My all-time favorite thing…the stage. And this is a montage, so it counts as one picture, as Noodle said!I love to go to Rock City with Mom and Dad for Rocktober Fest. I always see some of my peeps friends there and there is good German food for a good German dog, too!This picture is from my 10-year-old birthday party. I had a Healthy Choice meal with my Mom and Dad and then my very own cake shaped like a dog. I know, kinda’ weird, but Mom meant well. Can you see the happy all over my face?This one is from my last Freestyle competition. I love Freestyle!Another birthday pic, this one from this past May. I love birthdays and I love Micky D’s!!I love boating on my Sammy Joe, feeling the wind in my face.I love to help Mom in the kitchen.
There are so many more pictures of things that make me happy, it is hard to choose the last one. Should it be of me at work at the church on the mountain? Or rolling in the ivy? Or taking a trip?
This is one of my nite-nite rituals with my Dad. Happy endings to happy days.
It’s now time for me to nominate the following blogs/friends:
It’s Memory Monday time again and I wanted to try once again to explain why I am not BFF’s with Riley . He is an imposter, an imposer and an imposition. (I am practicing my i words today.) He wants to do everything I do. Here are two examples. (No Mom, I don’t think I am obsessing over Riley.)Memory Monday:
June 18, 2012
Riley’s Diary: I am an agility AND a freestyle dog.
Me and Andrew at Agility!
Hi friends. I completed my first agility course with my people brother Andrew and got a nice piece of paper for it. Not edible. Andrew is going to keep it because it is his first time doing anything like this. Well, it is my first time too, but I love Andrew so I guess I will let him keep it. We are now in Agility II and doing stuff called teeters and weaves. I am slowly getting used to stepping on a training board that moves around. It is a bit scary, but I am getting braver every week. The other dogs are all running across the real teeter. I need to think about it a bit longer before I trust it. Agility is really great though, cause I get tons and tons of treats while I am there, really good stuff I never get any other time. The best part, though is that Andrew has a new toy he plays with me only when we are there. I want to play with the other dogs, too, but I have to understand that this is not the time for it.
Me and Milo practicing our Freestyle.
I have also been going with Mom and Lexi and Milo to Freestyle training. I have to sit in a crate a lot, but boy do I ever love it when I get to go on the floor and strut my stuff. Everyone says how very beautiful I look with my long legs, just like a Tennessee Walking Horse. Now I don’t know what that is, but it must be really pretty.
I am so happy to get to do the things my talented little sis does! She’s the best! Riley
Now here is a Memory Mondayfrom my best guy, Noodle.
Mommy reads a blog called Morning Story and Dilbert. She asked me to share this short excerpt from it, as it pertains to all of us dogs who want to dig our tunnels to visit each other, whether from Tennessee to Florida or Australia to Canada!
Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a couple of older boys stopped by to watch.
“What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors.
“We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth!” one of the brothers volunteered excitedly.
The older boys began to laugh, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible. After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and a wide assortment of insects. He removed the lid and showed the wonderful contents to the scoffing visitors.
Then he said quietly and confidently, “Even if we don’t dig all the way through the earth, look what we found along the way!”
Their goal was far too ambitious, but it did cause them to dig. And that is what a goal is for – to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen; in other words, to set us to digging!
But when we fall short of our aim, perhaps we can say, “Yes, but look at what we found along the way! Look at the wonderful things which have come into our life because we tried to do something!”
It is in the digging that life is lived. It constitutes the joy in the journey.
Riley on MY bed. I am busy here praying for deliverance. Where’s my Mother Mary night light?
Today, Mom left me home with Dad, because he missed me so much while I was on my special trip to PA. She also had to go to the doctor to get another shot for the lingering poison ivy on her way to work this morning. So, I was laying around in MY bed when I discovered Riley was intent on making himself at home there too. You would think he had the run of the house while I was off on my mission of mercy. Hurumph. You can see that I decided to pray for deliverance from the Dufus Riley. Mommy said that was so not nice.
So that got me to thinking about when Riley first arrived, and this is the story of that.
Memory Monday
November, 2010
A dog now named Riley has come to live with us. Riley can’t claim a pedigree like I can. He is a mutt, a mongrel, a totally undignified mix of un-papered dogs who had a quick tryst, if you know what I mean. I shudder to think there are more like him running around out there. I couldn’t believe it when Mom brought him home in the first place. She called him Dufus the first couple of days he was here, and boy, did she have that right. She says she found him side winding like a rattler with legs down the middle of a busy back road and it was a miracle he hadn’t been hit by a car. When she stopped to save his life he splayed all four legs to stop her from putting him in her car. That shows what little intelligence he had even then. Who wouldn’t want to ride in a comfortable Toyota Avalon with heated leather seats? At the time Riley was only six months old and 28 pounds, plenty small enough for her to win that battle. She walked in the house announcing she had found a dog, but don’t worry, she wasn’t keeping him. She would find his owner or put him up for adoption on a website and that would be that. My BFF Auntie Jen and my Dad just looked at each other, shook their heads and laughed.
After a few days of advertising and no one claiming him, Mom declared he needed a name other than Dufus. “I mean,” she said, “who will take a dog called ‘Dufus’?” So she and Auntie Jen got on the internet to look at dog names. When Mom saw “Riley” she decided that fit him really well. At this point we were all supposed to start calling him “Riley” instead of “Dufus.” *sigh*
The next day Dad took him to the vet who said he had almost every worm known to dog, except, thankfully, heart worms. So he got Dufus Riley de-wormed, vaccinated and on heart worm prevention. Oh, and did I mention he also had ringworm, which is really a contagious fungal infection, not even a worm? Aghh! Mom asked why Dad spent all that money on a dog they weren’t keeping. Dad said, “When you named him I knew we were keeping him.” Mom still denied it.
Then they bought him toys. So he wouldn’t chew anything in the house with his puppy teeth now starting to fall out. How that worked out is another whole story. Suffice it to say that we don’t have a sheet or blanket left in the house without at least one hole in it. *sigh*
Six month old Riley with his new toys.
That’s the end of myMemory Monday. Hop on over to my sweet guy Noodle’s blog and check out his newest Memory Monday.
We left our BFF’s house early this morning and are back home. I already miss my newly trained Uncle Buddy. He took good care of me once he understood what a good communicator I am. Back home, Riley’s still here. Peeps brother Andrew is away. Haven’t seen the boy. Jentry is here mowing the grass. She needs to stop doing that and come in and cook something.
Whew, it was a hot ride home. Air conditioner all but conked out. I panted most of the way. Mom tried to put an ice pack on me, but I got in the back seat to avoid it.
I’m not sticking my tongue out at you, I’m just hot!
Just south of Cincinnati we passed an exit for a place called Big Bone Lick State Park. I really, really wanted to go there, but Mom said we had to get on home.
If anyone goes, please save me some bones to lick.
Finally we reached Tennessee. I could tell by the mountains and curvy roads. I am back to my roots as a Southern girl.
Just a couple more hours until we get home.
So I am back home, and ready to receive company. Y’all come on by and say hi now, ya hear?
For those of you just tuning it, Mom and I are in PA taking care of our BFF who was in a bad car accident. Pai the dog and Claudia the cat live there. Yesterday, Claud got shaved and this is what Pai looked like.
Paisana, earlier this week.
Mom got up early today. She took me out, fed me, then this happened. I watched. *grin*
Paisana, post groom.
Pai does look happier since her groom, doesn’t she? Tomorrow is Saturday and there is no one left to groom, except…. no, no, no.
Mom and I have had a busy few days at our BFF’s. Remember Claud the c-a-t?
Claudia, aka Claud, aka the c-a-t
She now looks like this:
Claud the naked cat
Yep, Mom brought her grooming tools from Tennessee and shaved the c-a-t. I saw the clippers come out and I know a look of panic crossed my face. Then I saw Mom carry Claud to her make-shift grooming table and watched as Claud promptly flew off the table, not to be seen again for hours. When Mom finally found Claud and got her back on the table, Mom “scruffed” her during the entire groom. She said it was the only way she could shave her. Claud was not amuzed. (I was.) In the picture above she is hiding in the closet.
Monday was our BFF’s birthday and there were people coming and going all day. I was worn out from greeting everyone with hearty barks. Tuesday was the same way. Thankfully, only one couple came by today, and they brought food. They liked me and I got some of the food. It was good eye talian food.
Mom left the house for a while yesterday and said she had a reunion with her whole family. She was gone a couple of hours. Here are the pictures she took of the reunion.
The Family in Oakwood Cemetery
When Mommy came back to our BFF’s, her eyes were red. Her eyelids were all red, too. Apparently, the poison ivy had come back with a vengeance and had traveled to her face.
Poison Ivy by nose and on eyelids. It itches.
It took three days for Mom’s doctor’s office to call in a prescription to the pharmacy and the pharmacy to get the medicine in stock. The rash wasn’t bad when Mom first called the doctor on Monday. By today – Wednesday – it is on it’s way to real bad. Mom is not amused.
Today we weeded and watered our BFF’s garden. She has flowers and tomato plants. I adopted the St. Francis of Assisi statue. Did you know he is the patron saint of animals? I will leave it for our BFF to take care of it when we go home.
My daddy can’t be here, so I have adopted our BFF’s husband to be my temporary daddy. He thinks it’s great that I go to him now to ask to go out and to be fed and to get treats. 🙂 I wonder why my daddy at home doesn’t appreciate all the attention…
I found my Mother Mary nightlight that my Dad gave me before he was my Dad. What happened way back in the fall of 2004 was this: Mommy heard Daddy – who was then my bestest friend Jeff – say something they say in church during Holy Communion as he placed my night-night treat on my tongue. She told him not to do that any more. Since my bestest friend Jeff – now my Dad – is an easy-going sort of guy, he didn’t argue. Instead, he went out and bought me a Mother Mary night light to put next to my kennel. I really liked it when he explained to me what it was. I started sending good thoughts up to the Mother Mary and became a good Catholic dog. Mommy was not happy. I’m not sure why. Maybe she wanted to be my only mother. In any case, she took my night light and hid it. She said that my bestest friend Jeff has a wicked sense of humor, but enough was enough. That was a long time ago – almost 11 years.
As I started to say, today, I found it.
I’ve got my Mother Mary night light back. *snicker*
Since that all happened, I have become a good Episcopalian dog. I go to the church on the mountain at least two times every week. But I really like my night light. I am in something called a quandary. In other words, I don’t know what to do. Do I have to give up my night light to keep my new faith? Or do I have to go back to being a good Catholic dog to enjoy my night light? Can someone tell me what I should do (before Mommy unplugs it and takes it away again)?
So peaceful. And now I don’t trip going up the stairs next to bed during the night.
Hi friends. Today is….Memory Monday! I have been thinking about my first Freestyle Competition. For those of you who don’t already know, Freestyle is coordinated movement between a person and a dog, set to music selected for the dog’s tempo. In other words, it is doggie dancing! Woohoo! Here we go…
May, 2011
I had spent a grueling six or more months preparing for my first competition. My tempo had to be determined (145 bpm), then music picked out. Mom and I tried out lots of different 145 bpm music until we came upon Dan Landrum’s Split Rail Fences. He plays an instrument called the hammered dulcimer, and the beat and sound of the music made me pick up my feet, lift up my head and prance around the floor. Voila, we had our music. I was starting in Level IIa, where there were standard moves we had to include, such as right and left side heels, face work including backing and different crosses. We worked hard on all that, and being a natural, I quickly perfected the moves.
The next step was putting together a routine using all those moves. Mom and I went to the dance studio and worked on the wooden floors where it wasn’t too hard on our joints, and we had plenty of space to m-o-v-e. After about 40 minutes I would get tired and lose interest, so we kept the workouts down to around a half hour each time. Sometimes we would do what Mommy had sketched out on her writing pad, and sometimes we would do what I thought went best with the music. That’s part of being a team. Combining both our ideas, we finally had a routine. Now to practice, practice, practice that routine until we could both do it without hesitation (and without Mommy looking at her notes).
Finally, the big day arrived. My good friend Pierre is one of the bosses at C.G. Roxanne water bottling company, and he sent over tons of water for the thirsty people. I was the official spokes dog for the company that day.
Mom bought me a new travel kennel so I would have my own private place to rest. It is sort of like a celebrity dressing room. I was very happy and excited and kept popping up to see what was happening next.
I had my music edited to fit our routine and we brought that to be played for My Performance our dance. When I got there I receive my Freestyle medallion. I also got a program with my name and stats in it, along with all the important info about our dance. (I don’t know why they called me a b…ch!) I was number 203, and Mom had to wear a sign rubber banded around her arm so everyone would know it was me.
Mom and I went onto the center of the floor, where we both bowed to the judges (well, at least in my mind I did) and assumed our starting positions. Mom nodded at the minion Jim who was running sound and we started our routine to Split Rail Fences. I was brilliant. I was so brilliant that I got some points deducted. The judges said I wasn’t allowed to do laterals at this level. (Laterals are where Mommy and I both move sideways by facing forward and crossing our legs. I am a natural “leftie” so that’s the direction we moved. It’s lots of fun.) No one had told Mommy that the rules had changed since she ordered the rule book. Even so, the judges wrote that on the bottom of the score sheet. They also wrote,”A delightful and joyful team.” I still won a medal, and we went home tired and happy!
Now, my amazing four year old boyfriend, Noodle, shares a Monday Memory.
(You will see that we are a good couple – both so talented! 🙂 )
I was thinking about my walk through the neighborhood yesterday with Mommy and Riley and I remembered my walk from H-E-double hockey sticks! I decided that would be good to share on Memory Monday. As a side note, the other dog in the story didn’t actually die like we thought. The Lady who owned him came by our yard sale last month and told Mom that she made her husband take him to the no-kill shelter so he would have a chance, and the person at the shelter called her later to tell her that the monster dog got a good home. Just so his new home isn’t in my neighborhood!!
My Memory Monday story: I think I almost died: the story of getting dog-bit
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, all three of us 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. In my mind I had gone to my happy places: 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 very little girl 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 giant 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 huge, child-loving dog? Yep, the crying and reaching began. By the child, not by Riley. So Mom tried 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. I am Lexi, the poor baby.
It’s been raining, then the sun has been coming out and it has been “steaming.” In between the rain and the steam, we took a walk today.
Me getting whacked with Riley’s tailA smarter way to walk.
Notice the NPR leash? It’s mine. It was my pledge that Mommy paid that got us that gift. Sometimes I let Riley use it. I am generous that way.
Notice the pinch collar around my neck? Mommy says it is so I don’t choke myself with my own collar. It’s true that I never pull when I wear the dreaded pinch collar. *sigh* Is it my fault that I am so enthusiastic?
We usually walk down the road in our subdivision and circle around the cul-de-sac. I used to do my “business” there because there is an island in the middle with trees and weeds and bushes. Now I am not allowed in it because Mommy thinks that is where I got poison ivy on my hair and then rubbed against her or the bed sheets. She has blisters on her legs and rashes all the way around her neck. So I held it until we got back home. BOL, what good is a walk if you can’t do your business? Oh well, I really don’t want Mommy to be miserable.
Mom and Dad spent most of the day moving things around. I sat outside and watched. First they moved a bunch of Dad’s stuff out of the shed. Then they moved a bunch of my brother Andrew’s stuff out of the garage and into the the newly emptied space in the shed. (Andrew, if you are reading this, I didn’t have any say in the whole thing.) (And they promised me you will like what they have done.) Then they moved Dad’s stuff that was now sitting in the yard into the garage where my brother Andrew’s stuff had been. What the? OK, so they did some cleaning and sorting in between, and I heard something about wanting to sell all the stuff that ended up in the garage. So maybe they actually have a plan. They are both big on organizing and have fun spending time together organizing things.
What didn’t happen was we didn’t get to have our dance party. I was mightily disappointed until Mommy said, “Let’s play your favorite game: Leave It, Find It.”
Dad has left now for a band gig. He plays a horn called a sax in a big band. That’s why we didn’t have time for the dance party, but he said we will do that tomorrow. Yip, yip, yippee! I am Lexi, the best treat finder ever!
It’sMemory Monday and, since it is really stinkin’ hot out, I thought it would be a good time to reminisce about being on the lake (especially since Mommy is too lazystubbornbusy something to take me lately.)
Boating time
June 25, 2005
Today I swam eleven laps around my pontoon boat – a personal best (perhaps because no one was watching when I wanted back in after the fourth lap). When we were done at the lake we went to Dairy Queen, a place that has the most wonderful treats. Brrr! The ice cream made me very cold and I started to shake uncontrollably. I knew Mom would take my ice cream away if she saw me shivering so I gobbled my pup cup of vanilla ice cream (my favorite flavor). It was worth it! I’ll make up for it tonight by puking on Mom’s bed. Won’t she be surprised?!
June 2, 2007
My pontoon boat is in the water! I have already had so much fun on it this summer. I mostly lie around and sun my beautiful body. Sometimes I lay in the shade and eat snacks. Sometimes I swim to a nearby island and smell all the luscious smells. Last Sunday I got a bit hot so I went to the edge of my pontoon boat to let Mom know I wanted to cool off in the water. What did she do? She reached for my life jacket. I hate that thing. It ranks right up there with clothes. She could tell I didn’t want to wear it, so she said she would make a deal with me. I wouldn’t have to wear it if I stayed close to the boat. I thought, ok, no problem. Mom lowered me into the water – I still don’t like to jump in – and I swam around the boat twice before asking her to help me back in. Mom says I am the smartest schnauzer girl ever. I have a good life. I am Lexi the boat dog.
Later the same month
I was back in the water, swimming around my boat sans life jacket when Mom reached down and plucked me back into the Lexi B Sammy Joe. She said she saw really big turtles sunning themselves on a rock not too far from where we were parked anchored. She also said she had seen some one-legged ducks. “From now on,” she said, “you have to wear your life jacket, just in case.”
I don’t understand what big turtles and one-legged ducks have to do with anything, but that “just in case” has me scared. I won’t get in the water now. Not until I figure this out. I am Lexi, the four-legged schnauzer, and wantin’ to keep it that way.
Can you believe I scrunched a whole year into one blog? I wrote this right after I turned seven years old in the year 2010. (Be sure to check out Noodle’s Memory Monday post, too!)
May 9, 2010
It’s been such a busy year! My birthday was Friday, and I went to St. Paul’ Episcopal Church – where Mom works – to spend the day. We had a party – cupcakes and doggie ice cream for me, people ice cream for everyone else. How many schnauzers do you know who get to have a birthday party at church! I have been there more lately, since our house is up for sale and I go with mom when there is going to be a showing. Everyone loves me (of course) as I play my magic on them. If Mom can’t find me, she just has to look for who has food at their desk. I will be sitting there staring at them. Not long ago I greeted one of my bestest friends, Gail, at the back door, and made her understand I wanted her to follow me. I led her into the work room where I had detected bagels on the table, but couldn’t reach them. I had been sitting staring up at the table until I heard Gail come in and ran to ask for some help. Unfortunately, Gail didn’t give me one.
It has been another exciting year for me! Mom and I graduated from three agility classes; then Mom put it down for a while. I was doing fine. Mom was having trouble keeping her bearings on the course. So then we moved on to Freestyle with a different group. Pam (with Sophie-the-schnauzer) was in agility with us, and went on to Freestyle. Sophie has really blossomed with this special attention. She even won some events her first time out at an agility competition! Anyhow, it was mostly just me and Sophie in the Freestyle training with a couple of good teachers (and Mom and Pam). They were starting to prepare us to compete in the April event here in Chattanooga. Then another opportunity opened that I couldn’t resist – I was asked to play Toto again at the Colonnade in Ringgold, Georgia.
The Colonnade where I played Toto for the 2nd time. I wonder if God sent the rainbow especially for us.
We had six weeks of rehearsals and two weekends of performance, and it knocked us out of Freestyle training. I figured we could get back into Freestyle, but this opportunity wouldn’t wait. Anyhow, I bonded with my new Dorothy, who Mom couldn’t call Dorothy, because every time she did, I went running off looking for Kim, who played my first Dorothy. So mom just called her by her name, Kandis. The wicked witch, Jan, used to train dogs, so we spent some time at her house with Kandis, too, during which time I also bonded with her…not such a good thing. Read on… The second weekend of the play, during the scene where Miss Gulch (also played by Jan) has lost “that dratted dog” and gone back to the farm looking for me, I got away from a distracted Kandis (who was probably texting, but definitely not watching me) and ran back out on stage to Jan, where I stop and look up at her. Jan looks down at me and cracks up. At that point “Uncle Henry” points at me and says, “There’s that dratted dog!” and, as if on cue, I run back off the stage to Mom. Everyone in the audience roared with laughter. I do love to make people laugh!
I remembered my role from 2 1/2 years ago. I picked up old habits, like how I followed the foursome down the yellow brick road. My agility and freestyle training had honed my responsiveness to their movements. And yes, in the opening scene where I run out onto stage at the end of the Rainbow song, ending up in Dorothy’s arms, a collective “awwwwww” still resounded from the audience.
Jennefer (Piper’s mom) and my Mom are still good friends. So she came the first night the play opened and sat in the second row. Yeah, not a good idea. Halfway through the second act, I peeped out from behind the curtain, spotted her, and tore across the stage, and down the stairs, leaping into her lap! Jennefer said she felt like such a proud aunt. People started asking her if I was her dog, and she said, no, I am her niece. Now we call her “Auntie Jen.”
The same doggie bakery who made all my healthy treats and “hot dogs” (really dog biscuits) donated them for the play. They remembered me. Who wouldn’t?
A couple of weeks after the play ended, Mom and Dad and I attended the cast party. They played the video of one of the performances, and at the end of the opening credits, it said, in great big letters, “Introducing Lexi as Toto”. Not quite accurate, but pretty neat, nonetheless. I mingled and when dinner was served I sat at the head of one of the tables and ate my salmon and asparagus off a fork (of course Mom cut it up and helped me with the fork). I never, ever, put my head down into the plate when sitting at a table. I to know that would be extremely bad manners.
I go once a month to T.C. Thompson Children’s hospital. Among all my tricks, the best one is putting a big smile on a sick kid’s face. I sit quietly on the bed next to a child to let him/her pet me. I don’t move around the bed or ever step on the child, which is pretty important since many have had surgery. We would both love to go more often, but there are too many dogs who love to do the same thing. Mom is certainly blessed to have a boss who sees the importance in what we do, that she can take off work every month to do this.
I am scheduled to go to an elementary school next week. The children have been reading about service dogs, and they want me to come so they can see a real, live, therapy dog. Mom says I will probably spend the time sniffing under their desks for crumbs! I am Lexi, the birthday girl.
Here are pictures showing other highlights of my 6th year:
Lily, 11 years old. I didn’t appreciate her being around then. She is at the rainbow bridge, now.Ivy, 12 years old. I guess I didn’t appreciate her, either, and now she is gone, too.House in the Outer Banks, North Carolina where me and Mom and my peeps brother Adam vacationed with Mom’s best friend from “up North” and her big Italian family. I got a lot of sand burs in my hair.Dad is ready to go teach polka at Rock City. Here I am hoping he hasn’t gotten some wild idea about putting a costume on me.It’s almost Christmas!Mom says her grandma’s stairs were the most photographed in the world because that’s where she had so many pictures taken. I think that must be why she poses me on our stairs. That’s Father Christmas next to me. Later, I chewed him up.We all went to Wisconsin in the spring and stayed in a big house Daddy used to own. Now they rent out rooms and feed you breakfast.This is Bud. He’s a Puli. He lives at Daddy’s old house.. I’m still wondering if he is really a dog.I didn’t know this would be my last birthday in our house where we had lived for 4 years. It made me sad, I didn’t want to leave. (But I fell in love with our new house the first day there!)
Then I turned seven, and that’s a whole new story! I hope you enjoyed seeing the year leading up to my seventh birthday.
Hi everyone! It’s Memory Monday again, and I have decided to ask Mom to print a memory about Riley. That should help you understand why I don’t like living with him him living with me. Not only did he stink up the house and mess up the patio, he hijacked my blog to tell everyone about it!
Riley borrowed Mom’s laptop to steal my blog.
June 18, 2012
In POOP trouble today
I (Riley) got in so much trouble this morning, and I didn’t see it coming. I was bebopping through the house to wish my Mom a good morning when she walked into the living room and saw my, uh, my mistake. I thought Mom was going to kill me she was so mad, but all she did was lecture me and point her finger at me and at the p-o-o-p, first in my kennel and then all over the patio.
She said I should have gone out last night like she told me to. But I don’t like to go out in the dark. And I don’t like to go out by myself (my sis Lexi wouldn’t go with me last night– she had already done her business the first time Mom asked her to) and I don’t like to go off the patio and into the yard.
The patio: that’s where and when the next trouble came. She caught me pooping on the patio this morning. When she came out to try to stop me she saw all the other poo I had left over the last couple of day. And. Just. Lost. It. She made me go into that dirty old yard where my feet get wet and messy. I know I am a big boy, but I have such pretty, dainty feet. I just hate getting them messy. She talked and talked and pointed and pointed and kept telling me what a bad dog I am. I tried to go to the back door but she kept chasing me back into the yard. Then she left me out there! Aghhhh! Dad let me in after she left. I heard him on that little box he talks into telling mom that he had to let me in because it was raining. I don’t think I want to know what she said back to him. But I think I might know because he didn’t put my brand new crate pad in my kennel this morning when he crated me before he left. I was really looking forward to using it and maybe even chewing it a little – or a lot. After all, I am only one year old.
Mom’s gone away for a few days. It’s probably for the best. Maybe she will be happier when she gets home. I sure hope so. I love my Mom lots and don’t like her to be mad at me. I will try to be a good boy and go in the grass. It’s just that paw thing…and the dark thing…
I love going to work with Mommy to the church on the mountain. It’s quiet around here today so we went outside to soak up some sunshine while we had lunch. I got a bite of her sandwich, then decided to enjoy myself in one of my favorite spots. I love lunchtime in the garden.
The sunshine makes me squint even though I have eyebrows to help shade my eyes.Ahhh, rolling around in the ivy feels so good.Now I’m hot and worn out but feel really good and relaxed. Do you like my pretty peach-colored bow?
Today is Memory Monday and I was thinking about my first performances as Toto in the Wizard of Oz. Mom had gotten down my Annie award and my head shot and I got so excited when I saw them again. I poked at the Annie and wiggled all over. I remember winning it! Me and Mom and Dad were sitting in the audience. I was wearing a strand of Mom’s good pearls, so I know I looked extra-good. I had already run down the aisle and up the stairs to the stage to help My Dorothy present an award. So we were just sitting there politely waiting for the awards to end when the director, Geoffrey, announced that the Director’s Choice award went to….wait for it….Lexi!!!!! I jumped out of my seat and ran back down the aisle so fast that I left Mom in my wind. The audience was cheering and clapping for me as Mom mounted the stairs to the stage and picked me up. I leaned into the microphone to give my acceptance speech, and everyone laughed. I decided to leave it at that and let Mom talk for me. I worked very hard for that award and am still proud of it.
After reminiscing a bit about my award, I poked at my head shot picture with my nose until it almost fell over. Mom knew I was saying, ‘That’s me!” I asked Mom to share some of my memoirs from that time.
Memory Monday
October 2, 2006
I am the star. That’s what everyone says. They say I steal the show, but honest, I didn’t steal anything. I just run out on the stage (at least most of the time) when Mom says, and get treats, and run off, back to Mom who is always there waiting for me. Now I have found that I can go down the front stairs and off the stage into the audience. That’ a hoot. Mom seems kinda freaked out when I get back, though. She says she can’t see me and isn’t sure if I am coming back. I know when I have to be back for when the good witch points at me and says, “Is that the witch?” Silly Mommy! I haven’t missed my cue yet. And those monkeys – oooooh I don’t like those monkeys. I run as fast as I can when I see them coming and Mom picks me up. But then she hands me to one of the monkeys! So, the last time they came after me, I ran into my kennel off-stage where I would be safe. When I came out of my kennel, thinking they were all gone, Mom picked me up and handed me to one of them again. I don’t know how I am going to stop her from doing this. Doesn’t she know they are scary?? I am Lexi the star.
October 5, 2006
I keep adding things to my part as Toto, as the audience notices and responds. I have, however, decided to leave one thing out, and Mom has finally stopped trying to make me do it, because I am not going to do it anymore. Period. End of discussion. Those trees scared me. They walk around and dance and act entirely not like trees. Well, they got in my way after I skipped – well I try to skip – with Dorothy and the Lion and the Tin Man and the Scarecrow across the stage. It is the third time I sort of skip down the proverbial yellow brick road during the play. The first two times went fine. Then that third time those trees, oh those nasty moving trees, got in my way and it scared me and I will not do that again when they are on the stage. Absolutely, positively not. I am LexiToto.
October 12, 2006
So there I was near the front of the stage close to all my adoring fans, and I was getting a bit bored just standing there with my good pals – no one was feeding me or petting me or singing to me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the wicked witch sneaking across the back of the stage. Thinking it would be great fun, I turned and ran after her, barking as loudly as I could. She kept stopping and motioning with big waves of her arm to go away. I glanced over at Mom in the wings (isn’t that a funny name for part of a building that can’t fly!) and she was making big waving motions at me too. She must have been really enjoying my impromptu performance. Then my good pals, the lion and the scarecrow and Dorothy all started looking from side to side and saying, “What can Toto be barking at?” Silly people, I was right behind them! The audience started laughing so of course I kept it up until the witch was clear off the stage. What a great time that was! I tried it again the next night to see if people still thought it was funny, and they did, so I am just going to add it to my part. Won’t the wicked witch be surprised!
Now, for more Memory Mondays from some of my friends:
Here is Ziva the Blackberry Bully Monster last summer. (Ziva is my newest friend!) Check out her blackberry memories.
It’s a lazy, boring Sunday. Mom cleaned the house this morning and didn’t find any hidden treats for me. It’s already over 90 degrees out – way too hot to do anything outside. So I got to thinking, why not start my Memory Monday a day early? (Mom said to remind everyone who wants to participate to send me a link to their post today or early tomorrow: lexitheschnauzer@gmail.com.)
My boyfriend Noodle had such a horrible day yesterday, I tried to remember my best day, so I wouldn’t keep feeling bad for him. And I thought maybe it would cheer him up, too. Of course, the first day I thought about was Noodle and my first date. He really swept me off my feet!
Since most everyone already knows about our date, I tried to think back further, way before I knew Noodle. I thought back to the fall of 2007, to a day that included a dog park, french fries, Rock City, and a restaurant. All in one day! I was only four years old, and it was so good that I still remember it! First thing in the morning, Mom and Dad took me to my favorite dog park where I ran and ran and smelled all the other dogs’ stories. When I was finished at the dog park we went to Micky D’s and I got my very own order of French fries. While I munched on my fries, Mom and Dad drove me up Lookout Mountain to Rock City, where we work at Rocktoberfest every October. My job there is to be the “German dog” and let the kids pet me. All Mom and Dad do is teach polka in their funny costumes. How do you like Mom’s wig?
After a full afternoon at Rock City, we drove back down the mountain to an area in Chattanooga called the Arts District. We went to Tony’s Restaurant that has patio seating where I was allowed to sit, too. As if that wasn’t enough of a great surprise, my bestest friend Pierre joined us for supper. I hadn’t seen him for a long time, and it made my heart happy. I fell asleep on the way home with happy memories of a day full of wonderful surprises running through my head.
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..
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy and Chia 