More Vintage

Busy time of the year for every one, I opted to pull a photo from my photo archive. This one taken several years ago of Rosie, one of my favorite schnauzers that I have bred over the years. Little Rosie was herself only bred once, carried a HUGE litter of fourteen to term, however, we had many complications at birth, including a c-section after which we almost lost our Rosie. In the end only five of her pups survived. Rosie was a wonderful mom to those pups including our very special boy Finn, an American & Canadian Champion who has sired some of our most handsome pups with consistently the most outstanding temperaments. Rosie retired from our breeding program and lives with her owner Betty and her other schnauzer Kira enjoying summers at the cottage, hikes, canoe rides and winter vacations down south. Rosie was only about 18 months old when I took this photo of her basking in the sunshine looking very elegant and regal.

Pup-sicle

Maple enjoys racing about in the snow on Christmas day. Little does she know that come Monday she will be residing in Arizona...not much snow in Maple's future. "If I stand on my toes I can almost see over the snow bank"

Schnauzers best enjoyed in two's....or more

Many dog owners agree that while one is nice , two is great. We had one dog...once, a long, long time ago. Lasted about 8 months before we decided to add a second, then a third and.... well you get the picture. Mick is ambushed and overwhelmed by schnauzer kisses.

It's all about Pixie

Pix is one of a litter of eleven, most of the pups have left us now for their new homes. Pixie along with sister Maple and brother Moritz are still here. Maple and Ritz will be leaving us after Christmas, their owners wanted the cropped ear, which means pups must stay a bit longer. We left Pix with her natural ears, the set is nice and we think she is pretty darn cute as she is. I had the three of them roaring around the house this morning, Ritz and Maple were returned to their pen but Pixie stayed out for a little extra one on one. Do you think she misses sharing all the toys and the bed with her 10 siblings? I don't think so either.

Just outside my front door

Yep SNOW! I know I will be complaining about the stuff come February, but today it is white and fresh and just what we needed after a rainy weekend. I hear we are in for even more come Friday. Is it possible it will stick around till Christmas?? This morning all the dogs enjoyed a good romp outside, Gussy wonders if I am going to come out to join them.

Gloomy weather

Typical to Southern Ontario our weather has shifted from well below zero to three days of rain and above average temps. Dogs don't want to go outside, who could blame them? Thank goodness we have a sheltered area for Token to go out and do her business, she sure wouldn't willingly follow the Schnauzers out to the wet front yard in the morning. The only creature that seems to be pleased is this crow, he plants himself on this tree on the driveway and serenades us on gray days....

Schnauzer Christmas Ideas

For the deserving Schnauzer on your gift list this year, below are some great and durable Christmas ideas. Our first toy is a fleece play toy called Skinnies. They look like road kill animals...morbid but the dogs love them. They are far from indestructible, however there is NO stuffing inside them, which means no mess when they tear them apart...and you know they will always tear a plush toy apart. My guys drag and shake the furry remains around my house for months. they get two paws up from my schnauzers.

Best Value Dog Beds

IKEA sells an inexpensive dog bed that is durable and my dogs love them. I always have a couple scattered around the house as well as in the puppy pen when we have litters. They take a beating and when dirty I just throw them in my washing machine and dryer. I LOVE these dog beds.

For those herding schnauzers

This is the Herding Ball manufactured by a company called Boomer Balls. They supply enrichment toys to zoos. While browsing You Tube I found a video of a dog with a Herding ball. I ordered this ball the same day, it arrived last week. I pulled it out of the box and thought Juno's eyes were going to pop out of her head!! This toy is great for a dog that likes to chase and retrieve or herd. It isn't cheap but for Juno it was a splurge worth every penny. Boomerball.com is a great company to deal with, the ball arrived via Canada Post a week after I ordered it. I will upload video of Juno herding her ball in the future.

Best interactive play toys

The WUBBA KONG is one of my favorite interactive toys for my dogs. They are great for tossing and retrieving. NOT a toy that can be left hanging around a Schnauzer house, my guys can remove the canvas tassels in about 3 minutes. The squeak has a unique metallic noise that drive my dogs crazy. This is a great training toy. These are some of the highest quality toys made by a Canadian Company called CRASH TEST TOYS The are bar none the best Agility Tug/Training toys I have ever purchased. My guys can latch onto these tugging and shaking and other then some dog slobber the toys never wear out.

Almost indestructible toys

Kong, every schnauzer needs a few of these hanging around. Not completely indestructible, but always our longest lasting household toys. They cannot pass the Gussy test, she is a chew and destroy monster, but it isn't unusual for us to have the same Kongs kicking around in various states of destruction for 2-3 years. Great value for your dollar. This is the Cuz toy, I heard a lot of great reviews on this toy. I have to say I was a bit disappointed at how quickly the ears and toes were chewed off, but the ball itself does last a long, long time. For a less then enthusiastic chewer one of the Cuz toys is a good choice...doesn't pass our Gussy Chew Test though. The Rhino Bone has a great shelf life, even took Gussy a long time to finally get a piece removed. Not all dogs take to the Rhino Bone, could be why it lasts so long around my place. If you have a schnauzer that will chew 'anything' then the Rhino Bone seems a durable choice.

Best Schnauzer Toy EVER!

This is it, our choice for BEST schnauzer toy EVER! The ORBEE Ball!! I cannot say enough about them. The large red ball we have had since August and the smaller glow in the dark white & orange ball a week. These are completely, absolutely INDESTRUCTIBLE. I know everyone claims to have a toy that a dog cannot destroy, this is the first one that has ever lived up to this claim. The first toy to ever pass the Gussy Chew Test!

Token on the internet

Not sure why she looks so guilty, she obviously was surfing an approved website. Perhaps she just realized she isn't a Standard Schnauzer?? Is that shock, not guilt that I see in her eyes? Perhaps relief....

Photos to Fight against Anti Breed Specific Legislation

The Staffordshire Terrier Club of Canada held a photo contest and all entry fees were donated to their fight against Anti Breed Specific Legislation. Click on the banner below to see the top ten photos in each catagory Check out all the beautiful photos by clicking here

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Whose the fairest of them all?? Hope says she is naturally! Cutter looked so regal this morning reclining on the floor and gazing out the window, I had to pick up my camera and photograph him. Enter Hope...after lapping up a bowl of water, she planted herself in front of me and stared intensely into the lens, beard dripping "Why would you want to be photographing my dumb ass (oops, sorry... Hope's words not mine, schnauzers can be profane at times) brother when I am here in all my glory???" OK Hope you win...what was I thinking?

I want to be a Super-Model

Move over Tyra, Naomi and Gisele...Token is here, she is lean and exotic, definite super model material. For all the Schnauzers folks that visit the blog I apologize for this Toy Manchester Terrier interlude....but come on, she is one cute puppy! Her regal Frog-Dog pose Looking down her nose at all those silly hairy schnauzers Smiling for the camera Blowing us all a big raspberry kiss! Not sure how she did that with her tongue??

Kibble Face

Fiddle's pups will be four weeks old tomorrow. This week I have started feeding pablum and milk to them and yesterday I introduced some mashed soaked kibble to the mixture. This little fellow is an enthusiastic eater judging by the kibble dried to his face from breakfast :-))

Morning coffee

What do you do in the quiet morning hours...this is coffee time at my place . At 4.5 months of age I think Token is up to some schnauzer play with my younger dogs. So far Daisy and Edee are her favorites and also the ones I am most comfortable with allowing her to rough house with. Edee and Token display that it takes two to skin a skunk. Soon the tugging turns into a fun wrestling match. Gussy in the top left corner of the photo is not amused by all the action in the morning.

Dive, duck and smother your foe

Friendship

Friendship sometimes comes down to compromise. Buddies Token and Gussy both enjoy warmth, sunshine and comfort. Here they have struck up a snoozing compromise, Gussy gets the full benefit of the warmth and sun, while Token gets a 'pawful' of sunshine but the softness of the bed. It seems to work for them.

Dog Room Find

Found this little fellow in my dog room yesterday afternoon, it's a good thing I found him/her before the dogs did. Snakes are VERY high on the schnauzer list of things my dogs have killed. They love snakes...........to pieces. I released him under the porch, hopefully he will grow big and strong and help to keep the mice away from my house.

Another Dog Show Weekend

This weekend was a dog show weekend. It is busy and confusing especially to those that are new to dog showing. In the end it is a matter of hurry up and wait as you must be at ringside when they call you or they just carry on. This leads to folks madly working to get their dogs ready for the ring and then standing at ringside for an eternity waiting for the ring steward to call you in. Above Daisy is on the table being groomed, not her favorite activity. What a pretty girl, Daisy waits while I gather up my armband, bait and squeaky toys , then off to the show ring. Arriving at ringside the waiting begins....during this time everyone has their own routine, I usually like to play around with the dog I am showing to relax them and get them focused on me. Daisy loves her treats and focus isn't a problem for her. Daisy in the ring being presented to the judge for examination. Saturday was a Booster hosted by the Standard Schnauzer Club of Canada. The judge was from Sweden and I obviously thought he was great...he awarded Best of Breed to my Daisy :-)) After breed competition each of the various breed winners must then compete in their designated groups. Standard Schnauzers are in the Working group, here you see Daisy in a line up with a few other Working dog winners. The Standard is the smallest dog in the Working group, in this photo Daisy is between a Giant Schnauzer and a Siberian Husky. But she sure held her own. Other results from the weekend, Daisy's sister Flute was Reserve Winners Bitch at the Booster on Saturday, while on Sunday she was Best of Winners making her a new Canadian Champion. Above Flute is shown gaiting in the ring (she is the second dog) just before winning Reserve. I laughed when I saw this photo, if you look closely you will see none of Flute's feet are touching the floor. She is such a happy BOUNCY show dog and I seem to walk a fine line between her showing well and her taking over and turning into bouncy girl, kind of like the cartoon character Tigger.....boing-boing-boing-Tiggers bounce and so does Flute! Flute smiling at the grooming set-up, she is now...drum roll please tay da... Canadian Champion Dinsdale Champagne Flute

Happy Halloween

I obviously am spending too much time inside now that the pups have arrived Enjoy the costumed hounds starting with our Wizard Jewels Ash makes a handsome swashbuckling Pirate Baby Schnauzer...monkey....or whatever Token our Playboy Bunny And of course Hexe our resident witch. Disclaimer: No dogs were hurt or embarrassed in the processing of these photos

Odd Bookends

One of the interesting things about Token is her need for heat, be it sunshine or sharing body heat. This morning while I was working on the computer Token was wandering about hoping to find a spot of sunshine... or my lap. She finally just sat in front of me and shivered, I popped her up on the chair next to Juno. The expression on Juno's face is priceless, she is doing her best to ignore Token, but in the end she allowed her to snuggle up and steal some warmth. A little later in the day the sun finally came out and here you see Token basking in the rays.