Paw it forward update AND an auction to help Shelby!

JD - Hi everyone! I'm due to have my stitches taken out tomorrow morning so I should be able to FINALLY lose my cone!

Max - "You'll never sucessfully go undercover dressed like that JD!"
JD - "Er - well, it's a good job that YOU'RE the security doggie out of the two of us then Max!"

Max - Thank doG for that!

JD - We'd like to thank everyone for taking part in our 'Paw It Forward' game - we loved hearing all you pups shouting out that we're cool dudes, he he he!

Max - It seems that quite a few of you are either playing 'Paw It Forward' at the moment or have played in the past so we actually only had 2 pups coming forward to play.

JD - This is fine with us as we don't want to force anyone to play again!! So what we did was go to FH and explain the situation. We told her that we didn't want Dog's Trust to loose out and we gave her our HUGE puppy dog eyes so she said she'd have a think about it.

Max - She visited the Dog's Trust website and had a browse through it.....and she gradually formulated a plan!

JD - And it was a pretty cool plan! She said that as we only had 2 'Paw It Forward' to do she would still send the lucky pawticipants the Dog's Trust portable drinking bowl but she would NO LONGER donate £10 to Dog's Trust on behalf of each of them.

Max - We were horrified - HORRIFIED!! UNTIL she explained that what she would do instead of also providing the noms to each of the pawticipants was to SPONSOR A DOG for them for a year instead!

JD - We were VERY pleased with this and we are sure that Miss Zona and Miss Tessa will understand and be just as excited! After all, as the wise Miss Khyra recently pawed to us, we all have enough treats but some poor doggies are not always sure they're going to live until tomorrow.

Max - So, for the pretty Miss Tessa we have sponsored the pretty Miss Belle! Isn't she sweet? She's too nervous to ever find a furever home so is reliant upon donations to keep her feel safe and secure at a Dog's Trust centre.

Cute Miss Belle

JD - And for sweet Miss Zona and her family we have sponsored the handsome Master Jason - like Miss Belle he's too nervous to ever find a furever home.

Handsome Master Jason

Max - Miss Tessa and Miss Zona, as soon as we get the details about the sponsorship through we'll post it onto you (along with your portable drinking bowls) so you can read all about your sponsored doggie! So could you please pee-mail FH at 'schnauzerandschnauzer@googlemail.com' with your snail mail addresses?

JD - Now, before we leave today we'd like to explain to you why we haven't got round to visiting your blogs much this week. We're sorry and we miss you BUT we had an idea last weekend on how we might be able to help Shelby and we've been kind of busy setting it all up!

Max - We've been in touch with Mona and her mom and we've been working on another blog page - please click on the picture below to link to it!


JD - We've been inspired by so many other doggies doing so much to help Shelby and we wanted to help too! So we're going to be hosting an auction on 28th and 29th of August.

Max - We have some items to auction and we're hoping you will add to these too. The auction page explains everything (and will continue to be built over the next few weeks as we hopefully get more items to auction being added to it!) but we've copied the overview for you here - we DO hope you pawticipate so that together we can help sweet Shelby.....

Sweet Shelby has been the victim of cruelty by the hand of man. Abandoned, left to die in a parking lot, dear Shelby was touched by an Angel. She is making good progress and amazingly she still has a trusting nature. But she still has a way to go so please find it in your heart to help Shelby with her dog-tor bills by helping us to raise green papers by becoming part of 'Team Shelby's Auction' on 28th and 29th August. This auction has been inspired by the great GABE event hosted by the wonderful Miss Twinkie earlier this year and by the kindness of so many other bloggers who have come together to help Shelby. Become a part of Shelby's auction by bidding on items AND/OR by providing items for others to bid on. Come on - let's join paws and help make the World a kinder place!!

How can you become a part of Shelby's auction?

Getting involved in Shelby's auction couldn't be easier! There are 3 ways that you can help:-

1 - Provide an item to be auctioned! Remember the great GABE event earlier this year? Shelby's auction will work along the same principles, except instead of generous doggies giving great gifts away for free you will auction them via this page for a for a small amount (we thought we would limit all items to a $8.00 maximum). Simply make up a treat bag, e-mail a photo of the item(s) and description(s) to us (via our pee-mail address on the right hand navigation bar) by 21st August latest ready for the live auction on the weekend of 28th/29th August. Please send information about items to be auctioned as soon as you are able to allow everyone enough time to browse at what is available!! We have started posting our auction items below so please look for inspiration! We're going to add to the items we'll be auctioning over the next few days/weeks - we'll be including human treat packs as well as doggie treat packs so you can bribe - erm, we mean spoil! - that 'special someone'!

PLEASE NOTE!! After feedback received please note that treat packages we are providing cost more than the auction cover price - all items are new but they're things that our hoarder of an FH (female human) has accumulated over several months so we've decided enough is enough, we need to free up some space in our house, he he he! So those bidding will be getting a bargain whilst also helping a worthy cause. We view this auction rather like a 'bring and buy sale'!!

PLEASE NOTE AGAIN!! After further feedback received we are now thinking of adding a 'de-luxe' section for treat packages that VERY special and will command a higher price than $8.00! So, if you are providing something EXTRA special please DO feel free to add a higher bidding price! We had initially wanted to keep the costs low so that lots of people could contribute during these lean times without breaking the bank, but we realise that some pups will want to purchase early for Christmas so we're going to take the opportunity to widen the auction a little!!

2 - Bid on an item!! We're hoping that by 28th/29th August Shelby's auction will include a wide range of items so there'll be something for everyone! Why not surprise someone and order them a treat pack? Why not do some early Christmas shopping and bid on a few items to store away? We will be requesting that all items are paid for at the auction via PayPal so that the money can go directly into Shelby's account and we will publish bidding instructions nearer the actual auction.

3 - Advertise Shelby's auction on your blog! Please help us get the word out about Shelby's auction by telling everyone about it on your blog! The more people who know about the auction the more items we'll get to auction; the more items we get to auction the more green papers we'll get for Shelby!

Thanks everyone - let's see what the 'power of the paw' can achieve!

**UPDATE!!**

JD & Max - Any Q&A's you might have about Shelby's auction please ask and we will answer via a 'Q&A' section on the auction site. Also, any suggestions you might have about the auction PLEASE let us know! For example, Mona asked us if we'd informed 'Dogs with Blogs' about it - *smacks heads with paws!* - we hadn't even THOUGHT about that! So please help us to make this event GREAT - we'd really appreciate it!!

Paw it forward!!

JD - We are very excited because we got to play 'paw it forward' with the Booker Man!

Max - Booker and his family are VERY generous because they're going to donate $15.00 to Dog's Trust - isn't that wonderful?!

JD - So, we now get to play 'paw it forward' too - how cool is that?!

Max - As we're such big fans of Dog's Trust (click on the link to find out why!) if you play 'paw it forward' with us we will donate £10.00 (as we're English puppies!) to Dog's Trust on your behalf and we'll also send you this super-duper Dog's Trust portable water bowl!

Small enough for your humans to put in their pocket this dinky yellow pouch has two handy clips so your humans can attach it to their bag....

...and then they can unclip it, unzip it - and out folds a large drinking bow! Never go thirsty on a walk again!!

JD - We'll also include a special pack of noms for the lucky 'paw it forward' pawticipants - we won't tell you what it will be as we'd like to surprise you!

Max - We will aim to match relevant noms to relevant doggies! Cheese lovers will get cheesy treats, those who delight in fishiness will get fishy treats, those who love crunchiness will get crunchy treats.....well, you get our drift, he he he!

JD - So, how do you get to play 'paw it forward' with us? Well, if you want to play just leave a comment for us and woof 'JD! Max! You're two cool schnauzer dudes! We wanna play 'paw it forward' with you!'

Max - The first three to leave this comment will get to play!

JD - Before we sign-out today I'd just like to leave you with this picture of me and Max playing 'bitey-face' this morning - as you can see, I'm not letting my cone slow me down at ALL!

Max - *Grumble!* Your cone gives you SUCH an advantage - it's SO not fair! I can't wait until your cone is removed for good.

JD - He he he!!

JD - "Take THAT Max, bwahahahahaha!!"
Max - "What-the-heck?!! Arghhh - gerroff me with that cone JD!!"

Amazing pressies from our pal Lily!

JD - Hi everyone - oooh, we've had the most exciting day!

Max - We sure have! I've informed FH that I now expect EVERY day to be like today, he he he!

JD - You see, when we set off for our morning walk we found that our beautiful GSD pal Lily had left not one but TWO parcels of 'get well soon' goodies in our porch for me!

Lily - isn't she a beautiful girl?

Max - Lily is a good pal of ours - we often get to play with her at the nature reserve. Actually, I have to confess that I'm just a tiny bit nervous of Lily - she's very good natured and she loves to play, but she does have an extremely loud bark which makes my tail droop a bit! (Admittedly, whenever my tail droops her humans really, really fuss me, so - um - sometimes I'll droop my tail JUST to get attention and sweeties from them - it works every time, he he he!)

Group hug!!

JD - Lily is such a sweetie! Whenever I see her I go ZOOMING over to her to say hello! Lily loves to play zoomies and bitey face and she's taught me how to carry out a really effective neck-grab - I use this move on Max all time now, he he he!

Lily - "There's a really good sniff right about HERE JD......"
JD - ".....I'm right behind you Lily!"

Max - FH wouldn't let us open the parcels until we got back from our walk - she's such a spoilsport!

JD - So during our walk we speculated on what goodies the parcels might contain! We know that Lily is a very discerning young lady who likes to have fun, so we knew that whatever she had chosen for us would be wonderful!

Max - We dived straight in as soon as we got home!

Max - "Oh wow, this one smells AMAZING JD!"
JD - "This one's really squidgy Max - I reckon there's a really cool stuffie in here!"

JD - "*Sniff! Sniff!* Wow - you were right Max, we've gotta get into this pack, it smells divine!"

JD - "Hey, FH! Yes, you with the flashy box! Enough of the 'snap snap' already - put those opposable thumbs of yours into use and OPEN THESE PARCELS for us already!!"

JD - "Oh, oh, oh! I was right - it's a really cool stuffie!"
Max - "I wannit, I wannit, I wannit! FH, FH - can I havit?!!"

JD - "I think you'll find it's MY stuffie Max - I'm the puppy with the poorly paw!"

Max - "But it's SUCH a cool stuffie JD! There's a big squeaker in the octopus's body and separate squeakers at the end of each leg AND each of the legs makes that fun 'scrunchy' noise that I really, really like....!"

JD - "Sigh!! Okay Max, we can share the stuffie!"

JD - "As long as you remember that it's really MINE, bwahahahaha!!"

JD - The first parcel we opened had an amazing octopus stuffie in it! It has loads of squeakers in it and the legs also make a fun 'scrunchy' sound - I absolutely love it. And so does my brother - sigh.....!

Max - Oooh, this stuffie is amazing! I've already named him Olly and I've introduced Olly to my favourite squeaky chicken and I also offered him my squeaky donut and my crinkly-stuffie-bag of smokey barkon crisps in case he was hungry - I really wanted Olly to feel at home!

JD - Talking of feeling hungry the other parcel from Lily was full - and I do mean FULL - of super yummy noms!

Max - But our mean FH is rationing everything - she's such a spoilsport!

JD - Yeah! Don't you realise I'm ILL FH? I need sustanance!!

FH - Don't push your luck JD! Hey, and don't roll your eyes at me either - I SAW that!!

Max - I was delighted to see my name on the parcel too - Lily and her humans are so kind and generous! Just LOOK at all these goodies!

A bag of tasty mini-bones, some yummy Schmakos, a hot-dog treat each and a cute little treat crocodile each too! (The crocodiles have already been nommed - they were so YUM!! JD's tail was even wagging whilst he was eating his - he LOVED it!)

JD - We can't thank you enough Lily and your humans! We can't wait to see you in pupson so we can give you all a huge schnauzer snuggle each as a thank you!

Max - Oh yes, I can't wait to give everyone a HUGE wet-nosed kiss - I know how much the humans love that, he he he!

JD - Lily doesn't blog, so if you'd like to let her know how pretty she is and how generous she is please leave a comment here for her and we'll pass it on!

Max - "Stop abusing the octopus FH and take it off my head IMMEDIATELY!! You're not big and you're not clever. Well, okay, maybe you're BIG.....he he he! Uh-oh - gota run, I think FH might have heard that last comment.....!"

Thank you, thank you! Paw is on the mend!

JD - Hi everyone! I'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to everypup who sent me good wishes and vibes! I'm doing SO much better now.

Max - Yeah! You're almost back to your old self now - I'm SO pleased, gosh it was BORING when you were out of action!

JD - Thanks also to everyone for your kind words to FH - gosh, she was felt so worried and guilty whilst I was at the Vets - silly human!

Max - We had to do an 'intervention'. We sat her down and said 'Look FH, we're terriers! You're gonna have to get used to us getting into scrapes 'cos there no WAY we're going stop having adventures and fun.' We THINK the penny has finally dropped with her, but you know these humans - not the brightest species on the planet!

JD - My paw is healing up very nicely - I'm due to get the stitches out next Friday. I admit my stitches are a little itchy so I'm having to wear the 'lampshade of shame' collar for a while - sigh!!

Max - Cone-head, cone-head, he he he!

JD - Oh shush Max - you're just jealous that everyone is giving ME all the attention at the moment - ha! Anyway, we wanted to share some photos with you to show you how well I'm doing - and again big, BIG thanks for all your well wishes!

Max - Yeah, thanks everyone. You're the best pals two pups could have!!

Dreaming about turning into a blade of grass!

JD gets the hang of getting comfy in the cone!

Snoozing in the cone!

JD finally understands why this collar is called 'the lampshade' as he lights up the coastline!

"What do you mean it's easy to tell us apart at the moment?"


JD is delighted to find that his cone doubles as a bucket for building sandcastles!

Practising sauntering!

Max has been keeping close to his brother since the surgery - he's really looking after him!

Wheeee - zoomies! At LAST! Both the boys have missed playing with each other SO much!

Max checks out JD's stitches to make sure everything is still okay - he's being really protective of JD at the moment which is lovely to witness.

UPDATED!! Wordless Wednesday Interupption - JD is in Surgery....

FH - I apologise to Max for cutting in on his WW photo but I just wanted to let our pals know that I've just come back from the Vets without JD - his paw unexpectedly took a turn for the worse last night and he's been kept in for surgery.

I feel so guilty about my quips about him only limping to try and get round me when he was being told off for being naughty now, but he's done this kind of thing before - he's too bright for his own good sometimes!

He was walking almost perfectly by Monday, he started limping again quite badly last night so we gave him a thorough paw inspection but could not see any reason why he would be in pain again. So we put it down to him possibly overdoing it and irritating the small wound where the grass seed had been. However, this morning he woke up very distressed and the entire inside of his front left leg was swollen and puffy - there was obviously a lot of fluid in there.

We got him to the Vet as soon as we could and they wanted to sedate him immediately to either drain or cut away whatever it is that is bothering him - it might not actually be a grass seed, the fact that we fished one out of his paw a few days earlier might actually turn out to be totally unconnected. They're going to try and carry this out under local anaesthetic but it will depend how distressed he gets - apparently most dogs need to have general anaesthetic for this sort of procedure.

So I signed the consent forms and left the Vets one dog down. Poor Max has been searching the house for him since we got back. I know it's not as if he's having a paw amputated or as if he's got anything seriously wrong with him, but this is the first time one of my boys has had anything wrong with them that I haven't been able to fix myself and I hate that. But I suppose, as a relatively new dog owner, I'm gonna need to get used to this kind of thing.

I wanted to share this news with our pals and ask you to send some good vibes our way - poor JD does have a sensitive stomach and I'm a bit worried about the effects the anaesthetic might have on him. I'll update this post as soon as we have more news from the Vets - in the meantime here is a cute photo of the boys to keep you all going....

Synchronisity!

**UPDATE**

FH - Hi everyone, thank you for your good wishes and positive vibes. JD is now back from the Vets, curled up on his favourite spot on the sofa - he'll probably sleep for the rest of the evening. He has three stitches in his paw and ALL his paws have been shaved by the Vet, as requested by us. They pulled a HUGE grass dart out of his paw - it had gone under his paw-pad and had been festering and (cover your ears and eyes Miss Mayzie!) had even sprouted a few blades of grass - ewwww! No wonder he was in pain, poor boy.

JD dreams about turning into a blade of grass!!

He needs to go back next Friday to have his stitches removed and our main problem will be to stop Max from nibbling his stitches! As soon as his stitches are out we're going to get both of the boys a 'nudie' cut. They were cut and groomed just two weeks ago, but in this hot weather their fur seems to be growing so fast you can almost see it getting longer in front of your eyes!

A very poorly paw indeed!

JD meanwhile seemed to have a nice time at the Vets - he came out with rice in his woozle as they'd even given him a light meal of boiled rice and chicken! All the nurses there were cooing over him and I think he was actually quite disappointed to be leaving!!

I know of dogs that have sadly lost their hearing and eyesight because of these pesky grass seeds so all in all I'm quite thankful that my poor boy 'only' had one in his paw. I still feel like a lousy owner for not spotting it though.....sigh!

Wordless Wednesday - Guardian of the Enchanted Forest!!

Paw Update!

JD - Hi everyone! Thanks for all your well wishes about my paw. I really think it helped speed me to recovery as I'm now able to put my weight on it and I didn't even need to go back to the vet today! I'm still hopping a bit - um, mainly today when FH told me off for being naughty so she kinda saw straight through me, he he he! Well, I've rather got used to being spoiled now!

Max - I'm glad your paw is getting better JD - it was SO boring not being able to play zoomies with you!

JD - Yeah, but don't those humans make a huge fuss and nonsense about these things?! I'm pretty sure FH was practically burying me on Friday as she was so convinced I'd never walk again and that I'd just slip quietly away......gosh, humans sure do PANIC!!

Max - Oh you're so right JD! It's about time humans learnt to be a little more like us doggies, just living in the moment.

JD - Wise words bro'! Anyhoo, now that my paw is officially on the mend I thought I'd tell you the tale of how I ended up with a grass seed in it in the first place! Fishing out grass seeds is a very common problem in the UK at the moment - we reckon it's the number one doggie ailment at the vets at this time of year!

Max - Those pesky grass seeds can be tricky little suckers - if our humans don't notice them they can fester and even sprout inside our paws and cause all sorts of problems - YUK!

JD - FH usually tries to avoid walking us in the fields for a few months in the summer, preferring instead to stick to the beaches and the lanes. However, for a few days at the end of last week our weather switched from being unbearably hot to gale force winds!

Max - It was great to be a bit cooler! But it was VERY windy - the MET office even issued gale warnings for our part of England. If you don't believe us let us show you....

JD looks directly into the wind - and starts to resemble a mouse!

The boys demonstrate the difficult sport of synchronised ear-flapping

JD and Max were NOT happy with their woozle comb-overs!!

JD - FH was walking us along the beach at the nature reserve but the loose sand that was being blown into her face was becoming very painful, and we were starting to have a bit of trouble with it blowing in our eyes....

Max - .....so, because the fields had been freshly cut and gathered just a few days ago she thought she'd take the chance and take us there instead as it's a lot more sheltered.

JD - We LOVE the fields! They're great fun for zoomies! Because it was still hot - even though it so windy - I headed straight for an old drinking trough that is in the corner of the field. FH immediately started shouting at me - something about dirty water and if I wanted a drink I could have one from the bottle she always carries with her. She's so BORING!!

JD - "Aww, c'mon FH, let me have a slurp! Those 'scuzzy' bits floating on the top of the water look MOST delicious!!"

Max - And then I saw it!! A huge, scary, metal beast, lurking in the corner of the field!

JD - I was SO excited! I ran STRAIGHT over to investigate!!

JD - "Oh wow, oh wow, oh WOW - I've gotta get a closer look!!"

Max - JD, as usual, went running over without a second thought for carrying out the proper security detail! No wonder he usually ends up in trouble - sigh!!

JD - The big, metallic monster was SO cool! It was HUGE! FH told us that it's a big scoopy machine for scooping all the goo out of the river to clear it.

Max - I didn't trust it at ALL! It looked VERY suspicious to me!

JD - I thought it was GREAT and insisted FH get a photo of us next to the scoopy bucket!

JD - "This is BRILLIANT!! Hey Max - if we ask real nice d'you think the farmer will let us drive this thing?
Max - "Pipe down JD - I need to keep my wits about me in case this metal beast makes any sudden moves! How can you SIT at a time like this?! Are you CRAZY??!!"

JD - "Whilst Max is carrying out a perimeter check I thought I'd pose for another photo - I love this big, metal scoopy beast thingy!"

Max - After I'd FINALLY managed to evacuate my dopey brother and our hapless FH to safety out of the area we stopped for short breather and a drink - it was SO hot!

Max - "A chilled beverage if you please FH!"

JD - "Can we go back to that big, metal scoopy thing yet FH?!!"

JD - We really enjoyed our walkies that day! It was very exciting and we hadn't had a romp in the fields for a while. PLUS we met the gorgeous blond Miss Abby on our way back home and had a really great wrestle with her!!

JD - "Oh Miss Abby - you are so pretty! Please chase me, tee hee!!"
Max - "Miss Abby, I love your beautiful ears - may I chew them during bitey-face please?!"

Max - Unfortunately we had lots of grass seeds in our fur when we got home so FH and MH spent ages picking them out and brushing us. We find this process very soothing - we both roll onto our backs and go to sleep whilst our slaves - er, we mean our humans - ensure we are seed free!

JD - However, two days after this walk I started to limp. FH is convinced it was during this walk that I picked up the seed. It's difficult, but sometimes when us doggies are having fun we end up in a bit of a pickle!

Max - It's usually JD that ends up in trouble to be honest with you, he he he! Still, we're glad that FH and MH don't stop us from doing things we enjoy. Sure, they keep an eye on us but sometimes things happen and we'd rather have the odd grass-seed-incident from time to time than to not have any fun at all!

JD - Very true Max! I actually think I did well to go for as long as I did without picking up a grass seed!

Oskar's 'Blog about your people' day/weekend!!

JD - Hi everyone! Firstly, thank you all SO much for all the pawsitive vibes that you sent us to help us feel better. Our tummies are all better now, but sadly I now have a poorly paw and I can't walk properly.

Max - Poor JD had to go to the vet earlier today to get his paw sorted out. He had a grass seed embedded in his paw - it's out now but his paw is swollen and obviously very sore. He's limping badly and has to rest up. He's on medication and we've been told that if he doesn't improve over the weekend he'll have to go back to the vet on Monday for sedation and a more thorough paw investigation, possibly resulting in a small bit of surgery if anything else is found.

JD - I must say, the chicken that my tablets come wrapped in is delicious!

Max snuggles into JD to take his mind off his poorly paw!

Max - Er, yes JD, we're glad about that! Anyway, the tablets are making JD a little sleepy which is just as well as he's not allowed to go on walks for a few days whilst he rests up. I'm enjoying a bit of special 'Max time' with FH on my walks right now - it's FUN! I DO miss JD when we're out though, it's not quite as much fun without my zoomie and bitey-face buddy - sigh.....!

JD - Aw, thanks bro'! This has meant that we've also fallen VERY behind with commenting on your blogs. We hope you can forgive us - we're going to try and catch up with you all over the weekend 'cos we're really missing you all!

Max - AND we're also a bit behind with our 'blog about your people' post as part of our great blog pal Oskar's fabulous weekend game!


JD - But better late than never! We were very excited about this game and had serious discussions with each other about the best way to post about our humans!

Max - We finally decided that it would be fun to interview them in a formal style! So, we borrowed a few old pairs of FH's glasses so that we could look the part....

Hello! JD Schnauzer and Max Schnauzer, professional anchor-pups at your service!

FH - Hey! I don't own any glasses that look like THAT!!!

JD - *Holds up paw* - you'll get your chance to speak when we interview you FH, IF you don't mind!

Max - ....and we drafted out a few questions! And now we're ready to rock and roll! So without further ado we would like to call upon our FH and MH...

FH - Er - hello!

MH - Um - hi!

JD - For those of you who might not know, FH stands for 'Female Human' and MH stands for 'Male Human'. They're not the easiest to train, they don't always respond to their names for example, preferring to call each other 'Clare' and 'Neil' for some strange reason. Go figure! Anyway, hello FH and MH - and thank you for agreeing to talk to us today.

FH & MH - Erm - you're welcome!

Max - So, where do we all live?!

FH - You're English puppies, MH is English and I'm Welsh. We all live in Clacton-on-Sea in the UK, an English coastal town that's about 70 miles away from London.

JD - And do you enjoy living by the sea?

FH - I sure do! About 7 years ago we moved away into the country, but we both missed the sea so much that we moved back!

Max - So, have you ever owned a pet before?

FH - No - I had wanted a dog ever since I moved out of my parents house at the age of 20...

JD -....so that would be - let's see - about 5876 years ago?

FH - Um, well, maybe not quite that long ago boys, but yes, we're talking 21 years ago.

Max - So you're saying that you waited 21 years to get us?

FH - I did, yes!

JD - And MH?

MH - No, I'd never had a pet before either and I told FH - er, I mean Clare - that she could have a dog if it was what she really wanted, but I told her that any dog would be hers alone.

Max - I see. So, you weren't really too keen on the idea?

MH - Um, no, not really. I didn't mind, but it wasn't my decision.

JD - So FH, what was the decision behind you getting a dog?

FH - Well, I'd wanted a dog for so long, more than half my life! But the working life I had meant I was not in a position to responsibly own a dog. So when I finally managed to get myself out of the rat race and get myself a local job I took the plunge! And I decided that since I'd waited so long I'd get myself TWO dogs!

FH with us as puppies on one of our first ever walkies!

Max - How do you feel about that decision now?

FH - Well, right NOW I know it was the right decision. I couldn't imagine not having you two in my life! But I realise that I was very naive and I would NEVER recommend anyone who has never had a dog before getting TWO puppies at the same time. OMD it was hard work!!

JD - And MH?

MH - Two weeks after you arrived with us I came across Clare bawling her eyes out about how hard it was and how she was struggling to cope with the two of you and how she felt she might have made a really bad decision!

Max - Oh no - surely you exaggerate MH?!

MH - No, I'm afraid I don't! But Clare WAS also due to start a new job at the same time that this happened so I realised that she was a little stressed about all these huge changes for the better in her life. Even though it was what she had wanted for so long she still found it very hard to adjust when it all started happening!

A photo of us going for a paddle! Well, why not?!

JD - Well, phew! We're glad it was just a 'general' freak out and not a 'puppy only' freak out! So MH - it's just the two of you bi-ped wise isn't it?

MH - Er, it's just Clare and me, yes. A pup apiece, that's the ratio of our household!

Max - And how has the status-quo in the household changed since we came along?

MH - Well, it's funny really. Clare got a local job because she wanted to downscale work-wise, but her new career has really taken off and she now has a much more senior role than she ever had when she worked in London. But because it's local it makes it so much easier for her to do and she absolutely loves it! She works for a non-profit organisation and she loves feeling that the work she does can make a difference in people's lives. She does much longer hours that she ever did before but it all balances out because she no longer has to go through the 4 hour daily commute that she used to have with her previous job.

JD - Well, that can only be a good thing! But there has been another major change hasn't there?

MH - Um, well yes! After you had lived with us for 6 months I realised that I really, REALLY enjoyed having the two of you around and what with Clare's career really taking off I decided it was time for ME to make a big change in my life too. So I moved over to contract work on a part-time basis and also set up a home business, which is taking off rather nicely. This means that I work from home most of the time now which means I get to really enjoy having you two around! We thought that Clare would be the one who was with you the most, but it's actually me. We would never have predicted this when you initially came to join us!

Max - We knew we'd get under your skin eventually MH, he he he! So FH - what has been the best thing about having us join your lives?

FH - Well, I just LOVE how affectionate you both are! It's wonderful coming into a room to a couple of fuzz-balls who are always SO pleased to see me! And I also love all the new friends I've made, both in person and via the blog. When you joined our lives all those months ago I never would have thought it would have resulted in us meeting up with people we'd got to know in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore - seriously, how cool is that?!

Oh yes FH, it's YOU we love! Nothing to do with the snack you're eating, nothing at all - he he he!

JD - VERY cool we'd say! And a very nice point to end on!

Max - Good call JD! We'd like to thank MH and FH for taking the time to speak to us today.

JD - Yup! You're not the most interesting humans in the World, but we know you love us to bits so that's good enough for us!

Max - We'd like to thank Oskar for hosting SUCH a fun game!

JD - Oskar - you rock!