Miss Peaches: Swiffer for the Planet

I recently took the dogs for a little hike on the local Greenway trail, which was very nice and the dogs thoroughly enjoyed it. Part of the trail is all leaves and sticks from the past fall. Which can be problematic for Peachy. I have to remove a variety of leaves and debris from her underside afterwards

If you find yourself lucky enough to own a wire haired dachshund or two, you may be all too familiar with the phenonmenon of the canine swiffer. Miss Peaches, in the photo above has just had a bath after a walk. As you can see, she can't do a thing with her eyebrows after a bath.

Now I'm sure the same could be said for the long hair dachshund as well. Rupert here, my "grand dog" would experience the same issue I'm sure, but he's in Florida and hasn't been on any trails in New York as of late.

Some of you may recall Miss Peach has a similar problem with snow. The worst part about that is, while you might think you could "brush" the snow away. You would be sadly mistaken. It quickly becomes embedded and has to be pulled out, snowball by snowball.

Soon, with the warmer weather I will have the ritual "shaving the Peach". It helps keep the bugs down and her undercarriage a little more tidy. My other wire hair, Sandie, I keep shaved year round.

As you can see, while she is very cute, the fur is very fine and prone to matting. She hates to be brushed, and will run away if she sees the brush. She is very cooperative for the shaving process, so it works out better for all this way. I like to say she is part "O-Cedar".

She does clean up very well I must say. Then there are the boys, Spaatz and Foozeball, or Mr. Foo.

They don't have these problems with their short fur. That can cut down on the number of dogs that need to washed after a hike. While we have the whole process down to a science, it can be a lot of work and towels. The hazards of having a bunch of low rider dogs. It's okay, they're totally worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing.

My Golden Girl

Ride, Walk, Swim, Dachshund

So we went on the dachshund triathlon today, which included the ride, to the rail trail, which is kind of anxiety filled because they know we're going for a walk and they can't wait to get there. I usually have to diddle around a bit before I start the walk because 2 or 3 of them will have the so excited I have to poop now urge. That's okay, I expect it and it gets it over with before we go.

Then we get going, and believe me they go, 4 dachshunds can pull pretty hard, especially when a chipmunk crosses our path. Today we did 2.5 miles, which they do without blinking, even Miss Peachy who is ten and had major back surgery last year. Foozie, who is nine is a little slower than the rest, but doesn't keep anybody waiting.

As a special treat we stop at the creek on the trail on the way back so they can cool off and get a drink. Peachy, Sandie and even Spaatz go in while Fooze usually puts on the breaks and wants no part of the swimming portion of the event. We continue back to the car where we finish up with a ride back home. Everyone is tired and no one is whining on the way back

At home the garden is getting pretty jungle like at this point of the summer. The gang loves that too, you never know what kind of critter might be hiding in there. With them it's always game on.

Hitchin' Up The Team

That's what we call getting the dogs ready for a walk. Oh, and don't say the "W" word in front of them unless you mean it. For that matter don't say "ride" or "treat" or "biscuit". Dogs tend to assume your talking about them. Anyway, once it's been decided your going, there is a little change that comes over everyone just to make the whole process of getting the harnesses and leashes on more difficult. Peachy, who is older and kinda laid back, turns years younger, starts pickin up toys giving them the death shake then picking on the other dogs. Messing with them. Sandie will start to tousle with Peach, they usually don't interact too much. Spaatz, who's the most out going of the group, turns into a dweeb, hating having the harness put on. Even though we're always gentle, and once we get going he's the happiest leading the pack. Foozer just figures he'll be difficult and go sit in the crate. I have to fake leaving without him so he comes out, or just yoink him out in the dog bed he's curled up in. So basically everyone really wants to go, but they have to turn into jerks so the whole harness thing is extra difficult. Peach will even lay on her back while you are trying to put it on. Once we're out the door it's all systems go. In fact, yesterday they thought they saw a critter down the road, when they took off after it, they about chirped my tires.When we got close, that's all it was. a piece of tire.

Ride, Walk, Ride, it doesn't get better.

All tired after running, swimming, killing

We knew we were going out to a big family shindig down in the city, so I wanted to make sure the dogs got good walkies in so they wouldn't mind being cooped up for awhile. So we took them out to run at the farm down the road. They always have the best time there because they can really run at full speed off leash and burn off that nervous doxie energy. They ran out to a pond and went in, Peach and Sandie, the wire hairs, got totally wet as usual, the boys didn't go all the way in.

We were headed back when they decided to cut through the woods to the other pond where we like to go fishing. All of the sudden we heard a melee ensuing, sharp, high pitched barks. We knew something was up, so we started to make tracks towards the ruckus. Mind you Foozie was hanging back with us. Not so sure it would be good to get involved. When we got close we could see the had something in the field. Well, it turned out to be a bad day for a medium size woodchuck. Pretty much wrong place, wrong time to be eating some clover in the farmers field when three dachshunds happened along and did him in. Next, was to distract them whilst my husband disposed of the body.As we headed back home we saw the farmer who was heading out to make hay. Told him of the dogs dispatching of the woodchuck, he seemed to have a whole new respect for the noble dachshund and mentioned there was another chuck hole by the stone fence. Anyway, after their adventure that included lots of running, swimming and a little killing I knew they would be napping while we were away.

Did someone say "walkies"?

Spaatz certainly hopes so. It's been a long winter and we have gotten out for a couple of walks, but both of those were followed by a bath. Now if it were one dog, then sure, go ahead, but were talkin 4 dogs. I know they're little and for the most part cooperative when it comes to getting washed. When you add up washing, drying, the number of towels dirtied, its a project. I think were nearly done with snow for the most part, soon all the loose dirt on the roads will be pushed aside by the cars and we'll be up and running, literally. We'll be on the rail trail, the Morse estate and perhaps we'll go on the walkway over the Hudson. We'll be running those little short legs for all they're worth. Believe me, it's quite a lot, last year we were on the rail trail sometimes up to 3 miles, them pulling all the way.

Real soon , my people

Life is Good- for dachshunds

Wouldn't be nice for your list of needs to be so short and yet fulfilled. Dogs don't need a whole lot, but its nice to be able to make them happy so easily. I took the gang for a walk, then I gave them some bones that had been cooked up just for them. They went their separate ways and had at them. I was thinking as I had my lunch that nap time would be upon them soon. Little Miss Sandie laid behind me on the chair, I scratched her head for her. I soon realized her head was swaying freely as I rubbed her and it dangled off the side of the chair. She was totally zonked out. Not a care in the world. Little walkies, little snackie, and so sleepy.

Dachshund Hits the Brakes

I am thinking that this same occurrence must have happened to other dachshund owners. We're out for a walk, then all of the sudden, your arm holding the leash is whipped back and your coming to a stop. Or nearly to a stop. It depends on the size of the dachshund or just how much they want to stop. My first dachshund, Watson, a big standard, when he wanted to stop, you were most likely going to stop. All my current dogs are minis, and although they're small, when they stop and dig in its kinda like a sea anchor, definitely slows things down. Now they probably just want to sniff something or pee on a particular blade of grass, at some point I have to get a little stern with them and say "let's go". As long as a certain amount of important business has been taken care of we are out here for a walk not a snifforama. There are just so many trees and lumps of dirt one needs to stop at and then your when dry your dry. Did someone say exercise?

Larger groups seem to keep moving along, maybe a competitive thing.

She's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!

Miss Peaches and Spaatz

It can only mean that summer is winding down. I almost trimmed Miss Peaches again, but I held off and she is getting her fluffy wire haired coat back. I love it! It's not quite back to it's full glory, but soon she will be ready to face any weather a north eastern winter can throw at her. She loves to run around in the snow and stuff her head in the snow bank hoping there might be a critter there. Enough about snow, not in a hurry for that, but I do really like the fall. It's so pretty and the humid weather is gone, and that is OK with me. My Three Doxson's will be out for plenty of walks especially now that we don't have to worry about the heat. I hope I'm not speaking too soon, it's better for Peachy, she gets so worked up before we even go for a walk that she get's real hot in the summer. Gotta go for a walk now.

Shaved Peach

Basic Dachshund Equipment: The Harness

Miss Peaches, Spaatz and Foozer

A must have item for any dachshund owner is the harness. Dogs with long backs need to walked safely, and you don't want to tug on their necks and hurt them. We didn't realize at first when we had our first dachshund, Watson, until another dachshund owner mentioned it. It just makes sense, that way, if there is any pulling, either way, its on the whole dog, not just their neck. We got one for Watson and all our current dogs have them and we've never had problems. In fact the reason I brought this up is that Peaches and Fooze just got new ones and we took a good walk this morning to try them out. All went well. These new ones, which are like Spaatz's (he's the youngster) you can make them fit pretty custom, so there won't be any slipping off and there is no velcro to wear out. So get out there and walk them doggies, just get them the right gear.

Old harnesses, still haven't solved the tangled leash thing

My Life Support

You know I've actually been on life support, wouldn't be here without it, ventilator, feeding tube, lots of wires, machines beeping. So nobody knows better how important it is, but on a daily basis these guys are my life support. Just being here they've made my day so much better. Everyday starts with a rub down, that's me rubbing them down. Then, weather permitting, a vigorous walk. During the day, they're pretty much wherever I am. If they should go for a ride with Dad I hate it when they're not here, the house just seems so empty. For company, entertainment value, alarm system, bed warmers, floor patrol, exercise buddies, they are the best, paws down.

Thought I Lost my Peach

My sweet Peaches, I will confess, she is my favorite. I love the boys dearly, but she is my girl. The other day we experienced that awful feeling when your dog is lost. Its the worst. We went out for our morning walk, and we went down the street to "the farm" owned by friends where we always let the dogs off leash. We've done this 100 times at least. They love to run around and sniff. We walk down this wide path with all kinds of equipment that the owners collect along it and come out in the hayfield that had been cut but not bailed. Then we get to where the grass is as we say "higher than a dachshunds back". There's a little pond where there is usually some Canadian geese. It is wooded to the one side. Well we're walking along with all the dogs, then Peach wasn't there. We called her expecting her to pop out of the grass. We always keep tabs on where they are on this walk, keeping everyone together. It was as if aliens abducted her from out of the sky. One second she was there, then she wasn't. We called and called, searched all around the pond, the grasses, the adjoining woods. My legs were scratched terribly by the pricker bushes. I thought she is caught on something by her harness or she went down a woodchuck hole and can't get herself out. We called and searched for over an hour. Now mind you Peachy is a lowrider and a bit "stocky", she doesn't move that fast. Not like Spaatz the dachshund rocket. I was very upset, it just didn't make sense. My husband, who is the dog warden, not used to being on this side of the lost dog equation decided to go back to the house. He was hoping somehow she would be there. Sure enough as he came around the house there she was sitting on the front step. He zoomed back to where I was still searching in the car, called that he had found her. Our house is about a quarter mile away on the other side of the road, for her to make it on her own safely amazes me. All we can figure is that she caught the scent or went after a critter and went into the woods, wasn't sure the direction we were calling from and decided that she would be better off to go home and wait for us. She's not just beautiful, but smart too.

The gang's all here!!

Dachshunds on Vacation

We are actually back from Florida, but we all had a good time. Especially the dogs. Not only is there a fenced in yard with a pool that they can romp around endlessly chasing lizards, but a quiet neighborhood we can take then for a walk along with my daughters dachshunds. Built in friends to play with. They weren't to sure about the pool, but I assure you everyone got wet. How could we leave them home when we know they're going to have a great time too. I am happy to say that they travel well, ready to go for another 1000 miles anytime.

This bed is just right Mom

Four Damp Dachshunds

That's what I ended up with, on my lap. We wanted to get the gang out for a good walk on Saturday, but we had another snow storm which quickly melted and made a big mess of everything. Which is why we haven't been out much. So we figured no trail hike or going to the farm. I thought, lets go to the rail trail, which is a paved railroad bed that's a nice place to walk or ride bikes. I had hoped it would dry so I wouldn't have to wash all 4 of them when we got back. Well part of it was dry, most was not. You should had seen the water splashing off the 4 of them as we walked. We went 2.6 miles round trip, needless to say after that, the bath they all needed and supper, I had 4 pooped puppies. Dried them the best we could without getting the hairdryer out, then we all crashed on the couch. As they say though "a tired dog is a good dog". These guys are the best.

I just washed my hair and can't do a thing with it

Miss Peaches is a wire haired dachshund and being one has to deal with the beauty hazards of the wire hair. Here in NY winter is upon us, it hasn't been real severe ( although stinking cold last week) we've had a little snow here and there. This past Saturday we went to "the Farm" where I can let everyone run free but Rango the foster dog. Anyway they have a blast running around at high speed and its a big sniff-o-rama. Peachy disappeared under an old dump truck she had obviously been digging and her whole underside was muddy and stuck with old leaves and sticks. When we got home all the other dogs got a quick wipe down and I let them in. Miss Peachy after having the sticks and what not pulled out of her fur got carried in to the laundry room for a bath as you see her afterward waiting to be dried off. Sunday we went for a hike in the woods, she needed a quick wash after that too, not quite so much dirt but its the curly fur that not only attracts twigs and dirt but works like Velcro to hold onto it. Good thing she's coopertive in the tub.

Wire Haired Dachshund Can't Get Dry Fast Enough After A Bath!

 

We went for walkies the other day and went down to a farm down the road where the dogs can run free. There's no livestock, but an occasional chipmunk or woodchuck. I let them off leash once we're off the road. They really have a blast running around the fields and sniffing around old stone fences and  equipment. On the far side of the property there is a pond where geese hang out, we were there briefly, about to head home when Miss Peachy decides to roll in goose poo. AAHHH! NO STOP!.....Too late. So Peachy has a date with the bath when she gets home. I hosed her off first. Its a little cold here to do it all outside, but once inside I scrubbed her up with shampoo, AGAIN, second time this week. Last time she went through a drainage pipe, got rather muddy. That's my wire haired girl. The video shows the lengths she goes to to dry off after the bath.

Peachy getting dirty again?

Not her.





Needy Little Dachshunds

Spaatz on Foozies perch, not enough room for two to lay down. Feeling so sleepy. 

Today the sun is once again shining in NY. Yesterday was another of the many rainy days of fall we seem to have, including hurricanes. The dogs didn't get their walkies and they were being rather needy, Spaatz tugging at my pants, Peach and Fooze giving me that look. I sat down at one point to text back and forth to my daughter on the couch. The next thing I know, all three dogs are sleeping happily on me or next to me. Then we all felt rather cozy and they looked so happy I didn't want to get up despite having things to do. I did linger for a little while, but eventually got moving again. So its not so much having to go out and do things if they can snuggle up in my lap they don't really care so much. Gave me a little perspective on their priorities. So I take second place to food, but I may actually beat out walkies, I'll take that as a compliment.

Out for a walk, stopped at the restroom

We were out for a stroll on a beautiful fall day here in NY and the dogs wanted to hit the restroom. Actually the whole outdoor world is a big restroom, but the 'ole fire hydrant is a favorite with all dogs I guess. Or maybe that's the impression we get from watching old Loony Tunes cartoons. The sniff-o-rama begins, then Fooze will go first followed by Spaatz and lastly Miss Peaches doing the best she can. Then Fooze goes again, then I say ENUFF. Our walk then continues, not that the marking of territory is finished, but you know there's plenty of ground to cover.

ANOTHER DACHSHUND SUMMER ENDING

Well another summer has wound down, but we are trying to stretch it out as much as possible. Yesterday was a beautiful day in the Hudson Valley. We like to take the dogs on the Greenway Trail in Wappingers Falls. There is a loop that has a stone bench that is by an old cemetery that has this awesome view of the river. Even the dogs will sit on the bench with us for a little breather. We let them go off leash on the trail. Good thing they listen well and wait up for us, because those little legs can cover some ground. September in NY is great, our favorite time of year.

 

No Place Smells Like Home

Miss Peachy checking the air

We took the Gang out for their third camping trip. We were in Saugerties NY, staying at the Rip Van Winkle campground. We would highly recommend it. Long as you like being in the peaceful deep woods sitting by the campfire. The dogs really like it, its a sniffarama. The only downside being we can't let them chase the squirrels and chipmunks. Believe me there is a lot of them. We went on walks as usual, down to the waterhole in the stream. Miss Peachy loves to go in. This time there was a sizable snake in the water. Fortunately no canines saw it or there might have been a situation.
On the way home an event occurred that Watson always used to do that always amazed me. As we turned onto our road it was suddenly heads up, noses out the window and great excitement. Our road must have a unique smell to it because they can SMELL it when we are close. You know they were all snoozing then, but not until we were on our road, that the noses started working and they knew we were almost home.

Home Sweet Home

Do your Dachshunds "Skip to my Lou"?

Do your dogs "skip to my Lou"? Both Spaatz and Fooze do. Meaning, they skip using one of their back feet while walking. With Spaatz its the right and Fooze its the left. Miss Peaches does not do this, she does the "double footin". That's another story. You can see Spaatz do this clearly on our morning walk,With Fooze its a little tricky, he's all over the place. He insists on being over the white line and you have to keep pulling him over as we have no sidewalks and not to much shoulder. We are on our way to a farm down the road where we can let them run like crazy. Its like a doggie amusement park. The can't get enough.