My cool new hidey-hole - by JD Schnauzer

Hi everyone! JD here - I'm sneaking a quick post in whilst my brother has dramatically collapsed from heat exhaustion! It's SO hot here, we really don't like it! All a pup wants to do is sleep.

The humans have been quite good we suppose - FH is getting up extra early to take us on long walks just as the sun comes up so that we can get a good romp in before the real heat of the day hits. And MH has been preparing us our own 'doggie smoothies' by mixing up crushed ice with fresh pineapple - oooh, they're scrummy and really help to cool a pup down!

Early morning beach-romp - around 5.30 am in Clacton! Ahh, the sea water is cooling on the paws!

Max is really milking it at the moment, theatrically falling on the floor in various places around the house - he's such a drama queen!

Max is too exhausted to make it onto the sofa!

Max can't even manage the short stagger to the kitchen...it's so sad!!

Fortified by a MH special pineapple smoothie Max ALMOST makes it back to his cushion!!

However, being a more laid-back doggie I have taken the time to think this heat situation through and I have devised a rather splendid cooling nap-time-strategy. At the moment Max pays me no heed but I'm sure he'll realise what he's missing, given time.

You see, I realise that one of the coolest places to nap is on the tiled floor of the kitchen - right in front of the fridge! This also kills two birds with one stone - I remain cool whilst also being close at paw whenever the humans need to take any foodables out of the fridge!

I know I complained that this floor was cold on my paws during the winter, but right now it is wonderful!

Ah yes, the kitchen floor is a pup's best friend in the summer!

But that's not all! The other week I found myself a wonderfully dark and cool new hidey-hole! Oooh, it's marvellous and it's quickly becoming my favourite place in the whole house! Here it is....

Hiding under the towels, in a cool, dark corner of our house. It's cool, it's quiet - it's BLISS!

When I first found this great new spot I caused a bit of a panic as it took the humans nearly half an hour to find me, he he he! It's a corner of our house where FH stores the towels and sheets - it's situated on our first floor landing and I have to crawl under the hanging towels to snuggle into the small, cool space that's behind them.

Well, the first time I discovered this fabulous new snoozing spot it was MH who spotted me peeping out over the banisters when he was coming down the stairs - FH was already searching up and down the street for me as she was convinced I had escaped. As if I would!!

Well, we hope all our doggie pals out there are managing to keep cool. I'm off for another snooze now - I wonder where Max has collapsed this time......!

Wordless Wednesday (a westerly wind!)

Back home!

JD - The humans are back, we're back from the kennels - let normal service commence!

Max - Ahhh - it's good to be home again! Don't get us wrong, we enjoy our breaks at the kennels (3 walks a day, tucked in every night, special 'play time' with the kennel girls every day, before-bed snacks for each doggie hand-delivered every evening from the owner) but we've missed our human sofa - it's SO good to have female human here to snuggle into again!

JD - "Ahhhh - s'good to be home!" Max - "Well, apart from that flashy box - we've had a whole, peaceful week without it - sigh!"

JD - Our humans had a GREAT holiday - they've been talking about it non-stop since they got back!

Max - Well - that and complaining about how COLD it is back here! It's minus 5 at the moment with sleet and driving winds off the North Sea and they're finding it all a bit extreme compared to the heat of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore!

JD - Well - boo-hoo! Serves them right for leaving us behind we say, he he he!

Max - Too right bro'! We are extra miffed at the humans for leaving us behind because they met up with Fatty and Ally and Santa and Christmas and Minnie and Scottie and Carrie and Koyuki as well as their owners in KL and Cobi's owners in Singapore - SO not fair that we couldn't be there too! But at least they took the gifts we had picked out for everyone....

Our gifts for our pals - thanks for delivering them humans, he he he!

JD - Female human is going to do some special posts about the holiday in a few days time when she's sorted out all the pictures and the words, but in the meantime here is a photo preview for you of a very special doggie gathering that took place last week....

From left to right - Audrey with Scottie; Asa jei jei with Carrie; Female Human with Minnie; Aunty Diana with Christmas; Cindy with Santa; Jaclyn with Ally; Male Human with Fatty

Max - You can also check out our humans' adventures on their pals' blogs here, here and here - please swing by to check out what fun they had!

JD - Our humans would like to say a HUGE thank you ALL their great blog pals who helped make their holiday so very special - they are touched by the kindness you showed them and we are all thrilled to be your friends.

Max - Oh yes - especially after our humans showed us the suitcase that was full of gifts JUST FOR US, wow, wow, WOW!! (Click here, here and here for a sneak preview of some of the great gifts we got!!)

JD - "For us? Really? All of it? WOW!!" Max - "*Sniff! Sniff!* Ooooh - it smells so good in here......!"

JD - We still can't believe it!! It feels like Christmas all over again and we can't wait to blog about all our pressies!!

Max - Before we end this post we'd just like to mention ....

JD - .... don't you mean 'boast' Max?!

Max - *Rolls eyes!* Er, yes JD, I mean - we'd just like to 'boast' that we have found out what BIG doggies we are!

JD - Oh yes - do you think Honey and Saige will be impressed?!

Max - Um - oh yes JD - er, I'm sure these gorgeously tall ladies will be super impressed!

JD - You see - our humans thought that the miniature schnauzers in KL were very tiny! They keep on coo-ing to us about how cute they all are! We know Ally often gets mistaken for a puppy - she is only 4kg! Fatty is 6kg and most of the other schnauzers that our humans met were around 7kg.

Max - Well - I'm 9kg which is just a bit lighter than Fatty and Ally put together!

JD - And I'M 13kg - *puffs up chest!* - oh yes, I'm practically as big as Mango you know!

Max - Erm - quite JD!

JD - Anyway - we thought we'd give you a quick pictorial demonstration of my largeness!

Cute Fatty poses in the box that her daddy bought to put our pressies in!

JD tries to pose in the box too.... JD - "Sit down you say? Okay then, just a mo...."

JD - "Er, hang on, let me just try to fit my tail in.... Um, maybe if I try turning around..... No, it's no good, I can't sit down, I'm just too big, he he he! See how tall I am standing up in the box?!"

Max - He he he! Thanks for looking after our humans so well whilst they were on holiday - we love you all!

Easy like Sunday morning....

JD - The snow has gone...

Max - ....and this morning there was a break in the rain!

JD - So female human took us to the nature reserve really early.

Max - We had a wonderful long, long walk - we chased, we romped, we explored and we even paddled in the sea!

JD - Here's a photo of us wending our way back with female human, tired and happy - and witnessing a spectacular sunrise.



Max - Ahhhh - Sundays don't start much better than this!

JD - We hope you've all had a great weekend too!

Join in the fun at Pet Pride....

How to relax during the Winter.....!

JD - We've been told that the snow is due to last until well into next week - yayyy!

Max - We've really been enjoying it - as you could see from our last post! We seem to be getting daily snowfalls here - it's unprecedented in this part of the UK!

JD - But having so much snow-fun is quite exhausting! So we've had to make sure that we schedule in enough snooze breaks!

Max - Indeed! So in between playing hard in the snow outside we've also made sure we've been doing plenty of this....

Dreaming of snow doggies.....

JD - .... and this...

. *Snuffle! Snuffle!*

Max - .... with a little bit of this....

Max - "*Yawn!* Where've you got to JD.....?"

JD - .... and just a wee bit of that....

Max - "Oh! THERE you are, snuggling against male human! Gosh you look comfy!!"

Max - .... not forgetting plenty of this....

JD perfects 'the sprawl' whilst Max snuggles up tight in a comfy corner of the sofa!

JD - .... and finishing up with plenty of this! (We dedicate this last photo for you, NSLM's Clive!! You mentioned previously that you didn't have any blankets - we think after looking at this photo you might want to put in a request - he he he! Yes - we ARE spoiled....!)

JD - (just before photo was taken....) "We're a wee bit chilly female human - do something about it will you, there's a good human!"
Max - (just after photo was taken.....) "Ahhhh - tucked in with some blankie snugness! Thanks female human - you're quite well trained now you know!!"

Let it SNOW!!

JD - Last night we heard it was going to snow again so we went to bed REALLY excited!

Max - This morning we RAN out into the garden - but it was completely lacking in ANY of the white stuff - sigh!

JD - We trudged round our morning walk with female human, feeling hard-done-by and dejected.

Max - Even the thought that male human was going to be spending the whole day with us didn't lift our spirits - we wanted snow and we wanted it NOW!!

JD - So female human drove off to work and we sadly settled down to snooze and dream of snow....sigh!

"Snuffle, snuffle - snow-doggies - snuffle - snow-fights....!"

Max - About an hour later male human woke us up and told us to go outside....

"Do we HAVE to male human? We were SO comfy just now.....!"

JD - ....we were really grumpy with him, until we saw this.....

"Oh wow, oh wow, oh WOW!"

Max - SNOW!! So here is our fabulous day, in pictures, all courtesy of male human!

*Sniff! Sniff!* "Oooh, it's really real - it's really here!"

"Rarr! RARRR! Let the games commence!!"

JD - "Can't catch me Max, mwahahaha!"
Max - "Wow JD - you're so fast you're almost a blur!"

"Snow is so yummy - soooo refreshing!!"

Max - "Er, JD - you seem to have a little something on your snooter.....!"

Max - "And then - the BLIZZARD started!!"

Max - "Er, JD - isn't that snow-bath a little chilly?!"

*Sniff! Sniff!* "This is great fun to dig in....!"

JD - "Some good sniffs over here Max...."
Max - "Same over here JD, same over here!"

JD and Max survey their snowy domain!

The snow started falling SO fast that it even started to settle on Max!

"Can you spot our cute schnauzer-tooshies!"

JD - "If I stand still for a short while I'll become the perfect snow-doggie judging by what's landing on my back!"

JD - "Hmmm, I think a cat might have wandered through here at some point...!"

JD - "No male human, my paws are NOT getting cold and I DON'T want to come in just yet, thank you for asking....!"

"What d'ya mean it's about time we came in 'cos night's falling?! We're afraid we simply don't understand!"

"GERONIMOOOOOOO!"

JD - It's been the longest cold snap in the UK for 29 years - wowzers!

Max - Although we love the snow we do realise it can be dangerous - some place in the UK are due to hit minus 18 degrees tonight - brrrrr!

JD - We're currently wrapped up in blankets, asleep on female human's lap! So we'd just like to say to all our friends out there - where-ever you are we hope you are warm, snug and safe!

Max - Yup - wrap up warm and take care. Night night.....!

Storm of the century!

JD - I'm just ...., what I mean is ...., erm it's just that .... arghhhhh.......!!

Max - It's okay bro' - I've got your back! I'm afraid, dear blog readers, that JD is just SO incensed that he can't even speak just now....

JD - ......!!!!....

Max - .... so, being the vocal one out of the two of us I am MORE than happy to take up the mantle and explain to you all that - as of THIS MOMENT - we are NO LONGER SPEAKING TO FEMALE HUMAN!!

JD - .....splutter!!!!....

Max - .... and it's all because of this. Look at us - I mean, just LOOK AT US!!!

JD - "Yes - you SHOULD lay down towels after dragging us round the streets in the wet!"

Max - There we were, quietly minding our own business, when suddenly and without warning, female human grabbed us, wrestled us to the ground, pinned us down and forced coats on the two of us....

JD - ....!!!!....

Max - ....and then she forcibly dragged us, kicking and screaming, out into the worst storm that Clacton-on-Sea has witnessed in decades....

Female Human - *Rolls eyes!* It was only DRIZZLING Max!

Max - *Stern glare!* .... it was awful, terrible! The rain was lashing down, the wind was gale force and it nearly swept us away....

Female Human - Oh for goodness sake Max!

JD - "Is it over yet?! Did we survive?!" Max - "At least it was dark JD - I don't think anyone saw us wearing these coats!"

Max - ....talk to the paw sister - talk to the paw!!

Camera Critters - Moo!

JD - Hi everyone! Yesterday was SUCH a great day!

Max - It was one of those glorious autumn days - the sun was out and it was wonderfully warm with no wind, female human said it was like 'a gift'.

JD - So she took the afternoon off work and took us to the nature reserve. We were there for most of the afternoon enjoying a wonderful, wonderful walk along the seafront and in the fields.

Max - We had SO much fun! Here are some photos....

'Holland Haven' nature reserve is wonderful, with the sea to splosh around in on one side....

....and wonderful fields for romping in on the other!

"So human - which way are we going, eh? Sea or fields? Fields or Sea?"

We love to gaze out over the fields, with the sound of the sea right behind us....



.....what a view!


"Shall we go down there then and have a romp?"


"Hey, JD - hurry up! I can see something we can pose with for 'Camera Critters!'"


"Hey, JD - what does 'Moo' mean?" "Dunno Max! I don't speak cow....!"



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