The absolutely best Rottweiler gift I've ever seen.

Alright now, who doesn't agree that Love Is Living With Rottweilers?

A few weeks ago I was looking for a special baby gift to give to a friend and I came upon a company in New Jersey that made the most adorable plush toys and offered the option of custom embroidery. If you are in the market for something huge or something small then you must check out Big Plush. In the process of placing my order I decided to add a big red heart with the message: Love Is Living With Rottweilers, just because the mother-to-be was not only a friend but also a fan of the blog and owned a Rottweiler. In the course of dealing with Big Plush I got to talk to a lovely lady named Melinda who ran the Customer Service line and also to the owner of the company Mike Matuska. That's what kind of a company this is. 

Before they sent me the finished product Melinda even emailed me a photo of herself holding my new Rottweiler along with another photo of my customized heart before they attached it to the toy. The custom heart and embroidery cost only an additional $20. What makes this such a special gift is the Rottweiler is attached to a 3 ft. wide grass mat and I could just picture it at the foot of a baby's crib.

The finished order arrived today and I just want to show you the pictures I took tonight. And I forgot to mention, it comes with a big red rose in the Rottweilers mouth. How is that for love. I could have had the heart attached to the grass mat under the Rotties face but I decided to have them sew it on the the dog's butt.

 That rose is made of soft fabric but it looks so real you can almost smell it.

Here are some professional photos of this plush toy that came from the Big Plush web site. I do not know the names of the two pretty girls, but I was told they are models, not employees.

I took this photo and pasted my design for the heart to show them where I wanted it attached.

As I keep looking at these pictures it occurred to me that the red heart could almost be a brand logo for this blog. I can't think think of a more appropriate message because every day I see the love in my three Rottweilers and every time I read a comment sent to me I can tell that every Rottweiler owner feels the same way that I do. So let me say it one more time:

LOVE IS

LIVING WITH

ROTTWEILERS

This blog does not run any ads but I feel free to heap praise on any product related to dogs that I may find. And while I haven't done that often, this is one item that I think you may want to consider for a Christmas present. You can use that same love message if you want because I don't think you can trademark the word LOVE and I'm not going to. The Big Plush web site offers other special features besides custom embroidery and you can have a ribbon included with any message you want and some of their plush toys can have recorded messages in your voice. They list the plush Rottweiler for under $75 and it includes free shipping. Go ahead and make someone happy. Send the nice lady an email Melinda@bigplush.com or call them on the phone at 1-800-238-9481 and visit their web site www.bigplush.com and look over the largest plush toys you'll ever see.

 

Early evening, just before sunset.

We needed a break today. The last few days have been really bad around here. Too bad old man Axl won't leave his Mom to go for a walk with us but he seems to know she needs him more than ever. Even when she is taking a nap the only time he leaves her is to go outside to pee. The look in his eyes when he lays his head in her lap tells me how worried he is. And that's one of the reasons we needed to get out of the house so I took my big buddy and his girlfriend. The Sun was about an hour before setting and the long shadows made some dramatic pictures. I am still waiting for the leaves to turn into their Fall glory but the wet Summer may have delayed this a few weeks.

I managed to grab some spare time and cut the grass out back the other day. Now it makes it look like a real park. I just love all these trees here and the dozen more that I planted years ago are starting to fill in scenery very nicely.

Hopefully this will be the last time this year that the grass will need cutting. I've noticed in previous years that when the leaves begin to fall they get stuck in the grass when its too high. When the grass is short like it is now they just blow away.

 

A walk in the woods

I don't hold much faith in climate change but the seasons do seem to be sliding. June and July were more like Spring than Summer. August was like a monsoon and now September has brought us day after day of 90+ degree weather. So I have been using the garden hose and a root feeder to water the Fir trees I planted in our Enchanted Forest about 8 years ago. I can tell you that those trees have really grown. They were only about 5' tall when I planted them but now they are almost 20' tall. Here's a picture taken 7 years ago and it has just made me feel cool and comfortable looking at it.

And here are my Fir trees today. When we walk in between these trees it is like going into a forest. Oh, by the way, we all went for a walk in the woods today. I had to move the hose from one tree to another and I brought my helpers along.

I think we should have taken along a bowl for some water. 

It was hot.

 

Grandpa Axl seems to be spending a lot of time with Bessie.

Yesterday afternoon Bess and me had a visitor come in the den. Old man Axl came in and after a few minutes of ear scratches, kisses and other greetings, Axl decided to lay down next to Bessie on her day bed. I've seen Bessie lay down next Axl when he's in his Mom's bedroom and she gets very lovable with him, smothering him with face licks and ear washes. Now it seems that Bess has become an attraction to Mr. Axl, as well.

And the feelings are mutual.

We are closing in on another important event around here. Next month on October 10th, Axl will be 14-years old. He is still able to get around on his own with only some minor weakness in his hind legs but he has no other health problems. He gets to sleep a lot and he snores louder than any other Rottweiler we've ever had. Heck, if I was his age I'd be taking naps on the couch every day too. So its time to start making plans for another birthday party. And not to be left out, baby Ruff with be 9-years old in November, almost a full month after his best friend Axl.

 

Grandpa Axl and Bessie, this morning

My little helper was distracted this morning while I was putting Mom's shoes on. Old man Axl was laying right next to me, still half asleep, and Bess thought it was more important to wake him up with some kisses than help me tie shoe laces. Which was okay with me.

So, off to fetch the trusty camera. I haven't posted new pictures in awhile and I always welcome the excuse to do so.

I am always amazed at watching the interaction between Bess and Ruff and Bess and Axl. Ruff and I did most of the raising of the little girl (if you can call it that) while Grumpy Grandpa Axl quickly set the rules he did not want to be bothered. In the end Grandpa Axl turned out to be a big sweetheart and wound up being treated by Bessie with total respect, which later turned into puppy love, and Ruff became the boy-toy for the bigger and faster growing little girl.

Once in awhile Bess even tries to get Axl to play with her which leads me to some concern because he is not too steady on his feet. But I still see Bess trying to push one of her Kong toys into his mouth to initiate a game of tugs like she does with Ruff. I have to remind her that the old man is very delicate and she has to be careful around him.

Bess does not take instructions very well. I am no expert on how they get to learn new things but Bess seems to always try and push the envelope all the time. Like walking out on the pool cover.

The way things were going last Summer it became obvious that the in-ground swimming pool was not getting much use. The joke around here was it cost me $50 every time I jumped in the water. It was also a terrible waste of time maintaining the chemical levels and the frequent vacuuming. So last Fall when I closed up the pool for the Winter I made plans not to open the pool at all this year. I bought an extra large, heavy duty cover to lay on top of the safety cover and secured it all around with covered trays filled with water to weigh it down. 

Ruff has always been allowed to go out back and knows not to walk too close to the pool edge and when the water trays were put in place it created a defined path that was not to be crossed. Of course it wasn't like that when he was very little.

And when he got bigger he and Axl used to run across the cover and through the snow playing. This picture was taken 5 years ago when Axl was a spry, young 9-year old boy and that's the pool diving board behind them.

 I did not allow Bess to go out back until I was sure she understood what the water trays were for. I kept reminding her not to step over them. Only this past month has she and Ruff been allowed out back without supervision. So once in awhile I would look out the kitchen window and see the little explorer trying to test the strength of the cover. The safety cover is anchored with springs at the end of the support straps and it works just like a trampoline but not for that purpose. The springs allow flexing to bear the load weight of snow and rain water. 

We all know how much kids enjoy trampolines and Bess seems to be no different. But the collected rain water has to be pumped off or it gets too heavy, and sometimes frogs and birds come out and swim in it just like they would in any pond which is what attracts Bess's attention. And it scares me to death sometimes when I catch her walking out on the cover. Hopefully, some day she will learn.

So now there's one more thing I have to yell at her for. The little girl has eagle-eye vision and can spot the smallest movement a hundred feet away. When we go out front I need to see what she sees before she sees it, and if I do I'll tell her, BESSIE, NO SQUIRRELS! otherwise she'll be dashing across the street. And our next door neighbor has an oak tree in his front yard that is always dropping acorns so you know what that does. Now when she's out back I'll open the door or the kitchen window and yell, BESSIE, LEAVE THE FROGS ALONE.