Thanks to Our Aussie Friends

Wanted to take a break from legal intrigue to focus on a more pleasant, and personal, subject.

I thought readers might be interested in the story behind the title of this blog.

As you might have guessed, my wife and I are big fans of dogs, cats, and other critters in general--and miniature schnauzers in particular. In fact, this blog is dedicated to the memory of a miniature schnauzer who enriched our lives in profound ways.

I'll tell you about her in a moment. But first, it's not often here at Legal Schnauzer that we get to give an international shout out. One is due to the fine folks at Valley View Dog Breeders of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.

Our cover schnauzer, "Gumpie-Poo," is one of Valley View's dogs. (I wonder if she barks with an Aussie accent; I'm assuming she's a 'she'; don't see any 'equipment' in the photo.)

When I was planning this blog, I searched a number of image sites on the Web, and found many wonderful shots of miniature schnauzers. But my wife and I fell in love with the photo of Gumpie-Poo.

To us, the photo captures so much that is wonderful about schnauzers (and many dogs). Gumpie-Poo is playful, vibrant, happy, and a little bit of a showboat (in the best kind of way). You can almost see her thinking, "Gee, these people seem to love it when I jump over this thing. So I'm going to do it again and again."

A number of writers have described the schnauzer's playful spirit. One called them "little court jesters." That fits perfectly.

Anyway, the folks at Valley View were kind enough to grant us permission to use Gumpie-Poo's photo. So thank you, mates.

And yes, there is one other reason we adore the picture of Gumpie-Poo. She looks an awful lot like our precious girl.