saw this guy over at stuffonmywiener.com and had to do a double take. it isn't winnie - she would never be a patriots fan - but it could be her twin brother! i shall call him...twinnie.
okay, okay, so EVERYTHING about dash makes me happy (except the turd snacking, but we've all got our flaws). but what makes me REALLY happy is seeing dash happy, knowing what a long journey it was to get here.
if you're not familiar with dash's history, he was a puppy mill stud, locked in a cage for five years or so. when he got rescued, he was so anxious that'd he'd pace in tiny circles, and he was terrified of people and being touched. over time, the circles got bigger, and he learned that people weren't all that bad. when he came to me, he still had a long way to go, and my motto for him became "all touching is good touching." and i cuddled and petted him every chance i got. now he loves cuddling with me and will beg for pets, and i never turn him down.
at our halloween party, dash wandered into the crowds of people, and twice he got petted. by strangers! and he didn't flinch or run. he LIKED it. he seeked out attention. from STRANGERS! my little boy! *sniffle*
i know these aren't the best photos, but i had to get them while i could.
halloween, what a great holiday. what's more fun than dressing up and getting free candy? we went to the annual dachshund meetup group costume party, and of course the dogs enjoyed every minute of it. we stayed pretty simple with the costumes this year, enhancing each dog's natural features and unique characteristics.
riley was a bee. he even attempted a little pollinating. buzz bitches.
winnie was a rescue dog. someone over here need *hic* rescuing?
and dash, with his spotted coat and girlish figure, was a cow. oh the moo-miliation.
i think dash is enjoying this cooler weather. he was positively peppy on tonight's walk. usually he's dragging behind as far and as slowly as he can.
the other night he got the post-bath zoomies big time. so big that he BARKED. understand, dash doesn't bark. ever. except when he's in the car with a distressed cat. i've taken riley, dash and nephthys all together for their annual exams the last couple years. and as soon as nephthys starts meowing in the crate, dash is there, barking and pawing at the door. the first time it happened, i was dumbfounded. i didn't know what to do, and he wouldn't stop. i tried pulling him away and distracting him, but he was on a mission! so i let nephthys out to see what would happen. she crept out and stopped meowing, and dash was fine. then she crept back into the safety of her crate, and as long as the door was open, she didn't meow, and dash didn't stress. and then he slept right in front of her crate, all the way to the vet. it was one of the sweetest and most amazing things i've ever seen an animal do. when the same thing happened the next year, i just opened her crate, and all was well. but first i had to hear his gruff little bark again.
the only other time (until last week) that i'd heard dash bark was when my complex was being repainted. the men crawled up on the garage roofs to get into the backyards, and dash saw them through the backdoor and barked. i was laying on the couch and he was sitting on the floor next to me. riley had been barking his head off, because that's what he does, but then i started hearing barks that didn't sound like his. bark. and a few seconds later, bark. i looked down, and there was dash, as casual as can be. bark. he wasn't stressed in the least, but he knew those men shouldn't have been up there, and he was letting me know.
luckily i had my phone handy to catch his frisky barks last week. it may not seem like much, but trust me when i say this footage you're about to see is rare and so very special.
i went out of town for a long weekend and had a friend dog-sit the boys. but i wasn't comfortable leaving winnie with a "stranger" who isn't too familiar with animals, so i boarded her at the v-e-t. it was the scenario i was most comfortable with, and i knew it was the best for everyone to leave such a high maintenance dog with professionals. but i had no idea how much it would change her.
when i went to pick her up, she walked up front on her leash, looking nervously at everyone. but she didn't seem to recognize me, even though i was calling her name. as she got closer, i knelt down and let her sniff me, and as soon as she realized mom was there, she tucked herself into my lap. she was saaaaaaved! she was so calm in the car, no longer nervously pacing. and when we walked in the front door, she sniffed for half a second, then skipped off happily, realizing she was home for good. she bounced all over the boys, and they were happy to see her too. but the biggest change is that she is so much calmer all the time, and it's stuck. she runs at a normal pace, not a frantic flee. and she's going outside on her own, rather than me having to corner her on the couch and carry her to the door. she doesn't bolt off the couch when i sit up or reach over to pet her. big, big progress. the biggest since she first crawled into my lap at the dog park.
dash always seemed to make noticeable progress whenever something "eventful" happened, like a meetup or trip to the groomer, but these didn't do much for winnie's progress. it took me leaving her alone for four days and then coming to her rescue, and now she's a new dog. she's finally realized that she's safe, she's home.
another reminder, i moved the blog and messed up everything, including the rss feed, so please update any bookmarks, links, subscriptions, etc. to weenoids.com!
i like to compare dash to an autistic child, because it's the best way to describe his special personality. he doesn't bark, doesn't play, doesn't really seem to be aware or interested in much of the world around him (unless it involves me or food). but every now and then, the dog in him comes out. and nothing makes me happier than seeing dash act like a normal, happy dog.
winnie likes to chew on an elk antler (from the daily coyote) while i'm getting ready for bed, and after months of not paying any attention, dash has taken an interest. i found him gumming it one night and practically had to fight him to take it away. and again the next night. and the next morning, he found it on the floor next to the bed and went to town. and then he PLAYED with it. i almost cried. my sweet, special dash is a real boy.
i loved winnie's fur when it was long, shaggy blonde curls. and i adored her skinny nakedness when i shaved her down. but now it's growing back, thin and wispy, and i think it's my favorite.
trying to get good pictures of her is so hard. because we go through this over and over and over again.
just a quick note - the blog name and url have changed. please update your links and subscriptions! cause i'm a dummy and changed the blogger url too, so everything broke.
last month was winnie's first gotcha day-versary. looking back at how winnie's progressed over the last year, she has come a long way. she no longer trembles when she's held by someone. she takes treats from my hands. she'll even approach me when i'm eating, interested in my food. she used to be too scared to even eat a treat or her food when anyone looking at her. her personality has blossomed. she is playful, and she wants to play so badly. that spunky little girl is in there, just dying to come out. but she's still so scared. and she is still a danger to herself when she's scared. she'll run head first into a wall, trying to get away. or she'll try to jump out of someone's arms at chest height. so, since it was time for her annual checkup at the v-e-t anyway, i asked him about anti-anxiety medication. i tried some natural remedies, but they didn't seem to help. and this isn't forever. it's just for now, to see if it can help to calm her down enough so she realizes that we're not here to hurt her. it's been almost a month, and so far, so good. hopefully big(ger) things will start happening soon.
as for the rest of her vet visit, she's completely healthy. and she weighs less than the cat.
august 29, 2010 scared to death in the back seat
october 2010 meetup the only way to keep her from hiding under the table was to hold her
halloween 2010 meetup little gingerbread girl
christmas 2010 she is a bearded dachshund
january 2011 meetup the first time she crawled into my lap, now it's her favorite safe place
february 2011 napping viciously. it's always a good sign when they start sleeping belly up.
june 2011 the annual dachshund pool party at happy paws. she sank like a rock. we'll work on it for next summer.
just kidding. i took riley to the vet this morning because his eyes were super bloodshot. you can kind of see it on the right. they put a yellow stain in them and looked at them under a blacklight to see if there was any damage on his corneas. i really wanted to take a picture of that, but it wasn't my normal vet, so i didn't want to ask. so i snapped this in the car of the little bit that was still oozing out.
riley's fine, he just has allergy eyes. yay. my old man. i'm starting to freak at every little thing that doesn't seem right. oh who am i kidding, i've always freaked over every little thing with them. but poor guy, he's always been terrified of the vet and shakes like a leaf the whole time. but boy is he happy when he knows it's time to leave!
riley has a thing for certain toys. if it's tennis ball felt, he must kill it. if it's stuffed, he must kill it. if it squeaks, he must kill it. i gave up on buying stuffy and squeaky toys, because i was tired of picking up the innards all the time. then some genius thought of skineeez stuff-less toys, and riley lurves them!
then, someone created the mega-squeak - a toy with 16 squeakers. just like the giant tennis ball, i couldn't resist the novelty. and, of course, i had to buy the dachshund shaped one.
i love dash and winnie in this one, their faces are priceless.
surprisingly, it still has half its squeakers! riley's getting less dedicated in his old age. though he did finally succeed in ripping the head off, and it's become one of winnie's favorite toys to whip around. they're a bunch of cannibals.
winnie is coming up on her one year gotcha day with us, which also means she's due for her annual visit to the v-e-t. so i got her records, and while i was in there, i looked at her pedigree. she's actually sovreign snickerdoodle sw, from a champion dachshund breeder, akc registered, the whole nine. i looked a little closer and started to see strange similarities on both sides of the family. then i looked carefully at her mom and dad. and felt sick.
the breeder called winnie's litter an "accidental breeding," which is why they locked them in cages for their first year and a half of life. this "accident" kept them from selling the puppies, even as pets. i never understood it. till now.
winnie's mother mated with her own son. winnie's mother is also her grandmother, and her father is also her brother. after feeling sick, i got sad. and then i couldn't get dueling banjos out of my head. these are apparently the three stages of finding out your dog is a total inbred.
i put the question out on facebook - should a mother mate with her puppy? and i got the responses i expected - no. fortunately winnie is healthy and smart. i honestly don't have a clue about her litter-mates, how many, what condition, or what became of them.
the inbreeding was an accident. the real tragedy happened when the breeder thought the best solution was to lock up the puppies, causing social trauma and a life of anxiety. oh well, what's done is done. and i got one special little girl out of the deal.
♥
btw, "snickers" just wasn't doing it for us, so we gave her a more appropriate name.
saturday, the meetup group had wiener races. and there were winners. just not us. not even close. as in, these dummies barely made it out of the box. winnie actually got the furthest, because when someone (human) started running behind her, she hauled booty running from him. but then she veered off the track and got disqualified. oh well, there's always next year.
to see an example of my weentards in action, here's video from last year's races with riley and dash. i had to set the camera and then walk around, so skip to about 2 minutes in to get to the races.
