Hubby and I had hoped that Fritz escaped the horrors of Skunk smell, but after a day or two, decided that yes indeed, Fritz did have a lingering smell of skunk. Actually it was pointed out to me by someone I didn’t even know. A new Vet Tech at my Veterinarian’s Office when I brought Fritz in for his shots.

So since I could not disagree (really she was right!) I prepared my very own “De-Skunk Smell Bath Preparation”.

One

Two

Mix the douche powder with water as directed. (Be sure to get enough to cover your dog.) Then wet your dog all over with the douche solution.

Once the dog is completely wet with the douche solution, get out the bar of Dove soap for sensitive skin. Start working the bar of soap over the dog.

Rub the soap until you have a good lather. Make sure to work it into his coat until every single part of the dog is covered.

Now it’s time for the real fun. Get the hose. Turn on the water and start rinsing!

Remember, at some point the dog will shake and you too will be April Fresh!

In the end, the bath was a rousing success. Even Greta had to admit it, even though she stayed far away from the whole thing.

And Fritz is now beautiful, white as snow and smells deliciously clean!

Today was Mr. Fritz’s 7th Birthday! Can you believe that? It seems just the other day that Hubby flew out to Portland, Oregon and brought home our 8 week old bundle of fluffy white puppy fur!

Fritz Birthday from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

We’ve always felt blessed to have Fritz. He is simply, the very best White German Shepherd that we have ever had! It’s hard to believe that he is 7 years old.

Just a few little photographs of Anneliese on day 49 of her pregnancy! She is progressing nicely and getting rounder all the time.

She puts up with me posing her and snapping pictures even when she would like me to leave her alone.

Tonight I asked Hubby to take these for me, so I could hold her up for you all to see.

She has about 2 and a half weeks left, until the big day, so I plan on getting the puppy room ready early next week so she can get used to it again.

Meanwhile, Fritz is doing well. We’re keeping him quiet, and we will be taking him back on Saturday for a re-check.

So, all in all, Thursday was quiet and restful for us all.

Tuesday wasn’t a good day for Fritz. He’d gone for a hike with his Daddy, and while they were at a friends home, Fritz not only got zapped by an electric fence that our friends have to keep their horses penned, but one of the horses stepped on his ankle. He yelped in pain, but at first seemed okay.

He had a bad night last night, and woke me whimpering. By this morning his ankle was swollen and we called our Veterinarian.

After Weight Watchers (I lost 1.2 pounds!) I drove home, picked up Hubby and Fritz and we drove to the Vet’s. They examined him, x-rayed him and although they did not find any break, they decided that casting the ankle and leg area was the best treatment. They also gave him a shot of “happy juice” that has kept him quiet all day long.

We drove him home and he was VERY quiet all day. Not necessarily sleepy, just silent and still, which is totally unlike him!

They’ve delayed Anneliese’s next appointment until Monday, as I am busy with Fritz and my sinus infection. So the next few days I will keep Fritz and myself quiet so we can both recover.

I need to start off this post by letting you all know that Fritz’s pathology report came back and he is going to be okay! The doctors got all the tumor and there shouldn’t be a re-occurrence of the problem! Hubby and I are rejoicing tonight!!!

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I was sitting here thinking of Uschi and Volker and the wonderful time I had with them in Berlin. So, I went through all the pictures we took, found my favorites (way too many, so this is a tad long) and made a montage.

Watching it brings tears to my eyes, as I recall the time spent with my dear friends! I hope I will be able to make a trip back, soon!

Berlin June 2010 Germany from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

As I said the video is a little long, but full of smiles and doggies and happiness!

Yesterday our White Shepherd, Fritz was operated on. He had a rather suspicious lump on his neck and we became quite worried about it when it began to grow. So, we arranged surgery to remove it. We are still hoping for the best, as our Vets have sent the tumor off to pathology for a definite diagnosis, but my Vets told us to be prepared for the worst.

So, I brought Fritz home last night and went back and forth between steely determination and tears. I really am hoping that all will be well, but I am fairly convinced that it is malignant as they suspect.

I’m holding the right thoughts, that my furry white friend will be making a complete recovery!

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Anneliese is showing me many signs of the early part of pregnancy. She puts herself to bed at about 8-8:30 each night, and then the rest of the time is stuck to me like glue! She is cuddly, and loving and very sweet. Not that she isn’t like this normally, but it is just more so right now.

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I decided to make a beer batter fish and chips tonight for dinner. I found  a recipe, even watched a video showing how to do this. The end result…It was terrible. The fish was cooked, so we peeled off the beer batter, and ate the white meat of the Haddock, but both of us agreed we enjoy the Haddock broiled much better.

So we will chalk that up to experience! Ha!

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I got my peas tied up, and the garden is doing well. I need to get some Miracle Grow vegetable plant food, and spray that out. All in all, I am really pleased with the garden this year!

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Have a great Saturday, Everyone!

This morning I was watching the news and they spoke of a week where we will have snow every day. The alarmist weatherman said that ski country (where I live) has the possibility of getting 1-2 feet of snow! I am really not sure if this will actually happen, but I took stock of what needed to be done around here, just in case.

First, our trash, magazines and newspapers all needed to go to the recycling center. So, I dressed in my grubby, go to the dump clothes and started to pack the Jeep with the trash. I turned to pick up a bag and I looked back and Fritz was in the Jeep, sitting there waiting to go.

I suppose I could have dragged him out of the Jeep, but he looked so excited that I just finished loading the car and off we went, Fritz and me! I rolled the window down so he could feel the wind on his face, and I thought how good that must feel to him. When I was on the cruise, I stood on the deck of the ship and felt the wind on my face and it felt wonderful!

We recycled everything and Fritz even got a cookie from the recycling center helper. The woman there just loves Fritz! We went to the bank after that and Fritz got another 2 cookies there. He is really popular with the ladies!

We stopped at the grocery store so I could buy a few things to tide us over during the storm, and a man in the parking lot asked if that was a White German Shepherd? I said yes, and he got quite excited to see such a handsome boy.

At the Post Office, a man asked me about Fritz and I told him what sort of dog Fritz is. It was simply Fritz’s day to be noticed! This was so nice because the dackels get all the attention and Fritz is happy with that. He loves them too. But every once in a while, it’s nice when people make a fuss over him.

Today, I really enjoyed my big boy! What a Prince!

Monday was one of those days where I spent most of the day waiting on, cleaning up after, and pampering the dogs. The medicine makes Greta feel so much better that she wants to run outside and chase every, leaf, cat or mouse that she sees. More than once, when she went outside, she took a run and of course this meant that I also went on a run. After her!!! So If Greta went out, so did I, just to watch her. At least she is feeling somewhat better.

The other two dackels were their normal adorable selves. Especially my buddy, Arnie. That boy is just the sweetest thing! This was the boy I had not wanted to keep all those years ago. I had planned to sell him and now, I cannot imagine my life without him! Look at that face! Isn’t he the handsomest guy?

Anneliese is a bit more independent, but she likes to hang out with me as well. She is funny though because she will be very affectionate when no one is looking. Her favorite time of day for sweet kisses? Dawn! Oh well, somehow the tenderness she shares with me makes the time of day acceptable, most of the time!

Fritz really hangs tight with me when Hubby is gone. It’s so funny because as soon as Hubby gets home, Fritz suddenly forgets who I am. It’s okay. Fritzi is a sweetheart and I love him just as he is!

Hubby skied for half the day and then went working on a project at the library. He arrived home just in time to eat dinner before I was out the door for a meeting.

I’ve joined a Women’s Organization called Altrusa. The women in this group are dedicated to community service. I’ve been looking for a way to serve my town and this feels like a good outlet for me. The other women are terrific and I enjoy the time I have spent there.

The day is coming to a close as we put each dog out for their last walk of the night. Always an exciting time. Next is bed.

So ends another Doggone good day!

Do you all remember last spring when my old laptop computer died just as the warranty on it had expired? I was told that nothing could be done. The computer was dead. However I was told that the hard drive was fine, it was a memory chip problem. I thought that in time I would have the hard drive put into an external box to use for back up.

But when I got my new laptop, I just forgot the old one until the other day when Hubby’s laptop became infected with viruses. I was still pretty angry at how I had been treated at the old computer repair shop, so I had taken Hubby’s computer to a place in the next town owned by a husband and wife. I call them my computer wizards!

They not only repaired Hubby’s virus laden machine, but when I brought in my old laptop to have the hard drive turned into an external hard drive, they looked it over and found the problem!

Here is the long and short of it: the laptop had TWO memory chips, but the old shop apparently had never even discovered the second one!

So my computer wizards replaced the chip, cleaned the hard drive and reloaded all my information! My old laptop is new again!

Hubby was skiing while I was doing the computer stuff, but he picked me up at their shop, and we went to the big city and had lunch. It was so nice to sit quietly and share a meal with Hubby. Afterward, we went over to LL Bean (my second favorite shop), as I had a bunch of coupons. Hubby found a pair of jeans, and I found a lambs wool pea coat that fits me perfectly! It was also marked down from $200.00 to $39.87. Now I had great coupons and a special promotion, so our grand total for all items was $7.29!

Yes, I am the Queen of discount shopping!

Then I realized that I had lost my much loved blue scarf. I remembered taking it off in the restaurant we had lunch in, so we went back and there it was! Now I would like to make a scarf to go with my new coat.

Had I known what l was about to face at home, I would have jumped out of the car! But in my ignorance, I came home with a smile on my face, feeling happy to have gone out for the first time since my eye operation.

We opened the door to the house and were overcome with the horrific smell of poop. Now one thing you should know about me is that I do not do poop well. In fact I am still shocked that I raised two children and changed diapers without totally losing it!

We found a small amount in the office and cleaned that up, thinking that it was all there was. However, my nose told me otherwise. I tracked it down to our formal living room, and it was there that we found that Fritz, our White German Shepherd, had decorated my beautiful leather sofa in grand fashion! Oh my goodness, I have never seen such a mess! I know I will have nightmares about this for years to come!

I had Hubby get me my Big Green Clean Machine, and I started to clean up. It took me over 1 hour to clean it up. Of course, the scent lingers, so I have two candles burning to help dissipate the smell.

I decontaminated myself in the shower, and Hubby made dinner. Somehow I had lost my desire for food, something that almost never happens.

Fritz is looking quite guilty and yet sorry for what he has done. I’m considering allowing him to remain as a member as our family.

The dachshunds think we should pack his things and put him out on the road.

You all know how much I love Fritz. Although I admit to the fact that I don’t always write about him, because the dackels seem to be the attention getters in this house. Occasionally Fritz will do something notable, something that I simply have to write about. Because I cannot believe that he did what he did.

Let me go back so I can explain.

Yesterday I decided to completely change the bed, washing the blanket and mattress pads, etc.  It took me most of the day, but by the time we were ready for bed, it was ready for us. I climbed into the clean sheets and blankets and just smelled their freshness! I love that feeling and actually look forward to my weekly sheet change for this reason.

Hubby and I were up early this morning, as he went out to ski again today with some of our friends. After he had gone, I made my Weight Watcher breakfast, sipped my coffee and then decided it was time to shower and dress and make the bed.

I went into our bedroom and found Fritz lying on Hubby’s side of the bed chewing on his stuffed monkey and the sheets, and mattress pad were soaked with his doggy slobber! He looked at me with those innocent eyes, while another bead of slobber escaped his mouth!

All I can say is, at least he didn’t get the blanket!

So I shooed him down. Took a deep breath and then changed the mattress pad and sheets once again. Once the bed was done I closed the door to my bedroom and locked him out, and the sheet washing began!

It is a good thing that I love that dog!

(LOL!)