Can dogs smile or smirk?

                                                What kind of face could this be?

Remember: Love your doggies!

Meet Mundelay Wellington

Oh Yes! Our KUSA registration forms has arrived and Truffles is not just Truffles - he is dignified and all under that guise of cuteness!! MUNDELAY WELLINGTON with a pedigree of Sires and Dams, I tell you.


Dear Truffles were getting to look like a "Woolly Mammoth" (although he's really become lean) with his curly hair growing so long. So we had to take him and Lily to get groomed today. You wouldn't say it when you look at him now, but when he doesn't have his Schnauzer cut, he doesn't look much like one at all. For starters, the curly hair then the soft coat (not at all wiry like his sister's or other Scnhauzers) and it seems like he is really big for a miniature Schnauzer. We saw one the other day at the seaside, he was half the size of Truffles! I really do hope that he has stopped growing.
He is still enjoying his sister's company. Although, when she gets into his sleeping crate, he gets a bit grumpy - and she just loooves going in there and making herself comfortable! They run and play a lot and for inside dogs, they are pretty much outside most of the day! Our garden of course isn't any more, the little patch of grass is now non-existant and the rest of it is full of digging holes. As these two digs holes and then try and buries toys in it. Sometimes the toys just gets put into the hole - like the balls and kept there without closing the hole. But mostly it is just a fun pastime for these two!!

Well, here is my beautiful Truffles, all spiffy!

  He is so gorgeous!!

Here the two of them trying their very best to impress with sitting and lying down and staying - all to get some treats!!

Our two dog - kids!!
They came from the parlour with bows - just after I told one lady that they don't put bows on our Schnauzers as bows are so beneath Schnauzers -hehehehehe!! That'll teach me! (Schnauzer-snob!)
However, the bows didn't last very long. Oh-wel.

Have a wonderful Spring, Truffles and Lily! - And of course the Southern Hemisphere!

Comparisons

You cannot ever really compare your children, as you expect them to be different in many ways: looks, temperament, personality, habits and more. This too can be said of our fur-children. There are no way they will be the same, and it is apparent after a week of Lily's stay that she and our Truffles have vast differences!
Firstly and most obvious is in their appearance. Like one does with pictures of your children and even yourself, baby pictures are compared to see resemblances in looks. And this is why these pictures are up.  It is amazing how different and alike they are :)

There are quite a few other differences. Truffles had never been a whiner and certainly not a barker. On the other hand, his sister does both of those things and she has a voice on her. The other day we were so surprised when the kids came running into the room and Lily went of barking(she probably had a fright) the next moment Truffles starts barking with this booming voice I've never heard before! Just as well he doesn't use it often.
Truffles is a very gentle soul, very patient and, it seems, forgiving.  He reacts on a reprimand instantly and stops what he is doing, while his sister have no fear of sound even that of a stern voice or a loud A-a-a-a! to make her stop.
Truffles is very loving and loves other dogs and people. I don't know yet about Lily, but she seems to take to new faces easily too. Truffles is my husbands shadow, and he loves to cuddle and heaps of attention. I don't think Lily would be much different on that front, as when we are all in one room and one of us leaves the room, she'll go off yelping for attention.
No matter what the differences is, we love them both dearly!

Until next time, remember: Love your doggies!

Truffles - Leave it alone trick

Here it is! The one that was left out in the previous video.

I want to play!!

Please come out and play with me?

Ouch! She's got me by the throat!

New sister!

Truffles is delighted at the arrival of his baby sister! He cannot wait to greet her in the mornings. He wants to play with her all the time. He is beside himself with all kids of emotions ranging from happiness to jealousy.
These pics are their first tug-o'-war playtime!

Want to play?

Lets play!

MINE!

 

 

Are you sure?

When you are done here, why don't you head on over to Lily's page to see her cute pictures?

Until next time, remember: Love your doggies!

Cute Truffles tricks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgS0iMQFunY

Here is a video you can watch on youtube. Click on link and it will take you there.
For this video, Truffles refused to lie down and roll over :( Don't know why. However, he is still super cute! Oh, and I forgot to put in: Leave it alone. :(
He is only eight months old and still a puppy - we sometimes forget that.


Enjoy!

Breaking houserules...

Well, one of the first houserules has just been slain!!

Do you know the rules? Well, then you should, because it seems like we have tread on the slippery slope...

The Schnauzer House Rules

•   The Schnauzer is not allowed in the house.
•   Okay, the Schnauzer is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms.
•   The Schnauzer is allowed in all rooms, but has to stay off the furniture.
•   The Schnauzer can get on the old furniture only.
•   Fine, the Schnauzer is allowed on all the furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with the humans in the bed.
•   Okay, the Schnauzer is allowed on the bed, but only by invitation.
•   The Schnauzer can sleep on the bed when ever he wants, but not under the covers.
•   The Schnauzer can sleep under the covers by invitation only.
•   The Schnauzer can sleep under the covers every night.
•   Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with....... The Schnauzer.

 

You want me to do what?

                                                                                                            http://www.schnauzers-rule.com

So, we have some rules too. No doggies in the bedroom or in the study. For some obvious reasons, the study is off limits due to the heavy traffic and a roaming office chair. I don't want any canine feeties to get crushed under those pestky little wheels!!

Ok, I'll do as I'm told.

However, come one of the coldest and wettest days in winter in Cape Town, there is only two rooms with some warmth. The main bedroom and the study. Poor Truffles has been pining to get into a room with people in it and of course warmth.
So, I had to bend a rule. Ok, the Schnauzer is allowed in the study, only by invitation and on its allocated spot - he may or may not be constrained by a warm blankie when in there. :)

I can get used to this!!

It was really funny exercise. Truffles walked in and had to be coaxed into getting on the blanket, however, he only wanted to get on with his front paws. We tried to entice him with his blue ball, but he would reach right over the blanket, with his hind legs stretching out behind him. Eventually we had to physically move him onto the blanket so that he knows it is ok. Once we covered him, he submitted and as they say, the rest, is history...




If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, keep warm and dry.
Untill next time : Love your doggies!!

No tourist

When I'm not running around pulling at my leash and marking every upright thing, I sit on a low wall and watch the world.

Yeah, we are still working on both of those issues, Truffles! Hopefully soon we can get them trained right out of you! :)

That is all for now. Until next time: Love your doggies!

Insult to injury

Seeing that it has began to get so cold here, we decided that some kind of clothing would be appropriate to warm up the little guy.
So yesterday we decided to dress Truffles in a fleece jacket we bough him that morning. Needless to say, he was not so happy about the situation. Although he slept with it on for a long time, he did not like at at all when moving around. And for the life of him could not relief himself with it on him! So, I had to take it off, but last night it was on again. It went better during the night with going potty.

Here are some pics I took of him- looking very unimpressed with me and that jacket.

BTW- he is healing nicely and has not really tried to take out his own stitches - however, we have already broken one houserule by letting him sleep in our room!! The reasoning behind it was that we would here if he started licking at the wounds in the night. He still sleeps in his 'crate', but now thinks it is ok to come into our room uninvited.

More soon - Remember to Love your doggies!

Poor boy!

I've been sitting with Truffles since twelve this afternoon - it is now seven o'clock. He has gone in for his neutering this morning and they removed his dew-claws as well. He is moving, though slowly and not verry willingly. Mostly he is lying down or sleeping. It is very cold and he has been shivering, so we follow truffles everywhere he moves to lie down and cover him with his blankie. On a more positive note: when we went to pick up Truffles, the Vet, nurse and some other lady were raving about how he has such a great nature and how he is so cute and what a beautiful dog he is. I'm one proud doggie mommy. Still checking up on Truffles. Poor doggie!

That is how you lie down when uncomfortable and in pain.

Covered for some comfort and warmth.

Changes coming

It has been quite a while since the last time I shared about the goings on in our household concerning Truffles...
Well since March our family has been thrown into some turmoil, as I had a few stays in hospitals with ill health and a few scares afterwards. Needles to say, walkies and playtime with Truffles was put on the back burner for a little while. Poor Truffles. With my first stay in hospital, he was pining and walking in the backyard softly yelping. Great was the excitement when I came home, but because I was operated on, he wasn't really allowed near me, as jumps up to greet. After the second stay in hospital that lasted a week, I came home and immediately went to my room. As Truffles is not allowed in there, he was howling and yelping in the corridor to greet me. It got worse as the kids tried to comfort him. So, I met him at the door, where, sure enough he was way too happy to see me!
Well, with all of this going on (and so much more) dear Truffles gained some weight! Luckily he is down a few hundred grams since we weighed him in the beginning of the month. And slowly, things are returning back to normal.

Our dear, sweet Truffles is now almost 8 months old. With everything going on we have neglected not only walks, but also one very important little thing. The result is a doggie that needs to mark everything upright thing and also is very dominant in his behaviour and he is beginning to looove the ladies... Also, because of all of this he is now trying to dig a tunnel under the vibracrete wall to our next door neighbours, who has four Huskies, one of which - I believe - might be Truffles' girlfriend. Although, I do believe, the relationship is more like online dating. I've now dumped a few old bricks into the hole he has been digging, hoping it would curb the behaviour a little bit. We shall see.
So, come the 25th (payday) we will take him to the vet to - as my hubby puts it - make him a soprano!

Enjoying the winter afternoon sun in the dining room.

Truffles with his new haircut. Today.

Truffles has not yet grown accustomed to grooming. Bathing, drying and brushing involves a lot of coaxing - although he looks adorable and feels so soft and silky afterwards.
Today was his third stint at the parlour. The previous time after going to the parlour, he refused to get into the car and howled all the way to the store! He was not happy and I think he remembered where he was taken when I was in hospital.
 

Winter is a time of cuddling and snoozing. Truffles enjoyes his time in the sun - indoors and out.










We are teaching Truffles some new tricks and as soon as he has mastered one of them, I will post a little video clip of him here.
So, watch this space ...

Beautiful boy!

NOW FOR THE BIG NEWS!!!!!

Truffles is getting a SISTER!!

Long, long ago there was decided that when Truffles gets a sister, her name would be LILY.

One of these two will be our Lily

So, now we are getting our Lily. She is still a little puppy and you cannot really see how she will look, but we have a picture (yeay!!) of how she looks now. She will be a beautiful Salt and Pepper Schnauzer - if you look at who the mommy is.
We are getting her from Trywell breeders somewhere between Carnarvon and Victoria West in the Northern Cape.  We are all super excited about it and cannot wait untill we have our Lily in our arms.
She will be KUSA regestered and seeing that there is already a Lily we cannot only register her by that name. We have only 15 spaces to fill in a name on the form, so we are in the process of choosing a second name for her. Here are a few of the contenders:
Lily Grace  - Lily Rose -  Lily Lee -  Lily Love -  Lily Lane
 You may help us choose, if you wish, by casting your vote in the comment section.

Lily's Mom ( or aunty- I'm not sure)

Mom or Aunty :-)

Some interesting info. Apparently Truffles' dad also comes from Trywell Breeders. 





So that is it for now. Will let you know as soon as Lily is in our arms. Around the 6th of June!!
And then the blog's name will also change.

Talk to you again in a few weeks. Until then....    LOVE YOUR DOGGIES!!

Before and after

Our beloved Truffles is 19 weeks old, tomorrow. He is a joy to have in our home. Everyone has found their own relationship with him.
He follows his "Dad" around everywhere - even when he works late at night and have to move between the outside office building and our house, Truffles gets up in his sleepy state and follows drowsily behind. They can also play rough and tumble, like non of us dare to - those little teeth are sharp and the Schnauz has no idea how hard he can bite down!
As for the "Big brother", there is an aloofness that you can only understand when you see it. Of course there are times they play together, and there is great fondness between them, but there is a little distance necessary at times.
With the "little miss" Truffles gets a little grumpy at times - only because she adores him so much and have warmed up to him in such a way, that she is now persistent to pick him up and cuddle him anytime she passes him. Truffles does not think he is the baby anymore well, not when it comes to the "little miss", so he will warn her off if her affection is not at the right place and the right time. - Right now, she is in his sleeping-house with him, singing him lullabies!!

I believe when we have been away from home for a little while and comes back, Truffles (though exploding with joy at our arrival) is happiest to see me. *wink*
He has shown this on many occasions and in many ways. The least pleasant of these are making a puddle on the floor as soon as he sees me! A few times I have just-just manage to save my shoes from the joy.. He also dances around me, jumps up and licks and nibbles my hands right up to my arms. It seems he gets in such a frenzy he has no idea how to show his appreciation at our return. Of course, I then sit down with him and calm him down, mostly by letting him focus on doing some tricks and rewarding him with treats. Hmmm, wonder if it is me he is happy to see or those yummy treats?

Currently he is in Puppy socialization classes every Saturday. Most of the things they teach, we already know and he can already do, but he loves playing with the other dogs and tries to show his dominance whenever another dog is around. He isn't getting away with it though, as some of the puppies are twice, even 3 times his size and he gets the runaround from them.

The real reason you are here, is because we have pictures to share!
Today Truffles has transformed into a real Schnauzer!! (so to speak) He went for his first real Schnauzer cut and came out looking so different from the dog I got used to, I started tearing up when I saw him and took him into my arms!

Firstly: The before pictures, taken in January - look at my woolly teddy bear.

 

Now, for the reveal!!

Well, before I do that, I must say it was his first cut he had since having one at around 6 weeks. He is a lot heavier and far less docile, so, they had a tough time doing the cut. For all of the experts, I do know there is a lot that is not perfect or even close to right, but I'm sure as he gets more used to the idea of going to the parlour, they will do a stellar job.

 Enough said.

Here he is!

 

Such a handsome boy!!