Dachshunds Can Make Laundry More Fun!

Spaatz in particular loves when I do laundry. He will follow me into my room when I'm carrying the basket. Today I did him a big favor and just dumped it on top of him. He got busy snuggling in.

Then as I fold the clothes the pile starts to dwindle a bit and I kinda feel bad because he is so content.

The good news is that his tummy is now more accessible for belly rubs. So the second part of this operation has it's benefits too. This also makes the job of laundry folding take much longer because he is irresistible. He knows this, counts on it, and I am defenseless in the face of such handsomeness.

There are not a whole lot of household chores that a dachshund can actively get involved in, but laundry must be top of the list. Oh, maybe the dishes,vacuuming, on the other hand is something completely different, there seems to be a complex dynamic of desires for them, between not liking the machine and it's noise and their need to be close to me at all times. But that's another story.

Rest assured that having Spaatz there to "help" IS help because his participation makes it more fun. Laundry folding has a fun factor of zero, so any help is a big improvement.

Happy Holidays to everyone out in dachshund land!!

Sandie just snapped....again

Sweet, sweet Sandie poo. Such a sweet doggie. Everybody loves her. She may bark at you like crazy when you get here, but soon she 'll be giving kisses and winning your heart. She's a lover girl. Then..

Well, something happens. Now this has happened maybe a half a dozen times since we've had her. We are her third owners, but she's been with us for four years now. Ordinarily she is on the gentle side. When it comes to playing with toys she always lets Spaatz get his way. He gets the toy, lays down with his head on it, and she will just sit and stare at it, for a really long time. Really long.

Spaatz is "Mister Game Over" because when he gets the toy the game is over unless we take it away from him. Anyway, I was telling some family members of the phenomena of Sandie snapping and they couldn't believe it, and how it hasn't happened in a long time and then the next day we got a demonstration.

It was Christmas day and I was packing a cooler to go to in-laws for dinner. I had the cooler on the floor (mistake), and was loading it. Suddenly both Sandie and Peachy decided to take ownership of the cooler, and things went downhill and got very ugly. I grabbed Sandie by the back haunches and lifted her away to split them up. Unfortunately Miss Peaches was being lifted too because Sandie had a grip of her face in her mouth. Everyone was watching this unfold, and Sandie finally let go, and I tossed her in the crate that was close by.

We took Miss Peaches in the bathroom and cleaned up her small puncture wound. The cooler was removed of course, and Sandie was let out and all was normal again. I have no pictures or film of the incident, but hopefully it will be a really, really long time before Miss sweet and mild mannered goes all incredible hulk on us again

Now Sandie has never ever been aggressive towards a person. Its mostly been towards Peachy. I guess perhaps because they are both females. Ordinarily they are best girl friends, one always standing by while the other gets washed or shaved or some other doggie maintenance done. They can go for a year without a moment of any kind of being competitive, Miss Peaches is the Queen here and everyone knows it. Then snap.

The Golden Girls, Peaches, Sandie in full mop.

Making a long road trip with the dachshunds much better.

We went to Florida for Thanksgiving to see our loved ones. We brought along our best friends Spaatz, Peaches, Sandie and Foozeball. Roughly a 1200 mile trip each way.

For the most part, they slept the whole way. Which is amazing when they sleep all day, then sleep when we get to our destination. When we slow down a bit is when they wake up and think we've arrived somewhere. We did make many pit stop for walkies and water.

We have made this trek at least 4 times now and I must say it is a challenge to travel with dogs.  Especially when you have 4 of them. We have resorted to finding a hotel that will accept dogs and only admitting to 2 of them and sneaking the other 2 in the side door. Some places will charge you per dog. Now mind you, no one has ever barked or had an accident, so there are no problems.

Still it can be stressful to have to find a place to stay for our half way stop. Now this isn't for everyone, but since we are long time campers it was a natural solution. I found a really nice camping cabin, there are actually many to choose from, in North Carolina. Very reasonable and they didn't even charge for the dogs.

The one we stayed in on the way back had everything we needed including towels, bedding and a bathroom. In fact, the place was quite new and really solved this problem for us.

So we made it back in one piece and the Christmas crunch is in full swing, although nothing really changes for the dogs. They are very adaptable as long as they have a comfy spot to lay down.

They do get a little anxious when I'm going in and out of the house putting up my outside decorations

It makes them nervous that I'm packing the car to go on a long trip.

It's All About The Ramp

Yes, it's all about the ramp. We dachshund owners know that we have to protect those long backs. We have been have been "ramping" up our efforts here especially since two of our pack are getting to be seniors.

But the guiding event to this progress was Miss Peaches back surgery. The only place the dogs have to deal with stairs here is out the back door, and that is only two steps. We decided for all their little backs we ought to provide them with a ramp.

You wouldn't think that this was a big project, but it was. It had several incarnations before it was fined tuned into a workable ramp that they could use. First there was the straight wood ramp with sides. That was actually a slide,it made exiting the house an express route, so sandpaper squares were applied. That wasn't enough gription, so little wood slats every few inches were added. Then we had something. Next we had to convince them to use it. Even Spaatz, who is an amazing canine specimen of strength and agility needed to accept the ramp.                                                                       

Spaatz mainly uses the ramp to launch himself at this point. Always looking for some unfortunate rodent to catch himself unaware to the impending doom of the onslaught of a pack of dachshunds hell bent on destruction. The dachshunds don't get their man too often, but when they do there is much rejoicing, until the animal is no more, then it's boring again and maybe it's time for a nap in the sun.

Then you might be a bit of a weirdo like Foozeball and just go about half the way down the ramp and lay down right there. Fooze is the biggest sun worshipper here, and one day he decided he didn't need to go any further for his sunny spot. This, of course causes problems for anyone else who would like to use the ramp, so I convinced him to move.

Overall the ramp has been a big success, although I sometimes have to tell Peach to "go up the ramp, go up the ramp, go up the ramp" She does so grudgingly, but we've accomplished our goal of keeping those long backs safer.

Happy Birthday Miss Peaches and Mr Foo

I'm happy to announce that the "old dogs"celebrated their birthday this weekend. Mr. Foo, was as far as we're concerned, 10 years old on April Fool's Day. Miss Peaches turned 11 the day after.

Miss Peaches is a true Diva with an attitude and I'm so glad that she has fully recovered from her major back surgery 2 summer's ago. You would never guess she's 11. She loves walkies, in fact she and Sandie turn into complete idiot's when they figure we're going for a walk. You might think they would get all wore out from the pre-walk excitement.

Then there is Mr. Foo, who is showing his age as all red smooth dachshunds do, with his face turning grey. His paws too. His activities have slowed down too. He often figures that he'll just stay on the couch while everyone else goes outside. It's cold out there. He'll take a pass on the squirrel hunting.

Do you find your dogs name changing over time? Mr.Foo started life here as Foozeball. Although, he is mostly known as Fooze, it has morphed from Foozeball to Foober, Foobie, Foob and now Mr. Foo. I suppose all that is left if for me to call him FFFFF. Not sure he'll answer to that. Especially since it seems like his hearing is not what it used to be.

I must say we had a great "doggie day" to celebrate that included some yummy venison treats that dad saved for them, but a nice walk in the sunshine, and to top it all off, Miss Peaches was outside at the end of the day and was sniffing feverishly around a tarp covering the tractor. Well, she found a vole, which she dispatched immediately. She got her face washed, and her teeth brushed after that. That most likely not the best part of the day for her, but all in all a good doggie day.

The Sound of Cheese

So your thinking to yourself "cheese doesn't make a sound", but to the trained dachshund ear , it definitely does make a sound, and it can be heard from across the house. It's a crinkle sound.

I know that if I open a package of cheese in the kitchen the dogs will be running, no need to call them. Just the smallest taste makes them happy. Until they invent silent wrappers this will be the case. If you think you might slip into the kitchen for a little snack of cheese by yourself, forget it.

I've already documented this new breed of dachshund, the North American Cheesehound. Always willing to sniff out any cheesy combustibles you might have in case you lost them.

Their noses are highly sensitive. You probably couldn't eat cheese without a dachshund detecting it if it were unwrapped and you were alone on the third floor in a dark closet. Look at that face, could you deny her just a wafer thin piece? I think not.

Perhaps that's an idea for the next new invention, The Cheese silencer. It might help with other breeds of dogs, even people too. Preventing a disaster in your home like a shortage of cheese. I shudder to think.