Remington...Before & After

Remi has to go to the groomer every 4 to 6 weeks for a trim, otherwise he starts to look like a cross between a wookie and an ewok. Basically, he has this shaggy teddy bear thing going on, which is cute and sort of fitting for his personality, but it's quite a bit of fur and it gets to be a beast to brush out.



This is Remi post haircut; locally we go to a little shop in Alexandria. Remi seems to like his groomer (though, to be honest, Remi likes most everyone...his breeders Shawne & Traci...did a fantastic job raising him and getting him used to being groomed) but there is certainly a difference between this local shop and when we are able to get the little guy up to Maryland to see Shawne & Traci.

These gals do a top shelf job; they show dogs professionally and really know their stuff. It's a good hour and a half drive to get up to them to board Remi but they are the only folks outside of family and friends that we trust because they too are part of his family--they are his roots--we are his home.

This is just a Remington version of a fashion shot; his best command is not "stay". If you are around, he wants to be next to you so I was trying to take this on his level and he kept trying to come up to me to say hi; this was taken when I prepared lunch for him (mistake #1) and put his dish down but didn't give him a "go get it" command yet (when feeding him we put the bowl down then he has to sit and wait for the command before he can eat.)

Max & Remi

Remi met his best friend for the first time a few weeks ago (I'm slow on posting here). Maxwell is MB's little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He doesn't look like your average cavalier, but that's part of what makes him great. He has a fun loving, goofy little personality--he should be a Muppet character.

MB and W have a cool park by their apartment downtown where we met up for our play date. It is a huge, open green space with lots of other nice dogs/owners. MB brought 2 tennis balls for the fuzzy guys (W called as she was trying to throw them.)

Remi didn't really get what was going on at first, so Max chased after the tennis balls and Remi chased after Max....it worked. We kept Remi on his leash because he hasn't grasped "come" yet, and so we weren't comfortable letting him run free.

In all it was a successful play date. We're hoping to have another soon at our place.

Remi's 1st Christmas

For Christmas this year we decided to drive home to Texas to visit both sides of the fam. We went to L town first where Dan's parents met us to spend Christmas eve and Christmas day (above is Remi on Christmas morning in his pjs). Along the 20 plus hour drive we discovered that Rembot is indeed a good road dog as he mostly curled up and slept in the car as we rolled along.

Remi became rather attached to his uncle Eric--I'm pretty sure the little guy misses having the extra attention and "dog friends" in the form of Buddy and Dillon. He did us proud and was very well behaved on the whole.

The weekend before we left for Tejas we had a blizzard with close to 2 feet of snow here in DC...Remi's first snow...he had a blast. Although, we quickly discovered that the little guy is an ice magnet...he romps around for 10 minutes and his leg fur had ice clods dangling and when we got him inside he was shivering, so we had to give him a warm bath to release all the ice.

Last but not least is our Christmas card photo this year--I always like the cards with the photos because it is fun to see how people have changed or where they have been over the year. We put Remington on the front because he's our newest addition, and I don't much like being in front of the camera so it worked out well.

Remi meet Ramp

Those who have been to our apartment will understand, we have a really tall bed--we're pretty tall ourselves so we didn't notice the height at first. That is until family/friends/general visitors, started to comment on our really tall bed..you get the point; our bed is exceptionally tall. It goes without saying that tall beds and small dogs don't necessarily mix well, but our furry friend has come accustomed to sleeping quite nicely at the foot despite the fear of a rather high vertical drop.

Therefore, we got him a ramp. I know I know...ridiculous, but after worrying about him launching himself off the bed and seeing this little guy attempt and fail to vault himself up the 4 feet and body slam into the side a few times...we took pity (OK, I took pity). I found this foam ramp and thought it might just be the perfect thing for our little guy. He was pretty confused by it at first...then he chewed on it...then he finally reached the top on his own (insert cowboy pose above).

Getting down required a little more work; his first attempt (above) was less than graceful; he hit the top part of the ramp and launched himself off the side. Apparently the rest of the ramp was not necessary.

Thus a little coaching from mom and dad was necessary...he was a little weary of going down the "right" way.

The only thing I can equate this to is a doggy "slip-n-slide"...head up, paws out front...belly down...stretched full out..
And he's off....

We need to work on the dismount--it's a little rough at this point (hence the well placed crash mat)....he seems to prefer a sideways roll once he reaches the bottom.

Lambie Doodle

Remi was a bit depressed the first few days we had him; he was affectionate from day one...always wanting to be with Dan and I, but he didn't play or run around and explore like most puppies; he just slept for the most part. This lasted about a day...then he discovered the lambie doodle (the manufacturers name...not ours!)

He has since officially entered the chew stage; he's not bad by any means...just curious. He hasn't necessarily destroyed anything (with exception to our cousin Lauren's flat Stanley...the little paper doll is now missing a foot...I'll have to be crafty with it's replacement...and I may laminate him to avoid future encounters). I'll post about where we take Stanley later; we're thinking the usual DC hot spots will be in order.

Remington

My husband and I wanted to add a furry friend to our family and wanted a "neutral" breed. He grew up with a sheltie and I grew up with beagles...thus, we settled on something new to us both...a miniature schnauzer. They are small, well tempered, non shedding and they are just so darn cute.

After weeks of research we found a reputable breeder with available puppies. I didn't realize how much was involved in doing this kind of thing. As a kid we had a total of 3 beagles--one came from a breeder--however, I was in 3rd grade when we got him, so I don't really remember much about how we got got him, just that we got him. Dan's family procured their sheltie at a small, family owned pet store (which came from a breeder from North Dakota.) According to the AKC, reputable breeders are the best way to go if you want a pure bred--otherwise shelters are great. We are newly wed dog owners and sort of wanted to know what we were getting so we decided to call our local miniature schnauzer chapter to get more info.

We went up to Maryland to visit the kennel on a Monday afternoon and fell for a 5 month old little salt and pepper cutie. Some folks asked us why he was still available so old, but the breeder actually keeps her pups longer than most so that they are better socialized. In the beginning we thought we wanted a black and silver puppy puppy (which she had), but she had the little one out with Remi and we just loved Remi's personality. He isn't a show dog where as the little black and silver pup will be a beauty, but what Remi lacks in show quality he is abundant in affection and spunk.

We've had him for 5 days now and though it feels like we've just adopted a two year old...we're smitten!