Stolen cookie - oh joy!

My oldest grandchild (who is old enough to know better) left a cookie unattended on the sofa this morning.  I found out later there were 3 pieces in the box when he left it.  Bentley has no shame and by the time I caught him he was quietly consuming his second cookie probably thinking that Santa had come early just for him.  So far he has had no side effects. 

Do I love this little rascal?  Of course, he's spoiled rotten.

Almost clean, not!

My Mama gave me a bath - on Sunday afternoon, can you believe it? I showed her...as soon as she finished with me I headed straight out into the dirt and gave myself a good roll.  Ha ha Mom, take that!  Ooops, she's coming after me with the garden hose to wash me down, better run now!

Where I Stand

Little blog, I have not forgotten you.  While I have posted dog stuff on my main blog, Small Simple Things of Life I still intend to keep this blog going.  I have many dog things to write about, especially since I've done several dog shows this summer and realized that I know absolutely nothing about dogs! I have discoveries to write about, but first...

This picture was on Facebook this morning; it speaks for itself.  I'm a strong proponent of spaying and neutering your dogs. Why would you want to bring more puppies into the world unless you are an experienced dog breeder who understands bloodlines, genetics, breeding dogs, whelping puppies, and is willing to bear the cost of veterinary care for mama dog and her litter.  And, is willing to provide around the clock care for newborn puppies for weeks. 

Over the years I've heard people say the following:

• Oh, I just want to let her have one litter before I have her spayed. Really?  Do you think that the future owners of those puppies, provided you can find homes for them, will say the same thing?  How many dogs do you want to descend from your dog?
• My neighbor down the street has a beautiful poodle and I'm going to breed her to him.  Really?  What kind of dogs do you think your dog will throw?
• I've had people stop me and ask me if I want to "mate" my dog.  Really, What makes you think I would breed my pure blood, registered dog to your quite not right dachshund that has a smooth coat. What makes you think you have a Bichon there, mister?  Bichon's do not have long skinny smooth coat legs.  Can you imagine what goofy looking dogs you would end up with?

So here's a quick tour of where I stand:  Spay and neuter your dogs.  Only buy from a reputable breeder that lets you see his/her dogs and where he/she keeps them.  If you have a heart for rescue, then find a group that fully vets their rescues and take one of their dogs (and make a nice donation to their group in appreciation for giving you your forever friend).  And what about all the shelters that are brimming over with dogs?  They wouldn't be full if those dog's parents had been spayed or neutered!

Spay, Neuter, and leave the breeding to the experts!

Girl Dog Stress

I'm having a real hard time looking cute for this picture.  I'm so stressed out.  Today was my bath day and even though now I'm all fluffy and clean and smell good I'm sitting on this table.  You know what that means - I'm getting the dreaded pawdicure.  It's so stressful to be a little girl dog.

Such talent!

We've been to several dog shows during the month of July.  Bentley did okay on some days and not so okay on others.  I'm changing my tactics and starting over with training, but more on that in another post.  While Bentley's skill in the ring is lacking he has made up for it in other ways.  One of them is a skill that he displayed while I was dropping off the other dogs to board while we went to Dallas. 

As usual, I had all dogs in a harness and attached to the Pet Walker leash with all four dogs on one leash.  The girls had already been taken to the check in station and I was filling out papers when the kennel tech came to get Sawyer.  When I reached down to hand him over I realized that he was already off the leash because Bentley had chewed through both his leash and Sawyer's!  In less than 2 minutes time!  Such skill and talent!

The scenario repeated itself when I dropped them off to board while we went to Houston.  This time I was short 2 leashes so I had Bentley on the retractable and Blossom on her individual leash.  Blossom and Sawyer were taken first.  When they came back for Baylee I found that Bentley had chewed through the retractable leash and was working on Baylee's leash!  So he has ruined 5 leashes, including the retractable leash I had planned to use to walk him while in Houston.  Grrr!

So while we were browsing through all the many vendors at the show I decided to pick up several over the head leads to use when just walking them a short distance.  They are not as secure as a harness and leash, but Mr. Super Chewer will have a harder time chewing his way through these.  Or, at least I hope that will be the case.  We'll see. 

"My Mama loves me, I know she does.  I'm spoiled rotten!"

Where am I?

Hello everyone, Bentley here for the next few posts.  Mom told me I could write about the little adventure I'm having.  Where am I?  Well, yesterday morning Mom and I dropped off the other little yappers at the "resort" and then she told me we were headed to Big D.  Big D?  What is that, Big  Dog?  Turned out it is a really big city, I'm in Dallas, Texas!

It was a really long ride.  We stopped once in Austin for Mom to get some stuff from a lady to bring up here, seems a lot of people found out we were coming and they asked us to take stuff in our car.  And then we stopped at a rest stop where we walked around and Mom ate a sandwich.  She shared a bite with me and it was yummy.  She left me in the car for a few minutes while she went in a building, but the car windows were down a bit and she put up the sunshades so I didn't get hot.  Then we were on the road some more, but I went to sleep while Mom drove us right into this big city.

We got to the dog show, unloaded our car and set up our space, Mom groomed me a little and then we walked around.  Mom said she wanted me to get familiar with the hall so I wouldn't be spooked in the morning.  By the time we finally got to our hotel I was ready for some shut-eye!

This morning we were up early.  I love hotels and would have been happy to just stay there all day, but Mom had me over at the show bright and early.  Don't I look good?  I only look like this for a minute or two and then I'm messed up again, drives Mom crazy!  Mom decorated our space for the Fourth of July, isn't that fun? She said they are having a contest and are paying cash prizes, we need to win!

After the show Mom put me back in the car and told me were going to see the sites.  I wasn't too excited as she wound around on those city streets, but the first place she took me was a blast. (Note from  Dachshund Mom:  we visited Dallas Heritage Village located in the Old City Park).  I had so much fun and would have had more fun if Mom would have let me chase all those squirrels that were running around!

There must be at least 10 squirrels over there under that tree.  Look at 'em, Mom!

Hey squirrels - if I wasn't on this silly leash I would so have you all up that tree!

We stayed here for quite a while.  Mom couldn't take me inside any of the buildings, but she made pictures and I just had fun walking around.  She's going to do a post on her blog if you want the human scoop on this place.

Then it was back in the car - I was ready for some air-conditioning and a nap.  But the nap wasn't to be.  We drove back through the city streets and then, gulp, my Mom drove our car right down under a building!  Yeah, no kidding, she did!  I wasn't sure what was going on, but then we got out and rode up an elevator and we were right in the heart of Big D!  How did my Mom do that?

Mom found another neat thing for us to do.  This is a big park and she said it is built over a freeway, imagine that!  We walked around and then we got on this thing she called a trolley (looked like a bus to me) and we rode on it for a long time.

I sat in Mom's lap for a while, and then I moved down into the floor.  People wanted to pet me and I obliged them very nicely.

Getting off this thing was scary.  Mom had to carry me because the steps were steep and then there was a gap to the curb.  I started to freak out when she tried to pick me up and she didn't get a good grip on me.  I was somewhat dangling as she came down the steps and landed on the curb - you would have thought that one of the trolley men or someone would have helped her!  But, she got us back onto a sidewalk and we went back to the park and ate at a restaurant.  Well, Mom ate and I laid under the table.  Can you imagine?  I got to go to a restaurant!  We sat on a patio and enjoyed the view of the park.  Mom and I got annoyed with some people sitting outside the restaurant that kept letting their two big dogs wander over and taunt me.  I do not like big dogs and, besides, I'm almost human and don't want you sticking your slimey dog nose in mine.

We walked around some more after we ate, but it was getting hot.  Mom was worried about me getting too hot and too tired, so we went back down under that building and got in our car.  We came back to the hotel.  She said we might go back there tomorrow and see some more things.  I'm really not sure what is going on here, but I'm having fun doing new things!  Let's just skip that dog show Mom and go places!

This little guy is all mine

This picture was made with the so-so cell phone, so it isn't the greatest quality.  But I think it has become a favorite of mine.  Here's why:

It is Saturday morning and Bentley and I have headed down to the Farmers' Market at the Historic Pearl Brewery.  This has to be one of my favorite things to do; I love fresh veggies and all the good things they sell as well as the historic nature of the grounds.  I usually take Bentley because he needs socializing and he is the best shopper of the 4 dogs.  He also has no problems with people petting him, so he is the perfect companion.

He is not neatly groomed.  In fact, we were there between rain showers so he is wet and a little muddy underneath.  But this is the look I love.  It is the true Bentley, just laid back and so unworried.

So, it isn't the best picture by many standards, but this is the little guy that I love and he is all mine!

Having fun

All it takes to have fun is a boy and a scooter to run with!  The boys had so much fun trotting along!

After a while we unhitched Bentley because having two dogs was making the scooter wobble.  One works much better! 

And, no it was not hot and yes, I did have doggie water close by!

Celebrating Fives

This week was the observance of two events that happened five years ago and have forever changed my life.  Blossom and Sawyer celebrated their fifth Gotcha Day and Baylee celebrated her 5th birthday a few days later.  Now really, they didn't celebrate anything.  Neither did I!  But in the keeping of the passing of time both of these are momentous events for our little community.

August 12, 2010

I will always cherish my memories of picking each of these sweet babies up from Splendor Farms.  Just like the first glimpse of a human baby, my first glimpse of each one was priceless.  Blossom and Sawyer were so small that I remember asking if I could pick them up!  I went back for Baylee in August so she was 4 months old; I remember thinking that she was the most beautiful dog I had ever seen!

These five years have been wonderful; how did I ever live without dachshunds in my house?  I thought I knew a lot about dogs, but I know now that I didn't know a thing.  They have taught me so much and opened a whole new world for me.  Grooming, training, showing, nutrition, and doggie behavior are frequent topics for me to explore. 

Last week at the show we were discussing a breeder that had to go into assisted living and one of the other ladies had bought out the entire kennel.  I remarked that when the time comes for me to go to a place like that that I will have to find one that takes dogs!  I can't live with out them!

Am I in trouble?

Do I look a little sad here?  My human Mom told me I should be ashamed of myself.  She paid money to enter me in this show.  She took me to a training class last Wednesday and I aced everything!  Everybody was so impressed with me: I strutted around the practice ring and then laid down like a regal hound dog while I waited for my next turn.  We got up early on Saturday morning and drove an hour and a half in the rain to get here.  And, then I messed up big time.

Maybe it was the fact that the weather was lousy or the fact that my hair was really frizzy and fuzzy.  I don't know, really.  But I just didn't feel like walking around that ring.  Mom told me I was sloppy.  And, then when she put me on that table to stack me I just decided that I did not want to do that either.  No sirree, not this little dachshund!  To make matters worse when we went back in the ring for winners dog I didn't do much better.  By then it was too late.  I had messed up.

But that's okay.  My mamma still loves me.  While she sat around with the other dachshund mamas and talked I sat on her lap and everyone adored me.  I even went nose to nose with another big cream dachshund that was on his mamma's lap; how cute I can be sometimes. I messed up in the ring, but I'm still Mamma's Boy!

I was really glad to finally get back to our car and head home.  Traffic in Austin was very slow, so Mom snapped a picture of me while we crept along to the freeway.  See, she really loves me!

It's that time again

Yes, it's leaf time again down here in San Antonio.  The beloved live oak trees are doing their thing, dropping leaves and their nasty pollen.  It is a mess and this year seems worse that the past few years.  Of course, the nasty stuff is all in my house thanks to four little long haired dogs!  

 

Their beautiful long fur is like a Swiffer sweeper with this stuff and of course, they go out in the yard and roll in it so that makes it worse! But wait, part of the problem is my fault.  During the winter I have been slack about regular grooming except for Bentley because he has had several shows.  I realized last weekend that he wasn't picking up much pollen because his paws and legs are trimmed up.  Look at the picture above - see Blossom's untrimmed paws?  They look like Grinch feet!  And all that hair hanging over her legs just attracts the pollen! 

 



Sawyer wants to play in the pollen like it is snow.  UGH! I love my large trees, but honestly, this stuff is just nasty.  If you try to vacuum it it will explode.  The leaf blower just creates a yellow, pollen filled cloud.  And, yes it makes you sick!

 

So, with that realization I decided it was time to get serious and get out the grooming table.  Time for some serious grooming. I am definitely a novice groomer, but with 4 dogs I have had to learn.  I bought an excellent book, The All Breed Dog Grooming Guide (4th edition) by Sam Kohl, and I've watched countless videos on the internet.  As with anything, it is the hands on experience that really teaches you! 



I had actually made this picture of an unhappy Sawyer on the table last summer, but had to share it here.  He does not like anything about being groomed and will hide in the yard when he sees me coming with the table! Ditto with the nail clippers! He's just an adventure loving boy dog that doesn't want all that girlie primping stuff done to him! But, Big Boy, that fur has got to be trimmed up!

 

 

 

 



A little one-on-one

Sawyer (and I) are long over due for an adventure.  I had originally thought we would head out to a State Park, with picnic lunch, and walk the trails over the past weekend.  However, that was not to be.  I just have too many chores at home right now and putting 60 miles on the car every day to commute to work made me reluctant to take a day trip.

So I opted for the next best thing - an in-town adventure at a park.  We are very fortunate to have a city that is full of excellent parks and trails, so why take a road trip when you can make do very well at home?

San Pedro Springs Park

We headed out mid-morning to a place that I love and Sawyer had never been to before so he would have the experience of an adventure in a new place. The original springs have ceased to flow; this winter lake/summer pool is filled with pumped in water.  But the park is full of history. It is thought that somewhere near these springs that the first Europeans to come into this area camped with friendly natives and named the place San Antonio since it was the feast day of Saint Anthony de Padua.  Today, as in the past, the park is a favorite place to walk, picnic, and enjoy the scenery.

The original adventure dog wasn't too keen on a photo shoot.  He's a mess right now anyway.  He needs a bath and a good grooming.  But that face is my Sawyer!

I think his ears are awesome! Blossom's are even longer, but his red/black combination with the long hair is stunning!



I had him on the retractable leash and the park was pretty much empty when we arrived.  We walked around for a while.  I had expected him to run and explore like he does on a trail.  Instead, he was happy to walk along with me for the most part.  He waited patiently whenever I stopped to make a picture.  We stopped by a low wall and I attempted to make pictures.  I stepped back to make the first shot and he jumped off the wall and ran to me!  The wall was about three feet high and I just cringed when I thought about his dachshund back.  Yes, dachshunds have no fear of heights!

We walked on some more and I found a lower wall to sit on.  I expected him to explore around on the terrace and the grassy area behind me, but he wanted to sit half on and half off my lap.  I sat for quite a while in this place and he was perfectly happy to just lay there and watch everything.  Once someone passed behind us on the sidewalk across the grassy area and he growled to alert me (that's protection for you!). I realized that he was enjoying our one-on-one time and have promised him that we will have more time together, just the two of us.