Our handsome little smarty pants!

So, what's been happening to our little man recently? 

Kai reached the age of five months last Tuesday. It's weird because in some ways the time has flown, but equally it feels as if he has been part of our lives forever. I know I'm biased but he is extraordinary - incredibly affectionate, scarily intelligent, very handsome, has a fantastic temperament and is definitely our dog (doesn't favour Eric over me or vice versa).

The most noticeable change physically is that his legs are longer so he can reach up more. Don't reckon he will ever get big enough to jump onto the sofa or my chair, but at least he can now jump off things rather than 'hoof and woof' in frustration. His fur grows at an astonishing rate, already his paws are looking like 'mops' again and he's becoming scruffy again. Not that we mind scruffy, It's all part of his charm. It's only been a couple of weeks since he was clipped. We booked him in for his next clipping in 8 weeks. That's definitely going to have to be brought forward otherwise we run the risk of Kayla not recognising him again!

He is slowly wearing down Bella's grumpiness to the point that she almost starts playing with him, realises and then stops herself. She is as protective of him as she is of Kayla, coming and standing on the arm of my chair while I groom him. It's like she's supervising me! Yesterday morning Eric was telling me that on his walk, Kai met a very large Bull Mastiff. He was scared and ran away squealing. It's the first time he's been scared of a dog. Bella went into protection mode and saw off said bull mastiff. Size doesn't matter to Belle, she stands up to any dog she sees as a threat.

They say the Mini Schnauzer is a big dog in a little body. They're absolutely right. He responds to everything, always wants to know what's going on, and never misses a trick. I mentioned previously about him doing fetch beautifully without training. Last night he got hold of a potato (goodness knows how) and took it off upstairs. Lots of thud noises could be heard as he played with it. Next thing we knew he was quite deliberately dropping it down the stairs so that he could run after it. Kayla does a similar thing so I can only assume he picked it up from her.

The calm before the storm!

He's quite happy entertaining himself, tossing toys around, pouncing on them, squeaking them..Far better though is to play tug with me or Eric, rough and tumble and of course fetch. His play with Kayla is ever more boisterous, with him giving as good as he gets. He tries to tug toys with Kayla, but she has a tendency to either pull too hard or jump up on a chair with the toy where he can't follow. Doesn't stop him trying though!!

Kayla in full flight about to pounce..

He particularly likes my Hummingbird Dental flosser, dancing around woofing and trying to grab it as I turn it on and off near him. He only has to see it and over he comes!

I regularly have to try and play with three dogs at once, throwing something for Kayla (she has to put a toy on boxes next to my chair, or on the arm of my chair otherwise it doesn't get thrown!) whilst playing tug with Kai on my lap and tug with Bella straddling the arms of the sofa and my chair. They insist on having a session before bed. Just what you want at that time of night!!!

Kai certainly knows how to express himself. He woofs at the back door if he wants to go out. Paws up on the edge of the sofa if he wants to get up. Same thing on my chair. Trouble is he then plays hard to get, backing away so you can't get hold of him. Usually takes several attempts before he lets himself be picked up. Such an imp! Oh yes, and he can howl. If Eric goes out he usually takes Kayla with him. As long as Kai is up on me we're OK, but if he gets down on the floor, the most pitiful howling begins. Anyone would think the world was coming to an end. Oww whoooo, owww whoooo. Well you get the idea.

He has also joined the other two in their guard dog duties, so anyone daring to ring the doorbell is confronted by three dogs barking. Albeit with two deep and one slightly squeaky one. Do dogs barks break? He has also taken a real shine to coming and sitting with Bella on my chair. This is how most mornings are spent. He is fair though, going to sleep on the sofa with Eric when he's sitting down.


All in all he's lovely but he can be a real little imp. He's pretty good at leaving things and dropping them. Apart from when he chooses not to. Brilliant fun watching Eric try to catch him when he's decided he doesn't want to give up the item. He's really fast and does a brilliant dodge. He particularly likes to run off with Eric's slippers when he takes them off, or a sock if he can reach it. He doesn't do any damage though but you can see how pleased he is with himself!

He is a grot magnet or should I say his beard is. You name it and it gets stuck be it fluff, paper, soil, foam, feathers; the list is endless. Imagine what it's like when he eats or drinks? His beard clumps together and liquid dribbles off. The worst thing has to be the pilchards in tomato sauce that they sometimes have in their dinner. Not only does he end up with that in his beard, it also stains it and stinks. He still smells of fish the next morning. Urgh!

One for the tooth fairy...

One of Kai's baby teeth which came out today. It was wobbly for a few days so we were hoping to get it to add to the ones we have of Bella and Kayla. It's tiny!

Baby molar fell out 21/1/2012

Kai the Magnificent!

Thursday 5th January 2012, the date the Kai was clipped for the first time. It proved to be a roller coaster ride of emotions with bizarre behaviour we could never have anticipated.

 Took him over to Rochford and left him with the groomer. We then spent the next hour like anxious parents munching chicken burgers and coffee at the nearest McDonald's. Drove back to collect him, I caught a glimpse of his head as she carried him out, and was absolutely blown away. He looked incredible and so handsome. I could tell that Eric was as blown away as me, he had been transformed into the classic Schnauzer look. Our little man looked all grown up! Apparently he was a good boy, a bit scared of the clippers but did very well. She complimented me on his ears, I'm doing a really good job with them. Huge relief because I hadn't been sure whether I was doing them right or not.

All good so far. Then all the good feelings we had evaporated because of the Girls' response to him, Kayla in particular.They clearly didn't recognise him, with Kayla being actively hostile. Every time he went near her she bared her teeth, growled and even had a real go at him. He was frightened of her and literally ran if she came near him.

He has never behaved like that ever so it was really upsetting to see. Eric got really annoyed with Kayla, but apart from that what could we do? Things remained difficult for much of the rest of the day, with Kai very subdued, no doubt partly because of the clipping as well as not understanding why Kayla wouldn't. love him. She slowly showed signs of mellowing and realising that he was Kai after all. The major breakthrough coming at bedtime when she not only tolerated him being on the bed but was wagging her tail at him.

Thankfully normal service was truly resumed today. Kayla was absolutely fine with him on their walk, and they were back to playing etc as normal after that at home all day. For his part, Kai seems to have regained his 'bounce' and is back to his normal self. They had a really great rough and tumble session this afternoon, something that would never have been possible yesterday.

 With the benefit of hindsight I suppose it stands to reason that if we thought the change in him was huge, then the Girls would as well. Probably didn't help that he smelt of shampoo. We'd better not have this every time he goes to be groomed. I don't think I could stand it!!

Fetch!

Kai is now 20 weeks old and continues to soak everything up like a sponge and is a smart little chap. He still managed to surprise me completely the night before last.

Kai playing with my hair!

He came to the side of my chair with his new fabric toy. He asks to play or come up for a cuddle by jumping up and putting his front paws on the arm of my chair. We played tug for a bit and then I decided to throw the toy for him to see if he'd go to it. I expected him to either ignore it completely or at best go over to it and grab it.

Imagine the shock when not only did he go to the toy, but he picked it up and brought it back to me. Paws back up on the arm of the chair with the toy in his mouth ready to do it again. A quick 'drop' command and I had the toy and threw it again accompanied by 'fetch'. Not that the commands were needed because he does fetch like a Pro. We carried on for ages, each time, him bringing the toy back to me, ready for it to be thrown again. And to prove it wasn't a fluke we played fetch again last night, and again this afternoon. This time he started playing with Eric and then came back to one or other of us.

It was completely spontaneous, I haven't tried fetch with him at all, so can only assume that he's watched the girls on their walk and at home doing it and decided that he fancied playing that game as well. Makes training easy when your puppy learns stuff by himself!!

A very Merry Christmas

They say Christmas is for children. Well in this house it's all about our dogs. We had wrapped all their toys and treats individually. Taking each of them in turn we opened their presents. Didn't actually get very far because they all got so excited that they  wanted to see what was in the next package rather than concentrate on the toy we'd just opened  for them! Couldn't get them to come to either of us for their next one, they just milled around whichever of us happened to be holding a present. Utter chaos!

It ended up as a free for all, with them all swapping toys, squeaking them as much as they could manage. Kayla and Bella squabbled over one toy whilst Kai played with another. Kayla demanded that I throw a toy for her repeatedly (as is the norm for her) to fetch with Bella in hot pursuit, trying to tug the toy away from her. Kai also did his best to get in on the act, running and jumping at the Girls as they went backwards and forwards. They didn't know which toy to play with next! We decided not to open any more of their toys, so instead opened one of their edible presents, rawhide chews. These went down well with Kayla as always being the first to finish in record time. It was Kai's first, and he loved it!

Toys played with, and chews finished off, all three dogs proceeded to crash out for the next few hours. Rallied round when it was time for their Christmas Dinner unsurprisingly. Family tradition, the dogs always get a share of the roast dinner added to their kibble. This year it was beef and all the trimmings.

With more presents still to be opened we can do it all over again. It gave me such pleasure to see them so excited. Kai's first Christmas.... a real cracker!!

Getting older.... and even more fantastic!!

Our little man, surrounded  by his toys

Kai was four months old on Saturday (17th). Not posted anything about him for a while, largely because there hasn't been a lot to write. It seems like a good time to take stock of where Kai is in his development. We're starting to see the dog he will become, his temperament, his reactions to things, his relationship with other dogs.

Where to start? Well let's look at the physical stuff first. He has had several big growth spurts, now standing a lot taller, with longer legs and a longer body. His tail must be at least twice as long as when we got him. It is held erect and has a wonderful 'windscreen wiper' action when it wags it. He's outgrown his first coat and now comfortably fills his new 12" one.

He still has to be lifted on and off the settee etc, but is noticeably taller. He can ask to get up by placing his paws on the arm of the chair or the seat of the sofa. He doesn't help himself though, backing away repeatedly when you go to lift him up. This rather sums Kai up to be honest.

What is he doing?

Everything is a game at the moment, or something to be explored, chewed or run off with. He somehow manages to drag items that are far bigger than him away from where he finds them. Eric's large walking boots are a classic example. Or the very large dog cuddly toy which is a current favourite. Initially he barked at it, presumably thinking it was a real dog. Now it is dragged around, chewed, jumped on and I hate to say it 'humped'. Not the only thing getting that treatment. Canada goose toy and my elbow whilst playing with him springs to mind...
Well we are four months old now!!

His facial fur is absolutely gorgeous. All fluffy and scruffy, with a beautiful contrast between the jet black and the white. His head seems to have widened and the classic Schnauzer beard is coming along well. I brush him and within five minutes he looks as scruffy as he did before. It won't be too long now until he goes to the grooming parlour. I wish them luck, he could wriggle for England!!

Yet more grot he's found!!

Kai is lovely. The word sums him up completely. If I ask Eric why he is lovely, his response is that he 'just is'. He's right. He has a wonderful nature, not a malicious bone in his body. Bright as a button, very playful and mischievous, yet more than happy to snuggle up and have a cuddle or sleep in my arms. He and Kayla absolutely adore each other, to the point that both are upset if the other is away. There are even signs that Bella is mellowing, especially when he's lying on me. Scary stuff indeed!

His recall is excellent, he understands no and drop, well most of the time. Sleeps on the bed with Eric and Kayla (only Bella lies on me in my chair at night, otherwise my life wouldn't be worth living). Incredibly good when we go out, he chews nothing, doesn't generally have an accident and gives us a fantastic welcome when we come home. He stretches up as high as he can manage, desperately trying to lick us.

Three banana shaped dogs to come home to, what could be better?

Oops, there goes another toy!

Kayla has always had the habit of dropping toys in the pond.  She is incredibly dexterous, leaning precariously over the  edge to grab them back. How she doesn't fall in is mystery.

Eric captured this lovely moment of the two of them gazing down at the latest victim.