New Family Member...

Today my wonderful husband surprised me with a belated birthday gift...and his name is Dexter. I have said for a very long time now that I wanted a wired haired dachshund, and T got me one. He is four years old and was returned to his breeder because his owner could no longer keep him. So, he is mine now and he is precious. I dont think he ever did stairs, because he acted like he had no clue how to go up or down, but we got it now.....I am very happy. We were a three dog family for a long time, and then my old beloved Marco passed away. We have been a two dog family for about two years now...until now. Dexter is fitting in quite well, and Carmen has permitted him to stay. Even picky Joey has given his seal approval. So here is Dexter, first before we took him to the groomer, and then after.

Princess clinches victory in 1st heat (race..not like "in" heat.)

Well..many people had smiles put on their faces today due to the wiener princess and about 60 other dachshunds in our area. Over $400 was made and donated to the animal rescue in the area;all registration fees and donations went to help homeless dogs and cats. AND believe it or not WE had a victory of our own. Carmen was racer#3 and was in the first heat...and she WON!!!! She did NOT cause a ruckus, well, anywhere there is more than one dachshund, there is bound to be a ruckus, but at least she wasnt the cause of it, as I was sure she would be. The video below of the race has me having tunnel vision focusing only on Carmen with the camera, so I THOUGHT that one of the dogs has run down to the finish line and won, and that Carmen was second..what I DIDNT see was that that dog turned around 3/4 of the way there, and came back to the starting line. He became distracted by the others, and Carmen decided to go toward the finish line and toward daddy, albeit SLOWLY...but at least she went down there, and won!!!! She went to the semi finals and lost, but not without the help of an IDIOT. I feel an open letter coming on, in fact. This moron...put her hand down into the racing track, and so Carmen stopped, and the woman, instead of realizing her interference and withdrawing her hand just LEFT it there to pet Carmen. I wanted to strangler her. What a jack ass. Anyway, it was a great day, saw some beautiful dogs, raised money for a good cause and the princess was able to mingle with her public. We saw some freaks and some idiots, which is always fun. Now without further ado, some videos and pics of our day.

Some pre race conditioning...


The registration line...


Pre race reflection.....


The video below is Carmen's meet and greet. They had a classic car show in honor of her as well...so she is just walking around visiting her admirers. The band was playing "Brown Eyed Girl" for her too.


The kids enjoyed some "hot dogs" in her honor....it was freezing outside today.


The starting line...S is holding her back...


Here is the 1st heat that she won. Ignore me...proof that I should never be a professional commentator or be allowed to shoot footage of ANYTHING...she came in first, not second, I just didnt know it.


Here she is after the race, on the way home...so tired.

Giggling in church

When you own a wiener dog, they penetrate every aspect of your life. Even those that are supposed to be serious during serious times.

We were in church on Sunday and singing. My dear husband leaned over to me and said: "This song is about Carmen". I was looking at the lyrics of the song, which were projected onto the wall, and then I looked at the title.

Doxology

I was doing the silent laugh, and trying to keep my eyes from watering..and man did my stomach hurt.

I went home and looked up the word Doxology. It means a lyrical praise to God. That is good to know, but Im afraid it wont help...the next time we sing it, I will be thinking of HER. Thanks honey.

Countdown to weiner princess's racing debut.

Well, the princess is insisting that she is included in weiner dog races that are happening across the country this month. Next week we will be pushing aside football and soccer games to indulge her majesty. She will be racing. Or at least she we will be there participating in her own little way. I'll eat my own face if she actually runs towards the finish line. Tom says she will cause a ruckus..and I am agreeing with that.

Im thinking bringing a guinea pig or hamster or kitten to the finish line may just intice her to actually run towards the finish line. I think thats probably against the rules though. Whatever happens it will be interesting. All proceeds go to the area animal shelter, so thats good.

So seven more days.....how does one prepare a weiner dog for a race? The answer to that is you dont. Even if there was a way, there is no way to get them to comply, their stubborness is as thick as their squatty little paws.

Open Lettr to naybors weth catz

Deer naybors acros the stret,

Yor catz r bugging me. U hav two miny, they r evryware and r vary noizy. If I culd get out ov my howse by myself I wuld eat them. They wacke me up at nite becuz they fite, and it frustrats me becuz I cant git them. Plees put them in the howse, or send them away. If U do not, then I will hav to go to extreems. U dont want that, do U?

Thanx
Carmen, the Wiener Princess.

Pondering

Because Im completely nuts, Im always pondering our next dog. We used to be a three dog house, and occasionly up to a five dog house (if you count rescues we bring in and rehome), and so Im not beyond adding another dog to the family.

This is something my OCD brain loves to obsess about, even though it may not become reality any time soon. My husband says our plate is FULL. And he is probably right. It doesnt stop me from dreaming however.

I have been studying dog breeds since I was able to read. Ive changed my mind a million times over the coarse of my life on what I want. Well, because I like almost all of them. I KNOW they arent all good for children and without going into detail I HATE when people insinuate that I dont know.

Im not sure why all this even matters because for years now we havent CHOSEN our dogs anyway, we rescued them and fell in love and kept them. It just HAPPENED, and aside from some food guarding and JRT crazy jumping, and puppy hating...things have been great. We LOVE our dogs. Although we will more than likely accidently end up with another of some unknown type, I like to dream and obsess about what I would choose If I got to choose. The other possibility (a rather strong one) is that we will just go to a shelter and get one. One thing I dream about doing is going on a trip to the Best Friends Animal Society and getting a dog there.

In the meantime I will humor myself....The kids and I have been watching a lot of Breed All About it and Dogs 101 on Animal Planet, so we have been eyeing all kinds of breeds. Some of my favorites are Dobermans, Rottweilers (I am a previous Rottie owner, so I know all about them), and Bull Terriers..you know breeds that have received bad reps due to misinformation, bad breeding, bad handling etc. I also like Rhodesian Ridgebacks and a various assortment of Hounds (my favorite AKC group, by the way). If we ever did do this of course I would study them even further before making a final decision. Im just sayin....Im obsessing and its fun. Of course more wiener dogs is always a possibility. Although, Id kind of like something more for the kids to romp with.








Joey will not be happy, and so I would have my work cut out for me if it was a puppy, but it can be done. Carmen wont mind because it is just one more subject for her to order around.

Food Guarding Royalty

Its a good thing that her majesty didnt really have a bunch of hungry peasants to feed, because Im afraid it would be very ugly. If you are reading this because you are researching doxies, KNOW THIS: They are food possessive. Luckily, our kids were told this from day one, so they dont mess with her bowl of chow. I, however, as you will see in the video below, do. Only because its mildly amusing to me how she will lay near a full bowl of food and seem completely uninterested, UNTIL someone else goes near it. She has ripped cat fur out of the cat over a few nuggets of kibbel. She is serious about her food folks. If you have a child who will not stay away from the dog bowl, such as an infant who doesnt know any better, or a child who just doesnt listen, then either feed the doxie somewhere away from everyone and monitor the situation or...choose another breed. Do not be fooled by the seemingly disinterested dog laying near the food dish. It is a trap.