Tuesday 30 October 2012

Halloween Hats


HAPPY HALLOWEEN  to all bloggy friends! This is the pumpkin Judith carved for us with a scary schnauzer face :-) We were quite happy for a while as we saw treats of all kinds being put in a strange green bucket but then.......OMD hats appeared!!


You can see from our expressions what we thought of them!
Me absolutely shocked!


Trilby - sadness personified.


Aoife - you wait till I get this silly hat off!

Only Crybbe was lucky enough to get away without the hat humiliation:


But while all the sad posing was going on I saw an opportunity to raid that treat bucket:


I don't see why the little peeps who knock on the door should have them all.

Wishing all bloggy friends a happy (and not too scary) Halloween - and hope that all those in the path of Hurricane Sandy stay safe and well!



Wednesday 24 October 2012

A Little History of the Schnauzer


Today I  thought I would tell you a bit about schnauzers as most people know about mini schnauzers or have at least seen one but not so many know there are actually 3 sizes of schnauzer: giant, standard and miniature.

Schnauzer type dogs go back to the Middle Ages but it was in the 19th century that the 3 distinct breeds of schnauzer were really developed.The original schnauzer was a German breed that was used to work with people driving cattle to market, with night watchmen patrolling the streets in the past and also to keep down vermin in homes, farms and yards. There is a statue in Stuttgart erected in 1620 of The Night Watchman with his Dog which is believed to be an early type of schnauzer. The dog is quite sturdy and would have been a bit like the middle size of schnauzer today which in the UK is just known as a 'schnauzer' but in the USA is called the 'standard schnauzer'. At shows, the standard and the miniature schnauzer in the UK are shown in the 'Utility' group which is for dogs who had a function or did a job of work in the past but now are not really used for that any more. In the USA the miniature schnauzer is in the Terrier group for showing.


This is a picture of a 'standard' schnauzer nowadays - as you can see they are much bigger and heavier than us minis! They weigh between 35-50lbs (16-23 kg) and are up to 20" in height. Most standard schnauzers are a pepper and salt colour.

The schnauzer was loved as a faithful companion in the past and peeps thought it would be useful if they could have even bigger stronger schnauzers to do guarding work and other jobs like that...and if they could have smaller friendly little schnauzers who would be happy to be companions for people who wanted a pet and who lived in apartments or small houses and did not have room or need of a big dog.




The giant schnauzer is a very big dog weighing 70lbs - 100lbs ( 32-45 kg) and standing up to 27.5" (70cm) . It is thought the black Great Dane or the Bouvier de Flandres dog may have been used to create the Giant Schnauzer and they are shown in the Working Dog group at dog shows and have been used as a herding dog in Bavaria and by the army and the police in several countries for guarding and protection work. The giant schnauzer is most commonly all black:



This is a giant schnauzer at the Fun Day the schnauzer club held last year - you can see how big he is next to our Aoife and the little white mini at the back.

It is believed that the miniature schnauzer was bred down to a smaller size using small dogs such as the affenpinscher. No wonder Crybbe and Aoife think they are so important :-) Miniature schnauzers can be seen in many colours but here in the UK the only recognised colours from the Kennel Club are pepper & salt (like me!) black; black and silver (like my boys Otto & Malfi) and just recently white has also been accepted. 


Malfi - one of my black & silver pups.

An interesting fact about our breed is that the name 'schnauzer' comes from a dog called Schnauzer who won the wire haired pinscher class at an international dog show in Hanover in 1879. Schnauz is German for muzzle (snout) and he got his name because of his lovely bearded muzzle! Some years later the schnauzer breed was born when the pinscher dogs were divided into two breeds - the smooth coated keeping the pinscher name and the rough-coated becoming Schnauzers! There are not thought to be any other breeds who are named after an actual dog :-) I hope you have enjoyed this little history of the schnauzer.


Saturday 20 October 2012

Magic's News Report about Pet Insurance


This is me in our garden enjoying some sunshine with Trilby and telling her about some news we have just heard. It's probably most interesting for families like ours with more than one dog or cat as it's to do with Pet Insurance. We hate to think about visits to the vet I know but sometimes we need to go and it can cost a lot of money when our peeps want to get us all the best treatment but it's very expensive.


Some of my bloggy friends may remember my brother Kaska who had spinal trauma and had to have lots of scans and X rays and physiotherapy and then got his wheels to help him walk. Judith & Leigh did everything they could to help him manage for as long as possible but some families might not have been able to do so much if they had not had insurance to help with the bills. There are lots of companies who can offer insurance but if you have many dogs and cats it can be very expensive just paying the insurance! Now here in the UK there is a company that is trying to help peeps who are looking for insurance for many pets to find the best deal they can.


 Even Crybbe is looking interested now :-)

This is the first time that peeps in the UK can compare insurance deals for up to 5 pets in one go and get a discount for insuring several pets at the same time on just one site. Instead of having to go to every company and check them out one by one peeps can go online to this website and check out the companies to find the best one for them. If your peeps are interested tell them to click on the link to take a look at this website for all the details:
confused.com

Phew - hope I got all that report across OK. They tell me that things are hard here in the UK just now to do with peeps not having a lot of money and bills getting harder and harder to pay. I don't understand much about that but I do know that anything that might help pay the vet bills sounds like a good idea. I think I need a lie-down and a snooze now :-) Back soon with more adventures!


Thursday 18 October 2012

Our Friends in the North


As well as going to see Northumberlandia last weekend we also called in to see some friends in Newcastle. Judith & Leigh have known the peeps for many years as they all took their mini schnauzers to the same training class - the one my boy Malfi has been going to :-) Anyway we called in to see them and have an explore of the garden and meet their 2 mini schnauzers Jana and Katja.


This is Jana - I don't think she looks too sure about us all invading her garden.


and here is her younger 'sister' Katja.


Here I am furtling among the plants.

Jana and Katja were very welcoming but Aoife got a bit anxious and started woofing so she went to rest in the car where she felt safe and we all carried on exploring until it was time for tea. Here are some more photos of these two lovely girls:





Thank you for letting us visit and hope to see you again :-)

Monday 15 October 2012

Northumberlandia


On Saturday we all had a long day out travelling up north to near where Judith & Leigh used to live - and Crybbe too! We were going to visit friends and have a look at a new visitor attraction in Northumberland which is up near the border between England and Scotland. There has been lots of mining in this county for many years but nowadays the mining companies have to restore the land when they have finished mining and create green spaces for wildlife and trees and plants. In this place they decided to make a huge sculpture out of the earth - of a goddess they called Northumberlandia!


It is so huge you need a map to walk round it - it is the biggest human landform sculpture in the world!


 First you walk through some woodland and then there is a path to the sculpture:


We had a good explore and met lots more dogs with their peeps:


Below you can see a hand with a pointing finger - and tiny peeps :-)


We climbed up to the top of the head - Aoife and Trilby in the lead:


past the funny notice:


and I looked over to see the view:


 Down below was one of the eyes!


and the viewing towers:


This is a view closer to the face:



Then it was time to walk back down and head back to the car - goodbye Northumberlandia!


Friday 12 October 2012

Visit to Rievaulx Abbey


A couple of weeks ago Judith and Leigh took me and Aoife on a day out to Rievaulx Abbey. Like Fountains Abbey it is pretty much ruined but still very fine to explore and we dogs were allowed to wander round on lead too :-)


Here we are on the steps. It was so bright and sunny we were all lit up! 


As well as the ruins there was a little camp set up by members of a historical re-enactment society. They were all dressed up like people from the Middle Ages - cooking, playing music and chopping wood. Here are some photos:


This man and woman were playing old musical instruments and singing for the children.


This man was busy chopping sticks for the fire.


I think Aoife could smell the dinner cooking!


These people were chatting and weaving baskets.


We even found some more hens!


There was so much happening I took a chance for a rest and to watch what was going on.


That was a good day out and I would go back to Rievaulx Abbey again if we have a sunny day!

Thursday 11 October 2012

The Great Feather Mystery - an Award and a Tribute!


Yesterday afternoon when we all went down to the end of the garden to check on the new hens - we found feathers everywhere under the cherry tree! This is me checking it out. Then Trilby joined me:


Aoife was looking a bit suspicious:


But she said those feathers were not her doing
And all the hens were fine:


Leigh thinks the sparrowhawk who comes every so often may have taken a collared dove - all that was left was the feathers :-(

On a happier note - we have been honoured with an award from Basset Momma - thank you! We will try and fulfil the conditions very soon :-)


and we have also received a beautiful tribute to our dear sister Caoimhe from Haopee which we will keep on   our Rainbow Bridge page. Thank you for this lovely image!