A Shubi Tail

Written in 1996

It was a cold night in Bavaria when a little Dachshund Mommy named Elfi lay in her whelping box giving birth to four beautiful, healthy puppies. This was her first litter of pups with the young boy dog named Sam. She had two little girls and two slightly larger boys. As Frau Lanzingher bent over the box and patted Elfi she told her, in German of course, what a good little mother she was.

As the days passed the puppies began to open their eyes and play about. They were tiny and had black and brown wiry fur. One of the girls was particularly loving with all who came to see them. Frau Lanzingher would always hold her up and give her a little kiss.

One day when the puppies were a little older, Frau Lanzingher brought the basket of puppies into her kitchen. It was warm and the puppies could smell good food being cooked on the stove. A man came and took one of the girl puppies away. He said she would be going to Italy to live.

A while later three ladies and a man and a boy came into Frau Lanzingher’s kitchen. The little girl dog spotted a tall woman with a kind face. This lady bent down and said words that this pup had never heard before. But she liked the face of the lady, so she began to wag her tail and jumped around trying to get the lady to pick her up as Frau Lanzingher did. The lady didn’t need much prompting. She bent over a little more and carefully picked up the little girl.

“Hello there, little pup!” said the lady. Of course, the little pup was a German dog so she didn’t understand what the lady said.

Then the lady kissed the top of her head. That, the puppy understood. The little girl began to plant kiss after kiss on the lady. The lady giggled and snuggled the puppy some more.

Shubi and mom
“She is wonderful, Jack!” said the lady.

The little girl pup liked this lady. She gave lots of kisses and she snuggled pretty well, too. She didn’t understand a word she said, but her voice sounded nice, so the little pup decided she liked the lady enough and curled up in her arms and started to fall asleep.

The man told Frau Lanzingher, in German, that they wanted to buy the little girl and one of the other ladies was buying the friendly boy puppy. Then the man told Frau Lanzingher that the little girl dog would be going all the way to America! The little girl puppy listened and wondered where America was. She figured it would be okay because the nice lady would hold her.

So the man paid Frau Lanzingher and the nice lady, still holding the little girl pup, thanked her, and then they went outside into the cold and snowy day. The lady placed the little girl pup on the snow and the little girl pup wee-weed. The other lady placed the boy puppy down but he didn’t need to go.

They all climbed into the car and the nice lady held onto the little girl pup and carefully tucked her under her coat.

“That should keep you warm,” said the lady.

And she patted the little pup who was shaking with the cold and with nerves.

“Well, we know what your name will be, little one.” said the lady. “You will be Shubi. And I will be your mommy.”

SHUBABY

The little pup didn’t know what the lady said, but she liked the sound of Shubi. The lady kept saying that over and over again. “Shubi” The little Shubi girl settled herself against the warm lady and snuggled further under her coat. Then she fell asleep.

 

The First Hair Cut

This is another story I wrote about my very first dackel, Shubi. She was a soft coated wire-haired dackel and since we were living in Florida at the time, I had her coat groomed pretty often. Here is a story about her first grooming session, told from Shubi’s point of view.

The First Hair Cut – Another Shubi Tail!

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The morning began like any other. The Mom got up, sprayed herself with bug spray and took the two puppers for a walk. It was already hot at 80 degrees and the humidity was high. The pups didn’t dally, but did their business and rushed back into the house.

The smell of bacon reminded the pups that breakfast wasn’t far off and they seated themselves near their Dad, who would give them bits of bacon.

After breakfast, Mom picked up Shubi and put her leash on her. Then she walked her out to the car and placed her inside.

Shubi was happy because she likes to go for rides in the big car. But today they didn’t stop at the big building with the window that gives puppers cookies. Today the car stopped and Mom got out and brought Shubi into a place that smelled sweet and clean. Shubi could hear other pups barking and whining. She was not sure she was happy.

The Mom said a few things and then left Shubi with the nice lady. Shubi wondered if the Mom would come back? The nice lady placed Shubi in a deep sink and lathered her up with Oatmeal Soap and then rinsed her off. She used another gel that she called conditioner and that smelled pretty good too. Then it happened. After Shubi was all dried they came at her with noisy clippers that cut her hair all off!! “Oh, NO!” Shubi thought as she watched her hair fall to the floor.

A cool breeze blew by and Shubi could feel it on her skin as the hair fell away. “This feels good!” Shubi thought and settled down and allowed the nice lady to finish her job.

After a while, Mom came and Shubi heard her voice and then saw her! She was so happy that her skinny little, now mostly hairless tail began to wag. Mom picked up Shubi and kissed her and told her how beautiful she looked! The nice lady placed a red, white and blue bandanna on Shubi and Shubi felt she was the cutest wire-haired dachshund ever! The Mom gave the lady some paper and then they got in the car and came home.

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Shubi walked into the house, said hello to her brother, Max and checked her food dish. All was just as she had left it. She climbed up onto her Moms lap and fell asleep, knowing that all was right in her world.

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Another Shubi Tail!

Written in 1996

Shubi and Max and the Long Hot Walk

The morning was bright and cool. The mom and dad decided to take the puppers Shubi and Max for a walk. The dad was still on crutches, so the mom held both leads to the fur kids. Down the sidewalk toward the big field they went.

Shubi and Max took turns being the lead pup. Occasionally there was something good to sniff and the whole group stopped to allow the puppers to sniff. Then on they would go.

At the end of the road, they turned and headed back. Shubi and Max were both getting tired and hot. Even a cool morning in Florida in the summer eventually becomes a hot one.

Suddenly Shubi just lay down in her frog-like pose on the grass. “Come on Shubi!” The Mom said. But Shubi was too hot and too tired to move. The mom pulled on the leash that was attached to Shubi’s harness. Shubi remained prone. Mom dragged a bit and Shubi thought that felt pretty good and continued to lie there being dragged through the grass. Finally, the mom picked up the hot and tired little pup and carried her a while getting muddy footprints on her chest.

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A lady stopped and commented that the puppers looked like Mutt and Jeff from the cartoons as Shubi is a little thing at 13 pounds and big brother Max weighs in at 125 pounds!

The Dad said what a nice pup Shubi was. But that it was too bad they had to cut off her legs! (Shubi was not amused, but Max was). The astonished lady walked away quickly and did not respond.

Soon they were home and Shubi and Max stood on the steps in the pool and cooled down. After, they were so tired they needed to take a long nap, with the mom.

The Mom got up after an hour, but the pups still slept. Another day, another adventure. When she woke up, Shubi’s first question was…”when’s dinner!”

The Birth of Shubi

Written in 1996

It was a cold night in Bavaria, when a little Dachshund Mommy named Elfi lay in her whelping box giving birth to four beautiful and healthy puppies. This was her first litter of pups with the young boy dog named Sam. She had two little girls and two slightly larger boys. As Frau Lanzingher bent over the box and patted Elfi she told her, in German of course, what a good little mother she was.

As the days passed the puppies began to open their eyes and play about. They were tiny and had black and brown wiry fur. One of the girls was particularly loving with all who came to see them. Frau Lanzingher would always hold her up and give her a little kiss.

One day when the puppies were a little older, Frau Lanzingher brought the basket of puppies into her kitchen. It was warm and the puppies could smell good food being cooked on the stove. A man came and took one of the girl puppies away. He said she would be going to Italy to live.

A while later three ladies and a man and a boy came into Frau Lanzingher’s kitchen. The little girl dog spotted a tall woman with a kind face. This lady bent down and said words that this pup had never heard before. But she liked the face of the lady, so she began to wag her tail and jumped around trying to get the lady to pick her up like Frau Lanzingher did. The lady didn’t need much prompting. She bent over a little more and carefully picked up the little girl.

“Hello there, little pup!” said the lady. Of course the little pup was a German dog so she didn’t understand what the lady said.

Then the lady kissed the top of her head. That, the puppy understood. The little girl began to plant kiss after kiss on the lady. The lady giggled and snuggled the puppy some more.

Shubi and mom

“She is wonderful, Jack!” said the lady.

The little girl pup liked this lady. She gave lots of kisses andshe snuggled pretty good, too. She didn’t understand a word she said, but her voice sounded nice, so the little pup decided she liked the lady enough and curled up in her arms and started to fall asleep.

The man told Frau Lanzingher, in German, that they wanted to buy the little girl and one of the other ladies was buying the friendly boy puppy. Then the man told Frau Lanzingher that the little girl dog would be going all the way to America! The little girl puppy listened and wondered where America was. She figured it would be okay because the nice lady would hold her.

So the man paid Frau Lanzingher and the nice lady, still holding the little girl pup, thanked her and then they went outside into the cold and snowy day. The lady placed the little girl pup on the snow and the little girl pup wee-weed. The other lady placed the boy puppy down but he didn’t need to go.

They all climbed into the car and the nice lady held onto the little girl pup and carefully tucked her under her coat.

“That should keep you warm” said the lady.

And she patted the little pup who was shaking with the cold and with nerves.

“Well, we know what your name will be, little one.” said the lady. “You will be Shubi. And I will be your mommy.”

The little pup didn’t know what the lady said, but she liked the sound of Shubi. The lady kept saying that over and over again. “Shubi” The little Shubi girl settled herself against the warm lady  and snuggled further under her coat. Then she fell asleep.