Excuse me.....

...... but I think you'll find that this is my tummy.......

Max patiently tries to train the humans in the skillful art of tummy tickling!

.....and it's available for tickling IF it's not too much trouble!!

Bertie goes to Manchester, bonding with human pups, Easter foodables, cardboard chewing and an award!

JD - Hi everyone - we've got LOADS to tell you about!

Max - We sure have! First up is that our humans abandoned us AGAIN, to go to yet ANOTHER concert - sigh.....

JD - Oh, we didn't mind really did we Max? After all, we got to have a night away at the kennels, where we always get fussed loads!

Max - Shhhh - don't let the humans know that! I thought we could sulk for a bit to possibly elect sympathy and foodables.....

JD - Oh, right - good plan bro', he he he!

Max - Anyway, we WERE slightly miffed because our humans got to visit cousin Ronnie and cousin Carol in Manchester. We were due to visit them just after Christmas, but because of the really bad weather in the UK it had to be called off.

JD - We were very sad as we really want to meet them ourselves, knowing how much our humans love them! So because we couldn't go this time either we did the next best thing and sent Bertie, our minniature schnauzer stuffie, to meet them instead!!

Bertie snuggles up with Carol as all the humans say cheese!

Bertie continues enjoying Carol's attentions as the female humans pose together!

Max - Carol is a bit of a celebrity in Manchester! We don't think there's anyone she doesn't know - one of the reasons why Bertie wanted 'in' on the photos with her, he he he!

JD - For instance, here she is with Sir Alex Ferguson!! (We apologise for the picture quality - it's a picture of a picture).....

Carol with Sir Alex - look at those other hangers on, all wanting their photo taken with Carol too (he he he!)

Max - We could go on listing a whole realm of famous people Carol and Ronnie know, but we don't want to turn this post into a 'who's who' - plus, Carol and Ronnie know these people because they like them, not because they're famous, so we thought we'd respect that by not going starry eyed and ga-ga about it (although we would like to mention that FH does sometimes gets a bit excitedly tongue-tied about it all!)

JD - Carol and Ronnie both do so much good work just to make the world a better place for all of us. They're prolific fund raisers as well as being personally involved with dyslexia awareness and Carol really enjoys her theatre involvement - please do take the time to check out Celebrity Pigs (FH recommends everyone watch the film 'Flesh and Blood').

Max - So we wanted to personally say 'hi cousin Ronnie and hi cousin Carol!' on our blog - we can't wait until we get to meet you in pupson!

JD - Next up on our list of news is our ongoing training with human pups.

Max - Hmmmm, I'm always a bit suspicious of human pups - they usually move really quickly and are incredibly LOUD!

JD - Oooh, no - I simply LOVE human pups!

Max - Sigh - I know bro', I know! But then you are a lot more laid back than me!

JD - As we don't live with human pups FH is very keen that we nevertheless get used to them so that we can be as comfortable as possible in any given human-pup scenario! So, at least once a week FH takes us on a walk to the local supermarket. Not to shop, but to wait outside for about 20 minutes.

Max - At first we thought she was completely mental! Supermarkets are crazy - there are so many people everywhere, cars and motorbikes revving up, shopping trolleys trundling past making strange noises, children running around screaming or whooshing past on roller skates or skateboards, lots of people shouting into their mobile phones - seriously, you humans are so NOISY!

JD - But after a few weeks we got used to it and now we're really relaxed about it.

Max - And the best thing is that whilst we're patiently waiting around FH is usually approached several times by a hassled looking parent with children, asking if they can 'pet the doggies'.

JD - I LOVE this part - my tail nearly wags off! I let the human pups do whatever they want with me - they can pull my ears and tug my tail and shriek as loud as they want, I remain gentle and happy.

Max - I'm not quite so keen - I usually hang back whilst JD gets the initial attention. But then I get a bit jealous so I move in for some fussing myself!

JD - FH will always tell the human pups how to interact with us and how NOT to approach a doggie, so even if they started by pulling my ears they soon stop. But I don't mind at all - those human pups can do anything they want to me without me getting grumpy....

Max - ....unlike me! But this is why these sessions are so good, as the human pups learn and I'm get more confident each time.

JD - Mind you, there is one human pup who we both adore - meet N, the granddaughter of one of our puppy sitters....

Max enjoys a back rub from N - mmmm, nice!


JD settles down for an afternoon of delightful ear scritches!


We love N - and we're such lucky boys because she loves us too!

Max - Now, we know Easter is over but we want to quickly show you the yummies that our humans let us have!

A scrummy Easter egg and bunny chewie each - mmmmm!


JD waits patiently for his treat, like the good boy that he is....


....whilst Max just can't help himself and leans in for crafty nibble!

"Mmmmm - super scrummy!"

JD - One other photo we wanted to quickly share with you is one of us having a good old chomp on some cardboard!

Max - When Honey mentioned recently that Hsin-Yi used to save up cardboard tubes for her to have a chew on we had to laugh because that's exactly what FH does for us!

JD - "Okay Max, assume the position - then rip that baby to shreds!!"

Max - "Hey JD, you look like you're chomping on a cigar, he he he!"

JD - Now, before we go we just want to show off our latest award! We have to apologise as FH has been dreadful at posting our awards over the past few months - sob!

Max - But we were SO proud of this award that we had very stern words with FH to ensure she posted it for us!

Thank you so much Tessa!

JD - Not only is Tessa a real cutie she's also a really amazing and inspirational doggie. At a tiny 5lbs she nevertheless appears huge in our eyes, as she's a medical assistance doggie for her mom.

Max - Thank you so much for this award Tessa - we are delighted to accept it and we're displaying it with immense pride! There is nothing to "do" for this lovely award - Tessa passed it onto us for being 'kind and wonderful' - *blush!*

JD - Thank you SO much Tessa and your mom - you rock!

JD and Max try agility for Pet Pride!

JD - Pet Pride is a great meme that is wonderfully hosted by Bozo from Kuala Lumpur.

Max - It's a fun place for proud owners to show off their pets - and if you own a pet why wouldn't you be proud of that fact?!

JD - So, for today's Pet Pride post our female human asked us to post some photos of our very first try at doggie agility as she said she was SO proud of how we did!

Max - Our humans went to 'Pets at Home' (a fabulous pet superstore) on Friday evening - we love it when they go there as they always bring really fun things back for us.

JD - This time they came in with lots of items - female human especially seemed to be extra excited and started babbling on to us about 'jumping' and 'running' and 'tunnels' ....

Max - ....she does get herself quite worked up sometimes. We tried to distract her by asking for a tummy tickles and then we had to step it up a bit and ask for a biscuit because she really was getting quite squeaky, but in the end we had to give her a 'time out' on the sofa until she was calm enough to interact with us again.

JD - So, when she had finally calmed down we were able to inspect what had been brought back for us.

Max - It was exciting! There was a pop-up tunnel....

JD - ....some weaving poles....

Max - and a lovely hurdle jump!

JD - Our humans want us to get used to agility training in a place we feel comfortable as they really want us to have fun with it.

Max - So yesterday they set it all up in the garden - and we were off!

JD - Some of these photos are not the best we're afraid - I was SO fast over the hurdle that I became a schnauzer blur!! Max had a bit of trouble with the hurdle....

Max - Humph - show off! It was HIGH - unlike you I'm only short!

JD - Anyway, here are a few photos of how it all went....

"You want us to do WHAT for that treat? Are you SERIOUS??!!"

"Oh, come on human! We thought you were joking about having to jump....!"

JD - "Oh, go on then, if it's the ONLY way I'm going to get that treat....!"
Max - "Look at me! Look at me! Have you ever before seen such great 'run-around-the-jump' agility and skill....?!!"

JD - "Hey - I like this! Did you see how happy our human looked in the last photo when I jumped over? I want her to look at me like that again......!
Max - "Wow - you're just a blur JD!"


"Okay - we're bored of the hurdle now, what's next? You want us to do WHAT NOW for a treat? Again we ask - are you SERIOUS?!!"


JD - "Sigh - okay human, if it keeps you amused I'll give it a go. Now, where's my treat?!"


JD and female human encourage Max to come down the tunnel too....!


Max looks really proud whilst JD runs hopefully at the photographer for a pat on the head....


Close up of Max looking pleased with himself after completing his first tunnel run!


Not one of us managed to completely master the weave poles!! Oh well, it was our first try....!

JD - We really enjoyed the training session. After all, I'm really good at jumping so hey - if my humans want me to jump on a more formal basis and then give me a treat for doing this I'm not complaining!

Max - And I LOVED the tunnel! In fact, I was sooooo good at the tunnel that I managed to go both ways down it!

JD - Um, Max - I don't think that was really the point of the tunnel....

Max - Eh? Whassat?

Female Human - Hi! I just wanted to add a little post here myself. We don't seem to have any dog agility training classes close to where I live so I thought I'd try it out myself - I was therefore delighted to find a 'cheap and cheerful' set at the pet store. The boys loved it! I was pretty rubbish as showing them what to do so was amazed and delighted at how quickly they picked it up. I'm pretty sure they tell each other to "take it slow so that the dumb human gets it....!" We were all rather bad at the weave poles, but Max excelled at the tunnel and JD couldn't get enough of the hurdle!

Even though it was a home lesson I was thrilled at how this sort of training quickly builds a bond between human and dog - it's great to watch them figuring it all out and you can actually see the moment it 'clicks' into place for them! The photos above were taken when they were being introduced to the circuit - they feel more comfortable checking out new things when they're together. They did complete the course several times on their own as it's obviously easier to train them on an individual basis, but I think we had more fun when we were all doing it together!! We're definitely going to continue with it. I don't want to overdo it as I really want the boys to continue to find it fun, but it's certainly going to help with their obedience training and I'm hoping to add a few more items to our circuit - ooh, you know what, a see-saw would be fun.....!

JD and Max - Oh dear - female human is getting over-excited again! Sigh.....! Bye for now dear readers, we have to leave now to try to calm her down again - you know how these humans can get if you're not consistent with their training.....! Don't forget to join in with all the fun at Pet Pride - we've made some great friends there!

Join in the fun at Pet Pride....

A perfect Sunday

JD - The weather has been spectacular today.

Max - We love it when it doesn't rain - we don't like being soggy doggies!

JD - But not only has it not rained it has been really warm. So we've been out and about and we've been having SO much fun!

Max - We went to the beach earlier....

JD - ....and I found a really good stick to chew....

Max - ....it DID look like a rather good stick. Um, JD, what's that behind you....?

JD - Eh? Where?

Max - He he - got it! *Chew! Chew!*


JD - We met our bestest friend - this is Yoshi, he's a really handsome yellow lab and he loves playing zoomies with us!

Max - I love Yoshi - I shadow him whenever we meet up, as you can see from the photo!

JD - This is a cool photo - it helps to show how tall we are for Schnauzers. Someone even asked my human if I was a standard Schnauzer today - I love being tall!

Max - Sadly we couldn't stay and play with Yoshi all day. Eventually we had to go back home so we went out to play in the garden.

JD - Our female human is really keen for us to try agility training at some point soon, so she's set up a very basic home-made course for us - in this picture you can see me checking the height of one of the jumps.


Max - We enjoy agility training - we hear we've got a doggie see-saw and a tunnel on order too!

JD - Our humans also set up a very large drinking bowl for us! They filled it with shallow splash of water and we had great fun jumping in and out!


Max - Whilst we were playing with our new drinking bowl our humans mowed the lawn. When they'd finished we checked their work to make sure it was up to scratch....


JD - Hey, humans, you missed a bit over here!

Max - I had a quick practise at surveillance - what do you think of my discreet stance? I like to lie low in the grass and pretend I'm completely invisible!!


JD - It's been such a fun day - I love it when our humans spend the entire day with us!

Max - Me too. I'm a bit tired now though. A snooze would be rather nice right now....

JD - Hmmm? Whassat Max? Zzzzzzz.......!

Schnauzer is as Schnauzer does.....

JD - We started the day early and saw a lovely sunrise over the North sea when we went for our morning walk.

Max - I like the beach! We ran up and down the pebbles and made sure the tide stayed back.

JD - We take our coast guard duties very seriously. Unfortunately we got a bit wet so our female human wrapped us up all warm and snug in blankets when we got back home.

Max - It was warm and snugly and we had a lovely cosy snooze for a while.

JD - Then a bit later on we went to puppy school - it was good fun!

Max - Yeah - I'm a really clever puppy! I was great at the 'say hello to all the other puppies' exercise.....

JD - Um - that was the 'come' exercise Max and you were supposed to go directly to your male human when he asked you to.

Max - Really? Was I? But why? Once the lead was off I thought that meant I could go play with all the others.....

JD - Nope!

Max - Well, I was definately the best at the 'which puppy can run the fastest' exercise.....!

JD - ...... Er, you mean the 'walk to heel' exercise.

Max - Oh......! But I was really good at the 'lie down for the yummy treat' exercise.

JD - That you were Max! But you need to realise that the yummy treat isn't always going to be there, the humans will expect you to lie down simply because they tell you to.

Max - Will they? Seriously? That's a bit daft of them don't you think?!

JD - You'll still get a pat on the head though if you give them your cute look....

Max - Well, that's okay then!

Technology goes bust!

JD - It's been a while.....

Max - I know! Have the humans sorted out their broadband connection yet?

JD - Apparently not - sigh! So one of our humans said she'd do a quick update to our blog for us on her phone but it couldn't be a long one as it apparently takes ages like that..... But it's really not good enough is it?

Max - It's terrible! We've got so much tell everyone! About how we've had our first hair cut....

JD - And how we now go on walks every week with our neighbour and her two boxer dogs....

Max - And about how I've been a very poorly puppy but I'm all better now......

JD - And that we're off to puppy school tonight!

Max - Eh? Are we? School? Hmmm, I'm not sure I like the sound of that.....

JD - There will be lots of other puppies there Max - lots of new friends!

Max - Well, that doesn't sound too bad then, but I might have to woof at them to make sure they know I'm in charge!

JD - Um, I'm pretty sure that's why our humans are taking you there in the first place. Because you woof. A lot.... I'm pretty sure they're just taking me along so that I can show all the other puppies how to behave like a good and mature puppy! I'll be role model......

Max - Humph!

JD - But seriously - we hope to blog again soon and apologise for this unexpected break in service.....

Max - Yeah - we don't like not having a voice!

JD - Well, you certainly don't Max! You've made that abundantly clear over the past few weeks!

Max - (turning his back to JD) Humph!

A place for everything.....and everything in its place!

Max - I am an obedient, clever dog!

JD - Hey! I usually start the blogs.....

Max - Well, today I've started the blog because I am an obedient, clever dog! I know this becuase my human keeps on telling me!

JD - That's not fair - she hasn't told ME that I'm an obedient, clever dog. And I'm the mature one!

Max - She MUST be impressed with me then! She KEEPS on telling me this you see. There I was, re-arranging my toys in pairs just the way I like them....

JD - In the lounge?

Max - Yup! I don't know why our human keeps on putting them back into the kitchen when I go to all that trouble to bring them out into the lounge every evening.

JD - She's persistant - but I'm sure you'll train her over time....

Max - Hope so! Anyway, every time I line up my toys my human gives me a funny look and tells me that I'm an OCD puppy - which obviously stands for obedient, clever dog....

JD - I'm jealous - she hasn't said this to me yet.....

Max - Never mind - I'm sure if you keep on moving your things around just like I do she'll start to tell you the same.....!

How the wet was won.....!

JD - We don't quite understand why humans like the wet so much. Just recently I've had soggy paws every time we go for a walk - it simply isn't on!

Max - YOU'VE had soggy paws? What about me? You're about two inches taller than me - I've had a soggy tummy, a soggy beard AND a soggy tail!

JD - You'd think they'd do something about this unsavoury state of affairs wouldn't you?

Max - Yeah! I mean - what about yesterday?

JD - Exactly! Wet ALL day. And not just wet either - we're talking totally water-logged, utterly drenched, completely saturated, unbearably sodden....

Max - JD!

JD - It means extreme wetness Max.....

Max - Oh.....

JD - We TRIED to go for a walk yesterday - heaven knows we did! But there was water coming down from above, there were rivers that had suddenly appeared all over our usual walking route and we had to wade through them - yes! Wade through! - there was water blowing over us from the North Sea..... It simply wasn't on for a couple of puppies as cute as us to go out in such severe conditions.....

Max - So we didn't!

JD - Well.......we did if you remember - but we dragged our human STRAIGHT back home again.

Max - Yeah - we weren't having that!

JD - Precicely! Nip it in the bud, that's what I say. We have to train our humans right from the start, otherwise they'll be dragging us out into the wet at ALL hours of the day and night.....

Max - Yeah! And I don't like being soggy!

JD - I don't like you being soggy either - you smell a bit......

Max - I do not!

JD - You do you know. You smell of damp dog....

Max - Humph!