Doom and a Schnauzer's never ending quest to have alone time.

I'm sitting on the couch with my husband while he plays Doom. He says that since he beat this game years ago without a walk through that he deserves to use a walk through this time. So in between writing this blog and reading the other blogs I read daily, I 'Ctrl-Tab' over to You Tube so he can watch exactly what someone else did on their X-Box (except someone else wasn't playing doom in Ultra Violent Mode), Jaime states that the person on You Tube is in I'm-too-young-to-die-mode, I'm not sure that's an actual mode but it works for me. Plus Jaime finished the game, all the achievements and everything.

While sitting here and reading updates from Ingrid and This Dude (who I've become more and more interested in lately, mostly because he lives in Florida and that sounds like a lot of fun! Plus his pictures are amazing.) I was watching my puppies playing. Churchill would wait on the couch, very calmly, until little Huxley walked into the room and then leap off the couch on top of Huxley. I smile whenever I see this because it's a well thought out plan. Churchill sits as calmly as possible, I might even be petting him, when all of the sudden he attacks. The poor puppy can't jump up on the couch yet, he's still too small, so until he can he will have to put up with these masterminded attacks.

When it became apparent that Hux was tired of being jumped on and really did only want some cuddle time on the couch we picked him up and brought him up here. It's so funny watching our dogs think. We're trying to teach the puppy all the commands that Churchill knows. For instance, 'Up!' means... come up wherever we are, the couch, a chair, the bed, anything higher than him. Churchill is adept at this move. We stared at the puppy who was sitting about two feet from the couch and said 'Up!' several times and he just sat there, intent, focused on these words he did not understand. About 45 seconds into our command the wheels started turning and he got super excited and tried to jump up, still too small. It's cute that he tries so hard, we're hoping that he's not a stupid dog and that this is just a puppy phase where he's learning new words. It wouldn't be horrible to have a dumb dog, it's just that Churchill is so smart, it would be kinda sad, funny, but sad.

Our Schnauzer's quest to have alone time is never ending. I don't know if this is a regular animal occurrence or if it's especially true with Schnauzers. There are certain things that you're going to deal with depending on what pet you own. For instance if you have a Border Collie you're going to have a dog that will constantly herd things, balls, cats, you. When you own a Schnauzer (or two!) you'll have to deal with their vocalization. Schnauzers are unlimited in their ability to talk. Often times it sounds like an actual person in the other room, but it's just our puppies playing. Imagine your dog being able to vocalize everything they experience through the day. We have a different vocal sound for 'I have to pee, pick me up and take me out, I'm too small to get off the bed on my own', when they play together there is a fun one like 'I'm vicious, I'm vicious' but it really just sounds like an old woman grunting. There is an impatient sound when we have a treat and they are trying their hardest to obey our commands but what they really want is that Old Roy! It's a pained sound that leaks from their vocal chords without a break, a stream of 'uhhhhhhhhhhhhehhhhhhhhhhhh' and sometimes if you're lucky they will stick their head out to emphasize their longing. A special most annoying sound is saved for when we are on a car trip and Jaime or I get out of the car at a gas station. All their worried agitation is summed up in this strained horrible cry, it really does sound like the world is falling apart. The best thing though is that Huxley doesn't seem to need to make most of these noises, especially the last one, I don't know if he doesn't miss us as much or if he just doesn't care yet :)
If you know me in person then you are very aware of most of these noises, but the one noise that passes up the totally normal 'woof' that they sometimes make out of surprise, the noise that obliterates all the whines, and all the audible yawns, is the noise that they make when they meet someone that they recognize. This is a BFD. It's huge when the dogs recognize someone. They go into frantic mode, jumping, running around, all the while crying in the most high pitched voice I've ever heard, and trying to be as close as possible to the person they 'know'. Part of me gets really frustrated over this because we have to go through a ritual of greeting in order for the dogs to calm down, and part of me thinks it's adorable that the dogs get that excited over 'knowing' someone. My parents get this often, they play along. Lindsey gets it all the time, especially since she is the surrogate mother who babysits from time to time and she always gives them their greeting time. Poor Willie, he gets it even though he doesn't like dogs. You know those people? They really don't like animals but the animals are drawn to him. He could tell my dog to jump and Churchill would just say how high. Bless their hearts. Austin gets it too since he helped raise Churchill, and it's just slightly different for him since Churchill really respects Austin.
*Now that I've taken up a whole blog about noises I'll post what I was supposed to post*
Alone time!
While watching Jaime play Doom the dogs went through periods of playing and periods of trying to achieve alone time. This usually works pretty well since the puppy can't get up on the couch on his own yet. But on the other end, the puppy has his crate and the big dog can't get in there when Huxley is already there. Churchill was getting situated on the right side of the couch, calming down and ready to nap. Huxley finally figures out what 'Up!' means and immediately crawls over to Churchill to cuddle. That's not going to work out since Church desperately needs alone time. Churchill promptly gets up, off the couch, and onto the ottoman. Hux looks a little defeated. Somehow Churchill gets back to the couch since he obviously didn't want to be that alone. We had one dog on the right side and one on the left side, quite zen and balanced if you ask me. Then they switch again, too much alone time? Huxley came over and cuddled up with Churchill in a very rare moment of puppy love. They lay right next to each other, paws wrapped up in the others, heads resting against each other. Huxley is just a smaller darker twin of Churchill. That lasted all of five minutes and it was time for the quest to being for alone time once again. Hux moves over to the left side of me, against a pillow and Churchill nonchalantly rolls over until he is upside down against my right side. Alone time is good as long as it includes a side of me, plus he's always preferred sleeping upside down. To not be out done Huxley scoots against my left side. It's like he knew he should be there.

Something feels so good, so right when you have your two dogs, sleepy and happy right up next to you. Well.. there isn't anything much better than a sleepy puppy.. even better when there are two of them.
Huxley has since ventured on this never ending quest and is now several feet from me. I wonder, is this just a dog thing?
Little do they know that I'm planning on a long long walk later this afternoon.