Giant Schnauzers

Susan Boyle---I Love This Lady!

She is a winner in my book and I can't wait for her first album to come out!! She is just a wonderful sprite of a lady and I love to listen to her sing.

United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona

This is a shameless plug for UCP of Central Arizona. They are having several fund raising events to try and maintain programs due to funds lost through state budget cuts.  My youngest daughter Erin is in the video and does a wonderful job here.  As UCP says..........

"UCP is not just a place for children with disabilities. Adult programs and after school learning options are also available at the Laura Dozer Center. It has been described by parents and staff as "the best kept secret in Arizona."

Sad Schnauzer Little Scruffy

Valley of the Sun Giant Schnauzer Rescue decided to take this little mini schnauzer mix who as found as a stray in Yuma, AZ.   He arrived in Phoenix on Friday around noon.  When I got him home, I had to bathe him immediately because he smelled so awful.  You would have smelled bad if you had feces caked to your bottom too!!

After a lot of shampoo, Scruffy was clean.  He tolerated the blow dryer well and went immediately to the grooming table.  He is quasi groomed now and free of all of the mats and dirt that clogged his very being.  He walks funny and I think he is much older than his five years that he was supposed to be.  He teeth look awful but he is tottering less than he was and will almost play.   I think he is going to need a quiet home with lots of loving.  Luckily he is already neutered so he won't have to endure that surgery but he may have to have some other things checked out.

For now sad schnauzer Scruffy is beoming a happier camper and he will totter around the yard and get a little bit stronger day by day.  Then on Tuesday he will go in and be evaluated health wise to see what his condition actually is.

But he is as cute as he can be and a very mellow fellow who is happy where ever he is.

A Terrible Scare

A couple of weeks ago, we had a terrifying scare.  On a Thursday afternoon, our mini T-Bone came into the computer room and started throwing up.  They were just little spots but I was concerned and when I went to check on him a few minutes later, he was almost limp.  He was laying on one of the big dog beds and when I picked him up, he just folded in half.  I called the vet's office and asked to bring him in.  Lucky for us they are open until 7 on Thursdays.  It is almost an hour's drive to our favorite vet at Deer Creek Animal Hospital. 

I quickly let the other dogs out and gave them cookies and put them all in their spots for when we leave the house.  T-Bone was pretty much out of it on the way there.  I had called Tom and he met us at the hospital.  While we were in the examining room, T-Bone started breathing funny, so we told the staff and they came and got him immediately.  They x-rayed him and saw no blockages.  The initial blood tests showed that his white count was almost nonexistent.  He was immediately given anitibotics and other meds and put on an IV.  He was a sad little puppy and way to young to be this sick.  He is only 13 months old. 

The blood tests came back almost normal except for his liver enzymes which said he was fighting something poisonous.  Some seeds were found in his feces.  After a thorough search of our yard, we found some lantana that the birds had planted.  It was behind a fenced area but one flower poked through the fence.  This must be the culprit. T-Bone was so sad in his kennel but he was in good hands and sadly we left him there.

T-Bone was there until the following Monday when he was judged well enough to come home.  He wouldn't have made it through that Thursday night if we hadn't taken him to the hospital.  As it is, he is now completely back to his old self.  While lantana poisoning can be fatal and almost was, there are no lasting effects.  So after surviving his brush with death, he now might have a normal mini life span and we are eternally grateful for that. He is now back to playing with his buddy Queenie. And we love watching them play.

Before and After........The Reason I Do Rescue

I posted a few months ago about the poor doberman boy that was found in the desert outside of Yuma, AZ more than half starved.  He has now come through the ordeal of his former life and is drop dead gorgeous!!

When he came into rescue, he looked as though he could be used to study the canine skelton and muscle structure in a science class.

Now he is the gorgeous dobie boy he was born to be living in a wonderful home where he is showered with love, and he shows it.

Seeing dogs grow into what they were meant to be, gives me a warm glow knowing that the world is just  a little bit better as each dog reaches his or her potential.  Now if we could just change many more humans and make them in to what they ought to be.  Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue has taken in 16 dogs since January with the help of Valley of the Sun Giant Schnauzer Rescue and the incredible help of Deer Creek Animal Hospital and Dr. Suzanne Higgins in Phoenix, Arizona.

Mill Dogs, Giant Schnauzers, Dobermans, Flowers in the Desert

These sweet babies came from a puppy mill in MO that was closing down.  If no one took them, they were going to be disposed of by clubbing them to death.  Now they have been with Valley of the Sun Giant Schnauzer Rescue for about four weeks and several of them are going to new homes this weekend.  Such a nice feeling to save a life and make it whole and far better than it would have been.

This is one of three male giant schnauzers that came to us from the Vegas area.  One went to his new home today and we have a home for one more already.  The last one is a gorgeous seven year old black docked and cropped giant.  He is well trained and just waiting for someone to come and love him.

This beautiful boy is now out of jail and with Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue along with 5 or 6 other dobes who are raining from the skies these last few weeks.  We have pulled four off the euthanasia lists the last ten days.  They have done such a wonderful job in the last five months and have placed and saved about 15 dobes.  Please contact them if you are in the Phoenix area and wanting to adopt a doberman.

The palo verde are almost in full bloom and line many a city street and highway.  Because they are a native tree, they are also in bloom out in the desert as well as around every bend in the road.

The red yucca is in bloom now also and quite pretty.

The apples are trying to produce but they will take a couple of years more before we have enough to eat for more than a taste.

And BG??  Well, BG is being BG, the job that she does best.  The other day I started making dinner for the crew and forgot something in the garage.  When I came back in the house, BG has made her way through several of the bowls while the rest of the dogs were sitting there being very well behaved watching her chow down at her own private buffet.  I yelled at her and she promptly sat down as good as could be looking me as if to say, OK, I sat.  Now may I please finish eating???  I threw her in her cage.

Tom wastn't so lucky last night.  He inadvertently let her in the house while I was fixing dinner and she went her normal ballistic self.  He tried to toss her in her crate head first but she quickly flipped around so he was left to put her in butt first.  She reached under him and grabbed hold of his leg with her paw in a last ditch effort to stay out of the crate.  I thought I was going to split laughing at her.

If furniture is in her way, she simply leaps gracefully over it.  She can do an almost 350 degree turn in the air.  Thank goodness she starts agility on May 12.  She will do well until she spies some other dog getting a treat then I am certain she will try to join in that treat affair. 

Notice the dirty nose.......she is very cute when she is asleep!