Why I Do, What I Do

When I first married Hubby he had a great dog. His name was Rex. I wasn’t his first Mommy. I was his step-mommy. Rex liked people and kids and was a great companion for me when Hubby was off flying.

There was a time when I was working in our orchard selling apples and I had a man threaten me with his movements and Rex placed himself between the man and me and gave him the biggest toothiest growl ever! Good doggy!!!

Anyway, as Rex got older arthritis seemed to be setting in. We had him on medication for that, and at night, when he could no longer walk up the stairs, we made a comfy bed for him.

One night when Hubby was off flying I decided to paint our bedroom. (Can you tell I was a lot younger then?) Anyway, it started to storm with great loud booming thunder. One thing Rex hated more than anything was thunder. As I stood with white paint covering my clothes I looked over at the door and saw that Rex was standing there. That sweet boy had dragged himself up the stairs to be with me during that storm.

Rex’s arthritis seemed to get worse and so Hubby and I took him to the Vet’s to see if there was anything we could do. They x-rayed his hips and then showed us something I didn’t think I would ever see.

Rex had no hip sockets. His bones were just floating in the hip area. No wonder he was in such pain! Hip dysplasia is a terrible thing!

We kept Rex as comfortable as we could until the day arrived that we made the last trip to the Vet’s with him. He had gone into a stream near our house to rest his hips in the cold water. We helped him out and when he could no longer stand, we called to go in.

As we drove to the Vet’s office, I thought about the night of the thunder storm. You see the day Rex left us, there was a terrible thunder and lightening storm.

I held my step-doggy in my arms as the Vet eased him from this world and I promised Rex then that if I ever went on to breed dogs I would do it right, so that they would not have these terrible, painful genetic diseases passed along.

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A few years later when I fell hopelessly in love with wire-haired dackels, I realized that there were not too many of them in this country. Also the ones here were in-bred and many had terrible back problems. The more I read the more I knew that I wanted to do things differently.

So after bringing Shubi home and deciding not to breed her due to pedigree restrictions, I started to explore breeding practices. I found what I thought made perfect sense in Germany. So, I went back and I got Greta.

You see the German Breed Clubs are very strict with their breeding practices. In-breeding isn’t allowed and their dogs are in far better health than ours. I decided if I was going to breed the wire-haired dachshunds in this country, I was going to do it right.

I have had all my dogs judged by a German judge. He examines them from top to bottom looking for any disqualifications. I have their eyes examined to make sure they are not passing on a problematic illness called PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy). And when I select a husband for my girls, I make sure that they are not related in any way.

I do this so that no puppy that I bring into this world will suffer from a genetic disease if I can possibly help it.

My dogs are one of the best parts of my life and I want other people to know how wonderful the wire-haired dachshunds are. Happy, healthy and full of fun!

Thank you, Rex. For being a wonderful boy and for teaching me such a valuable lesson.