Tag: miniature schnauzer

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

April 23, 2013
Mom was looking all over the house when she finally stopped and said, “Lexi, find Lily.” For those of you not in the know, Lily is my 15 year old step-sister, a biggish orangish dog. As I was in my closet at the time – that is, the master closet where my kennel resides – I started there, then stood up with my paws on the bathroom cupboards so I could try to see if she was on top of the bathroom counter. Nope. Not there. I proceeded to the living room, sniffing and using my good eyesight, but no Lily. I continued on into the kitchen, which would have been my choice of a place to hide, but not there either. I ran back to my Dad’s home office and sure enough, there she was. I let out a loud bark so Mom would know I had found Lily. He, he, wasn’t Lily surprised! Mom was so happy with me that she gave me a treat, right in front of my brother Riley. And–he-did-not-get-one.

Lexi, the tracking schnauzer

February 14, 2013
I hope everyone is having a delicious Valentine’s Day with all your favorite treats. Actually, I wish I was the one getting all my favorite treats. Let me tell you how my day began.

Just before mom left for work she tried to give me one of those hard candy hearts that have writing on them. I have had them before and know they aren’t any good. When I wouldn’t take it she laid it on the kitchen floor in front of me. I sensed she would be disappointed if I rejected her love offering, so I picked it up, carried it in the other room and laid it down. I hope she didn’t see me do that because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Then I ran back to say goodbye before burying the icky candy in the couch for good.

Actually, I ran back to ask if I could go with her with this being Thursday and all. Statistically speaking I go with mom to work on Thursdays more than any other day so I figured my chances were pretty good as opposed to, say, a Monday. But no, she said I needed to stay home and sit in dad’s lap a lot today.

So how do I get rewarded? Dad told mom that he was worried about me because I was sitting in his lap a lot today, which is a deviant from my normal aloof behavior. Mom reminded him that I was just doing what she had asked me to do. That seemed to worry him even more!

Then mom told him that she was worried about me because I didn’t eat the candy she gave me this morning and maybe he should take my temperature. Thankfully, dad isn’t big into sticking things in my derriere, so that didn’t happen. Whew, missed that bullet.

All this just because I was trying to be nice. What is that saying… oh yes, no good deed goes unpunished.

Well, we did go for a good walk and I got to poop in other yards where cats live and watch mom clean it up. That kind of made up for the rest of the day. I am pretty tired from being so nice today, so I think I will go to bed early and hope for a better night-night treat.

Love to all,
Lexi the nice Schnauzer

November 13, 2012
Yesterday Mom dropped Riley off at day care and brought me to work, and at that point I thought the world was still turning the right direction on its axis. I had a good day at the church even though it was a Monday and the Quilters were not there. There were still lots of treats from other quarters.

Then we went to get Riley after work, which was still the norm. Where we went next was surprising but pleasant. Mom drove us to the Theatre Centre, a place of many happy memories for me. I not only gave stunning performances there in my role as Toto, I have also presented awards, received an award, and attended performances at other plays there. It’s sort of like my alma mater. So far so good. There was even someone there with a microphone doing interviews and she was naturally more interested in me that anyone else. I really didn’t understand why Riley was with us, other than he didn’t have anywhere else to go, probably because no one wanted him. Mom told her all about my stint in the Wizard of Oz with several amusing antidotes. I know the reporter will have some good material there. Perhaps she will come back wanting a picture, my head shot for instance.

It was what happened next that sent my world spinning. We went into the rehearsal room to audition, just like I did five years ago when I got the part of Toto. I heard Riley’s name called and Mom tied me to a chair. Everyone had made a terrible mistake. Surely they didn’t actually want that big red bumbling mutt. Oh, the injustice! The travesty! What has this world come to! I tried to drag the chair out to the center of the room to make sure they saw me and realized their horrendous error. Someone grabbed my leash and stopped me. Pulled up short I barked and was ignored. Then Riley proceeded to embarrass me as he usually does. While it is true that he sat nicely and stayed and came when told, and while it is also true that he gave quite a nice bow, he was jumping all over people and I think he may have even frightened the little darling who was sent out to be his victim. Just when I thought she had had enough, someone brought her a chair, where she sat and sang prettily to him. He didn’t exactly sit still while she sang, but when she was done he did show her how much he appreciated her singing by groveling all over her. I don’t think she liked that either. He does weigh quite a bit you know, far more than a one stone schnauzer. In fact, he is probably at least three stones plus a lot of pebbles thrown in.

When all the dogs except me were done auditioning we were told that there were more dogs auditioning tomorrow and everyone would be notified of the results. Now that I have had more time to think about it, I am thinking that they will simply call me to come be the star without even so much as an audition since they already know what an awesome performance I give. They must just be doing this stupid human thing of being “fair” but I think it is just building up false hopes.

I will wait for the call and act surprised when Mom tells me I got the part. He, he. Won’t all those other dogs be surprised!

Lexi, the thespian

October 17, 2012
Hello again my faithful followers. Here it is the second weekend of Rocktober Fest, and Mom and Dad go off Friday night and don’t come back. While it is true that my people brother Andrew came to stay with me – and I love my Andrew – the fact still remains that I got left behind. Does this mean I won’t get to go to Rocktober Fest, I ask myself?

Saturday comes and goes and I am stuck here at the house with my dog brother Riley. Andrew and Jentry, Andrew’s girlfriend, go off somewhere – work, I think – and leave me here wondering if and when someone is going to come take me to Rock City. Oh, woe is me.

Sunday comes and things are looking up. The boy has come – I think his name is Conner – and he is playing with Riley. That is good because I get to bark at Riley a lot when they play. It makes me look like I am protecting the boy, when in reality I am using it as an excuse to take my anger and frustration out on Riley. BOL.

Things keep getting better. Andrew talked to my Mom (his mom too) on the phone and I heard him say, yes, Lexi’s beard is clean. Then he packed us all in the car and we went to – you guessed it! Rocktober Fest! Woo hoo. I missed my Mom and Dad so much and was so glad to see them that I couldn’t even try to act all mad that they left me. So I got lots of good food off the floor and people adoring me and good music and all is now well in my life. Later, I found out that they went and stayed on a boat overnight for their wedding anniversary. I guess that is ok, since it all worked out good for me in the end.

Lexi, once again the Rocktober Fest Dog

October 9, 2012
Hi Brothers and Sisters. I go with my mom to the church where she works and do therapy (unofficially) and ask for food until it is time to go to the hospital to therapize the poor sick kids, who often have food too. All that to say, the staff at the church all know and love me – what’s not to love! Knowing this, it came as no surprise that I was asked to come to Sunday school to visit with the kids on the Sunday they celebrated St. Francis of Assisi (patron Saint of animals, for all you unchurched canines out there).

Out in the hallway before the class started, one girl screeched when she saw me. I would like to think it was with delight, but it sounded more like fear. She smelled like fear, too. Then we all went into the classroom and there were six or seven kids – math isn’t my strong point so it might have been more – who all sat in a circle on the floor with a few grown-ups, including my mom. The girl who screeched was given a chair to sit in and one of my church friends, Mary Gardner, said it was so she would be more comfortable with her dress. I knew Mary Gardner was just being nice, because I knew the fear girl was up in that chair so that she didn’t have to be too close to the source of her fear – me! Well, I also knew just what to do – I am a therapy dog, after all, duh. First, I walked around the inside of the circle, checking out everybody. No one had any food, by the way. When I got to the fear girl I just kept going and didn’t stop to say hi. I could tell she was watching me, though, and starting to get curious. Then I made a second round, stopping again to let everyone pet me, and this time I stopped next to the fear girl but didn’t look at her. That can be intimidating, you know, when you are scared of someone and they look at you. When she reached out and touched me I knew I was making progress. I thought, well, one more time ought to do it. So there I went again, stopping to see everyone in the circle, and this time I stopped and looked at the fear girl and most of the smell of fear was gone. I tried to tell her it was ok, I wouldn’t hurt her, and she must have understood because she reached out and pet me real nice. My work here is done.

Lexi the Church Dog

October 20, 2011

Mom has been so busy she hasn’t been keeping up with my diary. Shame on her! I have been a busy schnauzer and so much has happened since summer. My schnauzer buds Piper and Milo came to live with us while their mom went away to school. I thought they were just visiting, but then they didn’t leave. In my opinion, this is just too much of a good thing. I feel like they can go any time now. Then my Auntie Jen came and got Milo. I’m so glad cause all that barking was giving me a headache and making me grumpy. Piper seemed to really like Milo gone too and the house seemed much emptier with just him gone, even though there were two other dogs here; sometimes there are four when my sisters come every other week. Only thing is, a month later, here Auntie Jen comes back with Milo. I guess she got a headache too with all his barking. Now he’s living here again. He really gives Piper his brother a hard time, but what do I care?

Riley is still here. I have come to accept he is staying for good (or bad). He’s almost 1 1/2 years old now and isn’t as annoying as when he first came, but he still tears up everything. Mom has my toys safely put away. She said she will give them back when Riley stops chewing. Today mom gave me my squirrel and Riley took it and I barked so ferociously that he went to mom and gave it to her. Ha! I showed him!

The good thing about the boys (Piper and Milo) being here is that Riley picks on them and leaves me alone. (Big schnauzer smile)

Mom found a new (to us) dog park and we’ve been going there a lot. I don’t play with other dogs – that would be way beneath me. But there are lots of smells that keep me busy while Riley greets everyone and generally acts like a fool. I pretend I don’t know him, let alone live with him. I hear people say how beautiful I am and that’s enough for me. I have admirers everywhere I go.

I should go now and make sure everyone is behaving themselves before I go to my kennel and wait for my night-night treat.

Love to all my many admirers,

Lexi the beautiful