Friday, July 30, 2010

Is it Mom or the couch that attracts the Rottweilers?

We all came back from a walk after dinner tonight and sat down to watch our favorite 7 PM television show, Wheel of Fortune, and as usual Ruff and Axl climbed up on the couch. Only difference this time was that Mom had already sat down so Ruff decided the only way he could find room was to become a lap dog again. We all coexist with each other in the house and the Rottweilers seem to take us for granted some times. Axl has adopted Mom as his personal property since he came to live with us eleven months ago so when his best friend Ruff takes over Mom's lap, Axl seems hurt. Luckily, Ruff has a short attention span and soon left. Maybe he realized his 115LB bulk was making Mom a little uncomfortable. Axl didn't waste any time reclaiming his property.

So it goes in a house full of (three) Rottweilers. It's wall-to-wall love and tons of free entertainment.



Thursday, July 29, 2010

Happiness is a house full of Rottweilers

Just thought you'd like to see how easy it is to find happiness with a house full of Rottweilers. Here is my wife Jackie sitting between her two protectors tonight. If a picture is worth a thousand words then these four pictures tell a long story about how much love our Rottweilers give us.



Saturday, July 24, 2010

Our Rottweilers visit the cookie bank

 
Today wasn't the first time we took the three Rotts to visit the cookie bank. We take them with us in the van almost everywhere we go. Today was only different because we also took the camera. The bank where we do business has a policy of handing out biscuits to anyone who brings their pets to the drive through window so we have always called it the cookie bank. Of course, Ruff, Axl and Sassy were very excited when I announced that we were all going for a ride and they raced down the stairs to the back door. We drove all the way with the windows down so Ruff could hang his head out and catch the wind. He enjoys doing that. Axl and Sassy sat next to him and my wife Jackie took the pictures. Here is what we did.
This is what they were waiting for. The biscuits came back in the tube.
Now everyone is happy and it is time to go home.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Our weekend warriors on the road again.

  
This past weekend was a busy time for our Rott-n-kids. Saturday we all attended a fund raiser event at a local park to raise money for the Paw Park. It was called a Beast Bash (note the t-shirts) Ruff got to sample some homemade doggie ice cream and he also made many new friends. Notice the girl with the big smile. We saw this on several people Ruff met.
 
Interesting side note: As soon as we entered the park one of the security guards came over to check us out and was greeted by our three friendly Rotts. Turned out we were the only people who brought Rottweilers and I think he wanted to see if they were aggressive. HA! He almost got his face licked.
Later that day we went to see a Tea Party event and Ruff wore a sign I made just for him.
 Enjoy the pictures.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Axl and Sassy went for a swim

  
We had friends over for a swim today and the three Rotts followed us around the pool as usual. I decided it was time for Axl to try out the water since he seemed to be the calmest when we were swimming. After getting him near the pool edge I picked him up and lowered him in the water and held on to his collar to keep him away from the pool liner. He had a very powerful stroke with his front legs splashing huge amounts of water but he had no buoyancy and his rear end sank to the bottom. He was standing on the pool floor paddling madly with his front legs. After a few minutes I helped Axl get out of the pool. He didn't seem to understand the steps at the shallow end so after placing his front paws on the concrete walkway I had to lift his hind feet up the steps. 
 
Jackie went and got the life jacket we bought several years ago for Sassy. Sassy was the next to go for a swim. Sassy was swimming for about 3-4 minutes and while she was a little nervous, she wasn't as panicked as she was years ago. She has not been in the pool for almost 5 years and she seemed to like it. Since her ACL surgery four years ago she has been reluctant to do exercise. The water therapy should be good for her.
 
THEN  I thought about taking pictures!!!!! Then after getting the camera I put the life jacket on Axl and picked him up and lowered him into the water again. He did not resist going in a second time and with the life jacket on his rear end had more buoyancy and he was able to paddle with all four feet. Here is one of the pictures my wife took.
 
We did manage to get the life jacket on Ruff but couldn't get him near the edge of the pool to put him in.

Speaking of having the camera handy to take pictures, we had a moment a few days ago that makes me want to carry it around everywhere. Jackie and I took the boys out for a walk in the back and while we were there we spotted Axl very intently studying a small Blue Spruce tree we have. The tree is only about 5 ft tall and at first Axl was walking around the tree looking under the lowest branches. Then Axl began poking his nose into the higher branches and we decided to check it out and see what had caught his attention.
 
Sitting in the upper branches about 2 ft above the ground was a small mouse. The mouse was climbing around the tree trunk trying to avoid the curious dog. I didn't think Axl ever saw a mouse before because he was so very curious. It took some effort to get him away from the tree when it was time to come in the house. I send this little story to the foster mom who arranged the adoption and she replied: But Axl has seen mice – and eaten them!  He’s quite the mouser if he can reach them.  No need to worry about mice in the house with him around!