Baron's Doggie Relatives

Although you might think so the way I talk about him, Baron is not the only dog in our very close knit family. As I mentioned before, my parents have a toy poodle named Duchess. She is a hoot. She is very playful when she wants to be, and her favorite activity is swinging on the porch swing (but only when my mom swings her; the rest of us apparently don't swing her high enough--and no, I'm not kidding!).

Duchess loves the swing.

Then there is Baxter. Baxter came to live with my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew in 2007.  My niece was wanting a dog, and my dad had been looking for a while when he responded to an ad in the paper for mini schnauzers. He came home with this:

Baxter's first photo. How sweet is he!

My all time favorite picture of Baxter and my nephew. Baxter was about 5 months old and my nephew was 3.

And then Baxter turned into this:

Baxter makes a good pillow.



Baxter and his bone.

My favorite story about Baxter is when he went for his first hair cut. At that time, we thought Baxter was a mini schnauzer. Never having had one or really been around one, we had no concept of how big he should be. My dad took Baron to our groomer, Sheiler (there is a story about this name), and she took one look at Baxter and said, "Hmmph, that ain't no mini." 40 pounds later, we realized she was right! When she first saw Baron, she said, "Now that's a mini!"

Baron loooves his family, and he loves his doggie relatives. Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. Baron has seen Duchess on more than one occasion, and it has not gone well. She particularly takes offense to Baron trying to come up to my mother to be petted because, well, Duchess thinks my mom belongs to her. (You can ask my dad about this, too!)

After I'd had Baron about 3 months, Baxter's family was getting ready to go out of town and they wondered if we would let Baxter stay with us while they were gone. Being the fabulous doggie sitters we are (you'll hear more about Zenzi later), we agreed. I did have the forethought to suggest that we get the doggies together before then to see how they would interact. Poor Baxter. Baron, who weight maybe 8 pounds at the time, chased Baxter all over Baxter's house. Baxter kept looking at us like, Why are you allowing this injustice to continue??? Baron thought it was loads of fun, given that his favorite game in the world is chase--be it being the chaser or the chasee. Baxter, however, disagrees. Apparently even after we left, Baxter walked around for a couple of days with his head down, clearly embarassed that this little pup had chased him all around his own house.  Poor thing.

Needless to say, Baron doesn't spend much time with his family dogs.

How Baron Became Baron

Probably the most important story in this Saga of Baron is how Baron and I got together. I recently wrote about it here in an effort to have Baron named Schnauzer of the Month. (Sidebar: he didn't win. I know, sadness.) Anyway, I am so very glad that stress led me to a random lunchtime search for cute puppies for sale. Baron came from a great breeder who breeds mini schnauzers with her best friend. You could tell instantly that the puppies were loved and cared for and were vey well socialized.

The first photo I ever saw of Baron. Look at the button tail.



Baron and his siblings. Baron is on the right.

 I took my friend Heather with me to check out these adorable little puppies and by the time we got there, only two were left. I already had my eye on Baron but his brother was adorable and cuddly and oh, so sweet. But Baron marched right up to me and started licking and then chewing on me and somehow I just knew this doggie was supposed to be mine.

Baron and Heather. I think she liked him right off, too.

How did I come up with Baron Von Spurrier? Well, for one, I have a thing for royal titles for dogs. My parents' poodle is named Duchess, and it's quite fitting for her. So I had already decided on Baron before I ever picked out the little guy.

The other part was trickier. I debated on Baron von Cochran after the greatest strength and conditioning coach  who ever lived (Roll Tide!). But as I was looking around my office thinking about names, I saw something with my former boss's name on it. don Spurrier was my boss and mentor for 4 years until he passed away in 2009. I think about him every day, and not a week goes by that someone doesn't mention Spurrier around here. He was loved and revered by all, be it by attorneys, clients, and even opposing parties. I figured that by naming my dog after him, I was honoring him. I also figured that if Spurrier were around today he would fuss to high heaven that I named a dog after him and would tell everyone--but secretly he would be pleased.

Why I'm Writing

I figure the first question on anyone's mind is why in the world would you do a blog about your dog? Isn't that about the most narcissistic thing you could possibly do? Do you think people actually want to read about all the random things your dog does? (Okay, so maybe these are the questions I asked myself. But you gotta admit you probably asked at least one of them!)


I got the idea when I stumbled across a guy who wrote a blog from his dog's perspective. It's a pretty cute blog. From there I found some other dog blogs, and I realized that Baron is pretty entertaining so maybe some people would be interested in seeing what goes on in Baron's life. In just eleven months we have had a bunch of adventures and some are pretty funny.


Also, I am told from time to time that my Baron Facebook posts are of interest to some of my friends. (Others are thinking, She's posting about that dog again?? While others say, Gee, she really needs a date! (which is totally true)) I thought a blog would offer me more room to elaborate on all the trouble/grief/entertainment Baron brings me. It also allows me the illusion of thinking that the world enjoys my writings and thinks I am hysterical with how I phrase things. (Who, me, narcissistic?)


Anyway, if you have stumbled across this, I hope you enjoy.