We are TWO today!

JD - Hi everyone! We know we're on a blogging break....

Thinking about our blogging buddies!

Max - ....but we insisted that FH post some photos TODAY because it's our 2nd birthday!

JD - And we wanted to share with you some of the great pressies we got!!

Max - Because our wonderful, beautiful, generous blog sweetheart Sasha and her dapper, dashing and kind brother Rupert sent us some really fun gifts!

JD - They did, they did! And we LOVE what they sent - check it out...

JD - "OOOH - for ME??!! Really??!!"

JD - "Why, I don't mind if I do!!"

JD - "Now THIS is what I call a cool starfish stuffie!"

Max - "Oh, oh - I wanna play too - gimme, gimme!!"
JD - "Oi, gerroff!! S'mine!"
Max - "I think you'll find Sasha and Rupert sent this stuffie for BOTH of us JD....!"

Max - "Humph - well, if you're not going to share the starfish stuffie then I'M going to claim this cool moo-ing cow stuffie - so THERE!"

Max - "Um - MH - you can let go of the cow stuffie now, there's a good human.....!"

JD - "Ooh, THAT looks fun too - oooh, let me have a go on it too!"
Max - "Hey, not FAIR JD! You wouldn't share the starfish - gerroff my cow!"

Max - "S'mine!"
JD - "No - S'MINE!!"

Max - Sasha and Rupert - we can't thank you enough for these amazingly cool toys - they are SO much fun!

JD - You are the best-est pals a couple of schnauzers could have. And the prettiest (with gorgeous eyes!) and most dynamic (and licky!) pals too!

Max - Yup - you two ROCK!

JD - We also got a new toy from FH and MH - it's real fun to play tug and chase with - check it out here....

Max - "Um - what exactly IS it JD?"
JD - "I'm not really sure Max, but there's lots of ends for us to grab hold of which should make it fun to run around with!"

Max - Also, even though it's not HER birthday FH got a really special parcel a few weeks ago from The Slimmer Pugs! We helped her to open it - we're good like that, he he he! They had sent her some really wonderful pressies. We're going to do a proper post on them when we're back to blogging, but in the meantime here is a picture of us helping her to open the parcel!

"Oh wow - there is SO much great stuff in here FH.....!"

JD - FH got a bit leaky when she opened the parcel as she was so blown away by how kind and sweet The Slimmer Pugs are. Thanks guys - you are so wonderful it makes FH all smiley and us all waggy just thinking about you being our pals!

Max - We were hoping that FH would help us to visit your blogs over the weekend, but we're afraid she had what she called 'the mother of all migraines' and couldn't even get out of bed yesterday.

JD - She was rather ill - couldn't eat or walk or anything. But we rather enjoyed it because after each walk that MH took us on yesterday we were allowed to join FH on the bed to keep her company and look after her - that's a rare treat for us, we're not usually allowed on the humans' bed.

Max - MH thought it would be an early treat for us for our birthday, as well as helping FH to feel better, so we were more than happy to oblige, he he he!

JD - So we're sorry we haven't visited yet since our break - we hope to next weekend!

Max - In the meantime we'd like to say we miss you all very much - thanks for all the kind comments you left on our last post, the house renovations are going slowly (and noisily and messily!) but the humans seem to be happy with the progress....

JD - ....and FH's work is still crazy, but she says she can see 'light at the end of the tunnel' and hopes to be managing a much less crazy schedule by November.

Max - Which - all in all - means we hope to be back to the blogging World by then.

JD - Paws crossed and all that! In the meantime thank you again Sasha and Rupert!

Max - And thank you The Slimmer Pugs!

Pet Pride - Birthday Boys, Guests of Honour, and Some Great News!

JD - Hi everyone - it's us, the birthday boys, he he he! This is quite a long post because there are a lot of photos in it - we hope you all enjoy!

Birthday posing - don't we look all grown up and handsome now that we're one year old?! He he he!

Max - Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes so far! We're having a great time - we know we're being thoroughly spoiled but as they say- 'every dog must have his day' - so we don't mind if we do, he he he!

JD - We'd like to say a huge thank you to Bozo for featuring us on his Pet Pride meme today - we were so excited when he mailed us and asked us if we'd like to pen a few words!

Max - Yup! Pet Pride is our favourite meme, so if you haven't already joined in the fun why don't you swing on by there and check it out - after you've finished reading our post of course, he he he!

JD - Yesterday we had a small barkday pawty and invited some of our pals over. It was great fun - here are a few photos of the event...

There we were, playing in the garden and when we came back into the house loads of our pals were here - it was so exciting!

JD - "This is me, Pippa and Archie in the conservatory. Can you see my 'birthday boy' badge that I'm wearing on my collar?! He he he!"

Harry enjoyed his piece of birthday cake so much that he took it out into the garden to make sure no one else got even one crumb!

Max - "Do you need any help finishing that piece of cake Millie? I'm more than happy to step in if you need me to - that's what friends are for you know....!"

Max shows off a bit sitting on the table so he can look down over Archie and Millie!

Archie 'stole the show' really - he is so photogenic, and doesn't he know it, he he he!!

Pippa liked the look of of one of Max and JD's stuffies!

Archie poses with a football - he's always smiling!

Archie strikes a pose again - every side is his good side!

Max - Although it wasn't officially our birthday yesterday we nevertheless opened the parcel that the gorgeous Sasha had sent us....

JD - ....yes, yes - we openly admit it, we were simply showing off in front of our friends that we had received a parcel from such a beautiful pup all the way from Australia. They were everso impressed!

JD poses with a letter that Sasha sent explaining what she had sent us....

This is Rat - he is wonderfully squidgy and chewy. Erm - you can see that we have already nearly chewed off his front two teeth, he he he!

This is Flea - he squeaks! He is SO much fun....

Max - "Um, s'cuse me female human, but I think you'll find that Sasha sent Flea to US, so can you stop with the flashy box thing and let me HAVE him please? Ta everso.....!"

JD - "S'mine!" Max - "I think you'll find s'mine!" JD - "But I want him!" Max - "Well, so do I!"

JD and Max - "We LOVE Flea!"

JD - Sasha is so generous! She also sent us some great 'boy bling' in the form of some wonderful, glittery initials for us to hang off our collars!

JD shows off his 'boy bling' - looking good!

Max - We LOVE them! When we went out on our evening walk we really did STRUT! We felt so cool and handsome!

Max - "Sasha explained in her letter that Rat makes a very comfortable pillow - she's not wrong!"

JD and Max settle down for a recuperative snooze with Rat!

JD - Sasha also sent some kangaroo treats and kangaroo burger bites - wowee! They're very healthy food and we can't wait to try them out.

Max - Thanks SO much for all your great pressies Sasha - we absolutely LOVE them - and you.... *blush!*

JD - Yes Sasha - you are simply wonderful......*blush!*

Max - We slept for most of yesterday afternoon after all the excitement of our party, it was a great day!

JD - So, today is our actual birthday - we can hardly believe it, it's all gone by so quickly!

Max - We started the day by opening the pressie that our lovely treat lady 'M' had brought round for us....

"For US? Why thank you, we don't mind if we do!"

Max - Rip! Tear! "Nearly there, just a bit more chomping and I'll have unwrapped it...."

JD - "Mmmmm, treats! Oooh, they're yummy!"

JD and Max really enjoyed ripping all the paper off their pressies - and then they brought Flea over to enjoy all the mess and fun!

Max is torn - Flea or paper? Paper or Flea? Decisions, decisions.....!

JD - We got two lots of treats from 'M' - and some doggie shampoo....

Max - Eeeek!

JD - It's especially mild shampoo Max, without any soap or irritants, as 'M' knows I suffer a bit from itchy skin. Isn't that kind?

Max - 'M' is the best!!

JD - We then went for a lovely walk at the park and met up with loads of our pals, including everyone who had been at our party the day before!

Max - Everypup said they had enjoyed the party - we were very pleased! When we got back home we were allowed to open ANOTHER pressie that we had been given by another generous friend.

JD - This is Lily - a very beautiful GSD friend of ours. She's an excellent swimmer and wrestler - and she's very pretty! Um - I look a bit goofy in this photo, but that's the effect a pretty girl has on me you see.....

Lily's presence makes JD act a bit goofy!

JD and Max - "Ooh, oooh - for us?! It smells so GOOD....mmmm!"

Max - "What can you see JD?" JD - "So many good things Max!" Max - "Well, hurry up and choose us something already.....!"

JD and Max - "Darn humans with their flashy box - hurry up and take the picture so we can eat our goodies!"

JD - "Chomp! Chomp! Delicious!" Max - "Snarfle! Chew! This tastes divine!"

Max - Lily got us a huge bag of treats - there were chews and biscuits and almost every treat that a doggie could possibly imagine - wow! We love it - thanks Lily!

JD - Yes, thanks Lily - you are wonderful!

Max - We still have some pressies to open from our humans - we'll post some photos of what they got us a bit later on in the week! They're waiting to give us our birthday stuff a bit later on as they don't want us to get over excited - and we've been having a very exciting few days!

JD - We sure have! But before we leave we'd just like to say, much as we have LOVED all our pressies and all our spoiling we nevertheless think the BEST thing that has happened over our birthday weekend is getting the news that our handsome bloggie pal, Mr Darcy, who had a major operation on his back last week, is slowly getting better.

Max - It'll be a long haul for him still, but he's heading in the right direction. Keep on going buddy - we're all rooting for you and we're sending you big hugs and snuggles!

JD - Hope you're all having a great weekend everyone and thanks again for all your kind birthday wishes!

Join in the fun at Pet Pride....

International Schnauzers And An Award - Sofa So Good!

JD - Hi everyone! We feel that we should warn you that this has ended up being quite a long post!

Max - It's because we have a lot of news!

JD - It's been a really busy week for us, what with us helping our humans with the sheds and the building works! And you know what - today we're having a tremendously exciting day!

Max - We sure are - and it's not even lunchtime yet!

JD - It all started off with our usual morning walk....

Flossie - "Wah! I wanna play with Ty!!!!"

Max - ....we met up with a lot of our friends - Ty the husky puppy (hasn't he grown?!) and Dylan the Tibetan Terrier with his little sister Flossie (who got a bit jealous of Max and Ty touching noses!)

JD - Dylan asked female human if he could have a close-up photo - she was happy to oblige as he's super cute. Do you know, at a local country show Dylan won first prize in the 'puppy the judges would most like to take home with them' section?!

Dylan - "Cheese!!"

Max - Our chum Neo was there - you might remember him as the doggie who is a little obsessed with his tennis balls. He was very happy this morning as he had TWO!

Neo - "Back AWAY from the tennis balls! The tennis balls are MINE, okay...?!"

JD - And I made the wonderful find of a discarded sock! Oooh, it was smashing to play with!!

JD - "Mmmmm - discarded sock! Hint of cheese with just a tang of athletes foot - my favourite!!"

Max - So, after all this fun we eventually decided that we had better take our female human back home as we know she can start to get a bit grumpy if she doesn't get her morning cuppa by a certain time....

JD - ....indeed! We find that humans are usually happier if we train them around a set routine you see, he he he!

Max - And do you know what we discovered when we got home? Do you?

JD - Erm, they probably don't Max! I think you'll probably have to actually tell everyone or we might be here for a while....

Max - Oh, okay then JD! Well, we got home to find not just one, but TWO parcels waiting for us!

JD - We were SO excited! One of the parcels was from a far away place called Singapore....

JD - "Oh, what is it, what is it?" Max - "Sniff! Sniff!" Hmm, smells familiar, but I can't quite put my paw on what that smell is JD...."

Max - ....and the other parcel was from another far away place called Australia!!

Max - "Oooh, smells divine!" JD - "Hey - have you seen this little sticker here Max....?"

JD - On this second parcel was a small address label, which also had the picture of the most beautiful Schnauzer nose in the World, so we knew immediately that this parcel was from the wonderful, the intelligent, the beautiful and amazing Sasha - sigh!!

Max - "Oh yes! What a pretty little nose....sigh!"

Max - We know that the parcel from Sasha is for our birthday next week so we are not allowed to open it until then! We're so excited - we're going to take loads of photographs of us opening it and we'll be blogging about it next Sunday when we're all mature and grown-up as we'll both be one year old!

JD - We have to say though, we're a bit grumpy with our human because not one of the parcels that we sent out over 4 weeks ago (to Sasha, Oskar and Ruby and Penny) to celebrate our 100th post has turned up yet!

Female Human - Well lads - I can't do much about the speed of the postal service you know!

Max - Humph! Anyway, we knew that the parcel from Singapore was from our lovely pal Cobi - and it was a wonderful spa treatment for the two of us, some dead sea mud!

JD - We're booked in to have a grooming session on Friday and our human has already told the groomers that we'll be turning up with this treatment applied! They'll wash it off and then give us a lovely haircut.

Max - We can't wait to be pampered with it! We're going to look so handsome - almost as handsome as Cobi!

JD - Is that possible Max?

Max - Well, I did say ALMOST JD! I don't think that we could ever look as stylish as Cobi.

JD - Very true! Anyway - female human told us that she's never had a parcel from Singapore or Australia - ha!

Max - We truly are international Schnauzers, he he he!

JD - Stylish Cobi and sweet Sasha - thank you both so much! We're so excited and we can't wait for 'part 2' of our blog about each of your parcels!

Max - Also, something else very exciting happened about a week ago and female human has been very tardy in getting this news onto our blog!

JD - Yes - we might have to have stern words with her about it!

Max - You see, we got an award from Dennis the Vizla dog! It's the CLASS ACT AWARD and he presented it to us in recognition of the charitable donations we will be making at the end of September in honour of our 100th post!

JD - Thank you Dennis - we are honoured to accept this award! Next weekend (end of September) we'll be posting about how much money we've donated to Dogs Trust - we're very proud to be doing this!

Max - The only requirement of this award is that we pass it onto 6 other class acts!

JD - Gosh! We think ALL our buddies are class acts, so we thought what we'd do was to pass this award onto our 6 newest blogging buddies. So, please accept this award Mr Darcy - hearing about how you help your daddy with his push-ups by sitting on him and falling over him is clear evidence of how helpful and classy you truly are!; Clive - we aspire to become PAT doggies and we view actual service doggies as super-class-act doggies!; El'bow and Hauwii who are the classiest 'little and large' double act we've ever seen; and Nellie and Calvert, whom we feel like we've known for years which is surely a sign of true friendship and makes them a star class act in our eyes!

Max - So please accept this award - we think you all ooze class!

JD - Whilst we're on the subject of our wonderful blog friends, can we please ask you all to pop over to Munchkin Memoirs and vote for our Schnauzer pal Santa in the 'Most Ear-resistible Contest'!

Max - Please DO take the time to vote! We would like to uphold the honour of the Schnauzer and Santa has the prettiest, most amazing pair of ears that we have ever seen on a doggie - he he he!

JD - Finally, we have what we think is really thrilling news to share!

Max - Yes! Recently we have been showing our humans what good puppies we are by no longer chewing or scratching the furniture or trying to eat the newspapers and the CDs, so they have decided to award us the ultimate privilege...

JD - ....oooh, I can hardly say the words I'm so thrilled about it....

Max - ....our humans have FINALLY allowed us to join them on one of their sofas!

JD - Isn't it exciting? Female human really enjoyed how much we cuddled up to her when we visited Pippa at home recently and were allowed on the furniture there, so she really wanted those schnauzer snuggles to continue back home! BUT she also didn't want us climbing up onto ALL of the furniture, so she had a plan!

Max - She sure did! She bought several blankets and introduced them to us as something we were allowed to snuggle on - ooh, they were comfy!

Comfy blankie snugness!!

JD - After about a week our blankets were moved to cover the sofa - and since we knew that these were OUR blankets we knew that it could only mean one thing!

Max - We were finally allowed on the sofa!

JD - We were, we were! We were finally being promoted from the floor....

Comfy blankie snugness on the floor!

Max - ....up onto the furniture!

JD - "Are you SURE we're allowed to be up here Max?" Max - "We're on our blanket aren't we JD? I'd say that was a 'code green'.....!"

JD - "Okay then Max - if you say so I'll kick back and relax!!! Ahhh.....bliss!"

The boys get their heads together for a comfy sofa snooze!

JD - Female human says this has been a good move - we know we're only allowed on the sofa where the blanket is and it means that whenever they have to go out we're a lot less stressed! In fact, we don't even give them a backwards glance when they leave now, he he he!

Max - To show you what we mean here are a few still shots that have been taken from this week's puppy-cam....

All puppies must point the way of the chicken!!

Max relaxes full stretch slap-bang in the middle of the sofa - no room for JD!!

King JD and Prince Max! JD loves to be 'king of the castle' on the sofa and often tries to take the higher ground!!

JD - Female human has realised just HOW much I love to snuggle. As you saw from the photo above I DO like to be 'king of the castle' - he he he! But there is a practical side to me sitting on the sofa like this - it's because when I'm perched a bit higher I REALLY can snuggle up very close to female human....bliss!

JD and Max cuddle into Female Human - Max is looking especially pleased with himself but let's just have a little close-up of JD's snuggle technique....

JD - "Sigh....!" And closer still....

JD - "Snuffle...."

Max - So, as you can see, we've had rather a nice week this week! Busy, but very nice!

JD - We sure have - and next week is our first birthday so it's just going to get better and better!

Max - Thanks again to Cobi and Sasha - we can't wait to blog about your parcels next week!

JD - We know this has been a long post so we hope you stayed with us to the end, he he he! Have a nice weekend everyone!

Find out what all the critters are up to at....