The Great Schnauzer Swap

It's a long story. One that really can't be made short. Suffice it to say that my mother and I worked together on this interesting scheme... I apologize ahead of time!

About a year ago, my mom acquired a miniature schnauzer pup from an allegedly redneck family going through a divorce. She had symptoms of abuse and my mom and her fiance, Paul, were glad to bring her into their home. They named her Sassy.

Not too much longer after that--in fact, it was in March of 2010--Rob and I decided we needed to bring a dog into our home "for Ryan". We went to a shelter and were totally psyched about bringing home a mutt. Much to our surprise, we saw Salty and fell in love. He looked like a full-bred miniature schnauzer. He's a little on the large side of the minis, but he fit into our family quite well. Salty had come to the shelter with a horrific wound on his backside, just above his tail. The shelter workers said it looked like someone had tried to skin him alive. We brought him home and have loved him ever since.

In May 2010, we went and visited my mom. Salty and Sassy were like old buds. They played together all day long and were tuckered out by evening. Mom's older dog, Coal, was grateful for the respite; Sassy had become her arch enemy because she had so much energy! Salty and Sassy were great companion dogs. Also of note: Salty had been biting and licking hot spots all over himself until he met Sassy. We had been keeping "the cone of shame" on his head for weeks to help heal his self-afflicted wounds. The whole week we were at my mom's house, Salty didn't lick himself once! Mom and I talked about possibly letting the Rose family have Sassy, but it never amounted to anything. Rob and I were serious about finding a companion for Salty. We felt it was worth our while if it helped keep him from licking himself all the time.

I started a new job in August and a coworker mentioned to me that she was trying to find a good home for the white schnauzer she rescued. Did you know there was such a thing? I had never even heard of an all-white schnauzer! Her name was Molly. We fell in love immediately and she was such a sweet thing. Her story is really sad. She is a puppy mill survivor. She showed so many signs of abuse and Rob and I had so much compassion for her. The poor thing was so timid--she was afraid of her own shadow. Literally. While Salty was incredibly interested in our pet rabbit and was set to attack it at any given opportunity, Molly would run out of the room every time it moved! She was so sweet, though, and very cuddly! We had every intention of keeping her forever.

Then, my mom mentioned how her old dog didn't like Sassy. I mentioned how Salty wasn't exactly enamored with Molly. That's when the scheme took on a life of its own.

Mom planned on visiting us after the baby was born. She would bring her two dogs and we would see how Salty and Sassy got along in Salty's territory. We would also see how well her older dog and Molly got along.

Well, to finally get to the point: Salty and Sassy renewed their friendship, Molly and Coal were able to enjoy being old dogs together and peace was established all over the board. Mom took Molly back to Mississippi with her and left Sassy here with us. We think it's the best fit for all the dogs. Molly will be in a home with less chaos and Coal will enjoy being rid of ball-of-fire Sassy. Salty and Sassy have each other to wear out and play all day long. So far, it's working really well.

We miss Molly, but we know she's better off with my mom. You can see her sad eyes in her picture.

Sassy (top left) and Salty (bottom right). It's almost hard to tell them apart because their coloring is so similar. They both need grooming right now, but we're going to wait until the weather is consistently warm. For now, we'll just have to be the ones with the scruffy schnauzers.