Posted at 7:57 am by Xena and Lucy, on January 25, 2020
Hey Mom, where are we going? We sure have a lot of stuff in the car and I’m packed in here pretty tight.
Really! We’re going to see my bestie Ella and my guy Achilles?
This is the rest of my birthday gift? Woohoo! Sure, we can keep celebrating Dad’s birthday too. Saturday is Auntie Jen’s birthday? Does that mean more cake?
Lucy, will you quit blabbering. I finally found a way to travel where I feel safe, and now I have to listen to all this. I’m trying to nap cause there’s going to be a lot to bark at when we get there.
Are we there yet?
Check back soon to find out how much Morty has grown and if Ella is still queen of her domain.
Posted at 3:58 pm by Xena and Lucy, on January 18, 2020
Hi friends! It’s me, Lucy, back with all the news worth reporting from the Groom Room. Today I want to introduce a new pup by the name of Gryff. But before I do, it’s important for you to get the back story (that’s a reporting term, you know) on how this all happened. First, though, here is Gryff before being groomed.
The day before Gryff came over, the Groomer aka Mom was grooming another little shih tzu, who we will just call “Ann” to protect the innocent. She’s been here a couple of times before, and is a sweet, if squirmy pup, under a year old. When the Groomer was done, she let “Ann’s” Mom know to come get her. Her Mom replied that her husband would pick up “Ann.” Mom packed me and Xena in the car to go to the vet, so we could leave as soon as “Ann” went home. We sat in there for almost an hour waiting, while Mom, er, the Groomer sat in the groom room with “Ann” in her lap, also waiting, for the pick up. Fifty minutes and several phone calls later, the husband showed up with both a stinky attitude and stinky breath. Mom, er, the Groomer figured out right away that he had been watching football and was unhappy about having to come pick up “Ann.”
We missed our vet appointment (I love going to the vet and always want to stay with those fun people) and we had to get out of the car. Mom called Dad and vented. She was really mad. She said if the guy had even said he was sorry, she would have been over it. But no, not even a thanks. Anyhoo, Mom finally asked God to take away the anger and forgive her for her mean thoughts. You won’t believe what happened next! A lady texted her saying “Ann’s” Mom had given her Mom’s number and she wanted to make a grooming appointment for her shih tzu! Mom called her and Gryff came the next day. Here he is after his groom.
Mom felt like God had answered her prayer, and not only forgave her, but sent her a blessing.
Posted at 8:24 am by Xena and Lucy, on January 14, 2020
Guess whose birthday it is today!
It’s mine! And I’m an all grown-up four years old.
So far, besides my breakfast, I’ve had some freeze-dried beef heart. Yummy! I think I smell some beef bones thawing in the sink downstairs, too. I can’t wait to find out what other goodies Mom and Dad have for me today!
Posted at 1:12 am by Xena and Lucy, on January 7, 2020
Since I’m the oldest (4 years old on January 14), I get to go first. I had a good year with my family and fun with my little sister.
I practiced my zen techniques with our grooms, babysat some adorable puppies (I’m just glad I got to give them back), took lots of walks, had fun with my guy, Achilles, and made a ton of new friends at Rocktoberfest.
You did have a good year, Lucy, even though I think mine was even better! By the way, I’ll be 3 on June 21, so please contact me for where to send my pressies.
I won my first Freestyle title, went on a trip, met our new pig cousin, got three agility certificates, and added three new stuffie friends to our household.
We can’t wait to share all our new adventures in 2020 with all our friends here, and we’ll do our best to keep up with yours, too.
Love, wags and wiggles from Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess
Posted at 1:26 am by Xena and Lucy, on January 4, 2020
Lucy, Ace Reporter here on the Groom Beat. Today I want to feature a couple of our pups who got groomed just before Christmas.
Let’s start off with Bailey C. Bailey has that fine hair of a Chorkie (Chihuahua/Yorkie Mix).
Bailey before
Bailey after
Bailey wanted to wear his new Christmas sweater, so you can’t see his body. But Mom did a scissor cut because he doesn’t have an undercoat. If she had shaved him, he would have looked like a skinned rat. Now Bailey looks like a pretty, groomed pup waiting for Santa Paws.
The other pup I want to feature today is Maggie. I told you about her Mom having cancer and asked for your prayers and POTP. Bailey’s Mom is celebrating a cancer-free Christmas this year!
We are sure they had a great Christmas and wish all our grooms and all our friends reading this a happy and healthy New Year.
Posted at 1:32 am by Xena and Lucy, on December 28, 2019
Is it Christmas yet?
Did Santa come? Can we open our prezzies? What, not until Daddy gets back with brother Adam?
Lucy: We let our guests go first. Achilles got an empty, Santa covered water bottle, and he loved it! He worked and worked on it until he got the bottle out. Then the fun was over. I think he was disappointed that there was no stuffing in the stuffie!
Xena: Morty got reindeer ears and an empty bag that he tried to eat. Oh wait, the bag wasn’t his prezzie, he just grabbed it from someone else.
Lucy: Mom made doggie cookies for Morty and Achilles and Ella and they all scarfed them up. She packed them up some more from the freezer to take home. Some of them had pumpkin, and some of the cookies had tomato in them. They all were salt and sugar-free, with no preservatives or artificial anything. We weren’t allowed to have any because of all the carbs interfering with our stomach acid pee H.
Xena: But we did get Dogurt. It’s a new doggie yogurt that Mom found right in the dairy section of the grocery. Later we got real live beef soup bones. A big one to fit Lucy’s mouth and a smaller one for me to chew. Our peeps brother Adam sat outside with us until we got all the greasy stuff off them so we didn’t get it all over the furniture.
Lucy: Our friends, Chloe and Chaz -who stay with us sometimes and who Mom grooms – gave us this blanket. Do you see the heartbeat?
Xena: Lucy got a weird bone thing that she doesn’t want and neither do I or Ella.
Mommy said it’s OK for her to give to Achilles the next time she sees him. We’re sure he’ll like it.
I got new stuffies. No bears, ’cause they always go away to hibernate in the winter – except for Winter Bear – and then they empty our fridge when they are done hibernating. They get like zombies trying to eat the brains of Cone Heads. We don’t actually stock brains for them, but we make sure there’s plenty of berries and stuff to satisfy their extreme hunger from not eating all winter.
Anyhow, I got Chip, who is siting in the back closest to me. His big eyes and teeth kind of scared me at first, but I’m getting used to it. And puppy Oscar the Schnauzer. And the other dog is a stray and doesn’t have a name yet. Any suggestions?
Lucy: Brother Andrew got here just in time for dinner. Him and brother Adam were really glad to see each other, and were acting goofy. Mom said it was like how me and Ella act when we see each other after being apart.
I don’t know why “all good things must end.”
But maybe it’s so we can get some rest and be ready for good things the next day.
Love, Peace and Joy from Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess
Posted at 8:22 am by Xena and Lucy, on December 26, 2019
Lucy: My bestie Ella and my guy, Achilles came with my Uncle Bill and Auntie Jen to spend Christmas with us. Morty the pig came too. I loved having them all here. Morty made himself right at home.
Morty is 9 months old, so he’s still a baby even though he has grown a lot since we saw him last. He’s now 21 pounds and a little bigger than Xena.
Xena’s new favorite place is between the otto man and the love seat. It didn’t take Morty long to discover this cave-like area and try to claim it as his own. Xena was laying there with Mom’s legs over her, spanning the gap between the love seat and otto man when Morty entered the tunnel and laid down facing Xena.
He kept creeping closer to her, and she got scared and backed around the corner away from him.
Xena: I wasn’t scared! I was just practicing safe pig. Not like you were doing, Lucy. We all saw you kiss him with your tongue halfway down his throat! Mom just wasn’t quick enough to get a picture of it.
Lucy: It’s not what it looked like! I was just trying to give him a little hello kiss on the snout when he opened his mouth in a big yawn.
Anyhoo, the peeps sat around talking the first night, and it got kind of boring.
So Ella decided to turn the attention on her, while Achilles sought attention from his Dad.
Hi Uncle Jeff. Do you remember me, Queen Ella?
Ella: Hold still and let go of me, I want to kiss you!
Achilles: Ella, let me show you the way to do it.
You’ve gotta get your paws up around his neck and lean in. Aghh! He’s got me by the ears!
Xena: While they were attacking my Daddy, I cuddled up in my Uncle Bill’s arms. (I knew Daddy could take care of himself–he’s big and strong and my hero.)
I love Uncle Bill and he held and pet me until I was so tired that I had to lay on the floor and go to sleep cause no one would go to bed with me. Besides that, I could see Achilles running back and forth around our bed looking for my basket of stuffies that Mommy had put up. We found out that he is another stuffie killer, just like Riley. You sure know how to pick them, Lucy.
Lucy: He’s just got that one little fault…
Lucy and Xena: Come back tomorrow for Christmas Eve adventures, when we (Xena, Lucy, Mom and Dad) are left alone all day with Morty (and Ella and Achilles). XOX Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess
Posted at 1:05 pm by Xena and Lucy, on December 7, 2019
Xena: I sure do miss Daddy. He’s sick of noise, so he left.
Lucy: Well, Xena, while he may be tired of your shrill barking every time you see something move outside, he’s actually on a trip to visit his mother. She lives in Illinois. Hey, I have an idea. Let’s send him a picture and tell him how much we miss him.
Xena: Come home and let us in, Daddy. Lucy: But it’s sunny and warm out. I want to stay outside. Xena: But it’s his job. Both: We miss you, Dad, come home soon.
Xena: Do you see Daddy? Has he come home yet? Do you think he got our message?
Lucy: I don’t know, Xena. Let’s see if Mom will open the gate so we can help her while she rakes leaves. Maybe that can be one of my new jobs: “Lucy, Professional Leaf Raker.”
Lucy: Xena.
Xena: What?
Lucy: Race you to that pile of leaves over there.
This is Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess enjoying a sunny 60 degrees in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Posted at 9:23 pm by Xena and Lucy, on November 28, 2019
Xena: Mommy was on her feet working in the house and preparing food all day. She’s more used to a desk job, not being on her feet all day. It’s 8:30 at night, we’ve all had turkey, and Mommy’s ready to sleep. But she thinks that would be rude with our peep brothers still here.
Lucy: We’re sleepy too, but no one thinks we’re rude if we nap.
It’s really nice to see Riley again. We are still friends. Of course, Dad had to rescue Mr. Elephant from him. I didn’t want to have to perform emergency surgery again (see here). Then Dad put all of Xena’s stuffies in their basket and up on the fireplace mantle, out of Riley’s reach.
Xena: Our brother Adam is staying with us for a few days. I like having Adam here. He sits out back with us. And he asks if we are allowed to have treats. I just wish he gave us treats without asking, but I guess he’s well-trained. *yawn* I’m just so sleepy from the turkey neck and liver and some other guts. Mmmm.
Lucy: Tomorrow we’re having some other friends over to play games and visit and eat leftovers. I hear that there is more turkey waiting for us to eat, too!
Xena: Mommy’s also tired because her and Daddy stayed up late last night moving furniture. They wanted to move the dining table to the other side of the room so they could use the fireplace. Then they had to figure out how to arrange the rest of the furniture, make it look right, re-hang pictures, re-configure electronics, move stuff down from the attic and in from the utility shed. It wasn’t just exhausting watching all this, it was something I hear is called “disconcerting” for me. I kept asking Mommy to hold me, to assure me that everything was still ok in our world.
Some of that stuff they waited to do today. Even so, it was almost worse than missing supper time. I wanted us all to go to bed, and I wanted everything to be the same when I got up in the morning as how it had always been. Why did they have to change things? Everything in the room has been moved! Not only that, but the front room –the one they call the library — has been changed, too. At least my red chair is in the same place.
We hope all our friends in the US of A had a good Thanksgiving and had enough food.
Love and tail wags and full bellies, Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess
Posted at 1:52 am by Xena and Lucy, on November 25, 2019
Xena: You simply won’t believe what happened.
Lucy: Is that because you make things up so often?
Xena: No! It’s because it’s, it’s…oh never mind, I just want to tell what happened. And it’s true. Every word of it. You’re not going to believe this. *hop, hop*
Mommy’s friend’s name is Laurie. Miss Laurie has Eefah (OK, so that’s not how it’s really spelled, but that’s what it sounds like, and I’m goin’ with it.) She’s a really nice Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier. Miss Laurie brings Eefah to be groomed every 6 weeks and her and Mommy talk the whole time. It’s something like 87 hours. This is Eefah after going home from being groomed.
I’m Aoife and I approve these pictures.
Lucy: Xena, this falls in the “Lucy Ace Reporter on the Groom Beat” category. What does this have to do with the offi…
Xena: Shhh, I’m telling the story, Lucy. So anyhow, Miss Laurie brought a bottle of…wait for it…whiskey to work. Did I mention that Miss Laurie works in the office next to Mommy’s? Anyhoo, it was for some event they were having, or so it was said. Mommy wanted to try it. Scandal! Drinking alcohol at work! So the office – in fact, the whole building – got closed – and…
Lucy: Hold up. That is not why the building got closed!
Xena: Well, how do you know? How do you know that the whole story about the building being something called structurally unsound was the real reason. Maybe it was a cover up to the scandal? Maybe…
I’m Ole Smoky Tennessee Salty Caramel Whiskey, and I do not approve this message.
Tennessee Whiskey Bottle: Hold up there, you crazy schnauzer. Do you really think that one little ole sip of me could close the entire building and make everyone have to work somewhere else? Do you think that they would have spent thousands of dollars for months and months — before the “alleged” scandal happened — trying to quantify the damage from the soil shifting that caused cracks and mold in the building? You are one loco pup with a big imagination. I get around, and I hear things. It was the terrible drought followed by the torrential rains that finally did it in. That bad soil the synagogue was built on finally did a real bad shift and now it is unsafe to be in there. Now stop telling tall tails, or even short tales, you little terrier with a giant imagination, and maybe some day you’ll even be allowed a wee sip of me.
Xena: *bewildered look* Uh, as I was trying to say, the office is now in the bottom floor of our home. That area is something called an “in-law suite.” I wonder where the “out-laws” get to sleep, BOL! With no 40 minute commute, Mommy gets to sleep later and work in her casual clothes. Of course, that also means we get our breakfast later, and I don’t like that at all. I jump in bed and nudge under her neck, trying to get her up to feed me, er, us.
Our new home office
And Miss Brooke, who is the Office Assistant and only lives a few minutes away comes to our house to work. She got her own key and everything. We get to stay in the office with them all day and get pet and I lay in Mommy’s lap a lot. Miss Brooke really likes us both and says we are very good pups. And I don’t have to stay in my kennel any more. Of course, that also means I don’t get my treat puzzle, either. That’s another thing that falls in the not good column, but I really do like having Mommy home all day.
Lucy: And now Mom is home when we think we should get our supper. I remind her by poking her with my nose. Me and Xena, we used to synchronize our pokes to Dad to let us out and give us treats, with Xena standing under me. He says we look like a 2-headed Cerberus like that. Now he shuts his home office door. He says his leg was starting to bruise and he wasn’t getting any work done, either. One day last week I stuck my head under Mom’s leg while she was sitting in her work chair and tried to lift her up so she would come feed us. It surprised her, but it didn’t work.
Miss Brooke’s own dog, Hank, has started coming with her. Every time I see Hank, I try to make up with him, but he doesn’t seem to want to be friends. I’ll keep trying, like I did with Riley, and I know he will eventually be my friend.
I’m Hank, and I’m not unfriendly or afraid; I’m just not interested.
Xena: Hank’s afraid of me. Mommy says it’s cause I bark at him. Isn’t that barkalishis? I’m only 15 pounds to his 45 pounds. He must know I’m a Schnauzer Warrior Princess. I invite him to play every time he is here, but he always says no way Hose Aye. My name isn’t Hose Aye. He must have me mixed up with some chihuahua he knows. Mommy got Angel Lexi’s bed from the attic for him to lay on. But when he’s not here on Wednesdays and Thursdays…
We keep Mommy and Miss Brooke company and give them moral support. All day.
Keep up the good work Mommy and Miss Brooke.
We are Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess at work.
Posted at 10:23 am by Xena and Lucy, on November 22, 2019
Lucy: We looked outside as the sun was setting and asked Mom to take a picture – through the front window – of the sunset.
Xena: The part you can see through the top of the window, does that look like a doggie running in the sky? Could it be Angel Lexi peeking in at us?
Lucy: The trees on the right side look like they are on fire (but they’re not) like a lot of trees in California. Prayers that all our friends and furiends – as well as all the friends and furiends we haven’t even met yet – are safe.
Lucy and Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess wishing you a happy Freaky Sky Friday
We are joining Arty, Jakey and Rosy of the LLB Gang for Nature Friday, and thank them for hosting it.
Posted at 1:59 am by Xena and Lucy, on November 13, 2019
Mommy had the lighting wrong, the position wrong and the cloth wrong.
Lucy had pretty much everything wrong. Mostly her scaredy dog look. Then her bored look. Why couldn’t everyone be happy and cooperative like me?
We tried again without the cloth and this was the best Lucy would give us. I wasn’t smiling anymore. I was getting tired and wanted my supper. Didn’t someone once say, “After all, tomorrow’s another day?” (duh)
Posted at 3:33 pm by Xena and Lucy, on November 6, 2019
Xena: While we wait for my video from the Freestyle Trial, I wanted to catch you up on what is going on around home. Do you remember my warning to Riley? Do you remember that he still went ahead and deadied my blue bone? That was bad, but not like deading a real live stuffie. Look who we found, a victim of a Riley attack.
Do you remember that poor old Mr. Elephant was very close with Angel Lexi? Now his guts are falling out of his butt. This isn’t the first time Riley tried to kill him. We think it is because he mattered so much to Angel Lexi. Mr. Elephant had asked that, instead of staying in the big green basket on top of the mantel to stay safe, he be allowed to stay in my kennel. He was ok in there until one day we all forgot to shut my kennel door and Riley saw his chance.
Riley: You two can stop talking about me now. My Dad’s coming to get me.
Lucy: I saw something had to be done immediately if we were to save Mr. Elephant. After thinking for 87 seconds, I made my decision.
I ran to the pantry and got some Tennessee whiskey to steady my nerves and gave Mr. Elephant a drink of it, too. Xena had eaten sauerkraut last night, so I told her to turn around and gas him. Between that and the whiskey, he was out cold. I gathered up some tools and put on my operating mask. Time was ticking and I had to work fast and sure with precision instruments. I also had to be very careful not to close up his bee hind hole. I looked for his tail, but that villain Riley must have eaten it. His right leg was ripped halfway off, so I fixed it to the best of my ability.
About 87 minutes into the surgery, Xena noticed that Mr. Elephant was also missing an ear.
We hurriedly – but carefully – looked under all the furniture. Xena is small enough to be able to scoot under the couch and love seat, and did a thorough search. It was all to no avail. That fiend Riley must have eaten his ear, too. I finished working on his back end, and, with only a short pee and snack break, started closing up the gaping whole where his ear used to be. Xena! Quick! Lick the sweat off my forehead! Thanks!
Mr. Elephant is in the guest room sleeping it off and is expected to make a full recovery. His back leg isn’t exactly straight anymore, so he will have a limp. And we’ll have to remember to stand on his left side when we talk to him.
Riley has gone home with his Dad, and it’s time for a nap after an exhausting, yet satisfying, day. The patient will live.
Wags and licks, Lucy the Surgeon and Xena Schnauzer Princess Warrior
Dogtor B, an ex-shelter dog, became a therapy dog in October 2016. He loves to talk about his endeavors, his new little brother Sky, and life in general.
