Suri seems to have blanked out, so I'll just grab this computer and keep you posted.  It's been 4 weeks since I came to live with sns, and I'm doing some pretty fancy essen .  See, I'm even learning Yiddish, along with gaining a full assessment of my surroundings.

I think I've had an impact on the happy couple--I'm tiring them out what with my boundless energy.  I am only beginning to reveal my ability to leap from high places.  I have to be careful, because the minute I start up, they put me on a leash or wind a fence around me, and I hate that.  Next week they say I am starting school--that should be interesting.  I wonder who my classmates will be.  I hope I find a good buddy.  SNS have not yet taken me to the dog park, since it rained too much this week.

While I love living here, and realize that I've landed in a pretty luxurious lap, I do feel that people need to be constantly and consistently trained to respond to me at every moment.  To that end, I have made it a point to grab shoes, yarn balls, electric cords and attempted to bring them over to my mat in the dining room to be certain sns understand my rights and desires.  In fact, Suri got the message and bought me a stringy toy to chew.  She makes a face every time she picks it up (it's never dry) but it keeps me happy.

Well, gotta go--I'll let you know what school is like next week.

Two weeks, not a word!

Is it the end of September already?  How could so much time have elapsed without our keeping you posted about Schmutzie's adventures?  We have reconsidered the spelling of his name and are still in discussion.  In the intervening weeks, we have all had great adventures.  Stan and I led services in Kinston, NC for a congregation that was once vital but is now down to only a few families, most of whom are over eighty.  The people I've met have been very warm and gracious, but at the same time are extremely private and unwilling to extend the relationship beyond our annual commitment to do services together for the new year.

Since Stanley is learning the holiday liturgy, and is getting his "sea legs' in performing it, and since it keeps me professionally engaged, I'm not complaining.  We did have to stay overnight each time we went down, and the motel did not accept pets.  So despite the fact that Schmutzie was with us for only a week, we hired a pet sitter to be here in our absence, and left him behind.  Jane turned out to be wonderful, and, of course, Schmutzie did just fine.  He is growing more accustomed to the place and seems to have been trained in the past, so that he's picking up on our house rules easily.

He certainly does seem attached to Stan, ever alert to the sound of his voice and his footsteps on the stairs.

Also, we took him to the groomer yesterday, and had him shaved down except for his face and ears, just so we could see what he looks like.  We'll post a picture later.  He is quite leggy and sleek.
He is definitely among the light-footed dogs we have owned.  Today we registered him for the local dog parks.  I'll let him speak for himself.

I'm sorry guys, I would gladly have written if Suri had let me at the computer.  She always seems to mean well, but lovely as she is, she lives in a world of her own.  She keeps the computer under wraps, and then wonders why I don't write--how dizzy is that?

Well, I have to admit, I am breathing easier these days--I've learned to negotiate the stairs--I used to be afraid to go up and down them--the carpet was slippery, but Suri and Stan taught me how to do it.  Suri has this stuff, I don't know what it is, but the minute I smell it I just have to have a piece--I'll take a chance on anything just for a taste.  It's daffy, I know, and embarrassing to admit that I'm such a sucker, but it's true.  I go into my crate, even when I really want to stay up longer, I sit and lie down and roll over just for that stuff!

When she doesn't have that stuff on her I'm in a little better command of myself.  Then I listen to Suri and Stan as they tell me what to do and I decide if I'll do it.  I know where my mat is, and my crate, and I'll go to them to stay out of the way, I just don't want to do it on command.

Oh, Oh, just a few more things--I L-O-V-E Stan's voice and the way he pets me--I just go all limp when I hear his voice.  He's my true buddy.  Suri is nice, but she's a Mom--you know what I mean.

The other thing is my haircut--wow-is this a different feeling!  I feel my tail tickling my naked tusch.  I can't figure out if I like it or not.  Next time I'll tell you about my toys

Schmutzie has much more independence today!  His ecollar came off last night and he got a better look at his surroundings.  It has made him somewhat bolder.  He is ready to jump on chairs and couches and gives us limed room to move around.  I wonder if he has some shepherd in him.  Jane, the pet sitter came by today to meet him.  She will spend Sunday and Monday with him.

Right now, he seems to think everything is a game, and it's tempting for us to play along.  He's very cute and funny, and I'd love to have him cuddle with me in the chair. He loves to be petted and stroked.  But in the long run, I don't want him jumping on furniture and displacing people.  Also, at least right now, he's very excitable when we give him attention, and situations can easily turn into roughhousing with mouthing behavior.  That is not something I want to encourage.

Despite his new-found independence, Schmutzie remains leery of stairs.  He has demonstrated that he is fully capable of negotiating going up and down the stairs, but so far he stops right at the start of up or down and won't move on his own.

Next week we'll make an appointment for him at the groomer for the end of the month, and give him a real "look."

Wow, this place is big!  Every time I think I have a picture of the whole thing, I discover a new turn. Today, when I went into the back yard  for a stroll, I overheard several conversations among my lantzmen.  (I know, I 'm suddenly speaking Yiddish, me a former good ole boy, but it looks like I'm staying here, and Stan keeps handing me Mel Brooks shtick to learn, so--when in Rome...) Anyway, I heard these guys talking, and I made my own little announcement so they'd know I've arrived.  Haven't met any of them socially yet.  It remains to be seen what kind of a social life I'll have here.

They have a giant chair I like to jump off of.  It's kind of slidey.  I love to get on it.  Suri says, "Off," I make like I'm thinking about it, sometimes I get off, sometimes I don't.  I like to keep my people hopping.  Don't want to train up too fast, gotta undermine their confidence a little bit.  Like tonight, I peed on the hall carpet.  Just because I got Suri to take me out at 1:30 for a pee, didn't mean she could skip my 5PM walk.  She's got to learn!

Believe me, this tires me out.

Wednesday is slipping by with only limited time spent with Schmootzie.  My friend Judy spells his name Schmutzie--that may be better.  We'll think about it.  for now Schm... has demonstrated that he loves to play, but can manage to rest on just about any floor without causing a problem.  Friends and neighbors are asking to visit and meet out little fellow, but we really do need for him to stay rested as long as possible.  Besides, Stan and I are all keyed up about having to leave him with a sitter as we go off to Kinston to do services.  Schm... has indicated that he would like an opportunity to say more to his public, so I will turn the rest of the blog over to him.

Hi Guys,

Well, I got through another night here, still in the crate.  Not too thrilling.  They have me wearing this big collar around my neck so I can't scratch myself where I itch--but I also can't see much about this place or eat properly or chew on my toys.  There do seem to be a lot of toys around here--some plastic bones and raggy kinds of things, as well as big sheets of very crinckly things that shred nicely--I see Stan  sit down with them in the morning and wave them around a bit while he drinks his coffee, but he really doesn't explore the crinckliness of them the way I like to, once I get hold of them.  I like to take hold of them in my mouth and grab part with my paws and toss them in the air and pounce on them. Here's a bit of housekeeping we could work on--getting the papers out by noon!

I've also learned that there's stuff behind chairs and couches here to delight my soul--stringy things and puffy things, lots of stuff to gnaw on--though they never leave me alone long enough to do serious exploration.  and are not likely to.

I gotta admit, I'm still pretty tired.  The last few weeks have been hard on me and I've had to adjust to a lot of new things.  Used to be I'd drive everywhere with my master in his big ole truck.  We'd be high off the ground for days on end.  My master was very insistent that I not mess in the truck.  He also was worried that I'd run away, so he never let me climb in or out of the truck myself.  I got used to being carried everywhere.  then, for no reason that I can tell, he decided he didn't have time for me, and he brought me to the Durham APS.  He didn't hang around to tell folks much about me, just up and left.

The folks at the APS were great--they fed me and played with me, but there must be 30 or 40 dogs there.  Some of them are very sick.  I caught a cold there.  The floors are cold, the food nothing special, and you don't get to see too many people during the day.  It's nothing like riding the road with your master right there all the time.

They say it was less than a week after my arrival that Suri and Stan picked me out, and only five more days before I came to their house, but it seemed like forever.  My trucking life seems so far back.  Its hard to remember what that all smelled like.  Here the smells are strong--not just people smells, but  all kinds of other stuff that they eat and spray on themselves and the floor--especially when I've made the mistake of peeing on the carpet.

There is a great field here for me to run around, but so far I can only do it while they're watching and out there with me--I think that's where I'm supposed to empty out, but I'm not sure yet.  So far they seem particularly happy when I do.  I'd really like to try it on my own, but in order to get there, I have to go down a whole lot of steps.  I don't know how many there are, but they look like a whole lot to me, especially with my collar on.  Did I tell you about how much I hate this collar?  Suri says it's coming off tomorrow or Friday.  Praise the Lord!

Speaking of the Lord, did I tell you that Suri and Stan are Jewish?  My first master was not Jewish.  I don't know what he was, but he was not Jewish.  Suri and Stan, though, that's all I ever hear--Stan singing all those Jewish prayers; Suri reciting all those blessings. I guess joining a rabbi's household right before Rosh Hashanah can be pretty overwhelming.  They keep saying something about going to Kinston for the holiday.  I been to Kinston.  Nothing against Kinston, but I have no desire to holiday there.  And a good thing, too Schm... as we're leaving you behind with a sitter!

Suri keeps looking over my shoulder.  She says she'll add comments afterwoofs.  No, that's no typo.  Somewhere, somehow, my dogginess needs to be acknowledged and honored. Schm... I am trying to learn dog body language to help us communicate.  I hope that's a start.  She also says that she's not taking any more pictures of me until I'm groomed.  Yet, every day she washes my face and combs my beard and brushes my teeth--isn't that grooming enough?

Listen--I gotta go now.  Y'all com and visit.   We'll run around the yard together. Y'hear?  Woof Woof

Schmootzie is now gaining confidence.  His breathing has become far more regular.  Once he realizes we are occupied with something other than him, he settles down for a little rest.  Periodically, he goes in and out of his crate, even if only to search for a treat!  This morning I showed him how to climb the first 2 steps, and he went up the rest of the steps on his own!  Because he is still wearing the e-cone, I don't want to push any more.  He needs his peripheral vision to do the job right.

This morning I washed his face, combed it out and brushed his teeth.  He seemed happy to have the attention.

A brief exploration on the web yielded lots of pix of dogs who look like him, but almost universally, no one knew what breed they were!  I was amazed to see how people were willing to trim and dye their dog's hair.  We still have to wait a while to get this done--I think we'll aim for the 28th or so--and I'm looking for something like a puppy-Teddy Bear cut for him.

Today is the first day it occurred to me that Schmootzy might have something to say to you folks, some opinion about what's going on so, let me turn it over to him:

Hi there,

Gotta apologize for Suri.  She's a lovely lady, mind you, I have nothing bad to say about her or Stan--Stan, the man,hey, hey.  But I digress.  It is 10:45 pm--a guy like me ought to be sleeping, and I was--found me a spot on the floor, passed right out.  Then she wakes me saying my public wants to hear from me.  Listen guys, I'm glad to have a public, glad to be with Suri and Stan, glad to have a full tummy and an empty bladder, but I gotta get back to sleep.  If they get me my own computer and email account, I'll let you in on my whole story, and I'll write it during the day.  If I have to share the writing space with Suri, I'm only saying what's politic.  After all, I sleep in a crate, not a bed.  That's a little something I have to work on.

Today was Schmootzie's third day home.  We see him getting more relaxed with each passing day.  He certainly seems house broken.  He had 2 accidents in the house at the same time each day.  we took him out to the yard at that time today, and he emptied out there.  No problem with accidents tonight.

Stanley's presence seems to excite him more than mine.  He tries to jump up on each of us, but when i tell him down, or otherwise convey that I am not going to play with him, he quiets down.  Stanley seems to excite him.  He throws a ball to distract him, and Schmootzie excitedly brings it back.  He uses his hand to push Scmootzie off him, and his hand becomes a toy the dog is ready to play with.

(Just now I saw Schmootzie  walk into his crate all by himself!  That's progress.)  But he's also learned how to shed his e-collar and get at his surgery site--that's a problem.  By the way, I spoke too soon about housetraining.  So much for that.

He is definitely quieter.

I have tried threading his collar thru the e-collar and we'll see if that works.  Tonight Stan had a heart arrythmia tonight, and that has certainly put a damper on my mood.  Schmootzie has curled up on the floor for now, so I'll just relax in the chair for a whilw.  More later on this week.

We began our search for a dog about a month ago--We signed up with several breed adoption groups, filled out endless applications and even had our house inspected by the Schnauzer rescue people.  But they did not have a schnauzer to offer us.  Instead, they brought a very cute and sweet spaniel mix, Sadie.  When they let us know we were eligible to adopt a dog, we came close to agreeing to take Sadie.  That night, I stayed up late reviewing pictures of dogs at the local shelters.

Earlier in the week, Sadie's foster mom had explained to me that the Schnauzer rescue folks get their dogs from local shelters.  The foster parents begin training the dog so that health and behavioral issues are picked up by them, and initial action can be taken.  This service is reflected  in the price the rescue agencies get for their pets.  A pet from a rescue group costs between $300-500, while the local shelter asks about $125.  I think, all else being equal, it's worth it to use the rescue groups so that you get the close evaluation.  Here though, all things were not equal.

The local shelter, Durham APS, had three or more dogs that met our qualifications in terms of breed and fluff--a schnoodle, a cockapoo and a Yorkie caught my eye that night.  However, a dog listed as a Tibetan Terrier mix really knocked me for a loop.  Friday morning we went to see them, and were told that we could not visit with them individually until Saturday morning.  We took a walk-through of the kennel, and discovered two pekingese that were terrific as well!

The place opened at 10 am Saturday.  We arrived at 9:15 and were third on line.  The two folks in front of us wanted the pekes.  We asked to see the TT, the schnoodle and  the Yorkie--we had noticed that the cockapoo was very nervous, and, indeed, she was not ready for visitors.  We actually met only the Yorkie and the TT.  Both were great dogs, though the TT seemed more reserved.  The Yorkie had a rash, and seemed to have lost some of his coat.  The APS people said it was an allergy to fleas.

By now, Sadie was little more than a fleeting memory.  I knew that there was a waiting list for her, so I didn't worry that she wouldn't find a home.  The Yorkie had the spirit we sought, but we did not want to deal with flea allergies.  Besides, Someone had put a bug in my head about TTs years ago.  We had to wait a week to pick him up, but could visit him daily until Then.  The days passed, and last night we brought him home.  It is my pleasure to introduce Schmootzie to you--

Schmootzie is a 20 lb ball of fluff.  He is about 2 years old.  He'll have to wait to be groomed until his surgery heals, but he has hints of Tibetan Terrier, Shih Tzu, Schnauzer and who knows what else.  He promises to be beautiful, and has already demonstrated a great personality.

I invite you to follow is as we explore the fine points of pet ownership as we experience it.  We are not totally naive about dogs, having had pets for the last 40 years.  Still, we recognize that each of our dogs had behavior problems, and we would like to help Schmootzie become a dog who is welcome anywhere.  That will take discipline and cooperation on all our parts.  I hope Stan will contribute his ideas here as well , but we have decided that I will be the primary trainer.

Because he had just had surgery, I could not implement my initial plan to exhaust Schmootzie before he came into the house.  We stuck with simply giving him a good walk and then bringing him inside the house.  He is already house-trained, and knows the sit command, so we are able to allow him in the main part of the house.  We soon discovered, though that he will not negotiate stairs.  It has yet to be determined whether that is because of the surgery or a behavioral issue.  He did go into the crate fairly easily--no need to force him, just not over-eager.  He slept there overnight.

This morning Stan took him into the backyard.  He let him off leash, and `Schmootzie began a playful vigorous romp, emptied out without a problem, and came to me when I appeared.  Off to the Vet we went.  He came home with a clean bill of health, a collar to prevent him from touching the surgery site and a few new members of his fan club.  While he's not happy with the collar, he seems to be getting used to it.

When we got home he demanded my attention for the next hour and a half.  Eventually, I grew tired, and crated him for an hour.  He seemed to settle down.  Since I released him from the crate he seems to be amusing himself with toys, rather than poking at me or trying to pull my clothing or room decorations.

For the next 3 weeks things are going to be very demanding around here.  We have to take 2 overnight trips, and will have a pet sitter here.  I have sermons to write and we begin courses on Monday.  I feel OK about crating him right now, especially because of the vet's admonition to limit his activities.  Once he's stronger, I'll look into doggy day care for him.  There is also that great unknown about why he doesn't like the stairs.

I'll try to keep you informed.