What do one pair of my favorite flip flops (now complete with teeth marks and missing chunks), one laptop power cord (which now shoots sparks), one iPhone charger cable (now in two equal parts), and let’s not forget one pair of glasses, a mouse (the computer kind, not the cute furry kind) and a remote control (each now adorned with teeth marks) all have in common? 

They are all signs of a new puppy in the house! 

We were pretty lucky with Sasha and Isabella when it came to destructive chewing. Those of you that have read some of my other posts know what a good girl Sasha was so it goes without saying she pretty much stuck to chewing her toys, ropes and bones. Don’t get me wrong, Isabella can lay claim to a few key household casualties, namely Doug’s eyeglasses. They weren’t cheap to replace but I held my patience, took the hit in the pocket-book and moved on. After all, it wasn’t her fault his glasses happen to look (to her) exactly like…uh, a big juicy bone? None the less, we were more careful from that point forward and she passed through the rest of the chewing phase with only a few minor infractions. 

Not that I’m keeping score or anything but Ashas has become quite the little chompers! We are learning quickly that we have to watch him carefully or before we know it, he is munching on more than just pine cones and tree bark! 

I am pretty sure it’s a passing phase due to “teething”. From what I’ve read on the topic, four to six months is the period when puppies replace their baby teeth with permanent ones. Ashas is five months old so according to that he is right on track with the process. I found a baby molar in my bed this morning. According to my research, the typical sequence is incisors then canines then molars but he hasn’t lost his canines yet. Those are the ones I’m looking forward to him losing the most! We are trying to teach him to give proper kisses and while he is happy to offer them, he gets too excited and if you pull back he nips your face trying to grab hold and draw you back closer to him. Those tiny little canines are so sharp and they really hurt when they catch your lips or nose! I’m sure patience will cure this as we talk him through kissing “gently” so he can be a lover not a biter! 

I would be worried if he were showing signs of taking out the corners of the furniture but so far it seems to be contained to loose objects that are close by and handy for a quick chomp to serve his need. He also hasn’t shown signs of hiding with his “catch”. He just happily chews away where ever he finds something interesting and of his taste level. (His taste level not being too refined, at least nothing a New York food critic would appreciate for sure as his consists mainly of rubber!) If we are quick to the draw with replacing any inappropriate items we find him “sampling” with an “approved chew object” he isn’t too concerned with what was taken away from him. From that I’m deducing that he’s doesn’t care ‘what’ he’s chewing, only that his chewing need is being met. 

So what will Ashas use for a teething ring next? Hopefully nothing he shouldn’t, but just in case, we’ve taken even more steps to ensure he doesn’t continue to get a hold of the wrong things; cords are now concealed better and my closet floor is now void of all shoes. He also has a ready supply of chew bones and chew toys to chomp on!

I can has rope???

Nom, nom, nom...

Me loves me some rope!

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It’s funny how life is. You’re cruising along on auto-drive and the next thing you know you jump tracks and find yourself with a brand new set of priorities… We’ve all have been there, sometimes it happens when tragedy strikes and other times we’re lucky enough for the derailment to be caused by something positive in our lives…

For those of you not aware, we now have a new member of the household! I’m still asking myself how this happened? When Sasha passed away, I knew I would eventually get another dog but I expected “her” to find me further down the road. I say “her” because I really have never been drawn to boy dogs and never would have guessed I would even consider owning one. Well, I guess I never considered a lot of things…like how much I would miss having my own dog. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Isabella! She has been a great comfort to me since losing Sasha, especially at night by insisting on sleeping with me, much to her Momma’s dismay. Even still, she is not my dog and I don’t want her to think that she is. That aside, it’s the little things that start to make you see the void. Something as simple as picking out only one toy for Isabella when we would have searched the shelves for a second to avoid any jealousy. It seems like yesterday that Sasha was here with me, yet it feels like I’ve been missing her forever.

So… here we are…meet Ashas!

Hi Everyone!

He’s 18 weeks old and planted firmly in our hearts after just two weeks. He has settled into our home just as quickly and comfortably as we have adjusted to having him around. Bubby has been home with no classes for the summer semester, which has helped, and Isabella has adjusted even quicker than I could’ve hoped! She always wanted to play with Sasha so badly but Sasha became ill and just couldn’t keep up with the rough-housing of Isabella when she was a puppy. Now the tables are turned and Isabella is LOVING having a little brother to wrestle with.

If you’re not familiar with his looks, he is a smooth coat, silver dapple miniature dachshund. He looks like a typical black and tan doxie that has gotten into the fireplace and played in the ashes, hence the name Ashas! In case you’re wondering about the spelling, Ashas is an anagram of Sasha. He even reminds me of her a little with the simple similarities in the shapes of their heads. Here is a picture of them both.

That's Ashas on top, Sasha in the bottom pic...

I’m already smitten over this little face looking to me for everything from the necessities of life like food, water & love to the pleasures in life such as a large variety of chew bones and an endless supply of squeaky toys!

As I said, we’ve all adjusted pretty well. Sissy isn’t allowing him on her bed; she’s currently holding that back as a sanctuary for Isabella to feel like it’s her place. A ploy to get her back in bed at nights and out of my room? Maybe, but it’s working! Speaking of nights, Ashas is doing well there too, sleeping just fine through the night. He’s hilarious when he sleeps, typically it’s on his back and oh yes, he’s a noisy little sleeper too! All sorts of grunts and snores coming from such a tiny little pup!

Potty training is going pretty well, we’ve only had a few accidents so far!  He has no idea what a leash is but at least he has learned his name! We have decided to enroll both him and Isabella in some puppy classes. She’s no longer a puppy but we talked to the trainer and given her social skills (or lack thereof) he said we could enroll them both together. Isabella knows only two commands: how to sit and how to give a “low” five (it’s the same as high five but remember she’s a dachshund, everything is low for her!)

I was a little worried at first when Ashas’ temporary mom mentioned his favorite toy was an old slipper he liked to chew on but he really does not seem to be a bad chewer, at least no more than the typical puppy and luckily he has not shown ANY signs of being a big barker. In fact, he seems to be quite content to let Isabella do all the barking at the neighbor dogs while he hovers around in the background waiting for the coast to be clear. Hopefully this will continue because trust me, Isabella is loud enough for the both of them!  He loves exploring the backyard and is very enamored with pinecones. We have quite a surplus of them in the back yard coming from two very large Pine trees (common in the PNW) so he won’t run out anytime soon but man they make a mess on the carpet! I fear I will turn into Mommy Dearest and be heard screaming “no more pine cones, ever!!

Nom, Nom, Nom

We’ve hade some fantastic weather lately and Ashas seems to be particularly fond of the sun…he is definitely a “basker”; a trait very common to most dachshunds, in fact Sasha also loved sunbathing belly up however Isabella prefers soaking up the rays from inside the house where the sun finds it’s way across the dining-room floor.  Even when he’s not out there basking he’s not short on places to grab a quick nap!

It's a dogs life...

ZZZZZzzzzz....

Well, guess that’s about it for now…to sum everything up, as the title of this post says, he’s a keeper and we’re a two dog household again!

Catch ya later!

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For most dachshund lovers it is an undisputed, well known irony that they are strong-willed, sneaky, noisy, silly, little sweethearts.  We’ve also given in to the fact that we worship the ground they pounce on and more often than not, we are willing to succumb to those beautiful almond shaped eyes to provide for whatever they need… or don’t need…even sleeping like a contortionist so as not to disturb their peaceful slumber!

 For those who live with and love a dachshund and haven’t figured it out yet, I offer the following advice to answer the question: when life is spent with a dachshund, who owns who?

You might be owned by your dachshund if…

Your doorbell no longer works, on purpose, in the hopes that visitors will knock softly enough to bypass the long dog tornado.

Cooking also doubles as agility practice, navigating the 4-legged clean-up crew scurrying below to get the bits of fruit and veggies you drop intentionally.

Mealtime is performed in front of an audience and you’re ok with it because you haven’t had to vacuum below the table in forever!

You no longer notice the nose prints on the inside of your car windows.

You support the porch/patio as a substitute potty when it’s raining or snowing in order to spare your living room carpet.

You keep the thermostat down at night to avoid waking up sweating from the built-in fur-covered bed warmers.

Every time you go to the store alone, you feel guilty and bring home a new toy.

Every time you go to the store with your dachshund, you bring home a new toy.

Your living room decor includes a set of stairs leading up to the couch.

You can spot another dachshund almost as quick as your dachshunds can.

Last but not least, no matter how many doxies you have you’re always thinking of getting another one!

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