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.

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.

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!

 

Nothing stands in Ruff's way when he wants to give kisses.

I came in from working outside this afternoon in the garden and Ruff acted like he hadn't seen me all week. He acts this way a lot.

Nothing stands in his way when he wants to give kisses and face licks. Not even a chair. Ruff simply climbed up on the chair and me and then he made himself comfortable sitting on the armrest and pinned my arms while he showered me with kisses. This is what its like living with a big lovable Rottweiler.

p.s. The camera is always there.

Little pleasures in a Rottweiler's life

 

Rottweilers love food. That could be the one statement to begin and end the conversation on the subject of food. They love all food. They love to watch people eat food. They love to watch people cook food. They love to inspect every food item you bring home from the supermarket. They love to pre-wash your dinner dishes. No one throws out uneaten food in a house with Rottweilers.

Rottweilers also love butter. This is one of the little pleasures in a Rottweilers life. When you finish buttering the toast, they willingly clean the butter knife. But the greatest of the little pleasures is cleaning the butter dish before it gets washed and refilled with another stick of butter. So it was today in our house.

Good job, boys.

Ruff thinks he is a lap dog.

  

When you live with Rottweilers and you love them as much as we do, you have to expect they will love you back. As big and strong as they are they sometimes don't seem to know it. Yesterday, Ruff seemed to be in an especially amorous mood. He started off in the morning by climbing up in my lap while I was working on the computer and gave me several minutes of non-stop kisses. Only after I had to push him away so I could catch my breath did he stop. 

Then later that afternoon Ruff got in the mood again while we were sitting in the family room watching television. This time he managed to do what he couldn't do when I was sitting at my desk. He climbed up on my lap and laid down to give me more kisses. Ruff is no lightweight. He weighs 115 lbs and this was the first time he ever put his entire body weight on top of me. He also likes to put his paws on my shoulders to hold me down so I can't escape his kisses.

As I have said many times before, Rottweilers are a lot of fun and living with them is quite an experience. Raise them with love and kindness and they give it back ten times over.

Ruff's favorite television show: Wheel of Fortune

 

OK, to set the record straight, we all love Wheel of Fortune in our house. We watch it every night after dinner. Ruff happens to be a big fan of Vanna White (along with other pretty girls, animals and all the food commercials) as well. I am fairly certain about what Ruff likes to watch because when most of the other shows are on he will take a nap and only wake up for a commercial. So here he is in his favorite chair watching his favorite TV show waiting for Vanna.

Ruff watches television even when he is laying on the floor and from the angle he looking at the television screen from he must be getting eye strain. The two older Rottweilers are sound asleep on the furniture, oblivious to the world.

Spending time in the house on rainy days.

Cabin fever in the Summer is not much different from cabin fever in the Winter. You sit indoors and look out the windows at really crappy weather. Of course in the Winter you also wish for the Sun to come out. In the Summer that shiny Sun makes the rainy weather feel worse. OK, enough of the nonsense. What this leads up to is just a few more pictures of some terribly spoiled Rottweilers who seem to enjoy life to the limit.

Here is a picture I took this afternoon. When I emailed it to some friends I told them it was from "That guy who sneaks around the house with a camera." I spotted my wife taking a nap with both of our male Rottweilers keeping her company. I called it OREO. 

Here is an interesting clue to doing a really cool thing. NASA is collecting photos that people post of themselves or their pets or both and will carry them into space on the next two space shuttle launches. Best of all, IT'S FREE. Go to this web site http://faceinspace.nasa.gov/index.aspx and fill out the form and upload your pictures. The shuttle launches are scheduled for liftoff in September and November. Here is one of the photos that I submitted:

Here is how my Rottweilers are copping with the rainy weather. First, Axl naps on the couch. He has a magical ability to fall asleep in about 5 seconds and I am mighty jealous, but he does toss and turn a bit.

Then there is my baby Rottweiler, Ruff. Yeah, I know, he is almost 4 years old but he will always be my baby because I picked him out from his litter and I got to raise him when he was 7 weeks old.

Not to be left out, here is Sassy sleeping on the couch while Axl is curled up on the chair.

One thing I always have to look forward to is after every rain that is followed by some Sun, the grass grows twice as fast.

Ruff loves the horses. He watched The Belmont Stakes last night.

Let me first clear up some rumors. Ruff doesn't pick winners in any horse races so please don't ask him to. We also did not intentionally plan to watch The Belmont Stakes on TV last night. It was 6:30 PM and we had just finished dinner and sat down to watch the evening news. Instead of the news they were about to run the live broadcast of the horse race and as soon as Ruff spotted the horses he walked right up to the TV to get a closer look. I thought it was cute enough to let him stay as long as he wanted so I went and got the camera. You knew I was going to say that, didn't you.

At the end of the race, Ruff had to sit down and watch because he was exhausted from all the excitement.

Ever since Ruff got to meet his first horse up close and personal (literally, he got close enough to give one a kiss. See blog story here: http://livingwithrottweilers.blogspot.com/2008/10/ruffs-adventures.html ) he has had a fascination with all horses whenever he sees them. Tonight we watched The Belmont Stakes horse race on TV and Ruff took up a front row seat. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

 

 

It's official, Summer is here.

Just in time for the Memorial Day weekend we got the pool opened, cleaned out and ready to go. And we did have our first pool party on Sunday. This was the first year our new adopted Rottweiler Axl has ever seen us in the water. We wondered if he would get excited over the danger but he took it all in stride and simply laid out on the patio and watched his humans have some fun. Sassy had the same attitude as Axl but Ruff was worried the whole time we were in the water.

We had our good friends Bev and Rich over to enjoy the warm weather and the pool and a cookout and Ruff was especially happy to meet them again. Here he is doing what he does best: Giving kisses.

I hope this is the year we will be able to get our little Sassy to go swimming. For the last two years Sassy has had a weight problem and last Summer it had ballooned  up to 105 lbs. Sassy had gotten so overweight that it was difficult for her to walk and get exercise. Last August we started her on a Thyroid treatment with Levothyroxin and she has lost almost 30 lbs. She still needs to strengthen her legs and swimming is very good exercise.

Spring has arrived here in Kentucky.

   

The weather has turned warm, the grass needs to be mowed and the leaves are back on the trees. Not having any snow to romp and play in doesn't seem to bother our Rottweilers a bit. Ruff got to see his first squirrel up close a few days ago. We were taking Ruff and Axl out back for a run and Ruff found one near a tree. I am very thankful that tree was close by because Ruff went into high gear and chased it. The squirrel ran up the tree with Ruff only a few feet behind. I almost thought Ruff wanted to climb the tree after it.

Click the images for a larger view.

We have an open acre of property behind our house that adjoins similar size properties on both sides of us. When Ruff and Axl play they run around the trees and property in huge circles. I have seen a few rabbits out there that scampered under the fir trees when we approached them and my fear is that one day one of the Rotts will spot a rabbit out in the open and chase it before I can stop them. 

Ruff has an extraordinary sense of smell and is constantly tracking every critter that has crossed his back yard. Axl, on the other hand, when he is not glued to my wife, just loves to run around and get Ruff to try and catch him. I am amazed at Axl's physical condition for an 8-year old Rottweiler. He always outruns Ruff and often makes quick turns and doubles back to tease Ruff into trying to catch him.

Often times Axl will hide behind a fir tree with Ruff on the opposite side and they try to fake each other out. Then they run into each other with both front feet up in the air like a pair of horses frolicking in a meadow. Meanwhile, little Sassy just enjoys herself rolling around in the grass.

Yes, Spring is definitely in the air.

A happy Mom on Mother's Day

  

Yes, she is very happy. All of her kids told her today that they loved her. Even her four-legged friend Axl brought a smile to her face.

The last few weeks have been very busy around here and I have a lot of catching up to do with this blog. Last weekend we celebrated our 50th anniversary. In a few days I'll have several more posts here for everyone to see and read.

Our Rottweiler art gallery

  

I have mentioned before that in the 15 years since we got our first Rottweiler we have accumulated a sizable number of photos. Matter of fact, during those first six years when I used 35mm print film, due to the cost of development, I only shot about 500 pictures. All that changed in 2000 when I got my first digital camera. From that time on it was not uncommon to shoot 50-100 pictures on a single day and storing them on a hard drive was so easy. Well, after you take all these pictures you want to start framing some of them and hang them around the house.  You may notice a few in the background, here.

The first Rottweiler I had was a girl named Mocha and she and her father Nikko were absolute hams when it came to taking pictures. The seemed to enjoy posing and they were both very photogenic. I took one particular photo of these two that seemed to capture the essence of nobility in this breed and I called it the Thief of Hearts and got a formal registered copyright on it. From there I began selling framed prints and dog flags but after my supply of flags dried up I stopped. I did manage to keep one last flag and one 24x36 inch print. Take a look at our art gallery.

Sassy has something to say about our weather.

   

So far this month we have had 3 consecutive days with 80+ temperature and the trees are in full bloom.

Our three Rottweilers have completely forgotten about Winter. Our little girl Sassy went out yesterday and after a few seconds in the Sun threw herself on the grass and rolled around in sheer delight. You could almost hear her yelling WHOOPEE!!!!