Anneliese – Page 23 – The Dackel Princess

Health Certificates and Suitcases

I took the puppies to the Vets on Monday for their Health Certificates. This way they can go to Canada and come back across the border. It was kind of exciting taking them back to the place where they were born. It seems like just yesterday that I held those tiny pups in my hand for the very first time, and now they are proper doggies. Large, (Arnie weighs 17 pounds and Anneliese is 14 pounds) able to walk around and make friends and sit and stay when told to do so. Okay, they’re still learning about that, but they’re trying.

The car ride was uneventful, which was good because Canada is a very long ride from here. We are leaving at 6 AM and do not expect to get to our motel until 9 or 10 PM. Yep, long day for puppies and humans!

I came home and got out the suitcases and we started to pack. All the puppy things are packed. The suitcases are on our bed and most of the clothing we plan to bring is folded neatly inside them.

That’s when I noticed one very big thing.

Greta.

Poor Greta knows we are leaving and she is not happy about it at all. She is sulking and giving us the cold doggy shoulder already. She knows. Fritz? Not so much. I know he will be a little upset when we go, but nothing like Greta. She really gets her nose out of joint!

A Puppy Heart Attack

We have a refrigerator out in our motor coach. When I need more space for food, I often turn it on. So, today I was putting the fridge in the motor coach on and Fritz came with me. He likes to help. When I came back in to the house Fritz stayed outside.

I went to take my shower and start my day. I took my shower and Hubby took his right after. As I stood in our bedroom in my bra and panties, in comes Fritz. I spoke to Fritz, Greta and Arnie and I start looking for Anneliese. No puppy! I went into the kitchen and I saw the sliding glass door open!!! Shoot! Fritz had let himself into the house!

I was panic stricken! I raced back into the bedroom to grab my bathrobe and I was calling Anneliese the entire time. I yelled to Hubby what had occurred. Then as I reached the kitchen door I saw Anneliese. There she was, in the back yard on the hill! She came running into the house!

Oh my God! My heart beat like it was going to leap right our of my chest! I thought I would die.

At this point Hubby and I have talked it over and decided to try harder to remember to lock the door when Fritz is out. The bugger is just too smart!

And Mommy Maribeth doesn’t need another heart attack!!!

Full Of Love

One day I think, I’m so in love with Arnie that I can’t imagine not having him. The next day I think I am so in love with Anneliese that I can’t imagine life without her. I already adore Fritz and Greta, and I couldn’t possibly choose between them, but now I have this whole new love affair going with the puppies. They are so sweet, so loving and yet, so different.

Fritz

is your usual big dog. He loves to be outside with his daddy and he loves more than anything to sit under the peach tree with as many toy balls as he can find. He can be sweet, but he is also independent, in a big dog sort of way.

Greta

is a sweet, loving dog, but she has a wildness to her that the others do not. She will chase down a mole in the field and watch for the cat next door to go and sun itself on the rock near our front window. She just loves to sit. To watch. And then bark to let us know that the gray cat is on our rock!

Anneliese

She stole my heart early on. At Christmas I told Uschi I thought maybe I was going to keep this little girl. She is a comical puppy. She loves to curl up and is full of love, but she loves to do what I call her commando crawl. She will have a toy in her teeth and then crawl across the floor like she is on a mission with the military. She is always full of kisses and although she is petite, she has a big spirit!

My surprise love is Arnie

I have never been a boy dog lover. My cousin is laughing at me about this, I am sure. Arnie came to us because the people who were due to buy him changed their minds. How lucky for me! Arnie is the sweetest of dogs. He wants to be in your lap, at your side, he follows me around the house and sits at my feet while I prepare meals or when I do the dishes. His heart is so big I can’t believe it. Of all he dogs, he is the one who is the easiest. He is the lover of all.

So I am hopelessly hooked on this wonderful group of dogs. How could I ever chose to have just one?

We Found It! (Or Puppy Pool Time!)

Today, just when I thought it was not going to be possible, Emily came running in and said, “I found the Puppy Pool!”

I called to make sure that the pool was, in fact there, and then the two of us raced off to get it.

It fit perfectly in the back of the station wagon and we got it home and immediately filled it up with crisp clean water! Today it was 90 degrees (F) and the pups were really enjoying the cool fun. Here is a small sample of our afternoon pool time.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kids, Dogs and Love

One of our little neighborhood girls came by. Our house is now the place where the kids come. They play with the dogs, help me with cooking or the gardening, but most of all, I think they come to talk.

Today Jacqui came by. She was feeling angry at her Mom for restricting her on playing on the trampoline before it was properly set up. I listened intently to all she said before I offered my words of wisdom. (Or what seems like wisdom to a 10 year old.)

I explained how much her mother loves her and would not want her to fall and break a leg or arm or worse yet to be killed. I told her how mothers always try to do their best to protect their kids.

She looked up at Katie’s picture and I explained that sometimes you can’t even do that, but at least Katie and I had spoken only words of love before the accident.

She was calmer when she left and I hope tonight when she kisses her mother goodnight there will be some real affection and understanding between them.

Meanwhile, the pups just get to be more and more fun. Arnie is nearly as big as Greta, while Anneliese remains petite. It is so hard to believe that they weighed the same at birth!

Hubby took this great picture of the three dachsies this morning while they watched the early morning activities on the lake.

Arnie, Anneliese and Greta

Yes, between the love from our dogs and for them as well, and the children of our neighborhood who seem to find their way to our home, and the love that exists between us, life is good.

What We Did On Sunday

It was a busy day here in Dackel Princess Land. As our cupboards were nearly bare, we needed to go grocery shopping. I also wanted to get paint for the puppy room and in the end I got Hubby a new lawn mower for Father’s Day which is next week.

It was a pretty day and nice for our trip south to the shopping area. As I have mentioned before, we live in the country and aside from one very high priced grocery store, there isn’t much around.

The shopping took a few hours and then we returned and drove the car up and around the side of the house so we could avoid the 14 steps up to the inside of our house. Fourteen steps! What a pain. But I have no one to blame for that one but myself, as I drew the plans for the house. In fact, I remember saying, “Oh that will be good. The stairs will keep my legs in shape”.

What an insane thing to think! How about the reality of grocery shopping and having to make a dozen trips up and down the stairs? Sheesh!

Anyway, we drove the station wagon around to the back of the house where it would be an easy job to unload the car.

We worked putting the groceries away, and Jackie arrived to play with the puppies. I love when the kids come over, so I let the dogs out for a run with her and her friend, Cameron.

Jackie

After a bit, the girls left and we let the pups run around the yard a little more. Hubby was putting his new lawn mower together and I was trying to get a few pictures.

Hubby with his new mower

Anneliese

It’s wonderful to see the puppies grow and play. They’re 6 months old now! So grown up. Arnie weighs a whopping 17 pounds and Anneliese is a lightweight at 14 pounds. One thing is for sure, they are both beautiful and sweet babies!

Sunday night is the “Soprano”s” finale. Will they kill Tony or not? Will Carm save Tony’s life, or AJ? Will they go into witness protection? One thing is for sure, it’s got the world talking!

Grrrrrrrr…….

It is Bike Week here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. One can step outside and hear the low grumble of Harley engines in the distance. Yesterday I was sitting at my desk when I heard a biker revving his engine at the beach down below us. The puppies, of course, have never heard a Harley engine before, so when they heard this great rumble they stopped their play and became alert, fearing the unknown.

Arnie

Anneliese

Soon the biker in question finished his revving and off he drove, the sound of his engine growing dimmer as the time passed.

The puppies have been having trouble when they go out to doing their business because they hear the drone of the engines in what is usually a quite and tranquil spot. The drone starts early in the morning and continues all through the day and past the time when we all go to bed.

Last night Arnie was feeling a bit unsettled while I was watching the TV. He tried

sleeping,

but could hear the rumble and so he woke up, looking very unhappy.

The traffic is a nightmare, and forget about going out for dinner for the next week, as all the restaurants are totally full all day and all night long. However I try not to complain because our area merchants really need this 10 day period of time to fatten their coffers for yet another season. I remember how our favorite restaurant served only about a dozen patrons on Valentines day this year due to a heavy snow storm. So, Bike Week helps them to stay open at times like that.

I’ve tried to tell the puppies not to worry, and to relax, but right now they just know that the grumbling monster is out there and they want me to protect them from it.

And I do. After all, Daddy doesn’t have a noisy Harley, he has a nice quiet 1981 BMW R-65! Now that is a nice quiet bike!

Dackel Princess News

It’s a big day here in Dackel Princess Land. Today two packages arrive from Germany. The first contained all the Pedigrees for Greta’s litter of puppies. Now I can mail these to the new owners of the pups.

Long ago the AKC Pedigrees came, and I was a bit worried that the DTK pedigrees wouldn’t arrive in time for the German Dog Show, however, they did, so now I know I can show the dogs in September at the yearly Zuchtschau.

The other package almost means more to me. It is the German book of dogs, litters, breeders and kennels that the DTK publishes each year. My name is in there, along with the Dackel Princess name. When I think of how proud my Papa would be, it makes me get very emotional. Papa loved America very much, but he held onto his German heritage all of his life. I think he would be happy.

The next item of news isn’t quite as wonderful. My eye exam didn’t go quite as I had hoped. I will be seeing my Retinal Surgeon up here in New Hampshire. I have a little problem with the Vitreous Gel in my eye and this means I need to see him, pronto. You see once you have had a Retinal Detachment, the odds of it happening in your other eye actually does go up. I was able to make an appointment for Monday at 4 PM.

Hubby came in from working outside feeling under the weather. I’ve put him to bed and will try some chicken noodle soup on him in a while.

Fritz, Greta, Arnie and Anneliese are all fine. At the rate we are going, we had better get those Wills changed so that we leave it all in trust for the doggies! LOL!

Happy Friday to all and have a great weekend!

A Family Tree

I was sitting in my chair today when I glanced over and saw this.

Ah yes, a boy and his mother.

It’s sort of funny. Arnie is up to 16 pounds while his little sister, Anneliese remains at 13. I think he will be a big boy like his grandmother Erika.

Erika.

While Anneliese will be smaller liker her Mom and Grandfather, Meyer.

Greta above and Meyer below.

We were lucky to be able to visit the Vom Geestmoor Kennels in Rehden, Germany. We spent an afternoon with Herr Hollmann and his wife and their two daughters. I was able to see his Kennel set up, discuss with them their breeding program, and celebrate Hubby’s birthday and also Frau Hollmann’s.

The moment Greta was placed in my arms.

Meeting Greta.

It’s so amazing when these little creatures come into our lives. They bring with them their own personalities and likes and dislikes. A lick from them can change a bad day into good, and a sleeping puppy in your lap can cure the worst problem.

Yes, our animals make our lives complete in so many ways.

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive” ~Gilda Radner~

Off They Go…

We knew it had to happen. One moment the puppies were with us and the next they were off on a grand adventure. Since their earliest days outside, the puppies have stayed close to home. I did not teach them how to go down stairs, only to come up so that perhaps I could delay their excursion into the great unknown a little longer. Today they ventured off. Here is their story.

Picture courtesy of my cousin, Janet

Arnie and Annieliese sat in their crate in the early morning hours. Anneliese snuggled closely to her brother and whispered, “Hey Arnie, today when we go outside with Daddy, let’s see if we can slip off and go exploring.”

“Do you think that’s okay? I mean, we don’t know if there are any scary dogs or people out there.”

“Sure, it’ll be fine” whispered Anneliese, “We’ll have a little walk by ourselves and have some fun.”

“I don’t know sis, but if you go, I’ll follow.”

And he did. About 2:30 while I sat in my chair cruising around the Internet, Hubby came rushing in. “The puppies are gone!!”

Where did they go? Across the driveway. After all the question can be asked “Why did the dachshund cross the road? In this case it was to see what was on the other side!

When Hubby sounded the alarm, I jumped to my feet and raced to the door and we both headed in different directions. I was yelling their names, with promises of treats should they come back to us. We didn’t have to yell too long before the little devils showed up. Anneliese and Arnie both are very fond of food.

Once they were back in the house I gave them each a cookie and scolded them that they are not to wander off like that again.

I little while later I thought I heard Anneliese talking to Arnie.

“Hey Arnie, I’ve just figured out how to get more cookies every day!”