Just another Monday.

But not a manic Monday. I'm just trying to get back into the habit of writing again. Puppy Dolly did not do anything really special today except.... She barked at a young guy walking up the road. It was not serious barking but then.... the young guy showed me he knew nothing about dogs when he yelled  "GIT" at her. Well she did 'git' by about three feet and when she turned around it was serious barking.

People like him make me wish Fritz was still alive and at the same time glad he is not.  Fritz was a German Shepherd. Nearly all black and with intimidating looks. He was intelligent, hated other dogs, hated kids, but loved cats and elderly men. I was 30 at the time and I could barely control him.  I now believe that if I had given him to an elderly farmer who lived way out in the country he would have settled down and lived out a life of freedom with somebody he loved.

Fritz had many Dachshund like traits. Very stubborn, smart, and extremely loyal. He only turned on me one time and that was when he was interested in a female in heat. I could not let that incident pass. I did not hurt him but left him with the impression that I would hurt him. The beauty of a dog like Dolly is that I can let her win on some things and it does not matter. She may try to intimidate and dominate other dogs but she will not try that with humans.

Even if I had given Fritz away he would have run off and came back to me. Fritz loved me and I him.  One time a lady we did not know stopped by and asked if she could buy him. Fritz had many bad behaviors but one of his most endearing qualities was that he acted like a giant puppy around people he liked. We told her he was not for sale. A week later he disappeared.  I learned that she had moved to a town about 20 miles away in a small mobile home. I had no luck in finding him but at the end of four days a very tired and hungry Fritz showed up at home. He had sore feet and some blisters on his footpads. I am positive he was stolen and he ran away from the person who did it. They probably made a mistake by letting him see where he was going.

That's why I always let Dolly see where she is going. If she ever gets stolen and gets away she will try to come home. If she sees certain things she recognizes she'll know she is on the right track.

Things Have Changed

 



I see that it has been Feburary since I last posted here. Dolly shows no ill effects from her accident. She does seem to have a bit of an odd gait. It may have been there before and I just never noticed.

We slowly kept giving her more and more freedom. It was just a few weeks ago that one day we let her loose entirely from her leash. She responded by going on a run which was a joy to see. She then tried going too far away so we put her back on. A day or so later I let her off and she chased a car 10 minutes later. She went right back on the leash.

She seemed to enjoy full freedom inside the house. I finally gave in and let her have it outside too. She was not getting enough exercise and she seemed to be depressed. Seeing her depressed was hard on us. I think we will regret this in the future. She had freedom for her entire life up until the accident. Had she been on a leash since a pup she would not have missed her freedom so much.

I caught her chasing a car a few days ago. I called her up to me and she knew she was in trouble. This time instead of tying her up I stood there and in a calm gentle tone of voice, gave her an ass chewing. I had forgotten that the calm and gentle sometimes works far better than yelling. She acted as if she would have like to find the nearest crack in the earth and melt in to it.

She went after one more car after that. I almost yelled at her but then I noticed something different. She was following the car. Head up, tail erect, and strutting at a fast pace. A few minutes later I saw that her former owner was in the car. It was not his car, it was a friends car, and it's never been in this town before. How Dolly knew he was in that car is beyond me. The only thing I can think of is that her eyesight is better than most dogs.

Dolly spent 5 months sleeping in the crate at night. I assumed that she would totally forget her bedtime ritual. I assumed wrong. The very first night she was free I went to bed like usual and I read my Kindle until I get good and sleepy. Dolly seems to think that's a waste of play time. So she hopped up in bed and started licking my feet like always. Not just one but both. A human has TWO feet and a Dachshund has failed in it's job if both are not licked.

Once done with the feet she comes up to lick my face. I protect my face with one hand. She tries to do the routine where she expertly flips my glasses off my nose with one quick motion. At this point I put the Kindle down. Now she is happy. She will jump away from me and wait patiently for the next part of the ritual. That part is what I call the defeat the evil blanket badger routine. My hand slides under the cover and she attacks it. She almost never bites hard. I do this until she wears down or gets bored.If I want the game to end early all I have to do is say "OUCH!"  She will get this hurt and embarrassed look. She will go lay down. I only use the ouch option if I am very tired or if she really is biting to hard. It hurts her feelings and if I use it too often it will lose it's effect.

In the 5 months she was confined I got to learn even more about her. I've made this post too long so I will save that for another day.