Foozeball: Still Spinning after all these Years

 Foozeball, the old man. That name makes you think that this guy is a little bit different. You would be right. Fooze does this thing, and I'm sure there are other dachshunds that do this. Maybe even other breeds of dog that do this. I've personally known 10 dachshunds, and he is the only one who does.

Foozie spins for his supper, or basically anything edible, sometimes just the refill of the water dish. He has done this since he was a puppy. There is usually a certain amount of whining, yelping, shrieking that goes along with this display that digestables are to be celebrated everyday. No matter what it is.

This is a little film I did from 2012. So Foozie is only 5 years old and Spaatz seen briefly mixing it up with Fooze is a mere pup of 2. This is when I was coming home to their dinner time, which can be crazy.

 One morning when I was feeding them, it was quite early, I hadn't turned the lights on, Fooze was spinning as usual, he tripped over my husbands boots and crashed pretty bad. I laughed so hard, and I wasn't even awake yet. Not to worry, he got right up and continued on with his happy dance and food.

Nowadays with Fooze being 14, and Spaatz being nearly 10 things have slowed down quite a bit, and the boys can usually be found just chillin. That's what they do best. Chillin in the hot sun.

Hot dogs chillin in the sun. If there is a ray of sunshine available, these guys will find it. I do spend and unusual amount of time repositioning different dog pillows and beds about the house as the sun moves throughout the day. This is particularly so during the cooler months of the year. 

Now as the days get warmer they will be seeking the sunshine, then looking for a cool place to lay as it will just be too hot, even for the heat seeking dachshund to lay in the sun all day.

The spinning happy dance is about to commence because these guys are starving, and waiting for me to even come close to the food bowls. sometimes the celebration starts early and I tell them it's "too early". They know this translates to "No food now", so they just start waiting again. Such is life, hurry up and wait.

 

My Sweet Peaches

 My sweet Peachy is really starting to show all those years, all 14 of them. She sleeps most of the time, only getting up when she has to go out, or to get a drink or eat, of course, her favorite thing.

She's got that skinny old dog look, which if they hang around long enough I don't know that you can avoid it. She is definitely eating enough. I'm doing the best I can to keep her comfortable.

Miss Peaches is the oldest dog we've ever had, she has been the matriarch of the dog family here even though she's never had a pup herself. She still asserts herself occasionally, but Spaatz is officially top dog here now. He has a very dynamic personality, a born leader. He and Sandie are each ten years old 

so we don't have any pups in the stable. They are both very energetic dogs. To me they seem like they're maybe 7 or 8 years old. Spaatz hunts woodland creatures most of the day, while Sandie is his backup.

Sandie tries to help out when it comes to hunting rodents, but she really is just too silly and not the sharpest tool in the shed. Which actually, is her main appeal. The complete goofball is her tactic.

Then there is Foozeball, who is 13 and pretty deaf, so if you try to tell him anything it's probably waste of time. Sometimes he heads out the front door and just keeps going to the backyard despite yelling at the top of your lungs to come back. He does eventually do so, so not to worry.

So that rounds out the crew status report. Miss Peachy continues to hang tough.. She can stay as long as she is able and not hurting. I'm helping her out a lot, carrying her to and fro. She knows to bark for me when she needs help. Dachshunds are known to be brave to the point of "foolhardiness" but this old gal is just taking it smooth and easy from here on out.

The Vigil

Just about everyday there is the event known as the "The Vigil". Suppertime is at five, so the vigil usually starts at four, but could be as early as three. It depends on how much their tummies are grumbling

Most of the time during the day if I'm home they're close by, but when the vigil starts I find myself alone, and I know it has commenced. It's best not to pay them too much attention or they will start platooning for an early dinner. You may know what that's like.

Those big puppy eyes, pleading with you. Perhaps the clock is incorrect! It must of stopped! We definitely know when it's time to eat. It must be time for chow!

I simply tell them that "it's too early", and while I'm sure I may sound like the teacher talking in a Peanut's cartoon. They seem to understand that translates into "your not getting food right now"

Much to their dismay they will settle down again, and commence will the vigil once more until the glad news that dinnertime is finally here, and they must wait no longer.

Then the next thing you know they're all sacked out without a care in the world. All that angst solved by a little cup o' chow.

New Senior Dachshund Milestones

April is a big month, here in the land of My Three Doxsons. Miss Peaches turns 13, and Foozeball is officially 12. They are known as the"old dogs", while Sandie and Spaatz will be 9 this year

Sandie, Miss Peaches, Spaatz and Foozeball

I must say, 9 years old hardly seems like a youngster, but Sandie and Spaatz really seem like they are maybe 6 or 7. Still very active, still giving the squirrels a run for their money.The above photo shows the dogs before I gave them a little birthday treat. I realized as I was attempting to break this dog cookie up that it was very hard. Fooze had a hard time with it because he is deficient in the tooth department. Took him about 40 minutes to finish eating it, but he was a happy boy..

Fooze does live to lay in the sun. This is his favorite place to be. Dogs look so happy when they're sleeping, and at the age of 12 sleeping is his major occupation. But on to Miss Peaches.

Miss Peaches turning 13 is a huge deal because over the years we have had many a dog, I will include my in-laws dogs because we lived next door for 18 years. All of the dogs lived to be 13. Our goal is for Peachy to be the first one to make it to 14 and beyond! She made it through major back surgery a few years back and we're hoping she has a few more in her.

Unfortunately she is a little under the weather right now. She has injured her front leg. I am at the "wait and see" stage. Usually this happens when she forgets her advanced age and goes barreling down the ramp like she's going to catch a squirrel with the "young" dogs. I'll give her till tomorrow to get back to her old self, if not, it's off to the vet. For now I'm doing extra dog carrying.

Soon, I know I will be running a senior home for dachshunds. I'm halfway there now, but we will do our best to take good care of the old dogs, and Spaatz and Sandiepoo will be keeping the energy high here for now in the land of "My Three Doxsons.

It's Peachy Day

Yes, it's Peachy Day, where we celebrate the day we made our secret drive to get Miss Peaches 12 years ago.

 It was secret because at the time we had 1 standard size wire hair dachshund named Watson. My daughter Marlena said she wanted a mini wire hair, which I didn't think was going to happen. I had never seen an ad for a mini wire hair locally.

Watson, protector of shoes.

But as happenstance would have it, there was one listed in the paper, so without telling her, we went to look at the dog. It happens my husband is a dog control officer, so we said we were going on a dog call and took Watson with us. Marlena being a teenager was unconcerned with whatever we were up to.

So we drove to the next county in the snow. Peachy was one of many owned by a vet tech that needed to downsize. Peachy was sweet and her first meeting with Watson went well so we decided to take her. When we brought her home I called Marlena downstairs, I said Merry Christmas, and handed her the dog. She was so excited, she was basically hyper-ventilating. I told her to stop she was scaring the puppy.

So the rest is history as they say, and there have been many adventures with the old girl. The Peach is the matriarch around here even though she never had pups of her own. We love her dearly

She's my little digger, the brave scaredy cat, the great communicator, and if my mom were a dog Peachy would be her as she is always there for me when I need her

She's been lost and then found, survived fighting with a muskrat and major back surgery. Dug many a hole and had to be washed and I hope she will be with us for as long as she is able. Still going strong, 13 years old next April, Happy Peachy day old girl!!

The gang's all here!

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

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.

Boo Boo and her Magic Belly

Miss Peaches naturally has an assortment of nick names, she is the only dog here affectionately known as Boo Boo. Somehow that name is natural to her, just as Sandie is Miss Waggers. That's pretty self explanatory. Anyway, I thought that I would share the wonder of the"Magic Belly". Peaches has had it all her life, she cannot help it.

Rest assured if your having a rough day all you need is to rub the magic belly and you start to feel better. And Peachy will pretty much be available as long as she is needed. The service is free, and as far as I can tell, there is no time limit. You yourself may have a dachshund with a magic belly and find yourself among the fortunate.

 Sandie has a pretty magical belly too, but she hasn't quite the legend status as Boo Boo. Sandie has a very "doughy" quality about her that is nice, and she is usually willing to lend a tummy when needed. Then you might be real nice and throw a toy for her 100 times.

Spaatz, well he is a boy so he does enjoy having that big dachshund chest rubbed quite a bit. That's only available on a limited basis as there may be a squirrel outside that needs to be barked at. This dog has an agenda and a mission, so he may have to leave at a moments notice.

Foozeball, aka Mr Foo is the oddball here. Not really into tummy or chest rubs. He does like a good cranium scratch and is fond of having his rear quarter panel rubbed, and if your on the toilet he will come and stand on your foot until you do so. Then if he's really into it he will extend his leg straight back and get the inside of his leg. That's as close as you will get to a belly rub with him.

So as we find ourselves in the midst of the holiday season, you may find yourself stressed with so much to do and just little time. Don't forget to take advantage of the tummy therapy that is available to you. You'll be glad you did and your dachshund will be too!