Hi, my name is Bridget and my mommy told me that I should keep a diary. But I'm still kind of little so I might forget some things. I don't remember when I was REALLY small and lived with my mommy schnauzer and litter of brothers and sisters. That was before I could use a computer. According to my papers, I was born in Vernon, BC which is in the interior of British Columbia. My mother schnauzer's name was Fridi and my father schnauzer's name was Keiser. My breeder's name is Mary Podanowski. I was born on November 11th, 1997.
When I was 10 weeks old, a very nice couple, Ken and Marilyn Mullins became my new owners. Marilyn was in the hospital at the time, so Ken drove from Vancouver to Vernon (about a 6 hour drive) to pick me up. This was my first long car ride and Ken says that I was very well behaved for the trip back to Vancouver. The first night we were at home in Vancouver, I guess I was very tired. I wasn't sure where I was, so Ken slept on the floor with me so I wouldn't wake up not knowing where I was. Ken and I would go to the hospital to visit Marilyn until she came home. Then the three of us lived at home in an apartment in the West End of Vancouver. Ken and Marilyn took really good care of me! They made sure I got my puppy shots and tail docked. On April 16th, 1998, I went to the doggy hospital and got spayed. I also got a tatoo in my right ear, in case I ever get lost.
I was very happy at Ken and Marilyn's house. When I was 6 months old, Marilyn and Ken had to make a big decision that would affect my life. See, they have an important job where they became live-in managers of this BIG seniors apartment complex. And there was one little problem...the complex has a "no pets policy". This makes it very awkward for the managers to have a pet but have to tell the tenants they aren't allowed to have a doggy or kitty. So it was very sad for them because they now had to find a new mommy or daddy for me. I was still pretty young so I didn't know enough to be really sad or not. Ken and Marilyn looked for just the right owner and that's when we met my new mommy.
My new mommy came over one evening to visit. Hahaha..she says she was a little nervous about bringing home a 6 month old puppy in case I was already settled in my current home. But as soon as my mommy saw me and I saw her, it was love at first sight. I guess that just goes to show, age means nothing! I stayed with Ken and Marilyn for a couple more days while my new mommy made arrangements to take some time off work and get my new home ready.
May 28th, 1998 was the big night where I moved to my new home! My mommy says that I am so clever and am always surprising her! She says that when she picked me up, she had my new doggy crate in the car. I had never been in a doggy crate before so she was expecting me to cry and whine. But I LOVED my "sleep box" and to this day I have never cried or begged to be taken out. It is the best way to travel in comfort! When mommy puts me in my "sleep box" I know that we are going for a car ride. And she has it all equipped for comfort. I have a big pink pillow in it with a couple of my stuffed animal toys. What more could a doggy want in the way of travel?
Mommy was also expecting me to take a few days to get used to a new home and new schedule. I don't know what she was worried about. I love my new home. When I came in the door, there in front of me was a big toy basket full of all kinds of toys. Stuffed animals, balls, chew ropes, you name it, it was just like Christmas in a Doggy Toy Store. Of course, the first thing I had to check out was the sleeping arrangements. I wanted to know what this new home had to offer in the way of a comfortable sleeping bed. Oooh, I found the perfect place...a big human waterbed with a nice thick down comforter and two pillows. This would work just fine for me! And since my new mommy is a neat lady (and easily trainable) I figured I'd let her sleep in my bed too. This bed is so neat. It is up against the bedroom window, so I can sit on one of the pillows and look out the window all day and check out what's going on in the neighbourhood. At first I thought, when I got a bit bigger, I could sit on top of the headboard, but my mommy said I wasn't allowed to do that in case I fell out the window. So the only rule I have is that I'm not allowed to put my paws on the headboard, but I am allowed to sit on the pillow on the bed. I can live with that rule (grin). To show her how good I am, I have never broken that rule.
Two days after I moved into my new home, my mommy took me to my new Doctor, Dr. Joan Lynch. She is going to be my vet and mommy says we can visit her whenever I may need to go to the doctor. Dr. Joan is really neat! She let me kiss her nose and let me sit on the big silver table in her examining room. I showed both my mommy and Dr. Joan how brave I was when I had to get my booster shots. I don't know why other doggies are so afraid of them. They don't hurt, as a matter of fact, I didn't even know Dr. Joan gave them to me. When I had to get my Kennel Cough vaccine (that is the spray they squirt up each nostril), Dr. Joan says that most doggies don't like this. Well, I must admit, I don't care for it, it makes me sneeze, but it didn't bother me at all. I have to admit, the funnest part of going to the vet is meeting other doggies in the waiting room.
Oh, I have to tell you, I love my new home and the stuff we do. There is so much to report, I'm not sure where to start. I have so many favourite things. For instance, mommy takes me out to Ladner, BC where my Auntie Judi and Uncle Darrel live. This is out in the country and they have this big house that I'm allowed to run in and a garden outside that is full of neat things I can smell and dig up. They also have these llamas. I don't know why they keep calling them llamas, they are just really big dogs with long necks. It is always so neat to go over there because Uncle Darrel plays this really fun game with me. He runs around the house and I get to chase him. Sometimes he will hide in a dark hallway but I usually always find him. I bark at him if he's really sneaky and I can't find him right away. Mommy and Auntie Judi laugh at us, which makes us go faster!
I also go to the theatre with my Mommy. She manages the box office at Metro Theatre. I am a "Box Office Dog In Training". It's great there because there are all kinds of people who pay attention to me and think I'm cute. Mommy lets me run around the theatre with them, but when it gets close to the time when the audience will start arriving, then I have to go into my sleep box that she brings into the box office. I behave myself and just sit or lie quietly in my sleep box while Mommy sells tickets and answers the phone. Everyone is so impressed with how well-behaved I am. I don't bark at the people buying tickets or whine to get out. Hehehe...it's so much more fun to behave and watch people be surprised. People are so silly. They always expect the worst from us young dogs but we only act bad if it gets us something we want. I'm finding out that if you act good, you can get even more attention! :)
But you know, sometimes acting good isn't as easy as I think it should be. My mommy says that I've picked up a naughty habit. You see, I have all these stuffed animals. I love them, but every now and then a girl just has to work at taking out their eyes and noses. Mommy keeps telling me I am not allowed to do that. She thinks I might choke on them or something. Heck, I don't want to eat them, I just want to de-nose and de-eye them! So now my mommy checks my toys very carefully. She says that any new toys I get are going to have to come with no eyes or noses. What a spoil sport! But I get even with her (chuckle). When she's getting ready to go out, I sneak one of her socks so she has to chase me around the apartment! That's a great game! Or another good game is watching her try to sneak into the bedroom to make the bed when I'm not looking. Hahaha! I let her pretend I don't see her then as soon as she takes the comforter off the bed, I run fast as lightning into the bedroom and jump up on the bed to help! I'm sure she loves it when I take the corner of a sheet or pillow and pull it in the opposite direction to where she wants it to go. It's funny to watch her try to negotiate with me - "Please, Bridget, let mommy make the bed!" and I just laugh at her.
But I know she loves me even when I'm being naughty. At night, when it's time for bed, we play wrestle on the bed...unless I'm tired, then I just curl up on her side of the bed and go to sleep. My favourite time is when she comes to bed. That's when I can snuggle up under the comforter right under her arm.
Well, that's it for now. I'll be writing up my adventure stories and will get my mommy to add them as links on this page. So do come back and check them out. They will be ongoing. Thanks for stopping by!
