Fritz

Happy 5th Birthday Fritz!!!

Today was our Fritz’s 5th birthday. This is my boy when he came to us 5 years ago at the age of 8 weeks!

So we fired up the grill, invited Fritz’s favorite people over and had a cook-out! Hot-dogs and hamburgers were served along with potato salad, chips, dips and fresh local corn on the cob!

It was hot and humid and I personally would have liked to have been inside with the air conditioning, but we all stayed outside and the dogs played on.

Soon it was time for the cake which we served inside.

Fritz wasn’t sure he liked the candle.

We did get him to at least listen to us sing Happy Birthday!

He finally smelled the cake and decided it might not be so bad!

He got his slice of cake and quickly ate the entire piece before the dachshunds had a chance to steal it! The other pups all got theirs as well, and the humans too!

Fritz got some great presents. Balls, toys, bones and the like. He is one very happy dog. Especially when both Dori and Gail took him outside and played fetch with him. Fritz is the happiest when he is playing ball out back!

I think I can safely say that this was a very happy day for my boy!

A Few Thoughts

I sat down to write a new post earlier and I found myself unable to think straight. The rain and the thunder storms of the last few days seem to have zapped my creativity, and left me with a migraine. However, I am committed to writing and keeping a journal of my day to day life, so I bucked myself up and sat down to write.

I think the best part of my day is always the dogs. They never cease to amaze and amuse me. Today it was Fritz who was barking at the door during a torrential downpour. I opened the door and he took one look at all that rain and turned around and went back inside! Well, it made ME laugh!

Also Arnie has started doing the cutest thing. He now follows me all around the house like a little shadow. He is his Mommy’s boy and I just love it.

You see, I have never been a “boy dog” fan. I have always preferred female dogs, but this boy has stolen my heart. I woke in the night last night and got up and when I returned Arnie was waiting for me. I climbed in and Arnie climbed over to me and wrapped his body around my legs. In that moment I felt very loved.

Isn’t that what it’s all about?

I’ve Got A Plan!

I’ve got a plan. You see, I am just a little crazy and I love to make a fuss over my pups, so next Sunday I am throwing a party for my boy Fritz! He will be celebrating his 5th birthday! I simply can’t believe it. 5 years! This is definitely some cause for celebration, so today I made a few calls and started inviting the kids to our house on Sunday for a barbecue.

It won’t be anything too fancy, just hot dogs (but of course!) and hamburgers, and a vanilla cake for dessert! How fun is that?

You know, looking back Fritz was all of 11 pounds when Hubby flew out to Portland, Oregon to bring him home. He traveled in Business Class in a soft sided carrier under the seat in front of Hubby.

Shubi and I waited for them to arrive and when I saw him for the first time, I was completely smitten.

He was just this totally adorable white ball of fluffy fur, only 8 weeks old and still at a point in development where he wanted to sleep more than run around.

Eventually he began to grow. We took him to a dog show where he won “Best Puppy In Show”. I also took him to doggy classes where he learned how to behave. This was a good thing. He behaves quite well, unless, of course, he is in the car. Then he is a total terror!

So now I can make plans and make next Sunday a special day for my big boy Fritz. The absolute best German Shepherd that I have ever had!

Pups & Pounds!

I started to do a Thursday Thirteen and I realized that I was tired of that, so you have just me sitting here writing about a few little things.

Like Anneliese. Isn’t she just the cutest little thing?

She is so sweet too. Hubby and I were talking about this the other day and we are quite amazed at how truly wonderful the two pups are. I imagine we are incredibly partial having had them since the very moment that they were born, but to us, Anneliese and her brother Arnie are just the best! We have watched them grow, and learn to play with each other, and to become part of our little dog pack.

Here is Arnie with me.

He is my little snuggler and at night he sleeps down by my feet happily wound around them. Anneliese now sleeps by my tummy and Greta is now sleeping between our pillows. Yes, we have a full bed each night when we settle in. Only Fritz sleeps on the floor, and all I can say to that is, Thank God!!!

When my cousin, Janet was up visiting for her birthday she took this picture of me in a new outfit, showing off my weight loss. Yes, showing off, because after losing 40 pounds, I am enjoying showing off just a little!

I have about 8 more pounds to go to get to my goal weight and then the real work starts ~ maintenance! I think that will be the real challenge.

Meanwhile I’ll keep working on Weight Watchers day by day, a little at a time.

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~Water~

Fritz loves to swim and to play fetch in the waterand with his thick German Shepherd coat he sure gets a load of water in it. Shaking it all off is so much fun though!

Friday Musings

I gave Fritz his spring bath on Thursday. This requires great skill, a lot of water and the ability to show no fear while in the shower with my big white boy.

Fritz hates baths with a passion that is truly unparalleled. I had to literally drag him into our bathroom, and then drag him into our walk in shower. I’d stripped down naked, because any hope of staying dry during this process was futile, and I set out about 6 towels to help dry him off after the big event.

I use Dove bar soap on him, as he tends to have slightly dry skin, and also the white of the soap helps to brighten his coat. I soaped and sudsed, and rubbed and soaped some more. Then it was time for the real fun….the final rinsing.

If you have never rinsed a German Shepherd in a shower, then you don’t know the real fun that I had. I had to pick up his front feet and hold them so I could get his belly, neck and ears all rinsed.

I’d expected Hubby to help, but the phone had rung just as I was going in, and so I was on my own. You should have seen the hair coming out of that boy! I kept freeing up the drain and it would just fill up again.

Finally he was rinsed and I kept bringing the towels into the shower and drying him off until he was finally fairly dry.

I let him out of the shower and allowed him tio sit in the kitchen in the sun and finish the drying process. Soon Hubby brought him outside for his annual stripping of the coat.

As you can see, Fritz loses quite a bit of fur in the spring, and this is just a small part of it. We used to brush him inside and then we noticed that everything would be covered with white fur, so we decided to de-fur him outside. One day we noticed birds flying in and picking up the fur to line their nests with. So if anyone in New Hampshire sees a fur lined nest, well, you’ll know where the fur came from!

The twins were here modeling their new dresses! They looked so adorable that I just had to take their picture.

That’s Sarah on the left and Kimmie on the right. We really enjoy those two!

Friday finds Hubby and I doing errands. Groceries, registering the cars and cholesterol checks. Oh joy! I’m hoping that my work on the Weight Watchers diet plan will have brought down my cholesterol level.

And speaking of Weight Watchers, I have now lost 31.4 pounds! I’m back in size 10/12 and feeling good! Yay!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

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~Thirteen~

These are thirteen of my favorite pictures. The bottom picture is of Greta with her first litter of pups back in 2006. We will know in two weeks if she is expecting her next litter! I’ve got my fingers crossed!

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~Twist~

Fritz likes to twist after he goes for a swim!

The Bulb Digger!

A few days ago I got out my bulbs and the contraption I use to dig the bulb holes and set out to plant a few tulip bulbs in my yard. I like to have them in front of the green house and this year I thought I would also set some on the grave of our old white shepherd, Max.

Diligently I worked, digging, planting, and replacing the sod. I looked back at the ground and remarked to Hubby that I had done a very nice job.

Then on Sunday, the day that the cold hit me, I got up with the puppies and when I went out for their first walk of the day, the bulbs were all dug up! They had not been eaten, but they were lying on the grass, and each and every hole was dug up!

Well, I used language that is not very becoming to a lady, but after I walked the puppies I got a bag and collected each of the dug up bulbs.

Since I was sick with my cold, and it was also raining, I did not replant yesterday. Today, however, was a lovely day. Sunny, and 62 degrees. So I asked Hubby if we had some cement blocks to use to hold the sod down, so that the critter who dug them all up, wouldn’t be able to. Yes, he said, and brought me a wheel barrel full of them.

So I knelt down, I replanted the bulbs. I got extra dirt from my garden. I stomped on the dirt to pack it in. Then I carefully placed the cement blocks down to protect my work.

We came in and I made dinner and we ate. I felt so good about all my work. Finally I was done with the tulip bulbs!

After dinner Anneliese needed to go outside for a walk and I went to the “doggy area” and what do I see?

One bulb, dug up and lying on the ground!!!

And then I see Mr. Fritz with muddy paws!

It wasn’t a strange unknown critter that had dug up my bulbs, it was my critter, it was FRITZ!

Well he got yelled at and I pointed my finger at him, and I told him I was going to give him to the gypsies! I was so mad! I yelled the entire time I replanted that bulb and adjusted the cement block. Then I brought Fritz inside and told Hubby what he had done and Hubby chewed him out too.

It’s an hour later and neither Hubby or I are mad, but I think Fritz now understands he must leave Mummy’s bulbs alone.

Next year I may just have him dig the holes the first time around!

I took Fritz in to the Vets today for his yearly exam and shots. All went well with his health, but OH MY GOD, the ride over and back was a real trip.

You see Fritz hates to be in the car, even though he loves to go for a ride. He just can’t sit still and he is 73 pounds worth of moving fur! I rolled the passenger side window down and let him stick his nose outside, which does seem to calm him, but then I found I was getting whacked by his tail!

He walked into the Vet’s office calmly and was actually pretty nice while he was weighed and had his heart listened to. But once his shots were done, and the exam over, I returned him to the car to wait for me.

I paid the bill and got into the car to go home. We stopped at the Post Office, and Fritz didn’t like that either. I patted him, told him I would be right back, and ran in to the Post Office, grabbed my mail and went back out.

There he was, sitting in the driver’s seat as though he intended to drive off without me! It made me laugh!

We got back home before lunch and Fritz was so happy to get out of the car and come in and see the dachshunds and Hubby!