Oona's world. The rest of us just live in it.
A life's wandering path and all the experiences along the way
Barking, Baffoonery, and Balderdash
I'm Dalton, a Rat terrier mix and I came here in Sept, 2017, I was rescued from Hurricane Harvey. My birthday is 8-20-2016. My Gotcha Day is 8-27-2017. And I am Benji, a terrier mix of unknown origin. MY Birthday is June 6, 2018, and my Gotcha Day is Dec 28, 2018. I also was a rescue from a different part of Texas. We also have Angel MrJackFreckles, (2-5-2018); and also we have Angel Minko, (6-18-2017); and Angel Pipo, (11-3-2020);There are also Angels Groucho, Simba, Suki, & Toki. We meezers used to be known as WeBeesSiameezers. We'e all from Michigan, Dalton and Benji both came here from Texas, as rescues..
Musings on what I enjoy about dogs, crochet, birds, and life.
All about our truly best friend...
Through the eyes of a four legged friend
Adventures about pet therapy, dog rescue and urban life in the 'Burbs
Meezers At Large
The Cricket Pages
I'm a parrot curmudgeon
The Life of a Rescued Stray
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy and Chia 