We've had wonderful, faithful, joyful loving doggies to be part of our family. They've all been miniature schnauzers. All a delight.

We started with puppies...the first being Princess. She was so beautiful and smart, that she could (we thought) think in abstract terms! We purchased her from Anne Lockney. Then, we purchased her half sister, Dutchess also! They were so precious together. How wonderful to come home to them and hang out with them. Well, we then decided that 2 were not enough and purchased Countess from Anne. Now, we REALLY had a 3-ring circus at our house. How wonderful it was! Princess was a very light salt and pepper; Dutchess was a dark salt/pepper. Countess had the most amazing eyes - you could "see the wild" in them. She was a guard dog delux! Princess was true to her name! I remember when we bought a doggie door to go into the back door and taught Countess and Dutchess to go outside through it whenever it was open and they needed to. Princess was OFFENDED! She truly thought that my job was to OPEN the door for her! It was so funny. She finally did make the transition to doing it herself.

After Princess and Dutchess moved to heaven at the ripe age of 12 or so, we then purchased Lady. Lady was a black and silver mini schnauzer gal. Countess trained Lady into the ways of the household. Then, Anne gave us our wonderful Drew - an "ex-showgirl". Now, until this time, all of our girls were nicely opinionated miniature schnauzer gals. But, Drew had been trained as a show girl, and didn't even know that she could get up on the sofa. Nor, did she voice any opinions. So, Lady and I re-trained her! I taught her that this was also HER house, HER sofa, and HER bed. We had to buy a king-size bed so that all 3 dogs fit on the bed with us!!! It was such a delight to watch Drew come into her own and begin to voice her heart and opinion. She was a very gentle, loving dog. Countess was VERY strong willed and Lady and I had to keep her in line! Then, Countess moved to heaven. So, Anne told us about a sweet girl named Salem who needed a loving home, so OF COURSE, Salem came to live with us and be part of our family. Then, Salem moved to heaven suddenly after being a part of our family for about a year. She'd had such a traumatic life, that it was so much for her.

Drew became sick with some tumors. Lady was one of those dogs that could smell cancer. So, when a tumor would pop up on Drew, Lady would alert me and we'd go get some help for Drew-dee-boo. Finally, both Lady and Drew moved to heaven around the same time. At that point, Paul and I promised ourselves that we'd not get any other dog - it was just too hard to have them leave the earth and our family.

However, I hadn't counted on the persistence of one of my dog rescue friends in our state. She had a miniature schnauzer boy that was a rescue from a pupply mill and he needed a loving home. He was house trained, so she drove half way to us. Paul met her and we named him "Keeper", as he was a Keeper! That was the most amazing experience. True, we'd rescued Salem and brought Drew into family life, but rescuing a dog from a pupply mill that had never known love was a new, wonderful experience. We found some very amazing differences between dogs that had grown up nicely and those that had grown up without love. Whereas all our other dogs knew we loved them and were loving, this dog would rather have hugs and kisses than eat! Truly, having love, kisses, and tenderness was more important to him than food. When Keeper moved to heaven at a good age, we AGAIN said we couldn't have another dog, due to the sorrow of loosing them.

However, again my buddy Flo, convinced me to adopt a sweet little girl. Her name was Heidi - and she had been both kicked and hit in her lifetime. I remember when she first came, she would sit huddle in her bed in a dark closet (I'd been told by the breeder, who'd taken the dog back from the lady she sold Heidi to), that Heidi felt best in a dark closet. So, we slowly began to bring her out of her terror and teach her that she was valuable, wonderful and a gift to us - AND part of the family. She finally began to move out of the closet and sit on the floor - always as still as possible - always trying to not attract attention. Then, after being with us for about 1.5 years, she was finally a happy, full-of-life little girl. We got her when she was 6. And she did have some problems. She actually didn't have good hearing. And, she was "slow" in deciding things, following things, and so on. But, she was precious and again - a rescue type personality. She knew the value of love. Of being cared for. We, as humans, sometimes take love and care for granted. Our rescue dogse KNEW the true value of being loved, being welcomed, and being a part of a family.

Well, we got ANOTHER call from Flo! Now there's a sweet boy that needs a home - BUDDY. His owner has been in a wheelchair and is now moving to a nursing home and cannot have him. So, we brought Buddy into the home. He and Heidi became true, loving family members for each other. He was so very smart. So expressive. Probably the most INTERACTIVE doggie we'd ever had. Then, finally, Heidi moved to heaven, Buddy grieved - and then noticed he was an "only child" and got it all! LOL! I remember when he saw that he didn't have to share me with Heidi or any other 4-legged baby! This doggie was a wonder. Loving, kind, precious. He moved to heaven November of 2016.

I would not ever change the times we'd had with our 4-legged babies. They have taught me so much about God's love, God's faithfulness. I thank the Lord for the gifts He gave us in these 9 miniature schnauzer family members.