I am not a complete stranger to this horrible disease. My sister and niece’s boy Bailey was dubbed “Franken-puppy” after his back surgery to repair a damaged disk. That was some time back and he has since passed away unrelated to IVDD.

RIP Bailey, we miss you and think about you often sweet boy…say Hi to Sasha, hope you’re both having a blast up there!

Over the last couple of years Isabella has had occasional bouts of back pain requiring both pain meds and steroids. Sadly this is common with many dachshunds. When the pain reoccured this summer and continued with little improvement from meds our vet started her on k-laser treatments to give a last non-surgical effort to addressing the problem.

You try to keep them from jumping… you have stairs next to every bed in the house, next to every couch yet still, we all know the last thing a dachshund is looking for upon hearing the doorbell ring is a set of stairs to casually make their way to the door. Nope, if your dachshunds are like mine, I propose the person guilty of ignoring the “No Soliciting” sign (clearly displayed in plain sight) in hopes to sell me a home security system has barely removed their finger from the ringer before these little guys are front and center determined to scare away said person with the very piercing ferocious doxie bark. What I find the most disturbing in this situation is that I’m still being offered an alarm system to warn me of impending intruders… as we struggle to hear each other over the comotion!

Noise aside, the situation poses such a horrible health hazard to dachshunds as well as other long-backed breeds. Ashas doesn’t just bounce off the couch as Isabella does. No, he does a swan dive worthy of an Olympic 10.0 Gold Medal! It’s beautiful to see but heart wrenching at the same time knowing his possible future and the damage it may one day cause being a dachshund and prone to IVDD. Stopping him from doing it is a challenge in and of itself, one we have not yet overcome but rest assured we’re working on it and very open to suggestions if any of you have successfully halted this behavior!

As I mentioned, Isabella had already begun having issues appearing over the course of time. We are constantly rubbing and massaging our little lapdogs and standard x-rays showed possible inflammation along her middle back, the same area she had begun to show sensitivity to during the typical back rub so after the latest flare-up, our vet decided it was time for a surgical consult. We had no idea when we walked into the surgeon’s office for the consult on her back that she would in fact be having surgery less than 24 hours later on her neck.

Through this experience, I’ve learned a whole lot about IVDD that I didn’t know. Not that my regular vet had never talked me through it but the way our surgeon explained it opened my eyes to exactly what this disease is all about. For one, I thought it was caused by an injury. I had always heard Dachshunds (and long-backed dogs) were prone to IVDD, but naively I thought it was due to the shape of their skeleton and the length of the back causing the IVDD injuries.

The fact that our surgeon has a dachshund drawn on his whiteboard in permanent marker showing the spinal column for consults is sad evidence of how common IVDD really is with the breed.

What I now know differently, is that IVDD is common to specific breeds purely due to genetics. The disk material in certain breeds has a propensity to lose its moisture and dry out, becoming hard and brittle. The long back comes into play as the animal is at risk for injury frequently caused from the sudden jarring and pressure associated with jumping and most importantly, landing. By “injury” I mean the compression of the now hard and brittle disk material which has nowhere to go but to push intrusively into the spinal cord causing pain and often paralysis. Also, IVDD is a disease which can reoccur as multiple episodes at different areas in the spine over the course of the dog’s lifetime whether surgery has occurred or not. Simply put, even if surgery has corrected one area, other disks can become affected later and require more surgery. A short 30-40 years ago, many cases of IVDD ended sadly in paralysis and/or ultimately in euthanasia. Thankfully veterinary medicine has come out of the dark ages and although it’s expensive, with the use of procedures such as MRI, they can pinpoint where these injuries have occurred and make educated decisions on how to treat them, surgical or not.

Isabella is a great example of the benefit of MRI. The conclusion from her MRI was that while she had some areas in her middle back as suspected, they are quite mild (at least for now) and also not the area most likely to have been causing her pain. Her issue was in her neck where she had a severe disk protrusion into her spinal cord. The chance of this correcting itself without surgery was nil so the choice was a no-brainer. Oddly, she showed no discomfort during phiscal examination of her neck, only the back so this would have gone undiagnosed or worse, we might have chosen to operate in the wrong place if not for the MRI. Of course I got a copy of it on DVD. :-) Here’s a snapshot from the MRI file showing her bad disk with about a 50% spinal intrusion:

Something else I learned… neck injuries are less often to cause actual paralysis however they tend to be more painful for the dog than those of the back. Episodes involving the back start out with some pain but often develop into paralysis at which time the pain subsides. Like either is a more desired outcome? Also, neck injuries, while a much more complex procedure for the surgeon, is a much easier post-surgical recovery event for Fido.

It was a longer surgery than I expected… they took her back at 11:00, to start her prep and it was after 5pm when she finally came out of surgery. They had to drug her up a little heavier than usual they explained as she had already tried to jump down and get lose from her confinement. I guess she had enough and was ready for home?

That’s our girl…Cage Jumper!

When we went back to see her the next day after work she was doing amazingly well. Much to our suprise, what we thought was a small scar turned out to be a little larger than small… Three days after her surgery we brought her home where she had two weeks of confinement. what a long two weeks. Within just the first week you would never have known anything was wrong with her! Full recovery for this surgery is a mere 9-12 weeks before she can return to “being a dog”…

Not only has she rebounded quickly but the most wonderful change since her surgery is seeing her lay on her back… something she hasn’t been a real fan of for a couple of years and already she’s doing it regularly! She’s also been “sweeter” and more patient. It’s crazy what we miss even though we think we see everything. If only our little fur babies could talk to us and tell us what’s going on. Sadly it’s in their nature to hide things like pain so often we don’t know until things are severe. Having her lay around carefree and more importantly “pain free” reaffirm that the right decision was made to go the surgical route.

We’re at 4 1/2 weeks and at least she can now roam freely around the house and the yard as well as participate in low key activity. She wants to play with Ashas really bad but their playing involves rolling and wrestling and pinning each other down nipping each other’s necks so when they start horsing around we watch and when it turns rough (usually pretty quickly) we put a halt to it. She’s also ready to chase and fetch her ball… another 6-7 weeks to go little girl!

P.S. ever wonder what your dog looks like on the inside? Pretty much like we do! Kidneys, liver, intestines…

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It all started last summer (’10) when Tristian bought Isabella a little wading pool to which she has religiously responded with the proverbial dachshund “You’ve got to be kidding” look when presented with any opportunity to use it. Ashas was still pretty young when we got it and for some reason which escapes me now, we didn’t even really try to get him interested.  Mind you the water here in the pacific northwest comes out of the faucet colder than ice water, even in the dead heat of summer, so I suspect I was paranoid about him getting sick exposed to such cold water while so young?

At any rate, fast forward to this summer (’11) when we pulled the little blue puppy pool back out and Ashas showed slightly more interest than Peanut had ever shown.  In fact, the first time it came out he jumped into it himself!  Promising! For about a split second… true to dachshund form, he has proven to mostly just snoop around it, using it as a giant water bowl. If it’s a really hot day he will tolerate a quick dip to run around in a circle and let you splash of the water on his back for a cool down…

If you live anywhere near Seattle, you’ve heard of Marymoor Park.  They have one of, if not the largest off-leash Dog Park in the state of WA.  We started going there this summer to let the pups run some energy off and make new friends.  Actually, we used to go there with Sasha and Isabella before Sasha got sick but we had to stop due to her illness to avoid exposing her to anything with her weakened immune system.  Because of that, it had been a couple of years since going. The park has a beautiful river going through the off-leash area with access for dogs to enjoy the water.  All of our trips through the park and along the trails never resulted in water play for us, we have been happy to just enjoy the sights from the sidelines…we have doxies and everyone knows (most) doxies don’t do water…

Or so we thought…

A few weeks ago we met several friends and their fur-kids at the park for a puppy play-date!  Upon encountering the water area, one of my friends, Linda, who has a sweet larger dog named Roxie, decided to go in the river to let Roxie swim.  Then, another friend of ours, decided to take their miniature poodle in for an experimental swim.  Next thing we know, Ashas was looking like he was going to jump in so Tristian got in with him. Well, one thing led to another and within minutes, we were ALL in the river with our pups, Isabella included!  It was such a hoot!!!

Roxie is a pro at swimming!

This is our friend Coco!

Isabella's splashing up a storm!

That's one wet puppy!!!

This is Panda, takin' it easy!

Coco is a natural swimmer!

Little Abby is covered with ringlets when she gets wet! Too cute...

Abby is gonna get her bow wet!

Ashas is ready to go back in for more fun!

Tristian and I decided the next day to go back for some more fun in the water since they had liked swimming but to make the fun safer and less stressful for us we would invest in life jackets. They did well enough swimming but their short legs tired out pretty quickly so having the floatation of the life vests made for an easier swim!

We can’t wait until next summer… until then swim lessons are on hold. In the meantime, enjoy some clips of Ashas and Isabella doin’ the dog paddle!

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They have formed a strong bond in the short time since we adopted her a month ago. I’m still convinced they all think she is just another dachshund, be it one that has a unique talent of purring! As I mentioned in my last post, by day three they were all showing signs of being good pals and it’s been such a joy to watch all three of these guys grow closer but Ashas and Pompeii are truly besties!

Most of their days are spent playing together wrestling, chasing and teasing each other!

When they’re not getting into trouble together, they’re usually snuggled together napping… one important trait that comes naturally for any purring dachshund!

Pompeii has been great for both pups! Even Isabella enjoys relaxing with her nearby!

Mind you, Pompeii does like to torement Isabella, begging for her to play! Typically it’s when Isabella is trying to sleep and has no patience for being awakened. We all know how some Doxies need their beauty rest!

I think Isabella is a little jealous at times when Ashas and Pompeii are going at the speed of light around the house. She tries to get in the action but she often gets left in the dust. Remember when you were a teenager with your two best friends at the amusement park? When it comes time to ride the roller coaster one person always has to sit alone… that’s Isabella in this three muskateers act, usually in the backseat watching all the fun.

And fun there is…the kind of fun based on love only best friends know…

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I miss them both, terribly…

Ashas never knew Baby… which brings us to present day. As of one week ago, the house is once again filled with the sound of purrs, meows and now the quiet tinkle of a tiny bell attached to the collar around a little black kitten. And by little, I mean tiny… Meet Pompeii…all 2 lbs. of her!

We adopted her last Saturday August 13, 2011. Kitty fever had been growing for a couple of months now. Doug had made up his mind that he really wanted another cat. I was hardly one to resist as I’ve almost always had a cat. My entire life has been filled with many pets, often gerbils, fish, rabbits and many other species as well but always a cat in the mix. Cats are wonderfully adaptive and can live in just about any setting be it country living or city apartment living and being an animal lover I usually got my fix with a feline or two.

So here we are once again with 2 dachshunds and a cat. You might be wondering how it’s working out so far?

Upon making the decision to go for it, we hit up the adoption event at our local Petco looking at the kittens available for adoption. Doug spent a good 30 minutes playing with a litter of two month old black kittens which had been dubbed ” The Winnie the Pooh kittens” There were three left, 2 boys called Tiger and Eeyore as well as a little female named Piglet. A fondness began to grow with little Piglet and soon we knew she was the one. We had the pups with us and I felt like the rapport was to be expected. Both Isabella and Ashas had a strong curiosity for the kitten who returned the curiosity with a few meows but when the pups got a little anxious and Piglet would hiss and the pups would break out in barking. Frankly, it’s exactly what I would have expected. Some vocalization of boundaries but nothing too ferocious which led me to believe that within a matter of weeks or at most a month or so the lines would be drawn and feline/canine co-existence would be well at hand. We took the pups home, grabbed our travel crate and went back to pick up little Piglet who would soon be dubbed Pompeii. (Doug’s pick and a very nice one which turns out to suit her perfectly)

After the adoption, and shopping for new kitty essentials (food, scratching post, collar, kitty litter, catnip, etc.) we went home, put Pompeii in Doug’s room to let the adaption period begin.

Upon bringing Pompeii into the house Isabella began her typical excitement, aka stress whining. She basically sat at Doug’s door and whined for the rest of the day. It’s the sort of whine she does when she loses her ball under the couch or when she knows you’re getting her dinner ready and she has no patience to await being served. Ashas on the other hand was just super excited and giddy with the smells he was tracking under the door and his excitement manifested in a rambunctious scratching at the door and barking as if to say, “hey, I know you’re in there…let me in or you come out and show yourself!” Against all advice, we even decided to see how they might handle a close up encounter a couple of times just to see if that would be better than the increasing and ceaseless angst spewing from both Isabella and Ashas in unison. One good snap at the kitten from Isabella and we knew that wasn’t the best idea so back to opposite sides of the door. As you might imagine, somewhere about 5 hours in, I was almost questioning what we had gotten ourselves into. None the less, day one ended with Doug and Pompeii locked up in his room and me locked up in my room with Isabella and Ashas, trying to get them to forget about the furry little intruder and get some sleep. It was a long night of: dogs jump down, Mom scolds them back onto the bed, sleep two hours…rinse and repeat.

Did I mention we intentionally embarked on this adventure on a weekend? So glad I didn't have to get up and work the next day!!!

Day two: If you’re a doxie parent you are well aware that typical dachshund sleeping habits don't involve getting up early if they don't have to…today, they were bouncing off the walls at daybreak! They had apparently NOT forgotten the furball locked up two doors away. So day two started out a little better. Isabella wasn't nearly as stressed on the whole, but as soon as she would hear Pompeii's bell jingling she would run barking to the door and start the incessant whining again.

We took a multi-phased approach to day two. First, a little 1:1 time in turns behind closed doors where one of us would hold one of the pups and let the kitten come up and investigate while the other pup remained on the outside the room. That went fairly well until Ashas wiggled loose and cornered Pompeii… for a brief minute I saw a vision of fur strewn around the house by Ashas followed closely by the hallucination of sitting in the Vet ER with Ashas eyesight in question.

I mentioned a multi-phased approach…like many dachshund owners, we have gates around the house… We have a gate at the top of the stairs, bottom of the stairs and several doorways around the house to contain the pups in desired areas. We decided to let Pompeii acclimate to the upstairs while we kept the pups downstairs with us. That actually worked out great. She ventured down a couple of times but had a very quick escape path back over the fence and up the stairs when needed. She did use it a couple of times too but for the most part this was a successful day and I was feeling a little better about how things would play out. Perhaps a few weeks of this and things would be settling down.

Day three… the turning point. What happened on day three has me completely smitten with our pups and our kitten!Isabella’s curiosity turned into tolerance and Ashas… well he found a pal. This picture below is from that day, the day I knew all was well in the world of cats and dogs.

Here we are a week later and sleeping habits have returned to normal, the gates have resumed their normal positions and are used once again as dachshund trapper keepers instead of enemy lines drawn between feline and canine.

Ashas and Pompeii have bonded. Completely bonded…they romp around and wrestle just like he and Isabella do…it’s a hoot to Pompeii wrapped around his head while he rolls over to trap her or to see her pounce his tail when it wags and he leaps around on the defense only to start licking her ears, just like he licks Isabella’s ears. Pompeii doesn’t use her claws with them either. She bats playfully as Ashas tries to decide a proper return of attack. Pompeii tries to play with Isabella and they have a mutual interest in each other but it’s not yet to the level of trust and play Ashas and Pompeii…perhaps the bliss of youth!

At this point I’m convinced that Ashas is convinced that Pompeii is just another dachshund no different from he and Isabella except that she has her own bathroom, isn’t allowed outside and makes a funny noise…the purrrrfect dachshund!

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Sorry it’s been so long since I posted but as you will see, Isabella is just as precious (and spolied) as ever…Ashas is now 9 months old and quite a character and maybe I’m just biased, but tell me, how cute is this little guy? At any rate, please enjoy…

We had a beautiful fall here in the PNW with plenty of sunshine and well, everyone knows that if the sun is shining, a dachshund’s favorite place to be is basking in it and soaking up the rays….  Is that sheer pleasure or do they smell cheesburgers in the air?

 In true dachshund style, Isabella threw her back out and spent several weeks on medication, bed rest and a heating pad.  She had no issues playing the diva, being carried up and down the stairs, in and out for potty breaks, etc. She was more than happy to share the bed when her mom got sick and of course, there was no shortage of sympathy from Ashas who made sure they had plenty of company!

Prednizone is known for some behavioural side effects and thankfully, Isabella’s back issues improved so she was able to stop the meds and she’s back to her sweet self once again! A sweet little princess who loves snuggling with her mom every chance she gets! Check out their matching x-mas jammies! :-)

Speaking of snuggling, Ashas has at least one thing in common with Sasha which is the love of a laundry basket full of…well, just about anything, clothes (be they clean or dirty), toys, you name it! You could often find Sasha snuggled up in a basket or even a pile of clothes or toys sawing a few logs, zzzzzzzz.

Ashas also likes curling up in baskets, including a fondness for the shoe basket in Doug’s closet.  He especially loves hiding there when the monster (aka  the vacuum) is whirring around the house…he’s even been known to fall asleep there waiting for the monster’s retreat back into is cave (aka the garage). Isabella loves laundry too and as you can see, she goes all in when helping her momma put the clothes in the dryer!

I threw this one in just for fun…Ashas has just about outgrown the sink now but seriously, would you rather have a sink full of puppy or a sink fill of dirty dishes?  Look at that pitiful look on his face! Poor mistreated little pup…

Winter finally came and with it the rain and a couple of light snowfalls in the last month. Isabella wants to have nothing to do with the rain and her idea of coping with the snow is is pretty much no nonsense, take care of business and back inside under the warm covers!  Ashas on the other hand, does pretty well with the rain and after only a few timid exploratory treks in the white stuff, he has discovered the fun of pouncing about and making puppy tracks all around the yard. Oops, I think he’s checking out yesterday’s poopsicles…

Aside from mischeif, we all know a dachshund’s favorite hobby is napping and Ashas is no exception… Whether he’s curled up in a ball, contorted beyond belief or streched out like a foot long coney, adorable is just one word that comes to my mind to describe this sleepy little boy.

I think my favorite is “sleep squeeking” as I like to call it; where he falls asleep with a death grip on his toys… It is fairly common that one minutes he’s squeeking away and the next, he’s snoring away!

Not only has Ashas won our hearts, he has won over Isabella as well and they are truly buddies now…they hang out together, play together, sleep together; he follows her around true little brother fashion and mimicks her every move…including the bad habits, like barking at the neighbor dog. :-(

So to wrap things up, we say good night to 2010…

…with a few favorites from Christmas’ past and present..

…and a big hello to 2011.

From our family to yours, Happy New Year everyone!!!

I can only imagine this might be what was running through Ashas head this morning as I tried to explain why I was leaving him at the vet; why the lady was taking him back through the big swinging doors as I waved goodbye.

The tech told me Ashas would quickly be getting blood work done and given a sedative in preparation for the surgery. Perhaps he lay calmly awaiting the inevitable, pondering why he needed fixing:

I didn’t meant to start digging those holes in the yard…

There's...something...down there!!!

What’s wrong with bringing pine cones in the house and making a mess…

I like Pine Cones!!!!

Oops, I had an accident; but I like to run out the front door; Isabella barks, why can’t I? and so on…

Or, perhaps he lay there pondering nothing more than the thought of being hungry, needing to potty or just wanting to go back to sleep!

From what I’ve heard it’s a much simpler procedure for male puppies…but not completely inconsequential. It is still surgery with anesthesia. I remember when Sasha was spayed as if it were yesterday, in fact I even watched her surgery. It was not that long ago that Isabella was spayed as well, but this is my first experience with nuetering. I read up on the procedure which is pretty straightforward but I am most concerned about the after-care period: 7-10 days with no vigourous running, no jumping on/off furniture? Seriously, Ashas has this habit of doing laps at what seems like 90mph around the house or yard at the drop of a hat. Completely out of the blue he will be sitting there one minute and darting about the next. Then we have the jumping…Isabella’s been on limited activity for the last several weeks due to her back issues but man it’s hard to convince a dachshund to take it easy!

Speaking of which, Isabella’s doing much better now. I was really nervous about giving her prednisone after our exerience with Sasha but I knew that was about as rational as not going for a ride in a car for fear of having a car wreck… Once she was on the prednisone long enough for the inflamation to finally subside she improved dramatically and she seems completely pain free now. She’s finally playing again and doesn’t have pain in her eyes.

It’s really good to see her feeling better, and thank goodness! I don’t think we could have taken her on steroids too much longer! She was truly the poster case for steroid side effects! The aggressiveness had her showing her teeth on more than one occaision. She was pushing the boundaries trying to claim a spot as top dog and pack leader…I’m still a tiny step ahead…I think. A couple of times I found myself wondering if she might actually bite me as I tried taking away the chew bone she swiped from Ashas but I stuck to my guns and took the “show no fear” route. Then there is the ravanous appetite. When I say ravenous, I mean she was inhaling her food so fast she almost choked a couple of times…we resorted to feeding her a few bites at a time just to make her actually “eat” her food! Lastly, there’s the increased water intake which naturally resulted in several accidents. While unpleasant, these were all small prices to pay for having her feeling better!

So, I finally received a call after a few hours from the vet letting me know Asha’s is awake and all went well.  He is now “fixed”!

Funny, I don’t think I ever considered Sasha or Isabella had an opinion other than “what the heck just happend and why do I feel like crap?” Let’s face it, for most females it’s a welcome adjustment…no more ‘time of the month’, no more mood swings, it’s mostly win/win! For a male however, there just seems to be more stigma behind it…for some reason I envision Ashas will be more “in-touch” with reality and what actually happened! I don’t think he’ll care to hear my speech about how it will keep him from trying to wander after little girl doggies and keep him from being consumed with territorial  marking and how it’s for his own good and, rather I imagine his thoughts will be somewhere along the lines of “WTF?”

In fact, I’m thinking he may come home not speaking to me at all for a few days…regardless, I will make him forget and spoil him rotten!!!

Life is still good...

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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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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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Mommy???

Oh well, I’ll take a nap while I wait for her…

The grass is wet, and the yard needs a haricut really bad…wonder how long I can hold it???

Where did I leave my toy mouse?  The blue one with the sqeeky butt…

Time for another nap…

Yaaaawwwwnnn...

Wonder when Mommy’s coming home…

I’m hungry, maybe there’s some food left in my bowl…

This bed is all wrong, these covers are all messed up and flat…if I digg and root around I can make a nice comfy spot for a nap…

What are you doing Bubby? You’re not leaving are you? Oh, just getting a drink, ok, I’ll stay here and sleep… 

Why is it raining? I have to pee but I’m not going out there, arg!!! 

Maybe a nap… 

Is it dinner time yet??? 

When’s mommy coming back, I miss her!!! 

OK rain, I give up. I can’t hold it anymore but I’m NOT going to like it!!! 

Now I’m all wet and cold, snuggling under these covers should help, wake me up when Mommy’s home…

zzzzzzzzzzzz…

I lay there while she is snoozing away comfortably and I realize the amount of contortion my body is in to accommodate her.  It’s not entirely her fault I must concede, as I am certainly guilty of adjusting my own body position to take advantage of her radiating heat.  Who needs an extra blanket when you have a dachshund under the covers?  Nonetheless, at this point I realize I’m extremely uncomfortable and I’m sure my discomfort is due to the fact that she is stretched out crossways instead of lengthwise in the bed.  A few adjustments, ah…comfort AND warmth!  I know however that before dawn arrives I will likely go through this same pattern of adjustment a few more times.  Why must she fight the natural alignment of the bed?  Why must she lay with her butt on the pillow and her head declined?  Doesn’t the blood rush to her head?  Comfort and warmth aside however, I now lay there in the wee late hours WIDE AWAKE… 

 I’m a light sleeper anyway and a typical night follows a similar pattern at our house.  It goes something like this:  

First, Isabella plays a few rounds of “bed hopping” as we like to call it. This is her trying to decide where she will begin her evening of slumber.  I say begin because the evening usually includes several rounds.  

Fifteen minutes here, thirty minutes there and we all join in for a quick rendition of ”make up your mind silly girl and just decide”!  The problem is, even once she decides and we are all settled in snug as bugs in a rug…she usually continues to play by herself.  

She will get up and go check on Bubby or her momma and just when I find myself teetering on the brink of sleep I hear the familiar jingle of her “necklace” (aka collar and tags) as she attempts to jump back into my bed… which of course she can’t quite make…not without several tries anyway, which leads to a guilt trip because of the whole dachshund bad back problem and so on…  So, I sit up and lean over the edge of the bed to lift her up and what does she do???  Of course she backs up just out of reach…Argh, now we play a few rounds of this where I lay back down, she whimpers, I sit up to help, she steps back out of reach and now I’m sure I hear her mockingly singing nah, nah, nana boo boo…  I know where she learned this too! It was one of Sasha’s favorite games as a puppy, that and drop the toy off the edge of the bed to see how many times I’ll pick it up for her! (which  she also taught Isabella, but that’s another post.)

Once in bed and settled in, she migrates into the aforementioned body position.  Readjustment…Rinse and repeat…you get the picture.  No wonder I’m not sleeping well.

Isabella never used to sleep with me but when Sasha passed away and her Momma was still off at college she started sleeping with me pretty consistently.  (This of course has her mother quite upset now that she has moved back home from school and Isabella has not settled back into sleeping with her regularly again but this is yet another post.) 

So as I finally settle back into slumber, I start thinking about how both Sasha, and now Isabella too sleep stretched out so long, at least at night.  Who would think this was a small little miniature dachshund laying down the entire length of my leg?   If I think about how they sleep during the day it’s quite different!    During the day, unless playing or basking in the sun, they are usually in variations of two positions. It really depends on the message they wish to convey… 

The first, I call the typical dachshund multi-purpose.  

 It can be used in several situations:

• What, I didn’t do it! Look at me, I’m so innocent, I would NEVER!
• You’re about to leave without me aren’t’ you? How DARE you leave me alone again!
• My ball rolled under the couch and I’m so sad because NO ONE will help me get it back for the 100th time!
• Whatever you’re eating sure looks tasty! If you loved me you’d let me have some!

The second is the standard “cat-nap” pose…curled up with their nose tucked neatly near their rear end.  Let me just say one thing: nothing looks more precious!  So calm and quiet and innocent <looking>.

Maybe all dogs do this? Sleep differently day vs night.  I rarely wake up and find Isabella curled up at night! Is it comfort?  Maybe exhausted from the day?  I mean, they must be worn out from a busy day of squirrel chasing, tail wagging and trouble making, not to mention all the cat napping?   

 Well, whatever the reason, I’m happy that she’s getting a good night’s sleep in the end but her nights of “ring-around-the-bed posts” are leaving me waking in the morning still just plain dog tired…

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