Maybe I should rename her Blackbeard

Blackbeard the Dachshund

Miss Peaches, now sometimes (more often than I'd like) is affectionately known as Blackbeard. For obvious reasons. Dachshunds are known to be diggers. They enjoy"going to the ground". When one sports a light colored coat however, its a bit of a problem. Not that if she were a black dog she wouldn't be having a date with the sink, and mind you this is not a light coating. No mere dusting here! This takes a lot of rinsing to get this out, and it just seems to keep coming. Plus it seems you might as well wash the whole dog because she's not as cooperative for spot washing. So currently she has three things she would like to excavate, the chipmunk in the stonewall, a mouse perhaps in the woodpile and something has been burrowing under the front stoop. Peach feels it is her job to eradicate these vermin and mind you I am all for dogs with jobs, but somehow I ended up on the clean-up crew. Once again.

Like Warm Fuzzy Pillows

Foozy-B

I've thought many times that the dogs are like warm fuzzy pillows with legs. They didn't originally sleep with me, but back when it was just Watson and Miss Peaches my daughter was away for the weekend Peach slept next to me because she always slept with Marlena. Then I'm not quite sure the series of events , but now I have our three miniatures sleeping cuddled up next to me. In a good way they make me think of an extended stay I had at the hospital 4 years ago. I was mostly paralyzed (temporarily). At night in an effort to make me as comfortable as possible the nurses would prop me up an stuff pillows on both sides of my body. That, along with a lot of drugs would get me through the night. Nowadays the dogs are warm fuzzy self-stuffing pillows. They are also self-adjusting, roll over and they reposition themselves. Fortunately none of these guys snore. Fooze will occasionally have a dream that will make him twitch and make this "whoop, whoop whoop" sound. A quick nudge fixes that. Plus if you wake from a bad dream there is quick access to a live "teddydog"to get back to sleep. Now, no matter the weather every night is a three dog night.

Spaatz

Miss Peaches

Unlikely Partners in Crime

Spaatzen and Miss Peaches

I'm not quite sure I totally understand the dynamics of their relationship. Peach on the one hand is the oldest, the alpha female, she does try to maintain her position. Spaatz is the youngster who is always giving her a hard time, but she's very patient with him and only occasionally does she really feel the need to let him know who's boss. Yet, that said she follows him into the yard after the squirrels and other woodland creatures like he's got an edge to this hunting thing.. They do a lot of sparring, which she enjoys, but sometimes wishes he would just go away. Over the weekend I gave Peachy her second shave of the warm season. It keeps her cooler and makes the ticks easire to see. I decided to do it in the bathroom, sitting on the floor with her. She is quite coopertive, but Spaatz wanted to be right there while I was doing it. Foozy our 3rd dachshund wanted no part of this activity and was hiding. Spaatz seemed to be concerned about his "girlfriend" and layed right next to her during the whole process. It seemed kinda sweet. He is sweet but a little dopey. Its a May December thing, but whose in charge keeps changing.

Dachshund doesn't give up easy

Miss Peaches has been at it again. This time after a Chipmunk in a stone wall. She practically dismantled it. After about an hour I had to make her give up and wash the mud out of her beard. She was determined, but I'm sure that chippy was pretty hunkered down. She had some help from her partners in crime Spaatz and Fooze, but it was Chippy-1, Dachshunds-0 once again.

Little Dachshunds Lick Legs

Foozy and Spaatz

I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but at our house it has been going on for some time and with three different dogs, all of them males. It all started with my first Dachshund, Watson. He was a standard wire hair. Absolutely awesome dog, he did have some quirks though one of them being that he liked to lick your legs when your got out of the shower. This was a little startling at first, and we found it amusing and just became used to it. We eventually got another wire hair, a mini, Miss Peaches. She does not partake in the licking of the legs. Another year goes by and we end up rescuing a smooth-haired red mini who would be known as Foozeball. Fooze is also a leg licker. A few years come and go and we had to say good-bye to our sweet Watson at the age of 13. I had been keeping an eye out for a dapple Dachshund even before Watson passed and an opportunity came and I got one, not only dapple but with one blue eye. Spaatz also turned out to be a leg licker, he will wait in the bathroom until you get out of the shower, Fooze waits until he hears the door open then he comes in to assist Spaatzie. My sister-in-law was here for Christmas and she let the dogs stay in the bathroom while she showered.(its a big room). When she came out I said "oh that's where you guys are". I asked her if she got her legs licked, she laughed and said she had. Nothing but the best accommodations here. I've had several other breeds of dogs, but so far this is unique to my Dachshunds. 

The Witching Hour

Miss Peaches and Spaatz

There is a time of day I refer to as the"witching hour" although it can be longer than an hour somedays. It refers to that time leading up to suppertime. The dogs keep an extra sharp eye on me just in case I might go towards the cupboard where the dog food is stored. They wouldn't want to miss anything. As the time gets real close they just go lay on the dogbed in the kitchen right next to where the food is. That way nothing is left to chance. Although they are trying to remain calm on the outside the truth be known when I finally get the chow out and the celabration dance begins. Moments later its all over, all the anticipation working up to it, then it over just like that. Kinda like Thanksgiving dinner but on a much smaller scale.

Sometimes we just call him "stinky"

The ever popular unplanned washing of the dog. These events happen sometimes. Sometimes you catch it before it happens. If you see them sniffing around, then flop down on that spot all of the sudden. If you freak out loudly and quickly enough you can avert the problem. The other day I wasn't so fortunate. Spaatz was exploring in the backyard and when he came back to where I was sitting I took one look at him and announced "I have to wash the dog". My husband with no sense of smell asked" why, does he stink?". I could see very easily the back of his neck and shoulder were soiled with something, I wasn't even going to check. Straight into the sink with you. I did get a whiff when he was close, it was really awful. I scrubbed him up with some nice doggie shampoo and he was a new man, fairly glistened in the sunlight he did. Funny how he decided to make himself smell good and in the end he actually did.