Hello! 😀

I had a request to share a picture of my Doxie babies by my cousin.

But instead of just sharing just 1 photo I thought I should tell you how I came to fall in love with such a rambunctious and loving breed.

It all started when I met my husband.

The first time I went over to his house I was a bit nervous (As all young women are when they visit their significant others living quarters. You don’t know if they are going to be clean, messy or in-between).

Little did I know that my main concern was to win the heart of a quick-witted dachshund.

As I was walking up to the house for the very first time I remember ringing the door bell and following the ring I heard a loud barking coming from a distance. Slowly coming closer and closer to the door.

Now, I didn’t know if it was a little dog or a big dog until my husband (then boyfriend) opened the door.

And there she was.

Dutchess.

A short haired, black and tan, mini/standard dachshund.

She was perched up on the top of the couch growling and barking at me.

I tried to say hi to her but she kept growling at me.

I’m going to be honest with you.

I was scared. Yes, she is small but she was feisty (she still is)!

All I could think was,

 

“I need to win her trust because if I don’t, Isaac will kick me out of the picture!”

 

I figured she felt territorial about her dad. I mean what dog wouldn’t? Especially if she’s spent her ENTIRE life with him.

I would go over to Isaac’s very regularly and soon she started to warm up to me. When she would let me pet her without her growling or barking at me was the day I was the happiest.

A few months passed and I moved in with Isaac and his then roommate, Burd (that is his last name but we called him Burd, because Isaac has multiple friends with the same first name – Jeremy).

Anyways, when I moved in Dutchess would sit next to me on the couch and snuggle in bed with me at night. She was my second source of warmth when it got cold and my blanket couldn’t do the job.

Our time together made our bond stronger. She would let me hug her, kiss her and spoon her (she’s the little spoon of course) when we would be falling asleep. She would let me give her belly rubs and nudge me when I would stop so that I could KEEP RUBBING HER BELLY!

Isaac taught me that she could shake, sit, roll over, but the one thing she HATED was when you would pretend to resuscitate her.

What I mean by “resuscitate her” not because she was actually dead or anything  but it was a game the Isaac would play with her. Dutchess would be laying on her back with her belly up. Isaac would make his hands into fists and rub them together as if he was using a defibrillator.

As soon as she saw his fists start rubbing together she would go CRAZY!! She would bark and try to nibble at his fists (she would never actually bite him).

You could tell that even though this would make her mad she secretly loved it.

I also learned that you can not leave any type of food out or a trash can around that she has easy access to. She will grab food if its within her reach, knock over a trash can and eat the entire food contents of it regardless of what it is.

She also has the worst, most deadliest farts a little dog could possibly create! They smell worse than rotten eggs and are so nasty that sometimes you feel like they sink right into your soul.

There has been 2 times that she has gotten on the counter (no idea how she managed that) and eaten entire loaves of white bread.

Isaac even said that he had fallen asleep one time when she was a puppy with a burger on a coffee table. She grabbed that wrapped burger and ate the entire thing without ripping the wrapper or spilling any of it on the floor. How did she do that?

No one knows!

She is one strong cookie too! There are 3 times where Dutchess has come across health obstacles in her life.

The first time (before Isaac and I started to date) was when she got bitten by a black widow (so we think) and her chest skin started to rot and fall off.

Yes. Crazy!

Isaac rushed her to the hospital and they were able to fix her right up!

Now she has a bad ass scar to show that nothing, not even a bug bite can stop her!

The second was when we think she fell of the bed (before Duke and Zeke came into the picture) and hurt her back. She would let out the most horrible screech I had ever heard. Every time she would start hurting and yelp made me want to cry.

I think that is the hardest thing with dogs. When they are hurt they can cry and moan but they can’t speak so unless whatever they have is visible you really have no clue how to help.

We took her to the vet. Let me tell you this vet made me SO SO ANGRY! He told us that we would have to put her down before running any specific tests. He prescribed painkillers and sent us home.

Isaac did not like the fact that the vet had said that either. So he made it his mission to make Dutchess feel and get better.

We gave her the pain killers but they only made her EXTREMELY loopy and she still would cry.  Seeing her high off of the pain meds was horrible.

Isaac decide to try out wrapping her torso with a medical wrap and put Icy Hot on her back. Yes, you read that correctly, Icy hot.

And guess what? The very next day she was like new!

The third obstacle that she has encountered is blindness.

A few years ago her eyes started to get cloudy but that hasn’t stopped her from showing the other dogs that she is Alpha Dog in the house. She still puts Duke in his place when he gets out of line.

Dutchess is one of the smartest, most loving and toughest dogs I have ever met.

She is the reason why we added two more to our clan.

Duke and then Zeke.

I will tell you about how we came to have the other two little guys in my next posts!

So stay tuned!xx

-Ang