A girl, rottweiler,and rain

While there are many dogs out there that  love water, the Rottweiler is not one of them. Rottweilers do not have the want to be wet gene  that many other dog breeds have. but as I have said before, Moses is not a stereotypical Rottweiler.

Moses believes that all wet and all water is good. This causes problems as he likes to drag rain,snow, ice, water, through the backdoor into the kitchen through the living room and up to his throne.

Moses when it snows goes from being a mild mannered, sleepy airhead, to a typhoon of horrible manners and strange activities.  He also becomes like this after a bath and if it is windy.

Moses will ask to be let outside in the snow, rain, wind etc. And for a brief time (at least twenty minutes) all will be quiet. There will be not barking, no growling, no trampling through the house just peaceful bliss.

Then the horror begins. It starts with either a scratching at the door or a pounding on the glass. You hope desperately it is the scratching for that means that you will just have to stand there as he drags his toys in and out. However pounding is a different matter.

Pound. Pound. Pound.
My mother looks at the door.
Let me in! Look what I have!
"Moses you can't bring the croquet mallet in the house."
Pound. Pound.
My mother goes out and takes the croquet mallet from him and puts it back with the others, "No."
"He'll jus t go get it again." I say.
Pound.pound
Let me in! It's not a croquet mallet!
"Where did he get the snow shovel?" I go outside put the shovel away and forget to shut the door. At this exact moment Moses races indoors holding a croquet mallet in his mouth.
Which leads to a chase. Which leads to two very grumpy women .

Girl,rottweiler, disappearance

So the other day I got home from work and called Moses name. There was no skittering of puppy feet there was onlu silence. This worried me because Moses is notorious for getting out of the back yard.  So i searched the house for him. I was about to give up and go outside and wander the a atreets for my dog when I heard what I like to call "moses dreams" from our guest bathroom. I walked in and this is what I found. 

Girl, Rottweiler, play date

Today,Vahan came over to play with Moses. For two whole hours on a sunny August afternoon. While watching the two I discovered something, Rottweilers don't really run around when they play. they much prefer to lay down and bite at each other.

Moses and Vahan are prime examples of Rottweiler play . Neither of them are ambitious enough to run the yard but both of them believe that it is a good thing that they can lay down in the shade and nip at each other. There are no longer bowling balls of fur , they are wrecking balls. Both puppies now weigh over 90 pounds , and Vahan is still a bit bigger,  but Moses is A barrel of muscle. This play date is more even than one would expect.

Vahan chomps down on Moses' leg, he pulls but to no avail. Moses neatly jump over the offender. Vahan does it again but this time Moses is prepared he leaps forward but his much bigger brother does the unthinkable. He dodges and uses a distraction technique, picking up a soccer ball and running with it. Moses tries to defend against the oncomming soccer attack but it takes up too much energy so he promptly lies down in the shade. Vahan seeinh how comfortable the shade looks also decides to lay down but with the soccer ball. It seems we have a stale mate folks.

I'll update you when it ends, if ever.

Girl, Rottweiler, list o warning

Top Ten Things People Dont warn you about when you purchase a Rottweiler. 



1. They are bed hogs. It doeskin matter if you train them off furniture eventually they find a way to be in your bed and kick you off in the same evening.

2. They release winds of death regularly with great accuracy. This causes several rooms to become caustic at once. There is no escape.

3. They are fantastic jumpers. At eight weeks old Moses jumped over a four foot baby gate, tumbled down the stairs and did it again just to prove he could. (We decided it was better to let him fall down the stairs instead of jumping then falling).

4. They eat everything. Doesn't matter if its food substances or building materials. Moses thinks its fair game.

5. Your Rottweiler puppy is the equivalent of a bulldozer don't be surprised when things get ruined.

6. They are stubborn as all get out. Smart enough to know how to behave and all the tricks. Stubborn enough to not follow directions.

7. They like to talk. Moses whines, to let you know how he feels that you left him alone for so long, and you should be sorry.

8. They like to bring you presents while you are trying to do something else just to show how much more important they are then homework, housework, cleaning, writing, etc. Moses likes to bring squeaky toys, sticks, dead things, orange peels, etc.

9. The garbage is not safe anywhere.

10. They absolutely adore sitting/leaning/sleeping on you. Like giant lap animals.

Girl, Rottweiler, Unconditional happiness list

So this is the list of things/habits Moses has that just bring me joy, plain and simple joy.

Top Thirteen Moses Unconditional Happiness List.

1. When he doesnt bother rolling back over after you rub his belly. (No, if I stay stomach up maybe you will come back)
2. Playing fetch and he gives up halfway to the ball (It's not worth it to run that far, you are just taking the ball away again)
3. When he puts his paw on my face first thing in the morning. ( You need to feed me!)
4. When he jumps on my bed and sleeps with his head on the pillow (totally human)
5. When he cries when I get home, so over joyed to see me. (It's PTSD)
6. When he meets a smaller dog how he feels the need to bash it's brain out with his paw (I was just saying hi!)
7. That moment where he goes all spastic after being in water (BATH!)
8. When he growls at my cellphone (It's possessed I tell you!)
9. When he greets my friend Beth (She is the bestest human eva!)
10: When the giant moose plushie is laying on top of him and he doesnt bother to move (You are just going to put it on me again, what's the point)
11. That moment where he bounces on the counter pretending he is the barista (I am arent I?)
12. That moment when I stick an icecube in the corner and watch his huge head and paws try to get it out of the corner (I have a big head and little arms, I dont think this was planned out too well)
13. That moment when he looses a ball under the couch and he first tries to get it out by himself. Then he sits down and whines. (Get it for me PLEASE!)

Girl, Rottweiler, Children's Books

I have known about the children's books about Rottweiler's since I was a child with "Good Dog Carl" being my absolute favorite (and still is). I remember hugging my Rottweiler Molly as my mom would flip through the pages and say "The little girl looks like you". So today I felt like sharing a list of children's books about Rottweilers.
Here it is my list of Children's/ picture books about the Rottweiler.

1. Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day (my first rottie book. And most people ask if Mo is the same type of dog.)
2. Puppy Trouble by Alexandra Day (really who doesnt love rottie puppies?)
3. ...... Anything else by Alexandra Day (no this is not a book title it really just is Alexandra Day has a coin on Rottweiler picture books so read anything by her)
4. Max Goes to the Moon by Jeffery O Bennett (found it in the library while trying to find something to post about)
5. Max Goes to Mars by Jeffery O Bennett (found on amazon while searching for Max Goes to the Moon)
6. My Dog Rosie by Isabelle Harper
7. Carl and the Puppies by Alexandra Day ( I know I wasnt going to put more of hers on the list but this isnt a picture book, it's a young reader)
8. Rottweilers are the best by Elaine Landau (or something like that... I have no idea about her last name.

Hopefully this will tide you over for the next installment about Mo!

Girl, Rottweiler, Embarrassment

Why I wear t-shirt?

So, I haven't posted anything about Moses for awhile. Partially due to laziness and partially due to the huge embarrassment he has been for the last ten days. I mean really really not pretty.
So Moses got neutered twelve days ago and wore an obnoxious plastic 20 inch cone. A cone so fearsome that moving past Moses caused you to collide into cabinets, get bruises as he pushed you down the stairs, and make sure that you had to either jump out of the way, or brace yourself. Ideally it was best to wear long pants in the presence  of the cone of peril, this thing was way beyond the cone of shame. He only wore the cone for six days but those six days came with an interesting plot twist.
A smell.
A terrifying smell.
A dark powerful essence wafting through the air.
Sweet sticky sickening.
And my mother being the good parent discovered a stiff unknown substance on his neck. Initially she thought it was pitch, a chemical, being dipped in the bog of eternal stench. So she set out to remove the wonderful goo from poor Moses' already en-coned neck.
My mother started out with just plain water, cold and hot. Neither worked
Dish soap? Nope.
Curry Comb? Nope, Moses snarled at her as she pulled some fur out.
Hoping it would go away she left it for twenty four hours.
The next day the quantity of the dried honey like substance had multiplied  My mother pulled up her britches, put her serious face on, and went into the garage searching for the miracle worker goo-gone. (Thank god she didn't choose turpentine)
The substance of unknown origin was goo gone resistant  As a child she recalled she could remove pitch from her hands and feet using butter or peanut butter. The small experimental section didn't seem to go away.
She rinsed washed and repeated.

Easier than drinking with cone. 

Being an emergency room nurse in a former life, she began to think there was probably was a explanation for it so she ran it by a pediatrician friend, who happens to own a chocolate lab.
"Hot spot!" Said the pediatrician.
Which activated my mother's maternal instinct and she called the vet clinic demanding to be seen that day or she was going to change her patronage. (She obviously felt guilty)
On initial examination, the vet couldn't see anything through Moses previously healthy coat. However when they shaved a 6 in by 12 in swatch they found a significant Hot Spot.
Now hot-spots are caused by moisture accumulating in the folds of skin, Moses being an adolescent Rottweiler who is never kenneled and seldom left alone, reacts to being in a kennel by drooling profusely. One neutering  eight hours in the vet kennel, drooling, plastic cone, all of this equals a petri dish that is a force to be reckoned with.
So now Cone head Moses also has to wear a t-shirt, as well as is required to stay dry, not lick or scratch, take antibiotics orally, have the antibiotic ointment applied twice a day, steer clear of other dogs, while ideally not wearing the cone of shame and being supervised. That supervision is to prevent scratching his chest area, licking his iv site or his newly neutered scrotum.
Needless to say, Moses was not very happy with us. For the next week he would not come when my mother called. Actually he quiet often went the other way, or hid in a closet, anticipating that she was going to come to hurt him one more time. Or maybe it was a diabolical scheme to scratch without intervention. But either way he hid.
Now Moses' trust issues are mostly fixed and he can make appearance at the coffee shop again (without looking like he has leprosy).
We are pleased to report, hot-spot is 98% gone, scrotum has healed nicely, and he has some hair growth on the bare chest of his. We think he'll be no worse for the wear.
My mother on the other hand is traumatized.

My mom bought me a ball to say sorry. Not forgiven yet.