Max’s ‘Mom’ realised that she didn’t have many nice photos of her and Max together and is capturing those precious moments now – but she reminded us all to “seize the moment” and get more ‘ Together Pictures ‘ with our humans. I am very lucky because I have a maniac camera human who has to take a million pictures of every small thing every day – so I have quite a few pictures with my humans already!

So this post is dedicated to Max - here are some ‘Together’ pictures of me and my special human, Hsin-Yi:

.

The first time we met…

(4 weeks - look, my brothers are trying to climb into Hsin-Yi’s lap too! I was the first of all the puppies in my litter to get my very own human and I think they were all jealous!)

.

The last time Hsin-Yi could pick me up…

(9 weeks – 10kg/22lbs)

.

Graduating from puppy class!

(16 weeks)

.

Helping in the garden…

(4 months)

.

On Hsin-Yi’s 30th birthday…

(5 months – Hsin-Yi waited 30yrs for her dream of having a dog!)

.

All grown up now!

(14 months)

.

Sharing a hug…

.

Having a nap together…

.

Winning our 1st ‘doggie dancing’ trophy…

.

Enjoying a girlie moment together…

.

Exploring the ‘City of Sails’ …

.

…or just ‘hanging out’…

.

Maybe a spot of modelling…

.

…and a TV appearance or two…

.

…but quiet cuddles at home too!

.

Being a lap dog…

.

Posing for Christmas photos…

.

Doing the ’beach babe’ thing…

.

And sharing a joke!

.

But most of all, those special, quiet moments together…

.

And here is Hsin-Yi’s favourite photo of us together:

.

I hope you will join us  and post some ‘Together Pictures’ of you and your human – in honour of Max…and if you haven’t got many, as Max’s ’Mom’ said – seize the moment and get some more now!  

* For all those whose humans say that there is no-one to take the photos - Hsin-Yi says “Use the self-timer!” A lot of our photos are taken with self-timer and the mad rush to run back into the right spot always gets a natural smile!

————————————————-

* Hsin-Yi is going away tomorrow to attend a conference with Dr. Ian Dunbar back in Auckland and she will be away until next week – so I won’t have anyone to help me visit your blogs – sorry! I will catch up with you all when she gets back.

And guess what? Instead of kennels, I will be going to stay with a pet sitter this time, as Paul works such long hours and is on-call on weekends, so I would be alone for too long at home…but this lady lives on a big farm where I can run free and she has a Great Dane too so I will have a friend to play with! In fact, I already had an overnight ”trial stay” a few weeks ago to make sure that I was happy with the arrangement and I loved playing with Harley the Great Dane – so I will tell you all about that when I get back!

I also still have lots of ‘catch-up posts’ to do, like telling you about my “doggie dancing camp”, my visit to Nudgee Beach and the latest tricks I’m learning - I always seem to be having adventures faster than I can post about them!

.

Can you believe it – twice in the last few days, the Postman Human stopped by our house and said he had a package for ME!

Max & JD the Schnauzer Brothers

How exciting! The first package was from my blog friends, Max & JD, who live in a faraway place  called England. Their humans had been travelling to another faraway place called Egypt and they had got a little present for me from there…a personalised bandana!

See? The bandana has my name on it written in ‘hieroglyphics‘ which are special writing pictures used by humans living in Egypt a long time ago…how cool is that?!

Well, as some of you know, I have a LOT of bandanas - my humans love to put bandanas on me when we go out walking – and this new one is a great addition to my collection! I couldn’t wait to try it on…and then I had an idea! Remember that clicker training game “Fun with a Box”? Well, I could do my own version: ‘Fun with a Bandana’!

Starting with the traditional look…

Then how about a bit of rustic ‘peasant style’?

Or I could do a cute retro Minnie Mouse look:

Or how about an elegant corsage?

Then there is the hot pink miniskirt… (oh, la! la! )

…or maybe a bit of Ascot flair - work those accessories, dahling!

Not forgetting (Hsin-Yi’s favourite!) – the evil Emperor from ‘Star Wars’ (er, pink version!) !

"The force is strong in you, young Jedi...but do not underestimate the power of the PINK Side"

Kasha the Dainty Dane

And as if that wasn’t all exciting enough, I then had another package from my blog friend, Kasha the Dainty Dane, who lives in a faraway place called Chicago.

This was a little thank you for me helping her to set up her blog…you’re very welcome, Kasha!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ooh, I love opening presents…

What beautiful wrapping paper!

Yay! A tug toy! I LOVE tug toys!

This is me doing my “Happy Dance”: When I’m happy and excited – like when my humans come home - I always have to grab something in my mouth and do a little “prancing walk” around the room…do you do this too?

.

Nothing like a good game of tug! Grrrrrrr!

Of course, I still have to remember my manners even when I’m playing tug – like I must always immediately let go when my humans say “Give” – I learnt this from when I was a baby puppy, otherwise they just won’t play with me anymore and it is no fun. I also learnt that I must never put my teeth (even accidentally!) on their skin – if I did, the tug would “go dead” and my humans won’t play with me anymore…so now I’m really careful when I’m grabbing the tug toy.

Some people think that we doggies must never win a tug game otherwise we might get a bit bossy but it’s no fun if we lose all the time! My humans let me win sometimes – as long as I will always let go when they tell me to. And they always end the game when it’s still really exciting, so I know that they are the boss and they decide when to start and stop. 

A lot of humans think that it is bad for us doggies to play tug – some even have silly ideas about it making us dominant - but as long as we are taught these important rules for playing, then it is a great game which most doggies LOVE playing and is a fantastic way for us to bond with our humans.

And guess what? There was also a present for Hsin-Yi in the box: special cards with our names and pictures on them! Isn’t it gorgeous! We love it! Personalised bandana…and now personalised stationary too!

Whew! And then as if all that wasn’t enough excitement, I also found out that I had got 2nd place at Niamh’s ‘Train Your Dog Photo Contest’ and the Reader’s Choice Award in the MangoMinster ‘Hard-Working Group’!

Congratulations to all the other winners and thank you to Niamh and Mango for hosting such fun competitions!

And although my human, Hsin-Yi, is (still!) too busy with Settling-In and Catching-Up-With-Work  to help me do much blog stuff, I have been working hard, training for these competitions! But I’m having a bit of trouble deciding which entries to submit…

First, of course, there is Mango Minster 2010 - the Greatest Dog Show in Doggie Blogland – created by my great friend, Mango the Mastiff. It has been really difficult to decide which category I fit in in: Cat Dogs, Hound Dogs, Herding Dogs, Sporty Dogs, Non-Sporty Dogs, Cracker Dog Insane Terriers or Hard-Working Dogs…in the end, with a bit of advice from Mango, I decided on Hard-Working Dogs. But which picture shows me at my Hardworking best??

OK, if any of you know my human, you’ll know what hard work it is living with her – that Camera Machine thing never stops! From the moment I came to live with them as an 8-week old pup, I’ve been modelling 24hrs non-stop…and as if that’s not bad enough – not only do I have to pose for photos but I have to take them too!

But anyway, here’s a picture which I think really shows me hard at work modelling – and it was hard work, I tell you, because I had to stand there in that pose – in the cold water - until all the ripples had disappeared so Hsin-Yi could get the perfect mirror image…

So what do you think, eh? Do you think this is good enough to be my Mango Minster entry?

(The deadline is midnight EST (USA) on Wednesday, January 27th – that’s tomorrow! - and strictly no late entries!)

.

Next there is Niamh’s Train Your Dog Photo Contest - which is looking for a picture of you and your human doing some training together. It can be basic obedience skills, tricks, any dog sport etc or any activity you like to do together – and the photo needs to be taken between Jan 1 and 31, 2010.

Well, my human hasn’t had time to do much training with me lately because she has been so busy with the Moving and Settling-In thing but last weekend, we managed to get some photos while I was at this new training class I’ve just started at the Brisbane RSPCA (tell you more about it in a future post!) – but again, it’s really hard to decide on the best picture!

Should I go for this – which shows my human using clicker training to help me practise my dancing…

…or this, which shows my happy focus & attention at the end of an Obedience Recall?

The deadline for this competition is midnight Jan 31, 2010 so there’s still a bit of time for you to enter if you haven’t yet! (Go to Niamh’s site for more details on how to enter)

.

OK, next there is Tucker’s Sit Stay Contest where doggies have to show their best ‘Sit Stay’ although it doesn’t have to be a traditional one! It can show the funny things you sit on or the strange ways you plant your bottom down…

Deadline for this is Jan 30th midnight (EST – USA) – again, go to Tucker’s site for more info.

Well, at least this time, there wasn’t any debate about the best photo:

THIS is my best Sit Stay!

* CAUTION: Young Pups – do not try this at home. This is an advanced Sit Stay formation only to be attempted by very experienced Bum Manipulators.

.

And last but not least, there is Biggie the Kuvasz’s fantastic Dog Pile Competition.

Well, you’ve seen my entry for that on my previous post (Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary) and you might have though that was impressive but – wow! – you won’t believe some of the entries that have been coming in since!! I think the best one so far is El’bow the Mastiff in Belgium – check out his dog pile: http://elbouwii.blogspot.com/2010/01/our-late-wordless-wednesday.html (scroll to the bottom) – you really have to see it to believe it!!

But special mention must also go to my Pairs Routine dancing buddy, Bodie the Border Terrier, back in NZ – check out his blog for an entry which shows that small dogs can take on the big guys too! http://smallbrowndogs.blogspot.com/2010/01/competition-entry.html

Here is my (now looking pathetic) entry again:

The deadline for the Dog Pile contest is Feb 1st, 2010 so that’s still loads of time to get your entry in! Go to Biggie’s site for more details.

These competitions are great fun and a wonderful way to join in and make friends in the doggie blog world, especially if you’re a newbie – it doesn’t matter if you haven’t got the perfect entry – it’s all about just joining in the fun!

So if you haven’t entered any of these contests yet – what are you waiting for??