Things I Said I'd Never Do

 There are many things I said I'd never do but wound up doing anyway. I think it was because I said the word never. Anytime I put the word 'Never' in a sentence it's almost a 100% certainty that I will do what I said I would never do.

 Near the top of my never list was owning a Dachshund. I did not like small dogs. Small dogs usually don't like me. Dachshunds have problems with their back. You have to pick them up just right. They bark far too much. Their bark is too loud. They are not a smart dog and they act like they don't like people very much. Yes those were the reasons I did not want to own a dachshund.

 I thought it was foolish for people to dress small dogs up. I'd see people bring them in stores and I'd think " You'll never see me bring a dog in a business.." I'd see people with them in their cars and I'd think "Not me, I don't like dogs in the cab of my truck and that's why I have a rule against it."

 Part of my dislike of dogs in a business relates to an incident that happened years ago. I was working a second job at a quick shop. The job was supposed to be part time but there were many times I put more hours in at that job than I did my regular one for several weeks at a time. Many a time at that job I'd be very tired especially at the end of the shift. One of my many jobs there was mopping the floor. Back in those days you worked your shift by yourself.

 One of our regular customers was an animal lover. I did not mind that but every time she came in the store she'd do something that either caused you more work or it would slow down the line of customers coming to pay. I did not like having customers lined up. I felt like I was not doing my job if I had a line. I wanted to get them taken care of as quickly as possible. People get angry when they see a line at a register but if they see you make that line move quickly their anger goes away.

 One night I had just finished mopping the floor. I delayed because we were busy and it had been raining. I waited till close to closing. I loved leaving a good clean floor and i was looking forward to going home and getting some desperately needed sleep. We had an employee quit. I had worked 3 weeks at that job without a day off and I needed rest.

 The animal lover showed up with 6 dogs that night and let all of them in the store. My floor was still wet. They came charging in and ran all over the store with their muddy feet. I held off saying anything to her because I was too mad. She bought her few little things and came to pay for them. Once she had payed I swallowed my anger and nicely asked her to not bring her dogs in the store again when it was raining.

 The bitch went off on me. She told me that her dogs did not leave mud in the store y customers did. She accused me of charging too high of prices on our stuff. I had no say in that. She accused me of charging too much for gasoline. I was accused of being inhumane to animals. She called me a theif and accused me of overcharging her. She said that when she got home she was going to call the police on me. She said she was never coming back to our store again. I took all this without saying a word and I was happy when she decided to stop yelling at me and leave.  I was quite angry when I remopped the store that night. To add insult to injury that women still came back to our store. I think she decided to leave when I broke my silence and told her that if she had a problem with me she should see my boss in the morning.

 That incident happened in the late 1970's  I'll likely not forget it. That woman gave me the impression that some people who own a bunch of small dogs are a little bit insane. Yeah I was a real a-hole with my attitude and I feel like a a-hole for having it.

 So today I was on Facebook when I saw this picture of a woman with a dachshund that looked like my Dolly. She had her dog in a wagon and was pulling it. The dog was dressed warmly and had a blanket. I thought "Oh that's so cute, that is so neat." " I have to do this with Dolly sometime." The pic left me with a warm feeling inside.  I started thinking about the times when she is riding in the cab of the truck with me, resting on my left leg, giving me "I love you" looks but at the same time looking out the front windshield, and then checking the drivers side mirror for motorcycles, then looking out the window itself for deer or anything that looks interesting.

 That picture made perfect sense to me.  I want to try it and I don't really care if a dog hater thinks I am a fool. What is even more amazing about my 100% turn around in attitude is the fact that when Dolly and I first met she hated me as only a Dachshund can. It took me a full month and a half to even touch her. She was my neighbors dog. My owning her only happened because I intended to only get her to stop barking at me.

 Sometimes I think that Dolly thinks she has to make it up to me for her earlier hatred of me. A few years ago I would have laughed at a statement like that. I love my little Dolly fiercely and I think she knows it. I believe she loves me more.

 Dachshunds are amazing little dogs once you get to know them. They remind me of miniature German Shepherds if there was such a breed. They love their owners more than any other dog and I tend to become very angry when I see hear of an owner abusing one. 

 By the way folks.. I completely get it now about small dogs and I wish that my conversion had happened years ago. I have missed out on a lot by not owning them.

An odd encounter.

I am a big believer in not letting your doxie go out to potty late at night unless they are on a leash. I will let her go out off leash when I go outside to work in the latter part of the day. I keep a close eye on her and she knows that I don't allow her out of my sight.

Sometimes though at night we have gotten tired of putting clothes on and going out in the cold. Dolly absolutely refuses to potty inside the house. In her mind no proper dachshund does such a lowlife thing and her outside territory must be marked to let trespassers know that our home is protected by a fierce and mighty dachshund.

Very early this morning it was still dark and none of us felt like going out with her. So we did something we almost never do now and that is let her go out on her own to potty. Since it was cold we figured she'd go out and do her business and come right back. Well... she came back alright but it was with the lesson that this will not happen again.

She'd been out maybe 10 minutes. She was not barking or showing any sign of distress. Gretchen went to check on her. When she did she found a very scared little dog who wanted her to pick her up and put her in her arms.  This is a big deviation in her behavior.  She does not like being carried into the house. Her routine is to bark to be let back in and when the door is open she comes strutting in occasionally giving you the "Thank You!" look. Then we are supposed to strut to my recliner and jump up on me or we go directly to the bedroom and tunnel under the blanket. This morning Gretchen sat her down and she went blasting by me then leapt on the bed immediately burying under the covers as if to hide.

She acted scared the rest of the morning. I don't know what she saw. I have seen her scare big dogs away with a look. There was one time she would not get in the truck with me and decided to go down to Missy's to Potty and to see if the Thomas family had processed more deer meat.  On the way back two pit bulls spotted her and ran at her. instead of running she stood and stared at them. They backed off walked off a way but then came running back at her. That time all she did was sit down and glare at them. If your hind end is on the ground you don't have to worry about the second dog sneaking in behind you and biting your butt. By that time I was down there with the truck. I yelled at the pit bulls, they ran off  and Dolly came strutting to the truck like "Thank you but I had them covered."

I figure that she came across either a coyote or maybe even a mountain lion. There has been a few of them killed close by on the roads in the last several years. Usually when we are out with her at night we have a big walking stick or hiking staff. Animals, dogs especially, seem to be afraid of humans carrying sticks. Dolly seems to know that we have the stick for defensive purposes.

We love our little dog. We will no longer be lazy with her at nighttime. We owe it to her to protect her because for one she'd do the same for us.

I am a Spoiled Owner

Yes I confess that I have become a spoiled owner. I have willingly and cheerfully allowed it to happen. I have become spoiled by a very intelligent and sweet dog who goes about her life in such a way that I have to laugh at her.

It's mainly her intelligence that has me spoiled. The latest thing that happened along these lines is that I had come in from outside and Dolly had delayed coming in. I usually come in before the evening traffic picks up otherwise I have to put her on the leash. Instead of going directly to my recliner I started doing something at the kitchen sink.

I'd no sooner came in than Dolly barked to be let in the front door. She charged to the living room where she was perplexed because I was not in my spot. Her perplexed or questioning look is easy to see. Her ears will be on alert, she might sniff the air, and she always looks at one of her humans with a look that says "I don't understand, or what's going on here?"  In this case she was looking at Gretchen with a look that said "Where is he??"

We all have gotten to where we talk to Dolly like she is a human member of our family and we do it without even thinking about it. When Dolly was looking for me Gretchen said to her " He is in the kitchen."  We have never taught her the names of the rooms of our home. Also Gretchen, when she talks to Dolly always refers to me as "Carl" and rarely as " He". In spite of this Dolly went charging to the kitchen to find me.


If you were to watch Dolly for a short time and did not know her you'd probably think that I am dead wrong about the things I see in her. That's because in this stage of her life she sleeps a lot and she has adapted herself to our less active lifestyle.If I had my way I'd be 20 years younger and we'd both go on long walks on country roads. I'm hoping that if I lose more weight I will be able to do this again. My little dog has adapted herself so much to us she now acts like an older dog. Fortunately there are times she will just cut loose and run for no reason.  When I see her do it I encourage her. I'll stand there and clap my hands while saying "Go Dolly, run!"

Yes I have been spoiled.