For The Love of Schnauzers

Should We Buy TWO Puppies?

What's better than one Mini Schnauzer?  TWO Mini Schnauzers! 

Heather and I could easily convince ourselves to get Riley and one of his puppy friends.  We had actually set our minds to do that very thing when we started down this road to get a new puppy.  After we'd had Zack for a number of years, we felt a little bad that he was always "solo" and never had another Schnauzer friend to play with and get in trouble with.  So, we determined we'd do things differently this time.

Our first step was to explore how much more money a second puppy would cost just so we could make sure our budget could handle the additional expense.  Heather talked to our beloved groomer and she let us in on a little secret we didn't know - two puppies purchased together will bond with each other and not as much with their adult family.  That wasn't news we wanted to hear.

Not being one who is easily deterred, I contacted our veterinarian and told them of our plans.  Unfortunately, they told us the exact same thing:  two puppies will bond to each other.  We also learned that it's more difficult to potty train two versus one and training in general will be more challenging.  They recommended we wait a few months before purchasing a second puppy.  Good advice.

With all of that said, I suppose we're going to take the advice of our groomer and vet.  For now, Riley will be flying solo but I have a feeling he'll get plenty of love any way!

Zack and the Girl Scout

Early in 2009, our door bell rang one evening. Thinking it was likely to be one of the many salesman that make their way through our subdivision, I quickly opened the front door with Zack barking at my side. He knew from experience that someone was wanting to invade his turf and he never took kindly to that. He was prepared to protect his family and their property!

When I opened the inside door rather abruptly, I expected to only startle the person at the door since our glass screen door was also shut. I learned I was mistaken. A young girl scout was at the door and she had opened the glass door which was the only barrier between us and her. What this meant for this young lady was that she quickly had an angry sounding Schnauzer at her feet barking and baring his teeth. She didn’t sell any cookies and I bet she’ll never open someone’s screen door again!

More Zack Photos!

We've added several new photos of Zack in our Photo Album.  We went through old photos and found a whole stack of Zack photos, like the one above!  He was a beautiful boy!  Plus, he sure loved being able to look outside and bark at neighbors walking down the street!

Good-bye My Friend and Condolences

We received a nice gift in the mail yesterday from our vet.  It's a book entitled Good-bye My Friend and talks a bit about the pain of losing one's pet, the stages of grief, helping children deal with loss as well as other helpful items for those who have had a pet die.  The book was a nice gesture but Heather and I appreciated the handwritten notes found inside the front cover the most.  I thought I'd share a few.

Zack was a good boy and I always enjoyed seeing him (even if he wasn't excited to see me!)  I am so sorry it was time to say goodbye.  Let his fond memories comfort you.  Dr. Jaquith

It's hard to say goodbye to old friends even it is best.  I am sorry for your loss.  Dr. Rennecker.

Zach had always been a real favorite of mine and I will miss you all.  He had the perfect little schnauzer attitude - quite a guy - I'm really sorry.  Claire.

I was so sad to hear about Zack.  He was such a beautiful boy and he was so lucky to have such a loving family for his whole life.  Alex

We certainly appreciate the kind words.  I have a feeling some of these will make it into our dog scrapbook.

A Favorite Zack Photo

This is one of our favorite photos of Zack.  He loved laying on our couch and if he could rest his head on the pillow, that was even better!  We're scanning a bunch of our old photos in and uploading them to Flickr.  He was a well photographed dog!

Zack, his first night

I’ll never forget Zack’s first night with us. We were living in Kirklevington Apartments at the time. We picked Zack out of his litter and took him back to Lexington with us. I can only imagine the trauma that put the little guy through. He had been snuggling up with his littermates, under a nice warm heat lamp at the breeder’s home and all of a sudden, he’s on his way to the big city to live.

Knowing that puppies like smaller spaces, we tried keeping Zack in the bathroom the first night, which was right beside our bedroom. It didn’t work out so well. Zack was missing his littermates, not sure where he was and very lonely. He cried and cried until we finally relented and put him in the bed with us. He stayed there every night from that point on. At first, it was a challenge but I think we all three grew use to the idea and couldn’t sleep without the whole trio in their respective places.