It's a Dog's Life

In this picture, Shadow is multi-tasking as a pillow. He laid here still like this for a long time-- Princess was really asleep:

He has perfected the sad puppy dog eyes (which explains why he's so fat!):

Shadow looking for dropped food:

Daisy thinks she is a person. She even sits like a person sometimes.
She also thinks she can read (or maybe it's the candy laying on the book she's after!)

Always an excuse for a nap. The dogs like to cuddle with anyone who stays still longer than 30 seconds (Ariel and Shadow):

ZZZZZZZZ

The wide angle shot:

A Dachsba or a Roomschund?

Do you see any resemblance?

No, No, It's All Wrong!

It's supposed to be a POODLE skirt!

Daisy's Forever Family 1st Anniversary!!

At the risk of wearing out the SmileBox, I had to make a little montage to celebrate our Daisy's first year anniversary with us. I can't believe a whole year has gone by. If I ever figure out how to upload an edited video to YouTube, I can show you how smart she is. She knows a few tricks and she is a very graceful runner. When she gets zipping around the yard, it makes me laugh so much. They say you don't get something for nothing, but we love our little 'freebie' doggie! In many ways, she's been easier to train and a more well-mannered dog than our expensive little pedigree pooches. I hope you enjoy the pictures. You know, I'm sure you could figure this out but since it took me a while, I just need to add: Click on the button to advance the frame

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Meet Daisy!

Daisy came to us in an unexpected way. By that I mean that we weren't exactly in the market for a new puppy, but well, these things happen. We were on a camping trip and it was when we stopped at a local little General Store that we met two young ladies who were trying to find a home for the pup. Immediately, I fell in love with the puppy, and so I talked it over with busywoodshophubby about whether it would be possible to consider taking her home with us. Being the good and compassionate hubby he is, he said it was up to me.

Let me back up a little. This week was the one year anniversary of losing one of our dachsie pups, Shiloh (7/16/06) and ever since then, my son has been asking and begging (and asking and begging!) for a new puppy. I suspected that he needed something to fill that gaping hole in his heart that has been there since losing Shiloh. Last summer, when he wanted a new puppy right away, I explained to him that he needed to take some time to grieve and how one dog just can't replace another. But, (and this is the real important part) that if he gave it enough time, one day would come along and he would be ready to love a new dog. A broken heart takes a long time to mend but when the time was right, I told him, we would know it.

I guess the time was right.

So we adopted her, brought her home and began the process of integrating her into our family. The first thing we needed to do was to introduce her to the other dogs. At first it looked like it was going to be difficult for the other two to accept her, but after only a day they were already playing and getting to know each other. I was glad that this part went so smoothly.

The next thing was finding a name for her. The Kid pondered possibilities, writing them down and trying to decide. Here were the other names he considered, in the order of most favorite: Tuesday, Lady, Charlotte, Sadie and Maggie. In the end, Daisy seemed to be the one which fit her the best.

The potty training is also going well. After potty training the dachshunds, which was an ordeal-- I wasn't prepared for how easy it could be with a different breed. Labradors are known for their intelligence and Daisy has not disappointed us. After only one day, she has consistently been going each time we take her to the lawn. I was very happy that she seems to be an easy and quick trainer.

Yesterday we took our first outing with her to PetSmart. We love PetSmart and other pet stores like it, because only there do you find other people who love animals as much as you do. Passersby nodded and smiled when they saw "The Kid" with his new dog. His grin from ear to ear was literally worth a million bucks. However, we got out of the store spending a "mere" $130 dollars.

On the way out of the store, The Kid decided on one last purchase. He thought that Daisy needed a tag. I found it interesting that he chose the big red heart tag, which confirmed to me that his heart was really and truly ready to love another dog. He had it engraved with her name and our phone number in case she is ever lost, which is hard to imagine since he's with her every second. Purchases in hand, we left the store, all set with every thing a little puppy's heart could desire.

It is nice to see The Kid so happy about a dog again. I am a firm believer that every boy needs a dog. It's a rite of passage and a time of their life that they will always remember, and when he is grown, he will look back with fondness for this time he spent with his special friend. In the meantime, I look forward to lots of happy days watching Daisy grow and my son growing up along with her.

Morning Run

Wild Thing woke busy woodshop hubby (BWH) up at 6:30 this morning to go running at the local track. Track season just ended, and as a first track season, he did very well. He likes the 200 and 400 meter the best, and in another year will be able to compete in the 800. BWH says that Wild Thing will be unbeatable if he keeps up his training regimen. He needs to learn to pace himself, and now that he has a feel for the races he wants to run, he can work on his endurance. He is bound and determined to train all year so that next year he can be more competitive in his age group.

So, at the crack of dawn this morning, BWH and Wild Thing headed out to the track and took the dogs out with them. Shadow is our mini-dachshund, and rather, um-- shall we say, rotund? He also has the handicap of having these short little legs and it is quite comical to watch him try when he tries to jump on the couch. He has to take a few practice heaves before he can actually make the jump!! Just to give you the idea of how big he is, most people think he could double as an ottoman (and he could, if he weren't so short!) Despite his extra baggage and short legs, bless his little doggy heart, he ran four times around the track, keeping in front of both BWH and Wild Thing the entire time. He even stayed in his own lane, much to the amusement of Wild Thing. Wild Thing has a very good sense of humor, so the two of them together are pretty entertaining, to say the least. Here we have a perfect match: a dog needing to lose weight who likes to run, and a boy needing to practice his endurance. Let the training begin!