We're getting tired of staying indoors

 

The weather out here is changing. And that is a really good thing. We had a brief taste of Winter with 4 small snowfalls that accumulated about 6-inches of snow and it lasted about a month. Then earlier this month we had a taste of arctic-style cold that hung around for three weeks and that was brutal. Didn't have a single day where the temperature climbed above freezing. Then the cold front moved on and we had some rain which turned all the snow into mud. Now for the past two days it feels like Spring is just around the corner. 

My biggest complaint with the mud is having Ruff on a leash and having him pull me along when he walks across the front yard. That's because the front yard has large sections where the grass has disappeared and has been replaced with mud. Last year I made a 30' long leash for Bessie and anchored it to a stump so she could run around while I walked Ruff. The long leash got worn out and broke so I bought a 150' coil of 1-inch wide leash from Amazon.com and cut a new 35' long piece for a new leash. But this time instead of anchoring one end to the stump I held on to it and at the same time I threaded the loop from Ruff's short leash on to the long leash. Now when we go out front Ruff has the freedom to walk all over the place with his leash sliding up and down the length of the the long leash while I get to stand on the sidewalk out of the mud.

I haven't taken anyone for a walk down into the back yard because of the soggy soil. It will take a week or so of dry, sunny weather for the ground to harden up. I like the long leash idea and will use it on Ruff when we go while Bessie gets to run free.

So what do we do all day while cooped up in the house? I hang out in the den reading Facebook and the news and Bess and Ruff usually hang out with me.

One of the most remarkable qualities of these Rottweilers is their willingness to adapt to changes and not complain about it. While I envy the ability of other dog owners who take their pets for frequent long walks, Bess and Ruff don't get to enjoy this. The highlight of their day may only be to go for a ride in the car or a walk through the pet store. They seem to know what my needs are and they adapt their lives to fit. They are such wonderful companions and I couldn't ask for anything better.

And a final comment about the nice weather. I started noticing last Fall that Bessie was looking for a playmate. We live in a semi-rural community and there are a few people who let their dogs run loose in the neighborhood. A few of these dogs have come over to visit Bessie when she was out in the fenced area around the pool in the back. Now what I have seen is Bessie sitting out back and bark as if she was calling to her friends to come and visit. All they do is run up and down the fence line but that seems to be something Bessie has fun with. So I have decided to look for another Rottweiler to be her companion and playmate. I have put out the feelers to some rescue groups that I am looking for a male Rottie, age 4-5 years old, docked tail and in good health that is friendly with other dogs, and housebroken. Hope to have some good news in the upcoming months.

And I can't leave without mentioning my BFF Ruff. He is getting more used to his loss of eyesight every day but he does spend most of his time hanging out with me in the den. He takes lots of naps and in fact he is snoring away behind me as I write. 

  

 

Some of my favorite photos

I'm just reminiscing over some old photos and some that are not so old, and wanted to share them with you. These Rottweilers have filled my home with so much love.

I really love the old man who was always resting on the right side of the couch when I took photos. But I really, really love the other two on the left. This is December 2014. Old man Axl died in January 2017.

And these two have brought more joy to my life than all of my other Rottweilers. But that observation may be a bit too subjective since now I need more joy than I ever did before.

The Rottweiler on the left in this photo taken in September 2009 (a month after we got him) is Axl who was 7 years old when we adopted him. He lived with us until he was almost 16 years old. The one on the right is Ruffin, the only Rott I ever bought from a breeder. Ruff is now going on 12 years.

This amazing old Rottweiler became Jacqueline's constant companion.

So many smiles, so much love.

Unauthorized use of copyrighted material

A friend on Facebook sent me a private message telling me she read an article posted in another group and she recognized two photos of my wife Jacqueline. I went to the group and saw the source of the article was a commercial web site called www.sonderlives.com. I tracked down the owner of the web site who lives in San Miguel, El Salvador and sent them the following email.

Subj: Unauthorized use of copyrighted material

a-b-u-s-e.whois.field@netearthone.com

lastro656@gmail.com

Ligia Astrid Hernandez Bonilla
IT Consultoria SA deCV
Colonia Palo Blanco, Senda Araucaria casa # 7 block F
San Miguel, El Salvador 3301

lastro656@gmail.com
Re: http://sonderlives.com

The article entitled "9 Reasons You Should Cuddle Your Rottweiler More Often" that appears on your commercial web site www.sonderlives.com contains two photographs of my late wife Jacqueline in the subsections 6 and 8. You have not requested from me permission to use them and because you have used them on a commercial web site you are hereby notified that no such permission would be granted. I hereby order you to remove these photographs immediately.

I wish to call your attention to the legal notice that appears on my blog Living With Rottweilers http://livingwithrottweilers.blogspot.com/

Copyright Notice
All photographs contained in Living With Rottweilers are copyrighted by Nelson Abdullah and may not be used for any commercial purpose.

Since these photos have not appeared anywhere else then this must be assumed to be the place where they were taken without authorization.

Regards,
Nelson Abdullah

UPDATE added same day as post.
On this blog in the upper right corner I posted a statement regarding the copyright of every photo used in this blog. I never complained when someone took one for personal use and I have seen at least one meme using a photo of Ruff laying on the couch. But I draw the line when the photos are used without permission on a commercial web site.

 

The two photos below that were used without permission were obtained by simply using Google Image Search and typing in the query "hug a rottweiler". But it is plain to see the details about their source and ownership are immediately clear once the photo is clicked on.

UPDATE FINAL: Just received an email from the web site in El Salvador and they apologized and removed the photos of Jacqueline from their article.

The four girls who raised baby Ruff.

I almost forgot about this photo. And with its discovery I must correct myself about the names of all the girls that little baby Ruffin grew up with because this photo shows his entire family, including Casey the cat. And Casey was another girl who helped him grow up.

The weather outside is dreadful. Also very muddy.

I would much prefer snow to mud. A few weeks ago we took a break from our Winter weather and briefly enjoyed what is called out here a mid-winter thaw. In some years past that thaw has lasted several weeks. So much that the trees and shrubs began to sprout new buds. This time the thaw lasted only 3 days but it felt very nice while it was here. Then the cold came back with a vengeance. For an entire three week period the temperature did not rise above freezing (32 degrees). To top it off we had some freezing rain that coated the cars with a layer of ice. 

Now I don't usually go away from the house very often except for a doctor's appointment or to the supermarket but the one day I had to go out to buy milk I discovered the windshield wiper arms encased in a layer of ice 2-inches thick. To make matters worse, after chipping and scraping away what I could see the wipers still wouldn't sweep across the windshield so I realized there was more ice under the cowling that covered the actuators. I poured several pots of hot water on it and after trying several times to get the wipers to work I thought I had damaged the motor. The next day I had grave thoughts of needing some expensive shop work done to replace the motor but when I started the car the wiper blades made a normal sweep across the windshield. And boy, did I feel lucky.

So while we are currently enjoying a prolonged taste of warm weather and hoping to see an end to the ice and snow, we are now dealing with mud. The temperature went up to 55 degrees yesterday. All of the snow is gone and its been raining. The top 1-inch of ground has turned to mud but its still frozen solid below the surface. And, as funny as this sounds, our frozen Lake Urine has become a puddle again that can't be absorbed into the soil because the ground is frozen. When I take Ruffin out to pee on his leash he always makes a mad dash to one particular spot all the time. Over time all those smaller pee puddles became one large pee puddle and then it all froze in a miniature lake. Now I have to drag him down the sidewalk to another pee spot that hasn't become super-saturated. Its the only way I can avoid having to walk in the mud and track it into the house.  BTW, when Ruff moves its like being pulled by a tractor. He is so strong it is hard to keep him off his favorite place that is all muddy now.

I have been keeping busy going through my collection of Rottweiler photos and trying to sort them out. I compiled a list of some nice pictures of all of my Rottie girls and I want to share them with you. In the order of their appearance there was my first girl Mocha, 1995-2008 followed by her mother Felony, 1990-2001, then came our first true rescued Rottweiler Sassy, 2003-2014, and lastly my sweetheart Bess, born in 2014. Each of the older girls helped to raise the next younger Rott that came into our home. The only exception was when we adopted baby Bess there were no other girls in the house and she was raised by Ruffin and partly by grandpa Axl.

OK, here they are. All of my beautiful Rottie girls.

Mocha 1995-2008
 

   Felony  1990-2001

Sassy 2003-2014

Bessie 2014 – present

What's happened in the last three weeks.

I am truly sorry for the lapse in posting on this blog. The weather has been the really big topic and the temperature has been going up and down so much that within one seven day period a few weeks ago we set both a new daily high temp record and a new daily low temp record. That high temp was 52 degrees and the low temp was -7 degrees. And on the same subject we got to witness a very rare phenomenon, something called Power Plant Snow. About 20 miles to our West there is a large power plant in Lawrenceburg, Indiana and the billowing steam from the cooling towers drifted over Northern Kentucky and collided with some of our very cold air and the steam turned to snow. 

Bess and Ruff have both enjoyed the snow and so have I for a different reason. So far we have had four small snow storms dropping only about 2-inches of snow each time. The reason I love it is because it is so easy to shovel the sidewalk. But Bess and Ruff didn't begin to enjoy it until the snow began to accumulate on the lawn.

Bess is the only one who is allowed to go out back alone because Ruff can't see the steps off the deck. I let Ruff out just to get a taste of the fresh snow and grab a photo of his girl Bess worrying about him at the door. And Bess has been very good this year in not running across the frozen water on top of the swimming pool cover. She did this last year and it gave me lots of concerns. I know she hasn't done it this year because there are no footprints in the snow on the pool cover.

Since I closed up the pool 4 years ago I put three extra covers over the safety cover but that safety cover is now over 20 years old. Before I permanently closed the pool I used to use only two extra covers and going back a few years before that Ruff and Axl thought the whole thing was just one big playground.

And 10 years ago baby Ruff thought it was a great place to run across and bounce up and down like a trampoline.

Even though we've spent most of our days indoors no one seems to have gotten cabin fever like some did years ago. It is rather quiet around the house (although very lonely) so the Rotts just like to hang out together and take naps.

Oh, and I got another year older. Had a very nice birthday party and shared my cake with everyone that came.

I hope to post more regular from now on.