One Big Happy Family!

Good news! Gracie's been back from the hospital for several days now, and she seems to be fine. No more of that throwing up. She's even back to wrestling with me! The only holdover from her stay is her right front leg is still shaved from where they stuck her. Daddy calls it her "poodle foot," but I don't get it.

And speaking of Daddy, he's home early from Alaska! Not only that, but he brought a new toy with him just like last time! It's a opossum! Mommy and Daddy tell me that opossums like to "play dead," so I'm not going to let this one fool me. Even when it's still, I'm gonna keep biting!

I even felt sorry for Gracie with her being so sick recently, so I let her play with opossum while I wrote this entry. Now, I'm done, so it's my turn again. Until next time!

Poor Gracie

This past week has been awful!

First my Daddy left for that Alaska place again and then Gracie had to go to the hospital.

Mommy and I both tried to tell her that it wasn't ok to eat those little orange pumpkins from the palm trees, but she never listens. After she ate them she just kept throwing up. Mommy was really, really worried about her, so she finally had to take her to the hospital early Friday morning. She's been there since. The good news is that Gracie stopped throwing up and is able to eat like she's supposed to. Mommy said that she will probably get to come home tonight since she's not dehydrated anymore and is feeling better.

The other bad news is that since Gracie kept putting things in her mouth that she shouldn't, Mommy bought these things that we have to wear over our mouths when we go outside. I don't really think it's fair, because I didn't eat the orange pumpkins. Mommy says she's just trying to keep us safe. I guess I understand, but how am I going to attack the squirrels and lizards if I can't open my mouth? Maybe Mommy will only make us wear them for a few days.

Anyway, I would never tell Gracie this, but I've really missed her. I mean, there's no one here to tackle or to hunt, which makes for a very boring day. Mommy has taken me on a few walks around my kingdom and that's been ok. It would have been better with Gracie. I hope she comes home tonight, I miss the little booger.

I Miss My Daddy!

Daddy's packing again, and Abby's just too depressed to get out of bed right now. See what I mean? Anyway, I, Super-Gracie, will have to update the blog.

As it turns out, Daddy's going on another business trip to someplace far away he calls "Alaska." That's the third time in five months! I'm really getting to hate Alaska for taking my Daddy away from me so often, but at least we'll get to have snuggle time with Mommy! Maybe we'll even have a girrrls' night out!

Oh, you may be wondering about the changes Mommy and Daddy made to the house. I don't like them. I used to be able to run real easy on all the carpeting, but now there's this wood stuff that I slip on. Mommy says they're going to get a carpet to go over the wood stuff, but until they do, these changes are not Gracie-approved!

Anyway, I gotta go. Now that Abby's all mopey, it's my chance to eat my bone unmolested!

Road Trip!

Yesterday, Gracie and I started a road trip to see Aunt Suzie while Mommy and Daddy do some work on our house. They said it's going to be much different when we get back. Just so long as the squirrels stay off my yard, I don't care what they do. But I can't stand being gone! I just know some squirrels are in my yard even as I type this!

Daddy got a picture of us before we left. You can see that we were exhausted from playing with squirrel and bottle baby behind me. I don't think Gracie knew the camera was on her, but I'm clearly ready for my close-up!

Here's two pictures of us getting in the car and strapped in. There I was posing all pretty when Gracie's big ear got in the way. She's such a camera hog!

Last time, I said I didn't have a picture of Aunt Suzie, so I made sure that Mommy got one yesterday when she dropped us off. Check her out below. She's a little brown and very funny-looking schnauzer. See how small she is! Even bottle baby's a bit bigger I think!

So I'm sad we can no longer cuddle up with Mommy and Daddy to take naps or watch TV, but on the positive side this is a whole new yard to patrol! Aunt Suzie does a terrible job of keeping the squirrels out of her territory, so I'm going to teach her how its done. Here I am showing her how to spot them through the window. This is important in figuring out where they come from and what they do! Unfortunately, Aunt Suzie doesn't seem to be in the picture. She must not care. Frankly, I didn't notice. The hunt is on again!

Just Chillin'

It's been a lazy couple weeks spent doing everything I love: eating, pottying, and tormenting squirrels, birds, and Gracie. Oh, and there's been a lot of cuddling with Mommy and Daddy. So today Mommy took a great picture of Gracie playing with snake.


But as we all know, whenever Gracie starts thinking something is hers, I have to remind her who the boss is.


I've been told that I may get to go see Aunt Suzie this weekend sometime. Aunt Suzie is my aunt on my mommy's side of the family; Aunt Diva's on my daddy's side. I don't have a picture of her. You'd actually have to use the zoom to see her cause she's so small. I have toys bigger than Aunt Suzie!

Oh well. It's time for me to go on a walk. Every once in a while I need to patrol the outer portions of my territory so that I can poop a bit to remind the other schnauzers who's in charge. Until next time!

I Got Prettified!

Yesterday, Gracie and I got haircuts. I'm OK with haircuts; it lets me go out and see what the latest styles are! There was one funny-looking tiny schnauzer in the salon that had an awful lot of hair. It was all dragging the ground, and it just looked hot... not to mention it was sooo 2008! I definitely did not like that look, and I'm glad they just went with the normal. Hey, when you've got perfection, why change it? Anyway, they gave me a cute blue bandana with sunshines on it and a little bow on my right hip. A girrrl's got to accessorize, you know!

Gracie, on the other hand, hates haircuts. Really, she hates the powder they put on us when we're done. I'm not fond of it either, but she normally comes home and runs straight to the back yard to find the nearest stretch of grass to roll in. She claims she's gotta get the right smell back, and you know how much smelling right is important to us girrrls. So they went with the cute red bandana for Gracie, and I think it looks fabulous on her! Red's so her color!

That reminds me, one time a year or so ago, Gracie came right back from the salon and rolled in the yard like normal, only to grind around in a pile of poo! Mommy and Daddy were sooo mad at her, but she claimed it was preferrable to the powder smell!

So when you got it, I say flaunt it, so here's how pretty we look. Don't be jealous!

Brains Over Brawn!

Abby's busy eating her bone, so now it's my turn to post! You see, I can't believe Abby never thought to ask if there were any other schnauzers out there reading this. The internet is all about finding new dogs to talk to, but Abby doesn't think like that! She thinks it's all about chasing squirrels and finding new and exciting places to go potty (not that there's anything wrong with that). I guess that's why I'm the real brains of this operation regardless of what Abby says! Higher order thinking and all... Anyway, if you're out there, schnauzers, give a bark!

Uh-oh. Here comes Abby! Gotta run!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

It's one day early, but Mommy and Daddy are going away for a few days, so this is our chance to wish our Mommy a Happy Birthday! Daddy says Mommy is 217 dog years old... That's old, but again, nothing that happened before we were born counts! Doggy licks for all!

Obedience Training

Look what I found again in Mommy's closet! It's her boot from last summer! Ah, that brings back memories of one of my great triumphs: getting out of obedience training!

Now obviously I have to do a lot of obedience training... like every day. I swear no matter how much training I do with them, Mommy and Daddy continue to think they're in charge. They're hard ones to break, but I'm persistent. Eventually, I'll have them broken in just how I like them.

But last summer (2008), Mommy and Daddy had this idea that they'd put me (yes, ME! Can you BELIEVE it!) through obedience training! Oh, and Gracie too, but she needed it! Gracie was just a puppy then, so we had different classes, and Gracie started hers two weeks before I started mine. Well, after Gracie came back the first week, she said there were lots of treats, so I was excited to go. But the second week, she said she had to work and do tricks for the snacks. You know, things like sitting and staying. All I could think was that I had to get out of this! After all, I have one rule and one rule only: I'm in charge!

A few days later, I saw my opportunity! Mommy was trying to paint the bathroom (by the way, it's funny how Mommy and Daddy actually go to the bathroom inside... yuck!) So she was painting the bathroom and had leaned the ladder against the wall, so I just ran under the ladder and tipped it over onto Mommy's ankle! It ended up broken, and Daddy had to drive her to the doctor, but then she had no way to drive her car! So while Daddy was taking Gracie to her training, Mommy was unable to take me to mine! They canceled the class and still haven't remembered to sign me up again. I got out of it!

Man I am so awesome... and cute! Just remembering how smart I am makes me want to go chase a squirrel. See ya!

My New Toy!

Last night Daddy returned from a business trip to a place he called "Alaska" wherever that is. The best part about Daddy coming home is that he brought me a new toy! This is me getting my new squirrel off the coffee table! It was grrrreat! You see, one of the most important things I do every day is chase all the squirrels off my property. Unfortunately, I never seem to catch them, but one day... In the meantime, this little stuffed squirrel is gonna pay!

When I was gone, Daddy even caught Gracie eyeing my squirrel, and then before long she made a grab for it! She should know better than to play with my stuff, so I'm going to beat her up later! As we know, I'm in charge, and I can not have Gracie ignoring my authority!

Today, Daddy pointed this strange contraption-thing in my face for what seemed like hours. I can't figure it out; it doesn't smell quite right. Daddy is strange sometimes.

After that was done, Gracie helped Daddy unpack from his trip. As there was no food or poop in the suitcase, she quickly lost interest.

Aunt Diva's also come over to stay for a month. As you can see, we all were helping, just not as much as Gracie.

Other than that, the day was full of pooping, eating, and cuddling with Daddy and Mommy. Time to go eat my squirrel again!

Hello World!

OK, I've studied Daddy doing this for some time, so I think I have the hang of it. Now it's my turn... only typing with paws is hard, but I eventually get it right. Now what do I want to say?Just a second --

Oh, I thought I heard someone in the kitchen. Dinner time's not for two hours, eleven minutes, and thirty-two seconds, but you never know. Sometimes, they go the snack jar, so if I have to bolt suddenly... Now where was I?

Oh, yes. What to say? First, I should probably introduce everyone. I'm Abby, and I'm the leader of this house. Some people call it ruler, queen, alpha-dog. Whatever you want to say, the bottom line is I'm in charge. Mommy and Daddy think they're in charge - and sometimes it suits me to let them think that - but in the end it's all me. I'm two and a half years old, black, and super cute.

Next is my little sister, Gracie. She's only one and a half years old, and people say she's "salt and pepper." It's just easier to say she's gray. I like to beat her up and steal her bones, toys, socks, and anything else that interests her. Of course, if anyone else beats her up, they're going to have problems with me! No one gives my little sister grief but ME! Got it?

Finally, there's Aunt Diva. She comes to stay with us sometimes. I don't know how old she is; she's older than I am, and we all know that nothing that happened before I was born matters. She's black and white and is the funniest looking schnauzer I've ever seen. Anyway, when she's here, nothing changes. I'm still in charge!

OK, I have to go patrol my domain now and make sure no one's acting up. Later!