The One About The Bath

Today was “Bath Day For Dachshunds” here at the Dackel Princess house. Although Greta is a seasoned bath champ, this was the very first bath for Arnie and Anneliese. To say it was comical would be an understatement!

We have a walk in shower with a seat in our bath. I got all three dachshunds into the shower, closed the door and began my work. I turned on the shower gently and got the water nice and warm, all while Arnie cried. Here we had two girls and one boy and the boy was the one sobbing!

I started with Anneliese and got her wet, soaped her up with the nice oatmeal soap. Then held her close to my chest while I rinsed her off. Yes, I am a real hands on Mom who believes that if the baby gets a bath, so do you. Anneliese was a good girl and she never made a peep.

Next was Arnie. He cried the entire time, even though I tried to sooth him. I can see that I will have to work on this with him over some time. He is a real chicken and doesn’t like the water at all. He lathered up well, and rinsed and then I was onto Greta.

She is an old pro and stood majestically in front of the seat so I could sit down while I lathered her up. Then she walked under the shower stream and rinsed herself off, with very little effort from me.

After I finished my bit in the shower, I got out first and dried off, then got Greta, and lastly the puppies. I dried Arnie first (he was still crying) and then when I moved onto Anneliese he scurried off into the lavatory part of our bathroom, still crying.

I called to him several times after I opened the door to return to the family room, but all he did was cry. I finally went to investigate and found him trapped between the magazine rack and the toilet! I pried him out and then put the pups in their room while I dressed.

Naturally I was overcome with the “mother of all hot-flashes”, and it took me a few minutes to get back to check on them. What should I find when I did get back? One of them had dragged the newspapers to the gated entry and then pooped on it and both of them had been jumping in the poop!

So I picked up Arnie and went to the sink and washed his feet and tail (again) and then did the same with Anneliese.

We are currently sitting in my chair, both the puppies are asleep next to me after their horrible baths! LOL They do, however, smell wonderfully fresh and clean!

Life At The Dackel Princess House

Amazing things are happing at the Dackel Princess house. Old Uncle Fritz is warming up to Anneliese and Arnie and he is actually starting to gently “play” with them. In a rare moment I was able to reach the movie camera and capture this event this morning. Usually as soon as I pick up the video camera, Fritz jumps down, but today, he stayed and played!

I have been trying to increase my drinking of water. I believe in the past I have spoken of my general dislike for water. Yes, it is good to bathe in, and yes it is good to cook in and wash in, but to drink? Not so much. However, I discovered “flavored” water. I love the lemon and cherry and the tropical flavors! I have been known to down 4 or 5 bottles in a day.
Recently I discovered that I am not the only designer water lover.

Good/Sad/Good

I woke up Thursday morning and before my feet even it the floor it was a bad day. You see when I went to put on my glasses, the lens fell out of my glasses! I got out the glasses repair kit, and tried to repair the frame, and I couldn’t. I spent all morning trying to repair the stupid things and I couldn’t. In the late morning I finally gave up and took my shower and dressed. I needed to go to get my bangs cut, stop at the pharmacy and the post office before coming home.

Now here’s the thing. The lens fell out on the left side of my glasses. This is the eye that Dr. W. has already fixed. So I took the paper off of a twist tie, tied the frames together and found I could actually see pretty well doing this. So I got in the Jeep and off I went.

My bangs were half way down my nose and my wonderful hairdresser trimmed them up and showed me a new way to blow dry my hair. She also didn’t charge me for this! Okay, the day was picking up. Then I was onto the pharmacy where I got a new glasses repair kit and some hand lotion. Good……….Then I went to the post office and picked up the mail. Usually the place is mobbed and there is no place to park, but today I got a space right in front!

I was starting to become suspicious that the turn in my luck was only going to turn again into something awful. I drove carefully home, tried to repair my glasses once again (no luck) and then made lunch for Hubby and me. Once we had digested, Hubby suggested that we go shopping. We’re due for another winter storm this weekend, so it would be good to stock up before the snow falls. He said we could also swing by the glasses store and get them fixed.

So off we went. I stopped feeling bad about not being able to fix my glasses when the optician had trouble and explained that the screw hole had been stripped. Great! She was actually the one who had done it last week when my new lens had come in, but heck, let’s not get technical about it, after all she did fix it.

We stocked up on the usual St. Patrick’s Day fare of corned beef and cabbage and carrots and potatoes, and came home to four happy hounds! I wish we could also keep Arnie. He is such a sweetheart and I adore him (yes, I am getting too attached), and he fits in with everyone pretty well. Why today, even Uncle Fritz seemed able to handle the puppies better than he ever has. Alas, Arnie must find himself a home of his own and I must say goodbye to him. We hope that soon we will get that call from someone who will love that boy!

The day ended nicely even if it started off badly. Glasses fixed, warm pajamas and happy hounds!

Mud Season

In just a few days, mud season has descended upon New Hampshire! How do I know this? Perhaps it is because when I went out with the puppies today to walk them around the yard (in a vein attempt to encourage potty training!) I squished and sunk into the lawn.

So my last venture out tonight with the two babies I wore my ugly, heavy duty, rubber boots! These boots are so big, and so ugly and weigh so much that I sank even deeper into the mire! But my feet were dry and the puppies slogged along with me until little Anneliese stopped. She sniffed. She moved around and then sniffed again! Then…..well, I will let you fill in the blank here, but let’s just say I was thrilled with her little gift!

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I praised her, like a puppy has never been praised before! I broke out the cookies and presented her with one. What a good girl! We came back into the house and I undid their leashes, and then sat to remove my boots and put my slippers back on. I also have these wonderful fuzzy socks that I have been wearing and what does my little lovely do? She grabbed my nice fuzzy sock, and ran as quickly as she could under the sofa!

I finally got my sock back, played with the two of the puppies for a while before finally putting them to bed. Ah yes, I just love warm, dry feet and puppies who are working at becoming house broken!

For Sale, 1 Amazing Wire-Haired Dachshund

Hi Everyone, I’m posting this entry today because I really hope that someone out there will know of someone who is looking for a nice boy like Arnie. I’d hoped for him to be shown and to be used as a stud dog here in the US so we can expand the gene pool a little bit with some strong German blood. I truly hate to advertise in a newspaper because then you do not know anyone who answers your ad. But if someone wrote to me and said, “I’m a friend of …blog” then I would at least feel better.

Please ask a friend today and let’s see if we can find Arnie a good home.

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Another Walk

The clocks moved ahead on Saturday night, and somehow the world did not come to an end, despite what the media was telling us! In fact Sunday was a rather pleasant day, with 45 degree (F) temperatures and sunshine after a small rain shower in the early morning. I was able to take Anneliese and Arnie for a nice walk up the driveway,

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to visit another neighbor and then walk them around until they figured out what the small amount of grass around our house right now is for. Fritz seems less threatened when the puppies are on leashes. Slowly, the old boy is getting used to them.

We kept them out as long as we could,

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Anneliese & Arnie

but then we noticed they were starting to shiver, so we brought them in and wrapped them in warm towels. I must say that tonight, they are sleeping like truly exhausted little babies.

The Pups Are 13 Weeks!!!

After weeks of sub zero weather we were treated to 40 degree temperatures and almost no wind. Arnie and Anneliese are 13 weeks old now and so I thought it was time for them to go for a proper walk on a leash. Arnie took to this like a duck to water, but Anneliese was a bit more stubborn. So I walked with Arnie and carried Anneliese. I walked up to a neighbor’s house to show off the babies, and then as we were walking back, Anneliese decided that she wanted to get down and try this walking on a leash thing.

I set her down in the snow and she walked gingerly along for a time, before discovering what fun it was to run! Now ordinarily this wouldn’t be a problem, but I am still not up for running, so I had to rein them in a bit.

The two also played outside in the snow, running after their balls and making Hubby run after them! We even had Uncle Fritz out with the puppies and he did pretty well. Slowly he is getting used to the little buggers.

I brought them in at lunchtime, and they collapsed in their bed.

March 10 Arnie
Arnie
March 10 Arnie & Anneliese
Arnie & Anneliese

After lunch, while the pups slept, we snuck off to the movies. We saw “Wild Hogs”, with John Travolta and William H. Macy, Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen. I have to tell you that I haven’t laughed so hard at a movie in a very long time. These four men, really did a great job and even Hubby was laughing out loud. I hate those movies where you see all the funny parts of the movies on the TV before you go. Not so, this movie. It was fantastic and if you want a way to lighten your mood, then go and see this movie. You will not be sorry!

Back home we came after the movie to find our little fur family waiting eagerly for our return.

March 10 Anneliese
Anneliese

We took everyone outside again and let them run around and work off some energy. They played and ran and rolled and had a good time until it was time to come in and have their dinner.

I got out the three bowls, scooped an entire large can into a large dish and then mixed in two cups of kibble for Fritz, got our Greta’s food and scooped 1/3 of a cup of wet food into her dish and broke it all up and then got out the puppy chow and scooped out 1/2 a can and broke it all up. The puppies get theirs first, then Fritz and then Greta. Then I stand guard so that everyone stays with their own dish!

At 6 PM, Hubby and I sat down to dinner and we put the pups to bed. After their big day they fell asleep quickly.

March 10 Anneliese after a long day.
Anneliese

Greta is asleep on the couch, Fritz has gone to bed in our bedroom and Hubby is asleep in his chair. Ah, it was a good day!

Playful Pups!

Anneliese is really stealing my heart. I’m afraid that Arnie is too. What a splendid pair they are. I had them out this morning for a couple of hours after I got done sewing my braided rug. That rug is older than Hubby and at this point it should just be tossed in the dump, but I have a feeling the rug will be here for a long time, so I had better just shut up and keep stitching.

Back to the pups. What fun it is to watch them play with each other and with Greta. My favorite of their play events is when they are all running back and forth between the family room and the kitchen going 100 miles an hour! Greta loves to play this way with the pups and from time to time she will stop and roll around on the floor with them.

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Anneliese likes to come over and stand on her back legs and almost dance to get me to pick her up. Then she will settle into my lap either showering me with kisses, or chewing on a bone. Arnie loves me too, but he would rather be playing rough with Greta all the time.

They’d been out for a while when I noticed the Fritz hair had gotten pretty bad. So I pulled out the vacuum and started to vacuum. Anneliese disappeared under my chair and Arnie ran for the puppy room where he promptly wee-wee’d on the floor. Poor boy! After the big bad vacuum went away, I coaxed them both back out and the play resumed.

I sat down with them on the floor and they came over and settled into my lap. Soon I noticed that their heads were slowly drooping. So I picked them both us and put them to bed in the puppy room.

They were out most of the afternoon once Hubby and I finished our lunches and then I fed them their dinner and they have literally crashed in their bed.

I sure hope a good owner for Arnie can be found. He is a beautiful boy and needs a loving family, but also one that will allow him to have his way with certain wire-haired dachshund ladies. I hope this miracle family comes along soon, because it will get harder every day he with us, for us to let him go.

My Life, Cell Phones & Puppy Dogs

I am so late writing this edition of Dackel Princess, as I was out spending money wildly today. Hubby and I had to break down and buy new cell phones. His dates back to 2002 and mine is over 2 years old. I probably could have waited a while longer, but I just knew that if I did, my phone would die, and then we wouldn’t be able to by the phones cheaply. We got a pretty decent 2 for 1 deal. In any case, after that we did our grocery shopping, picked up Hubby’s new glasses and I bought some new make-up at the Clinique counter, and got a special prize for doing so. (More make-up! Yay for me!)

The phone purchase put us way behind our schedule so when we came home it was a mad rush to put away the food, cook dinner and feed the doggies! I did it with a little help from Hubby, who peeled the potatoes, and soon we were all eating our respective meals!

Then the tough part of my day began. I’ve never been able to understand why they must radically change cell phones so that each time you “get a new one” you essentially must learn a new language. Once I had finished the dishes, I sat down with my owners manual and started to study our new phone. A few new features that I like very much, but some are simply a waste of time. And my clock. Now this is something I am very upset about. I can’t have it showing all the time on my phone. I must flip it open in order to see what time it is. I stopped wearing a watch years ago because I keep my cell phone on my belt. Oh well, next time (2 years from now), I will know that I need the darn clock on the outside to work all the time! Darn!

I programmed my phone and then Hubby’s. It took me a couple of hours. How I wish I were a Geek who could type faster with my thumb! Oh well, since it’s only every two years that we do this I think I can stand it.

Anneliese and Arnie are both doing splendidly! They went in for their check-up and shots today and they are just perfect! They enjoyed their ride in the car and seeing everyone at the Vets. They are good little puppies even if I have to spend part of my day tomorrow sewing my braided rug back up after some fierce puppy play.

I can also report that we had a bit of a heat wave here today with our temperatures getting up to 16 degrees (F) before starting to fall again.

Ah, spring!