Close-ups, Axl and his Mom.

Call it the look of love. I don't think he would rather be any place else but by her side.

Sunday morning, after church.

The crying started as soon as I locked the front door. I could hear it all the way out to the driveway as we left to go church. It was 8:15 AM when we left. I hope it didn't wake the neighbors. When we got home it was almost 10:30 AM and our nervous crew was waiting for us at the door. They all came outside to greet us and make sure their Mom was alright so I had my wife sit in the chair on the porch to get some sunshine while I went in and grabbed my camera. Axl had done a quick pee and came right back to sit by his Mom. Ruff took his turn on guard duty while Axl finished his business then he came back with Sassy for a group photo.

Then we all went inside and had breakfast.

 

Axl's story. I could write a book about what this picture doesn't say.

This is our old Rottweiler Axl. Look at this photo and the expression on his face and let me tell you what was going on:

The one thing our Rottweilers love most (besides food) is going for a ride in the car. They get excited even when they overhear a conversation that inadvertently mentions the word "go". The other day I had to move my mini-van down the driveway so I could get my other car out of the garage so when I had Ruff and Axl outside with me I asked them if they would like to go for a little ride. Ruff immediately ran over to the van when I opened the door but Axl walked back to the house and sat where you see him in front of the front door. It only took me a moment to realize why. He thought we were going someplace and his Mom was still in the house. He knew he could not leave her alone.

I was extremely fortunate to have been able to adopt Axl 6 years ago even though he was 7 years old at the time. Carey, the woman who sent me the email saying he needed a new home, was the person who bought Axl as a puppy. She owned him for a year and then sold him to a handicapped woman who had trained him to be her companion. I had met Carey when we once belonged to the same Rottweiler club. The handicapped woman's house burned down and when she was forced to move she couldn't take him with her. I have mentioned before in bits and pieces that Axl has been devoted to my wife since the day we brought him home. My wife has Alzheimer's and even then he realized something was wrong with her even before the symptoms became obvious. From the first day in our house, Axl's forever home, he stayed close to her and even used to jump up on her bed at night and sleep next to her. He is almost 13 years old now and for the past two years he hasn't been able to jump on her bed so he has taken to sleeping outside her bedroom door.

During the day I don't spend constant time in the same room with my wife and whenever she used to get up and move around, Axl would come to me and give me a worry sound. I can't describe the sound he makes but it definitely tells me he thinks something is wrong and he is worried and I must go with him and check it out.

This is how Axl spends his day. He may be napping from time to time, more now as he gets older, but he wakes up whenever my wife makes a sound. He seems content to just keep watch over her.

Every once in awhile Axl will come into my den when I am working on the computer and he lays his head in my lap and looks at me with his sad eyes. I have come to understand that he simply needs some hugs and kisses and ear scratches to recharge his batteries. I have lived with old Rottweilers before and we tell everyone that from my experience when they get old their mush bucket (I pronounce it "moosh bucket") begins to leak and they need some love to refill it. I can assure you that Axl gets more than he needs. He is a beautiful, gentle and loving animal and I find myself depending on him as if he were a human baby sitter and I hope and pray he lives a long life. I am forever grateful for the lady who helped me get him.

Adding insult to injury, more snow this morning, 26 days into Spring.

The weatherman began the forecast the other night by saying the dreaded "S" word was coming back. Well, we didn't get the expected 1-2 inches but it was enough to make the guys curious. I can easily understand the confused look on their faces when I took the three Rottweilers out this morning. On Sunday it was 81 degrees. Yesterday it rained and this morning, well, see for yourself.

Suddenly, Ruff heard a noise down the street and he went on alert mode. He does make a fine presentation, doesn't he.

Well, enough with this stuff, I said, "Let's all go have breakfast". And at the mere mention of the word breakfast they all started walking to the front door like a herd of cows heading back to the barn. 

Maybe if we all took a long nap Spring will come back.

 

Exploring the changes from our harsh Winter.

The ground was sufficiently dry to take Ruff for a walk down to the back today. We had 5 inches of rain earlier this week and I wasn't looking forward to giving him a bath. Every time he walks through the soggy grass his belly gets soaked with the muddy water his paws kick up.

Our old senior citizen Rottweiler Axl has been getting cataracts and I think his eyesight is getting bad. I've noticed the last few times I've taken the boys for a ride in the car, that Axl has problems getting out of the mini-van when we get home. It was bad enough when he began tripping over the door sill every time he trotted over to get in the car, now he has taken some falls trying to step out of it. I have stopped his tripping by making him step in slowly, even lifting his hind legs, but even helping him exit has become a problem. His hind legs don't seem very coordinated anymore, which adds to his problem. While this doesn't affect his car-riding enjoyment, he has another problem with stairs. He has refused to go down the stairs to the basement which is probably due to his eyesight. And that is the usual way we leave the house for our walks, so today he stayed in the living room with his Mom. With my wife's advancing Alzheimer's, and Axl going on 13 in September and Sassy already past 11, I am not looking forward to the day when it will only be me and Ruff alone together. I have placed notices in several dog shelters that I am interested in adopting an adult female Rottweiler to be a companion to Ruff. I came close to getting one a few months ago but the woman changed her mind when she learned how much her dog had bonded with her little children.

OK, enough with the grim and dreary. The Rottweilers are my major joy in life and that is what this blog is all about.

Seems the first place Ruff goes is to check under the fir trees where the rabbits live. Every once in awhile the Rottweilers spook one or two of them and the dart out and run to the woods. So that is where Ruff went.

Not sure if anyone was at home so Ruff then went further down the yard. Our property ends about 20 feet beyond the tree line but we never go there because there is a small creek that runs through it. The only time we can see the houses is when the trees have no leaves on them.

Then Ruff must have noticed I was carrying the camera so he decided to do some poses. He does this very well.

Yesterday we went to Petsmart and I took Ruff inside while Axl stayed in the car with his Mom. Ruff must have gotten hugs and kisses from some15 different customers including one on the way in the store and one in the parking lot while I was loading up the car. He had a very enjoyable day.

Welcome to the fourth day of Spring

The time is now 3:30 PM, EDST. It is almost 4 hours since my last post, this morning. The weatherman was right. It is snowing again. Took Ruff and Axl out to get the mail and they were somewhat confused. Can't say I blame them. Yesterday the Sun was out and the temperature was in the 50's.

I just remembered something the weatherman said last night. He said the latest we have had snow in this area was the first week of May. Now that is encouraging, isn't it.

The eternal battle between Spring and Winter goes on.

Well, March 21st has come and gone. That happened to be the first day of Spring, in case you wondered. We are wondering about it, too. Wondering where the heck it went. The weatherman said it is supposed to snow this afternoon. Not much more than a dusting but enough to add insult to injury. So if we can't do anything about the weather at least we can makes jokes about it.

Like this:

So what do we all do to deal with it? Well, we stay inside and give thanks we haven't had to mow the lawn yet. I still have the snow shovel standing outside the front door. The Rottweilers are doing the best they can, just like the humans. I wish I could sleep like they do.

Looking on the good side, the weather is supposed to get warmer next week and the predicted temperature for the opening day of the baseball season is supposed to be 70 degrees. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Rottweilers love it and the humans are getting sick of it.

We had another snowstorm last night! This was the biggest of the winter season so far. Only good part is that it wasn't as big as the weather forecasters first predicted. But still, another 5-inches of snow has put us very close, if not passed, the all-time record for snow in this area. I lost count when we started getting close to 50-inches of snow because it came down in about 15 different storms. But I can't really complain when all of our Rottweilers are enjoying it so much. And I am very glad to be retired and do not have to fight my way into work every day.

Just a few more pictures of our backyard this afternoon while Ruffin and Axl went out to explore.

Wow, not a footprint in sight. Ruff was the first to trek upon the virgin snow.

From the kitchen window it does look pretty.

It's back. The Polar Vortex returns.

As if someone wrote a script, right on cue this afternoon we just started having another snowstorm. I just read this morning on Accu Weather that the Polar Vortex was coming back. The same thing that brought us sub-zero temperatures only a few weeks ago along with 25 inches of snow higher than our annual averages. 

Polar Vortex to Once Again Grip Midwest, Northeast

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

February 23, 2014; 9:45 AM

Wednesday and Thursday look to be Rottweiler weather. Our boys love the cold and the snow. I took these pictures a little while ago when they were outside covered in snow flakes.

Is that a confused look on Axl's face?

Yesterday we all went for a walk down to the back and the ground was very soggy from all the rain and melted snow. I don't think they have gotten used to this winter yet. We had ice and snow on the ground continuously for almost two straight months.

5 more inches of snow. But who's counting.

It sure is great to have wonderful neighbors. Last night around midnight I heard the sound of a snowblower outside. I looked out my window and saw my next door neighbor had come over and was cleaning my driveway just after it stopped snowing. As soon as it warms up a little bit so I can work in the garage, I'm going to try and get my own snowblower working again.

Well, the weatherman was right again. We woke up this morning to a beautiful, clean blanket of snow 5 inches deep and the sky was clear and the sun was shining. What more could three Rottweilers want?

So we all went out before breakfast and this is what it looked like.

Do you know how well insulated their fur is? Sassy can lay in the snow and it won't melt on her when she gets up. I hope to get back down to the backyard later to take some more pictures. I'm sure the boys would like that as well.

Correction: Yesterday I mentioned we had about 30 inches of snow so far this winter. I was wrong, I just checked. Including the 5 inches we had last night, the total accumulation so far is 42.8 inches.

IT'S BACK. We are getting More Snow.

I must be the only one in the house who is beginning to hate this winter. Certainly the Rottweilers don't hate it, they love going out and I always have dry towels waiting for them when they come back in covered in snow. My wife has a lot of trouble walking now so the only time she goes out is when I help her to the car to go shopping and we've pared that down to once every two or three weeks. We did get to enjoy one day this week when the temperature just barely got above freezing. Now we are looking forward to 4-5 inches of snow tonight and another storm coming Sunday or Monday.

Like I said, the Rottweilers know how to deal with it whether they are inside or out.

Here is Ruff sleeping on the couch while he was supposed to be babysitting his Mom yesterday afternoon.

And here is a picture of Axl laying next to his Mom on the couch. I took this a few hours ago. You should know that I was sitting on the couch next to her a few minutes before I took the picture. Axl started making a lots of complaining sounds so I got up to see what he wanted – like maybe he had to go out – and as soon as I got up off the couch, he climbed up where I was sitting and laid down. He just wanted to be next to his Mom and he made me move. And then he gave me a dirty look when I took his picture.

And it wouldn't be complete without a picture of our beautiful weather. Taken from the comfort of the kitchen window. That's Ruff in the background, going for a walk by himself. This was also a few hours ago. Tomorrow the scenery will look a lot better after the snow stops.

I estimate we have gotten some 30 inches of snow this winter and every time it snows I think of the unfortunate people in the northeast. We have gotten all of our snow in a dozen little storms while they seem to have gotten about the same amount in only two or three big storms. Like the saying goes, "It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings."

Yesterday when the sun came out for awhile I noticed the yard was full of Robins. They must have traveled back here expecting Spring to be around the corner. They looked sort of confused and were all gone today.

Real Christmas Trees

Finally had an opportunity to take Ruff for a walk down to the back of our property today. I am so glad we did. The weather is still icy cold but the sun was shining and the sky was clear. It was strange walking on top of the ice-covered snow. It made crunchy sounds and in places my shoes broke through the ice. But when we got to the clump of fir trees I planted years ago it was like walking into a Christmas display. The ice storm left long icicles hanging from every branch. Words cannot describe it so here are some pictures.

Click the pictures for a larger view.

And Ruff took his red rubber ball with him.

My neighbor's back yard.

And not a single footprint in the snow.

With and without a Rottweiler, it is still a beautiful sight.

The bad news is the below-freezing cold weather will be around for at least another week. The good news is we get to enjoy the beautiful winter scenery. And the ice storm on Tuesday has produced a candy-coating on every branch, bush and twig. Tonight I happened to see what happens when the sun sets behind the ice coated trees. The ice glowed with the color of the sunset and lit up like Christmas trees.

One of these two pictures does have a Rottweiler in it so it qualifies to be here. The sunset photo is just an added bonus.

2-6-2014 time: 5:55 PM

2-6-2014 time: 5:45 PM