For The Love Of Schnauzers
I have only had one breed of dog my entire life, Miniature Schnauzers. When my parents thought my sister and I were old enough for a dog they decided to choose Schnauzers because my parents and I have allergies and a Schnauzer is as close to a hypoallergenic dog as you can get. Our first dog was Heidi (we called her Heido) and my parents decided to try their hand at breeding. Heido had only one large puppy the first time around and we named her Wanda. We ended up having 13 litters with two dogs, Heido and Molly.
It was a great experience as kids to learn about the cycle of life. We had a lot of fun naming the puppies as well. In 1977 Marquette University won the NCAA basketball championship (my maternal grandfather and my parents all went to Marquette and I ended up going there as well) and at the same time we had a litter of 5 male puppies. My parents named them after the Marquette starting 5. Inspiration for the puppies' names came from a variety of sources including soap opera characters from Days Of Our Lives and Another World. My sister was actually named after Rachel from Another World but I digress. I named one puppy after the man who was installing tile in our bathroom at the time, Fred and the family who purchased him kept the name. It was difficult to see the puppies go to their new homes but my parents were very careful about who they sold them to. We kept a couple along the way, Mary Frances and Meg and some neighbors and friends bought puppies too.
We had our Schnauzers throughout the 18 years we lived in Park Ridge. My sister moved to New York to pursue her design career and I completed my undergrad at Marquette, landed my first full-time job as an accountant and 3 years after that got married and moved to Vernon Hills. My parents downsized and moved to Northbrook shortly after. Molly was elderly but she made the move to Northbrook and lived to the ripe old age of 16.
We then had a number of years with no pets, I didn't feel it was responsible to own a dog when no one was home 5 days a week. My parents bought a home in Wisconsin and it was easier for them not to have pets while traveling back and forth between homes nearly every week. However, my life changed in a big way in the early 2000s which allowed me to welcome a Schnauzer into my home and next time I will explain how!
It was a great experience as kids to learn about the cycle of life. We had a lot of fun naming the puppies as well. In 1977 Marquette University won the NCAA basketball championship (my maternal grandfather and my parents all went to Marquette and I ended up going there as well) and at the same time we had a litter of 5 male puppies. My parents named them after the Marquette starting 5. Inspiration for the puppies' names came from a variety of sources including soap opera characters from Days Of Our Lives and Another World. My sister was actually named after Rachel from Another World but I digress. I named one puppy after the man who was installing tile in our bathroom at the time, Fred and the family who purchased him kept the name. It was difficult to see the puppies go to their new homes but my parents were very careful about who they sold them to. We kept a couple along the way, Mary Frances and Meg and some neighbors and friends bought puppies too.
We had our Schnauzers throughout the 18 years we lived in Park Ridge. My sister moved to New York to pursue her design career and I completed my undergrad at Marquette, landed my first full-time job as an accountant and 3 years after that got married and moved to Vernon Hills. My parents downsized and moved to Northbrook shortly after. Molly was elderly but she made the move to Northbrook and lived to the ripe old age of 16.
We then had a number of years with no pets, I didn't feel it was responsible to own a dog when no one was home 5 days a week. My parents bought a home in Wisconsin and it was easier for them not to have pets while traveling back and forth between homes nearly every week. However, my life changed in a big way in the early 2000s which allowed me to welcome a Schnauzer into my home and next time I will explain how!