2026-01-12 Adoption is in the air.

 There is a new baby in our house. Her name is currently Tina but Dave thinks he would like Diva better but "Diva" has both positive and negative descriptions. Scratch that.....her new name is XENA (the Warrior Princess). It sounds the same as Tina to her and it makes her ours.

She needed a new home and we weren't hard to convince that we needed another dachsund. She was posted on Adopt-a-Pet as a rehome from another family. It was posted a week before I even saw it and I wasn't even sure I should be looking. I hesitantly showed Dave and he said he was sure she would already be gone but I should apply just in case. I did the paperwork Saturday morning and sent it in. They forwarded it right away and her other mom texted me Sunday morning and asked when we could talk. Well, right away! So we talked and asked lots of questions and set up a meeting at a park that afternoon. Her mom chose us out of a number of other respondees. We all agreed to make the transfer later the same day.our 

This is my husband Dave holding our new baby while we filled out some transfer paperwork. It was chilly, well chilly for Texas and dachsies never turn down a blanket.

Now, you may wonder why her family wanted to rehome such a beautiful baby (okay, she's 2 1/2 years old). They got her five months ago from a coworker who wasn't able to keep her but it turned out that their older dog didn't like her. The white spot on her upper muzzle is where their older dog bit her. Hopefully the fur will grow back. They loved her enough to know she would have a better life in another home. We have had 6 dachshunds since we got married and every one of them needed a new home for one reason or another so this was a perfect fit for us.

She was unhappy to leave but the car ride home was uneventful. She loves riding in the car.

She loved her big new fenced in yard. Lots of room to roam and dachshund tested for escape artists. All was quiet as she explored the first day. Night time went well. She went in her crate upstairs about 10:15 and slept until 8:30 the next morning. Going outside potty was not so great as all the dogs behind our house were having a barkfest so she was afraid. Later in the day, it was quiet again so she had a good time. 

Doggy blankets are plentiful in our house so we can meet all her blankie needs. We even still had a couple toys as well as a collection of doggy bowls. 

She is giving us both plenty of lap time.

She loves a good time of pull the rope and did I mention she is a parkour expert? We are going to have to work on that as she zooms from floor to furniture before you can blink an eye and zipping up stairs is also a game to her. Not so good for dachsies.

She also loves to chase balls, toys, ropes, etc. and brings them right back to you. We are working on walking on a leash without pulling. She is very strong. I discovered that she knows "sit" so we stop and "sit" when she starts to pull. She also responds very well to "come" and know what "no" means. She is very smart so we will really need to work with her. She has figured out that the dogs on the other side of the fence aren't going to get her. They barked this morning and she ran to the fence and barked twice then ran back to the porch. She gave some guys putting up a canopy next door a couple warning woofs then went on her way. Dachsies can be determined barkers and they have big dog voices but I think she is going to be a good girl about it.

Let me end this first post by say she got the zoomies at bedtime last night and raced around the bedroom for 19 minutes. Then she didn't want to go in her crate for bed. I let her stay on the bed where she settled right down. After I finished reading my book, I picked her up and put her in her crate where she went right back to sleep. I don't mind if she sleeps on the bed but I was afraid she might wake up every time I got up to go to the bathroom which is several times a night and I didn't want her leaping on and off that high bed.

All in all, I think her transition is going great. 
 

Dazzling Smiles

We couldn’t put it off any longer. The teeth had to be cleaned….they were beyond awful and we just won’t talk about the breathe. I really hate taking the dachsies in for teeth cleaning because there is that anesthesia bit. I immediately picture two of our dachshunds, Ginger and Heidi (that passed away some time ago), as they staggered bewildered back to us after they had their teeth cleaned. They were still a little dopey the next day. As a result, I put the cleaning off….and off…..and off until my son said “Mom, they just have to have their teeth cleaned or they will be as bad as Heidi’s teeth were.”
Gretchen and Willy are both 11. You would never know it as Gretchen acts more like Harley’s age which is almost 6. Now Willy’s teeth are not pristine by any means but they really aren’t bad at all and he just isn’t as robust as the other two so it’s Gretchen and Harley off to the dental cleaning. I partially blame the activities below for the tartar encrusted teeth.

From the time Gretchen was a puppy, little old Heidi taught her to clean out Heidi’s mouth and Heidi had bad teeth and bad breathe. So Heidi passed on…..Gretchen tried cleaning Willy’s mouth but he was having none of it.  Then Harley came into the picture and Gretchen was back in business as he was a willing participant.
I don’t have any “before” pictures but that is probably just as well. Gretchen’s teeth looked like they had ugly caps on them. Harley’s weren’t quite as bad. We arrived at the vet for the appointment. A big dog came around the corner surprising all three of us. I was already holding Gretchen and Harley scooted between my legs and the check-in counter. Of the course the lady with the big dog just smiled and said “he likes little dogs” as he was poking Harley. A man in the other corner was holding a little chihuahua that was crying pitiously and the man didn’t look in much better shape. He was ahead of me for a teeth cleaning. He went on and on about “please don’t turn us in for not taking care of her teeth…we didn’t know”. He was really afraid she was going to loose all her teeth. Not something I really needed to hear. I asked if they could put Gretchen and Harley in one crate because I knew she would be scared of the whole place but they said they don’t do that because even dogs that are always together sometimes go after each other in unfamiliar places.
With that bit of wisdom, I had to leave them. It was a nerve wrecking day for me. Steve picked me up to go run around and keep me busy. I called at 3:30 like the vet’s office asked me and they said both dogs were alert and ready to go home. Once we picked them up, they advised me to skip dinner for both of them so Willy got his dinner in the other room.
Both Harley and Gretchen were alert but still sleepy that evening. But the results were worth it.

Willy wanted me to check his too.

Willy will probably need to get his cleaned too but I think I need until fall to recover from the stress. 

Don’t get me wrong….the vet’s office was great….I’m just a nervous nelly when it comes to the furkids.
And yes, Gretchen and Harley are back at it again.

A Play Date for Harley

As you know I have three miniature dachshunds, Willy, Gretchen, and Harley.  Gretchen's brother, Owen, lives with our very good friends on the other side of San Antonio.  Loretta called and asked me to come over to go shopping and have dinner.  She said "why don't you bring the furkids for a play date with Owen?"  Well, since we also planned to go out for a short shopping trip, I didn't think I should bring all three of the furkids along at one time as four dachsies can have quite a wild time.  So, I tucked a leash in my purse when no one was looking and picked Harley up as I headed out the door.  I knew that Willy and Gretchen would be quite annoyed that Harley was going in the truck and they were staying home so a quick, quiet departure was in order.

Owen is quite a bit bigger than Harley but he is 9 and Harley is 3 and feisty so no problem.  Owen was a little surprised when I showed up with Harley as he is used to getting quite a bit of attention and lots of cuddles from me.  I guess Loretta forgot to tell him he was having company. They checked out Owen's back yard and ignored each other for a while.  Then Owen gave him a tour of the house after we came back from shopping.  They waited until after dinner about a half hour before I was ready to leave to really get to the wrestling and games.

Harley thinks he can "take" Owen.

Owen says "think again youngster".

Harley is ready for round two.  See him flexing his muscles?

Heads up, butts down.

Harley has Owen pinned from underneath.

They had a ball.  Too bad there isn't sound here.  You would have thought Rottweilers were facing off but they were just having a really good time.  If you think Owen looks big compared to Harley in this picture, you should see Owen next to his dainty sister Gretchen.  Willy and Gretchen gave Harley quite a talking too when he got home and then he got to tell them all about his exciting day.

And.............that's the end!