Super cool inforgraphic on our favorite dog!

H-Mom loves these; she pins them on Pinterest all the time. Infographics make it easy to share information and they are as much fun to build as they are to read.

This infographic on schnauzers is a good one:

Looking for a Schnauzer Dog or Puppy? Why Not Adopt!

And the best thing of all is that it supports pet adoption.

H-Mom and Man-dad are cooking something up around here. They said something about a "yard" and the next conversation was about being open to rescuing a 2-3 year old Giant. All ears are open.

Sniff Search Schnauzer

On the way in from our walk last night, Madison stopped to say hello to the concierge and security staff at the front desk of our building. She loves the attention, and this is part of the routine.

Mid-pat, she spun around, put her nose in the air and pulled me over to the planter by the elevator lobby. She snorked along the top edge for a minute (she is a master-snorker) and then stopped, froze and stared. Staring is what she does when she wants something. She will stare at her empty water bowl. She will stare up at the bed. She will stare at the cupboard with the Milk Bones. She doesn't make a sound, doesn't jump, doesn't move. She just stares.

So, she just stood there, staring at the planter.

There is something in there, said H-Mom to the security guard.

No there is not, he said. He walked over and hunkered down and dug around between the plants with his hand.

Then he said, she should be a sniff and search dog! This is what Madison sniffed out:

 

Now Madison is thinking she should be trying out for Alpha Dogs, or helping Southwest Airlines find all the peanuts that passengers tuck down between the seats and in the magazine holders.

The persistent sink hole

This sink hole is looking for a little victim, and it will not be Madison. She and Madison make a wide circle around the persistent crater along the River Walk.

On Monday, H-mom sent an email to the Fort Lauderdale Building Department and they came right out, marked it all up with white paint, and then sent a crew on Tuesday to fill it in with gravel and sand.

The crew even named it "SINK HOLE."

Today the hole opened back up and now you can see the landscaping pipes underneath. Looks like it's a hungry Sink Hole. 

H-mom sent another e-mail to the city. They are going to need to institute a more aggressive sink-hole-management program.

Down the Rabbit Hole?

Yikes. It's Madison, not Alice.

We were walking the other evening, Madison ambling along beside H-Mom, who was paying strict attention to the ground so as not to step in dog business.

There's a lot of dog business around here, because no one picks up. There was even a huge pile of dog business right next to the green pole with the poop bag dispenser. Which was full of bags. But that is another story.

So H-mom was watching the ground and all of a sudden, half of Madison disappeared. And she just froze, like one of those cows you've seen on the Animal Planet that are sinking in a mud bog.

Madison's rear legs and butt fell right into a huge hole that is opened up next to a storm drain along the Riverwalk. With all the rain, the ground has eroded, and the grass growing over it, the almost 2-foot wide hole is well hidden. And it goes far down, really far, not into the drain, but deep down beside it. You can't see the bottom. H-mom has visions of a little sinkhole swallowing up half a giant schnauzer, a little dog, a child, someone's leg.

Madison didn't even move with her legs hanging in the hole underneath her, and H-mom said, "What are you doing, silly!" and put her arms around Madison's belly and pulled her right out of the hole.

Today H-mom sent an email request for the city of Fort Lauderdale to fix the hole. Tomorrow, she'll call. She asked the building to put a warning cone by it, but no one has yet.

Maybe she'll just swipe a cone from the parking attendants.

Magnolia Plantation gets a 5-Dog-Bone Rating!

It only makes sense that a dog-friendly bed & breakfast gets a review by one its most discerning guests, and a 5-dog-bone rating to go with it!

The humans took Madison along on a recent visit to Gainesville, Florida, where Man-dad was doing some business. It was a long 5 hour ride from Fort Lauderdale, but worth the trip. Gainesville is an interesting city, with a combination of big university town vibe and historic Southern city ambiance. H-mom loved the Historic Duckpond neighborhood. In the middle of Duckpond, there really is a duck pond, and Madison was intensely intrigued. Those big geese can be mean though, and the black swans equally unfriendly!

We stayed at the Magnolia Plantation. What an awesome place! The cottages are fido-compatible, and dogs with good manners, like Madison, of course, can sleep on the beds if they are courteous enough to bring along their own blankets. Jessica's Courtyard, where Madison was a guest, has a private courtyard, with tons of brick landscaping and wonderful plantings to sniff around in. It was all walled in and secure enough to let Madison stretch her legs after a long car ride. The cottage had two bedrooms, a kitchen, sunporch and a living room, and a great big old tub in the bathroom. Man-dad actually said he could live there and be very happy!

We brought Madison's blanket to cover the beautiful black and white toile spread; 

isn't the antique canopy wonderful?

Magnolia Plantation is tops on Madison's list of where to stay when traveling in Florida with a pooch. If you decide to make a visit, be sure to tell Cindy and Joe that Madison sent you!

Gainesville is a proudly dog-friendly city, too. There is a brand new dog park, Haisley Lynch Park, right downtown, and four other dog parks in the city if you feel like an adventure with your humans. The restaurants usually allow dogs at their outdoor seating, and there are lots of beautiful streets to walk down and enjoy both the old homes and the tastefully rehabbed downtown.

On the trip up to Gainesville, we stopped at one of the service plazas getting close to Ocala. Madison was out of the car on leash, posing around as usual. Here is proof-positive that Northern Florida is more "the South" than it is Florida:

A lady walked past H-Mom, nodded at Madison and said, "That's one fine lookin' hound."

Yep. Sure is.

Schnauzer Fashionista!

H-mom is at it again, and this time she won a lovely Victorian-style pendant from Simply Italy Designs. The proprietress specializes in applying pet portraits to custom jewelry.

H-mom choose to have this photo of Madison, from a couple summers ago, turned into this special piece of jewelry.

 

Danita suggested a lavender background, which looks really, really elegant with Madison's shiny black coat. Madison is soaking up the admiration in her own modest and serious German way. 

By the way, her "jewelry" is getting lots of comments as well ... it's a blingy collar from Pucci & Catana Pet Boutique in Naples.

What a cool trinket to have. H-mom is so excited to get the necklace in the mail, and she is sending "thank yous" to Simply Italy Designs ... a million times over! Danita's gorgeous designs would make a wonderful gift for a dog-loving friend with a very special pooch, and definitely something special for yourself. Actually ... any of Danita's pieces would make WOnDERfuL Dog-mom gifts for Mother's Day ... just sayin.

If you are on Facebook, give Simply Italy a LIKE. And tell her "Madison sent me!"

Big Cypress Camping Adventure

Do you know how cold a Giant's ears get when it is 53 degrees out, in a tent, in the Big Cypress Preserve, in the middle of the Everglades?

Madison is a city girl, but she braved this great Thanksgiving Day camping trip idea with the humans. She laid in the grass, snorked around the campfire, ate a bit of turkey and stared back at the little gator that was fixated on the campsite.

When we were all zipped into the tent, she curled up on her dog bed and quietly stared at Man-Dad.

About 3am, Madison started pacing, whining softly. It was freakin' freezing, especially for a condo dog.

"Just hoist her up her," said H-mom and Man-dad dragged Madison right onto the air mattress. Where she clambered her way in between the two of them and hunkered under the throw blanket Man-dad pulled over her. She tucked her nose into H-mom's arm, tucked up tight and went to sleep.

None of us had any second thoughts about making it a one-night adventure.

Homes for Vet Dogs!

 H-Mom found this on Facebook. We can't offer a home to a Veteran Dog, but maybe you can. Or, maybe you know someone who can. 

Please share:

The United States Marine Corps has around 400 IED (Improvised Explosive Device) sniffing dogs that are being decommissioned and need forever homes. Most of the dogs are breeds such as: Labradors, Belgian Malinois, Border Collies, German Shepherds & Rottweilers and are incredibly well-trained and have saved countless American, NATO and foreign lives. They are in District of Columbia (D.C.). Adoptive families must be able to travel to D.C. to pick up the dogs or arrange transport at their own expense. Please help these war heroes get the lives they deserve. The contact for interested adoptive families is: Brian D. Miller PM IED Detector Dog Program Marine Corps Systems Command 910-652-3645 Ext-321 [brian.d.miller7 at usmc dot mil] PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE. THANK YOU!

 

Happy morning, Snyder Park!

Madison's buddy, Nick, is doing great as a tri-pawd. He has been coming to the dog park for weeks now, and he is really getting around great.

But Nick was a little depressed after losing his leg, even though he won against cancer. And his humans were a little down too (this is H-Mom's evaluation.) Then came little Mitch, who was found on the street by some people in Miami and kind of bounced around a bit, and then ended up at our dog park.

Cause if you've got a cute, little homeless dog, what better place to find a bunch of kind-hearted, softies than the dog park, right?

And he just hit it off with Nick - all of his little self and that great big three-legged Rottweiler. So he spent a day at Nick's house and then he was going to go to the pound and Coach just looked at his little face in the back of a friend's truck, and the rest is, well, exactly what was meant to be.

So, yay, Mitch! He has the perfect new family, and he is aggravating them with his puppy antics, but he is making them laugh, and he is getting Nick out of his funk, too.

Here is Madison running with little Mitch and catching herself in mid-body check with Nick. Play is on!

Strong thoughts for our friend Nick

Madison's very best friend, Nick - actually kind of her LOVE, really - needs lots of strong thoughts right now.

He was in the dog hospital today, having his hind leg amputated to get rid of bone cancer. Terrible, terrible bad ouch! But H-mom called and Coach said that Nick was kind of groggy but got through the surgery so-far-so-good.

Nick's going to be a really big tripod. We've got to get him back to the dog park soon.

Madison misses him. They've been pal-ing around at the dog park almost every morning for the last 4 years! They were actually small-ish pups there at the same time, and they've done all kinds of fun things together, from dirt-wrestling to German-Uboat-water-races.

Isn't he a hunk? Come on, big guy, we're all pulling for you! Kissesssssssss (from Madison, too!)

Win $100 dog treat contest!

Dog pals, if you've got really sad dog eyes and an irresistible begging face, you should enter this cool contest to win a gift card for $100 at any pet store on Catalogs.com!

All you need to do is get your humans to post a photo on the Dogs n Deals Facebook page that H-mom takes care of for her work!

Madison can't win because of that "family isn't eligible" thing, but YOU could! Good luck! We'll vote for all of you!

Husky makes it home!

After Man-dad rescued that great big no-meal-missing Husky from the middle of Spanish River Road and took him to the Humane Society, H-mom got busy.

She put the dog's picture all over Facebook and tagged all her friends who do dog rescue. She posted his photo on the Facebook pages of other rescues in the area, just in case his family was looking for him. She called the police department in Boca Raton and in Pompano. She sent an email to Animal Control in Palm Beach County.

And then we waited. We all couldn't stop thinking about that great big old Husky. Sitting in the pound with Madison's Chicago Cubs collar on. H-mom said that collar should bring him luck.

Can you believe that this morning when H-mom opened her Facebook, there was a private message from the Tri-County Humane Society:

"He has been returned to his owner"

What amazing news! That wasn't where Man-dad took him, but they must have networked the news of his whereabouts to his family.

Then later, H-mom even got an email from the Co-ordinator of Palm Beach Animal Control asking for more info. She was more than happy to let them know the dog found his family!

Isn't it cool that all these people cared about the lost Husky?

H-mom said that the Cubs couldn't even win when Madison wore the collar, but the collar must have done some good because this story has a happy ending!

Man-dad saved a GREAT BIG lost Husky!

Man-dad was in Highland Beach, right at the border of Boca Raton, and he saw a beautiful big Siberian Husky in the middle of Spanish River Road. The dog was scared and confused and there was lots of traffic. A couple people had stopped but no one was really doing anything.

Man-dad pulled over, got out and picked the dog up (boy he is WELL FED!) and hoisted him into his truck so that he was safe. The dog had no collar and no tags. He put Madison's CUBS collar on the big guy.

Now what? We live in a condo with one big schnauzer, so no way we could take him home, even for a minute. Man-dad took him down to the Humane Society of Broward County on Griffin Road in Fort Lauderdale. This sucks: he has NO MICROCHIP.

This makes us feel TERRIBLE. But at least he isn't getting lost worse, or hit by a car. Or cooking in the heat with no water.

He is about 110 pounds, two blue eyes, friendly and needs to find his food bowl, which he obviously loves very very much.

Please share this around.

H-Mom put it all over Facebook. And South Florida Siberian Husky Rescue is sharing on Facebook. And lots of our other dog-loving friends.

His admit number at the Humane Society is A462282. He is on a five day hold. That's enough time to work some dog-magic, right?

Let's hear it for the Bears!

Man-dad was watched the replay of the Chicago Bears 2nd pre-season game. Madison decided to complain about something ... or maybe she was growling for the Bears!



Everyone we know who has a Giant says they make these weird underwater-Orca noises too.

Found Dog, Contest Won - Great Updates!

First, we have to let everyone know that REMI has been found. His people wouldn't leave their campsite where he was lost from, waiting for him for 13 days. They fried pounds of bacon, called his name a million times, walked 40 miles ... and he came walking out of the woods. Remi is 15 pounds thinner, a little contrite and very very lucky!

What amazing dog people that they never gave up on finding him!

and the next amazing news is that H-Mom WON the Famous Footwear "Star-Studded Hollywood Style" contest on Pinterest! She is going to L.A. for 4 days and gets to stay in Beverly Hills.

She did a board all about Hollywood stars walking their dogs and the kind of shoes they wear (some pretty crazy choices she thinks!) See ... her dog obsession paid off!

Here is what her winning board looks like on Pinterest (click to see it here):

Have a great night, and here's to great things happening to all of us, all the time!

Remi is MISSING! No. California help needed!

This kind of news makes us so worried. Madison is a little skittish about the great outdoors, being totally a condo, dog salon, Stearns & Foster kind of giant dog, and this is just weighing on our thoughts tonight.

So, if ANY of our dog-blogging friends have other dog-blogging friends and followers and family and etc in North California around Foresthill, please share this for Remi's h-mom.

Remi is a gorgeous RESCUED black & tan coonhound (remember our love Booker?). He has gone seriously astray and Felicia is beside herself. We can so seriously understand.

She posted this:

Remi. Missing. Foresthill,Ca. Robinson flat camp ground. July 29,12.

And this photo:

Isn't he handsome? He shouldn't be out there alone.

We really hope somehow, someone - maybe even someone we know or that 7-degrees-of-separation-thing - can help!

Hugs to your hounds.

Dog-walking footwear, Hollywood-style

What do you wear to walk with your best friend? Since H-mom had her knee surgery, she has been wearing ONLY Spira walking shoes. This is by order of her orthopedic surgeon, so she is behaving. And living vicariously. How?

Well, she had this great idea for a contest entry for the Famous Footwear Pinterest "Star-Studded Style" contest. H-mom decided that she would find photos of celebrities walking their dogs. And that she would then find their look-alike shoes on the Famous Footwear site. And then throw in a few other photos, like old pictures of Hollywood pooches.

See ... these are the shoes that H-mom is wearing right now:

They are not bad. But, well, they are not great either. Like not very sexy, as Man-dad would say.

These are what H-mom found are the hottest looks to wear when dog-walking if you're a celeb. Or dog-strolling as it were:

Want to see more? Go check out H-mom's Pinterest board "Famous Footwear Star-Studded Style."

If you are on Pinterest, share some pin-love with H-mom too! Follow her. She promises to follow you back. And she could sure use some repins+likes+comments on her contest board. The prize is a 3-night, 4-day trip to L.A. H-mom really, really, seriously wants to win this contest. You know why? First of all because she LOVES Famous Footwear (really) and second of all because she could see her son, who is attending UCLA Anderson, starting his second year of B-school, and his lovely girlfriend. They don't have a dog, but they are definitely dog lovers. AND she is a fashion designer!

H-mom is thinking that a trip to L.A. is in the stars. And she knows that her dog-themed board is an awesome idea.

Anyway, she's wondering, what kind of shoes do you wear for dog-walking?

MST 2012

Madison has a nickname: Mystery Science Theater. When she rides in the back of Man-dad's truck she often lays down and chills. When he stops, she pops right up to see what is going on, and in the rear-view mirror, he sees her silhouette and says, "Mystery Science Theater!"

In just the right (or wrong) light, she looks like MST in photos, too.

Thanks to Samantha, with her awesome photoshop skills, Madison is ready for her movie critic debut.

"Scottie" Sunday

The Right Stuff

We had a kind of scary moment in the parking lot. One of the guys who works there was talking to his girlfriend in the parking lot, right by her car. They had a dog in the car, a great big dog. And they were yelling at it to behave and get in the back seat.

Right when Madison got out of Man-dad's truck to go in and choose some dog food flavors, we turned around and the dog - a great big pitbull, like an 80 pound pitbull - was out of the car and the Pet Supermarket employee had his arms around her chest to hold her, but she wasn't leashed. "Princess, Princess, Princess," the lady was yelling. And the guy was holding Princess, but she was squared up on Madison, and she was staring.

H-Mom doesn't like that kind of dog stare. That's a fixated, some kind of s#*! might go down stare. Didn't seem to be very good store employee decision making going on, right there in the parking lot.

We went the long way around the truck, away from the pitbull, and straight down the walk into the store. H-Mom was a little bit scared. A big dog like that without a leash and a lot of energy in the air was un-nerving.

We were fine in the store. Madison eats Canidae and Taste of the Wild, in a mix of varying combinations: lamb, Atlantic salmon, duck, bison or poultry. We got what we needed and when we went outside, the car, Princess and her people were gone.

When we got home, Madison was only worried about making sure that we got the right stuff from Pet Supermarket today

Man-dad said that incident is how really bad things happen, though. In a fraction of a second, all hell can break loose.

Daylight savings nap

For some very odd reason, H-mom was up and at 'em before the sun even came up this morning. Madison was still on the sofa in the middle of a pre-dawn dream.

She was more than a little reluctant to stretch it out and head to the dog park. Daylight WHAT? There wasn't even a sliver of sun when we left the condo this morning.

Which means that this is afternoon is Daylight Naptime. And Madison is tucked up under H-mom's desk, chasing squirrels in her sleep.

Tomorrow morning will be equally odd, we are certain.

Pool etiquette

It is rude to pee in the pool, even if you are discreet, right? Most dogs in Fort Lauderdale know how to swim. Even if they have to do it with a life vest on to add some flotation assistance! Madison is a great swimmer, even though she doesn't have webbed feet like lots of her friends. Fort Lauderdale has 23 miles of coastline and over 300 miles of navigable waterways. That's the intracoastal, New River and all the canals. Lots of that water is full of dog-danger, too: sharks and 'gators to start with. If you let your dog swim here, you have to make sure the water is safe first!

Just a sip

A Giant Schnauzer does not just "take a drink," she drinks the whole bowl. For the well-bearded, a towel must always accompany a bowl of water. This is what goes on for a long time: A least a cup drips off her beard. Then she heads to bed.

A Giant Schnauzer on Weekends and Water

It's another February in Fort Lauderdale, we need rain even though water is all around. Some cities in South Florida have a rain deficit of almost 8 inches. And this is not supposed to look like the desert. Water, water, everywhere ...

Sunday night Man-Dad thought it was going to rain, so they stayed in for the Super Bowl. Looks like it's a dry weekend, though, which is good because a Super Bowl party in Florida means everyone outside, around the grill.

QRCode ... and that's not a dog name!

Hey dog bloggers ... you know that H-Mom is now a busy, busy lady. When Madison was little, they hung out together all the time. Madison was lucky enough to be a "gallery dog" and loved hanging out on Las Olas. H-Mom had lots of time for blogging and walking and taking photos of doggie-stuff to share with doggie friends. Well today, Man-Dad took Madison all the way out to H-Mom's office for a visit. Madison got to go inside and say hello to everyone. Then she waited in H-Mom's car and got to ride home with her. How cool is that? H-Mom works on all kinds of web stuff now, just just dog-blogging. This is one of the projects that she contributes to ... she even made the QR code tonight and wants all kinds of people to check it out and leave comments and lots of dog bones (stars?) and say wooohoooo!

PS: dogs! have your people find the "pets" section and get some early Christmas shopping done!

Halloween Worm Parade

Last night we had torrential rains in Fort Lauderdale. Seriously, we had flash flood alerts starting at 10pm and had to go out with the golf umbrella at 11:30 for the last walk of the night. It was pouring.

We were lucky this morning that the rain let up - we did our usual early morning dog park outing. But things were weird there. It was deserted, even though we were about a half hour late. H-mom was walking around, not paying much attention, and then she had this sensation that the sidewalk was moving.

Thousands of worms, encouraged by the high humidity, were on the sidewalk, moving east on a mission. A Halloween parade, for those who hate worms.

Worms don't actually come up after a rain because they are trying to breathe. They can live underwater for weeks. Super-saturated air makes it possible for worms to live above ground, and they can move without dehydrating. They breathe through their skin, so it must stay moist. Worms will "migrate" to new areas after a heavy rain. Here are some worm facts, if you are interested.

Madison figured it was best just to stay on high ground.

If that wasn't enough worms for you, here are more. It might make you a little dizzy (apologies). Madison was unimpressed. They obviously don't smell like dog treats.

Watching the Breast Cancer Walk

It's a rainy, rainy weekend. Yesterday H-Mom didn't even get out of bed to take Madison to the dog park. Lazy in the extreme. This morning was drizzle only, so we got a good hour. Breakfast was even a bit of bacon grease drizzled over Madison's bowl of kibble to make up for the boring weekend.

This time of year, a dog has to dance between the raindrops!



When we got home, we sat on the patio and watched the brave walkers in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K. It was pouring on them, but they were wearing pink and walking with enthusiasm!




This is the outlook for the rest of the day: GREY. Madison is on the sofa, and she's staying right there.

Want to see what we've been doing?

Working! (That's my man-dad!)

Life is Good -- all the time

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday, Heartdog!

Today Madison is two years old - it's quite a Barkday!

Man-dad made this photo card for Madison, but he couldn't quite bring himself to carry doggie-cupcakes to the dog bark.

BOL. Men, says H-Mom.






This is kind of cool, and it came from Dogster:

Dear Madison,

Woof woof!

We want to wish you a very Happy Birthday full of love and joy and tail wagging. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate it with you!

Madison will be profiled today with other birthday doggies on Dogster's special Birthday Stroll.

Since it's your birthday we want to give you something special, so we have given you 25 Dogster bones and one vote of 5 Paws! Dogster loves you!

Sincerely,
Your Friends at Dogster

25 Dogster bones and a 5-paw vote? Now that sounds important!

Facebook & more

H-Mom is really busy with her job now. She still hangs with Madison a lot, of course, and does the late night walk and all that kind of stuff, but she is on her computer all day a work - writing, editing, surfing - and so she usually doesn't even turn her laptop on.

So, Madison is busy with other stuff too. The dog park with Man-Dad every morning. Chillin' with the teen-H and her friends ...

and then we come to FACEBOOK, and what happens when you give a group of teens some cameras and a very tired dog:




How completely undignified and embarrassing. I mean really. But then again, they could have painted a moustache on Madison's face ...

YES. This photo is all over Facebook. Sigh.

How fast does THIS THING go?

You would be surprised, actually.

Madison found this turtle by the lake at the dog park. The thing is, turtles are not afraid of giant schnauzers. Not even a little bit.

They just turn into giant rocks. And they wait it out.

When the coast is clear, you should see them move. With their stupid looking legs and their stubby little tail wagging like a propeller. And then, PLOP right into the water.


Too bad Man-dad missed getting the photo of Madison jumping into the water right after the turtle. But you see, turtles can sink like a lead weight, and giant schnauzers, luckily, do not.