Dackels – Page 10 – The Dackel Princess

Dogs The Bad & The Good!

Hubby and I made a trip out today to restock the shelves, the fridge and the freezer. We first stopped BJ’s Warehouse and I stocked up on the necessities there. Tide Laundry detergent, (No I am not getting free samples, I just love that brand), and sugar free cocoa mix. That’s the only chocolate I allow myself when being strict on Weight Watchers.

Next we went to Wally World to buy things like dog food and paper towel and a new pair of old lady sunglasses. My nephew laughs at me when I wear them, but right now I simply cannot stand any bright light and must protect my eyes.

Anyway, here I was getting some canned dog food for the crew when this young couple with an 18 month old baby were standing there trying to figure out how to make a run for their Beagle. They looked at me loading my 40 cans of dog food in the basket and figured I might know something. Here is the conversation.

Them: Do you think you could help us?

Me: Sure.

Them: How do we make a dog run for our Beagle?

Me: How old is your Beagle?

Them: 8 weeks.

Me: (Groan!) Um, you really can’t put an 8 week old puppy on a run.

Them: Why not?

Me: Well it’s too young and you need to take the puppy out to teach him, to house break him.

Them: But it’s too cold!

Me: Well, you need to do that. And tell me what type of collar are you using?

Them: A regular one like this. (Points to a plain nylon collar)

Me: Well, you definitely can’t use that because the baby will slip it. You’ll need a harness. But I’m telling you, you need to walk the baby. I know I breed dachshunds and I have trained several in the winter.

Them: Well thanks.

And they walked away with the run kit! I wanted to scream at them! But I stood there with my mouth hanging open! Why, oh why do people get dogs if they aren’t prepared to take care of them properly?

We came home and I took my babies out. They’re old enough now that they appreciate a warm house and I can walk them in the yard without a leash and they perform and come in quickly. At 15 degrees, no one lingers, especially the little ones.

Hubby is off skiing today as tomorrow morning we have an early appointment with my retinal surgeon. I am hoping for good news from him.

Okay, now the best part of my day? Waking up this morning to sweet little kisses from Anneliese. She crawled up on my side and then spent a few minutes licking my face. Makes me smile every time!

My First Day Out!

We’re in the middle of a snow storm. How much actual snow we will get from this storm (currently the forecast is 12 inches) is any-one’s guess. New snow is pretty and in January it is expected, so when Hubby went outside to do a little shoveling and snow blowing, I took my camera and the dogs and followed.

Anneliese went crazy in the snow. She ran and ran and in some places tunneled! I think she is a real snow-dog!

Arnie likes to be out, that is until his body becomes covered with snowballs! Today he did stay out with us and we even went for a short walk up the driveway.

All four dogs kept me company during my trip up the drive to see our neighbor. We made sure she was okay and didn’t need anything and then the four dogs and I walked back home.

I noticed Fritz at the top of the steps and how really beautiful he looked so I took a long shot and hoped I could crop it down. He is such a handsome boy!

They all waited for me to walk back and let them in.

Then as I sat down to rest, Anneliese and Arnie came and cuddled with me.

And that was how I spent my first day out!

On Our Way

I thought that I would post this little video that I took on Wednesday. It was during the big snow storm that found about 10 inches of snow falling in our area. We had the pups out and they had so much fun.

And here are a few pictures of the dogs in the snow. Here is Greta!

Then Anneliese.

And Fritz!

And of course, Arnie!

We are currently en-route to Boston for the night. We fly out first thing (5:45 AM) on Saturday.

Meanwhile here is our itinerary.

My cruise

With any luck on Saturday we will arrive in San Juan and have half a day on Saturday and half a day on Sunday to tour around the island.

Stay tuned for reports from the Caribbean starting on Sunday.

No Sleep For Grandma!

Sunday’s are supposed to be my easy days. I sleep a little late, sip coffee, while reading the Sunday paper in my pajamas, and just not do much or think about much. Like the good Lord above, on the 7th day, I like to rest.

That was not to be the case this Sunday though. I should have known it was going to be a rough ride, as Greta woke me at 1:30, 4 and finally 6 AM. Fritz got me up at about 5 and so I’ve been operating on a very small amount of sleep.

Since Anneliese is still in heat, we have been taking turns bringing either Arnie or Anneliese with us when we both have to go out. It’s worked out well too. Last night Anneliese got to go for a ride to our friends home, where we’d been invited to a birthday party. She wore her little sweater and snuggled in a blanket while we partied.

Today Arnie got to go with us while we grocery shopped. He wore his sweater as we are getting unseasonably cold weather here. Arnie was so cute. He would sit in my lap cuddling and then poke Hubby’s arm to make sure he knew that he was there.

When we got home, the dogs lay around, and watched the birds, people walking down the street and I got this picture of Arnie. He really is a handsome boy.

We had the puppies outside for about half an hour. The wind was blowing and the temperatures were so low, that I worried they would catch a chill. That is crazy really because they wear little fur coats! But I froze!

Schnapps

Curt

Calvin

Wally

And Fenway

Tomorrow begins another week. At the end of it, the puppies will be 8 weeks old. Nearly grown into self sufficient little puppies. Three weeks later they leave for their new homes.

Very Good!

Today was a strange day. The dog show went on and I was so proud of the way Arnie and Anneliese handled in the ring. The walked well, and neither one of them presented in a nervous manner. I was so proud!

But I was surprised by the Judge and his comments. No I’m not unhappy, please do not get me wrong, it’s just that things keep changing in what is expected from the pups and I felt a little lost after the event.

The dogs both got “Very Good” scores. So, they are eligible to breed and continue in the club. The field of entrants was quite small this year. I missed seeing the other dogs.

I did have my very own cheering section! Here I am with my friends, Heather, Linda and Lynn! It was so terrific to have them with me!

Ah, it’s late and I am tired. We hit the road in the early morning for home, so I will need to get some sleep.

More Later.

Seminar

Today I attended a seminar given by John Jeanneney. He is the man I consider my mentor and expert in the training of dachshunds for the search of wounded game.

It was enlightening, and so many of my questions were answered. We also had demonstrations by one of John’s dogs, and then tracks were laid for the people who brought their dogs for evaluation. Guess who was there?

Bogey!!!

Grandma was a very happy lady and she got plenty of lovin’ from her little grandson, who by the way, has really grown!

The day was perfect. Sunny, warm and the site was also fabulous. I sat with Bogey’s new owner and the owner of Bernie, Greta’s boyfriend.

Here is a small slide show of the days event. After a very long day, this Granny needs to get to bed early!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Bogey’s owner is in a red shirt, and you will see him in the woods working a track. John is in an orange shirt and he is the man giving the seminar. I’m the silly woman kissing the dogs like crazy! lol!

Excitement!

Excitement!!!

Today the pedigrees for Anneliese’s litter arrived from Germany! Now I need to sign them over and send them to all my buyers and then my paper work for that litter will be done. I actually will see Bogey tomorrow and so I can bring his pedigree with me and give it to his Daddy! (I promise to take pictures!)

I saw my retinal surgeon today and things have stabilized for now and I can wait a bit longer until I need to have surgery. Good thing. Greta is due in three and a half weeks and then I’ll be busy for a couple of months!

It was quite a lovely day today and just perfect for driving across the state for my appointment. The drive across was great, but driving back, with dilated eyes proved to be a bit of a challenge. But I stopped and got a Latte and I was good to go.

Saturday is the Workshop I’ve mentioned before. I will learn more about training puppies to track and also meet new people from my area of the country who use dogs to find wounded game. This should be lots of fun and very interesting.

My Dackels

Thursday saw me enjoying a ride over to see my hair stylist, Margarita for a dip in the fountain of youth. When I got back I I decided that today was a great day to take some pictures of me and the dackels. So I slathered put on some make up and the asked Hubby to take the pictures. I put them in this sideshow, but if you want to know who each pup is, just click on the sideshow and it will bring you to Flickr and the names are beside each image. After I put this together I realized that I forgot Fritz. This means I will have to do a post very soon dedicated to my White German Shepherd!

The pups are finally sleeping after having a very active afternoon, and Greta, Arnie and Anneliese are asleep in my chair with me, and I think Fritz actually has gone to bed.

The day was beautiful, warm and sunny. Perfect! Now if we could just have a few more like this then the summer won’t be a total loss!

Happy Friday, Everyone!!!

A Four Dog Day

It was cold, windy, yet the sun was shining brightly and it was a pretty day. The first half of the day found Anneliese and I out running errands.

I had to pick up Fritz’s rabies certificate (I lost the original), then go and register all four dogs with the town. I brought Anneliese in to meet the ladies at the Town Offices and they just fell in love with her.

I’m telling you, since she traveled all the way over to Germany and back, Anneliese has become a real charmer!

Hubby arrived home from skiing and I made lunch for us and then after, Hubby took the four dogs outside to play while he pruned trees. They all had a fun time

I watched from the door for a while and then went outside with my camera and snapped these pictures.

You can see they are all looking for their balls.

Anneliese was digging deeply.

But she picked up her head when I called.

My favorite one is this one of Fritz.

Arnie had fun too.

The temperatures are dropping again tonight and so we have a fire in the hearth warming the family room.

And the four dogs? Well, they are all stretched out asleep around the room, exhausted!

It was a good day!

Lot’s of Work & Happy Valentines Day!

February 13, 2009

Scorpio (10/23-11/21)

If you’re looking for an easy way to get through a busy day, spend part of your morning getting the rest of the day organized. You might not be a morning person, but once you start seeing how things fall into place, your energy level will go through the roof. Nothing is as exciting as new possibilities for you right now, and there will be many in your day. Things are going to get done, deadlines will be met, and your schedule is going to have a lot more room — for a lot more fun.

*********************

This was my horoscope for Friday. It was amazing because this is exactly how my day went. I was up early (5:30 AM!) I was able to get everything done, all deadlines were met, and since Hubby helped me out, it made the day go so much better.

He drove me to Worcester, Massachusetts to see the Federal Veterinarian. He signed my documents and now Anneliese is ready to go. Once again Anneliese was a perfect little traveler, and we actually made the trip in good time.

We took the back roads home. These were roads that Hubby and I had once driven frequently. It was as if we were in a time warp. Nothing had changed!

We were back in time for lunch and then my real work began. There was vacuuming, dusting, bed making and laundry to do, plus I repacked my suitcase in a vain attempt to make my clothes smaller or the suitcase bigger. In the end I took out an extra pair of jeans and those will be left behind.

I paid bills, ran to the Post Office, picked up the dry cleaning, and went to the bank. Upon my return I started dinner and finally sat down to rest! Once I finish up with the dinner dishes I plan to get into my pajamas and do nothing!

So now here we are, Valentines Day and I am going to post this little video to my dear family and friends. I love you all and wish you a very Happy Valentines Day!