It’s a few months to Christmas, and I’ve decided that we’re going to send out Dachshund Christmas Cards.   Doesn’t this sound like a great idea?

It’s really simple; just group your three Dachshunds together, take a family picture of the puppies, upload the photo and order the cards.

Simple. About as simple as herding cats.

Chloe likes to sleep all day; Odie likes to play all day; Molly likes to hide behind my desk where she come out for air.

I can trick them all together for that once-in-a-lifetime Christmas pose by blowing through a squeaker from one of their dog balls, but all I get is a bunch of scattered brained Dachshunds looking for a stupid ball.

They know it’s coming from my mouth and they think I’m chewing on their ball.  But when I get down to shoot picture, they lick the camera or worse, my mouth.

Not a pretty sight or a picture that I can print for the Christmas Cards I’m planning to send out.

Vintage Christmas Card CHILD & DOG 1960s Dachshund US $4.50 End Date: Sunday Mar-28-2010 18:02:41 PDT Add to watch list

Yesterday we celebrated Chloe’s 10th birthday.  Despite the grey showing around her muzzle, she is still young for a dachshund.

She started off the day by trying to onto the couch only to bounce backwards twisting her back and hitting her head on the coffee table.

She was well enough to go to PetSmart to get a new ball where she managed to play with it in the car until we got home.  Then her little sister took the ball away…

By night time, Chloe was hunched up in pain.  She had one more Dermaxx which seem to get her through the night.  She’s still having some problems this morning and is going to the Vet.

One reader recently asked asked “How big do Doxens Get?”

Miniature Dachshunds are smaller than the standard Dachshund and typically do not exceed 11 lbs. Standard Dachshunds weigh in at at hefty 20 lbs all the way up to 32 lbs.

There are also Tweeny Dachshunds which are between the mini and standard breed. I really believe that these dogs are just overweight minis.

Our three Dachshunds are minis. Both Molly and Chloe are the same physical size, and both overweight at 15 and 12 lbs. They’re about 18 inches long and about 8 inches tall.

Odie weighs in at 14 lbs and is the same height as the girls, but is about 2 inches longer.

For the second time within a month, one of our Dachshunds had an infected anal glad. This time, Chloe’s abscessed and nearly ruptured.

Unlike Odie, it was a complete surprise since she was acting normal until late Sunday night where she started hiding behind the downstairs toilet.

I knew exactly what it was from Odie’s recent problem, so all I could do is hope that it wouldn’t burst until the morning when I could get her to the Vet.

She had to stay the day at the Vet Monday to let Dr. Thomas drain the abscess and recover from the anesthesia.

Chloe happy to come home, was not too happy about the hood she has to wear for a few days until her butt sore heals. The antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory really seems to be doing the job!

I asked Dr. Thomas if there was a relationship between Odie and Chloe anal gland infections and he said no. This is good since I sure don’t want Molly to go thru the same experience.

Molly is having a bad hair week. Now she runs away when I try to take her picture.

It started last Saturday with her bath. She needed the loose strands of her baby-fine hair around her ears trimmed so they would stop tangling and getting into knots.

But she kept wiggling and got a bad hair cut. I told her to stop moving but she insisted on watching my every move. Now she’s got lopsided bowl cut, but at least she smells good, at least until she goes outside and rolls in the dirt.

This year we’re prepared for the postage increase to 41 cents, effective May 14, 2007.

Of course we decided to splurge a bit and spread the cheer around to make our favorite mailman and friends happy with a cute picture of Molly custom printed by stamps.com.

We’re reserving these cute stamps for special occasions, for that extra smile on a birthday card or thank you note. (I’m sorry Visa, you’re not going to get one of my stamps when I pay my bill.)

And that’s my 0.02, truly first class!

I was out walking Odie the other day and noticed a car driving around the dog pound (neighborhood, in case yo don’t listen to Snoop Dogg).

The elderly couple was obviously lost.  They pulled over, rolled down window and asked,

“Is your dog’s name Oscar?”

I didn’t understand the question since I was expected them to ask for directions. So I simply answered, “no, his name is Odie!”

They pull away laughing.  Puzzled, I didn’t see the humor in what I said.

It took a few moments later understood the hot dog pun.

This has to be one of the best expressions I’ve ever seen. Such beautiful eyes!

Are you a little stressed out? Perhaps a Sqush is just the thing you need. It’s about the size of a tennis ball … perfect for a Dachshund to rip to shreds.

I picked up one Saturday to relieve some stress and pain I’ve been having in my wrists. It actually reduces the pain two ways: squeezing the sqush flexes the muscles around the wrist plus you can use it as a mouse pad to get that correct ergonimic position.

I just can’t leave the sqush out unattended. After using as mouse pad or squeezing the sqush, I’ll leave in on top of the desk. If I walk away for a moment, Molly or Odie will hop up on my chair and grab it.

Of course they think it’s just a toy. Can’t they read yet? It clearly says it’s not a toy for children under the age of 5…

The Barkslope wrote an interesting blog post on how the Brits are naming their dogs after Celebrities. Two of our Dachshunds are named after a celebrity of some sort. Chloe is named after the prize winning Dachshund in the Disney film The Ugly Dachshund.

Odie really started out as “Brutus” the Great Dane in the same movie. Our son kept calling Brutus “Odie” since he behaved just like the Odie in the Garfield comic strip.

Molly, started out as “Paris Hilton” but we like all our dog names to end in “y” or “ie” so that they all come when we call one.

Someday if my wife would ever let me get a RV, we could take all three Dachshunds on vacation with us. Here’s the first Website I would visit to find some Dachshund friendly campgrounds:

RV enthusiasts who travel with dogs have a new online resource in RVingWithDogs.com. The Website includes daily commentary by editors Julee and Jack Meltzer, authors of the popular guidebook “Camping and RVing with Dogs,” as well as a directory of “dog-friendly” campgrounds.

Dachshunds are very resilient dogs. I’m reminded of this every time Odie lifts his hind leg to pee. Something so common to a male dog brings tears to my eyes only thinking that 7 months ago Odie was paralyzed and could not walk.

The three-legged stance is a testimony to his courage, strength and recovery from his injury. During the day, we keep Odie in a running pen to minimize jumping and horse playing with Molly and Chloe. Can I find the strength to let him be a Dachshund again?

The word on the street is that a Wiener Dog Pack or Dachshund Pack is slang for a 12-pack of soda packaged in one of those elongated cardboard containers that fit “nicely” in your fridge. To gain perspective on the size of a Miniature Dachshund, just run down to your Grocer and pick up a Dachshund Pack.

Everyday Odie promptly gets me up at 5:00 AM. So promptly that I don’t use an alarm clock anymore. For some reason he lets us sleep in on the weekends. Perhaps he knows that we’re going to spend the day with him so he takes his time waking up.

Sonny Garrett, editor of The Baxter Bulletin, wrote an interesting article describing the same process he goes through everyday with his two dogs Vicious and Lola the Wonder Dachshund:

“I don’t need an alarm clock in the morning. They’re both up, licking my face and ready to start the day. And so the cycle begins again — lick, wrestle, eat, bury, sleep, lick, wrestle, eat, bury, sleep…”

Dachshunds are like that. They sleep under the bed covers and don’t come back up for air until the morning. After their first breath of fresh air, they’re full of kisses.

tagTRAX: alarm clock | sleep | dachshund | wrestle | lick

Your Dachshund Zodiac for 2006

• Dogs born in the Year of the Dachshund possess the best traits
• Dogs born in the Year of the Dachshund have a sense of loyalty and are honest
• Dogs born in the Year of the Dachshund are terrible stubborn and eccentric
• Dogs born in the Year of the Dachshund are noted for their long tongues
• Dogs born in the Year of the Dachshund make good leaders
• Dogs born in the Year of the Dachshund are compatible with the Horse, Tiger and Rabbit

Chloe 1999 — Rabbit
Odie 2002 — Horse
Molly 2004 – Monkey

honest dogs | dachshund | dogs | horse | rabbit| monkey

You just got to love Google especially when they have favorable “bring your pet to work policies.” Most startup and small companies allow you to bring your dog to work. It’s really in the best interest of companies to keep their employees happy.

Over the past few years I had the pleasure of working for several companies that would let you bring your dog to work. Often I would drop off Chloe in the morning to get her bathed and pick her a few hours later nice and clean.

Everyone at the office loved it when Chloe would visit. She would usually help me design Firmware for a Fibre Channel switch (at Troika Networks) by sitting on my lap and occasionally hop on the keyboard causing a major bug with her paw.

After a while, Chloe would settle into a corner under my desk and try to sleep. If anyone would slip into the cubical unannounced, she of course would bark at him with a wagging tail.

tagTRAX: fibre channel switch | chloe | google | dog

I am happy to announce that Dachshunds Comments are back online and I tried to respond to all questions.

I thought most readers of Three Miniature Daschunds were as shy as Chloe and were not leaving any comments. But apparently, I had Wordpress configured to send the comment email notifications into the dog pile (SPAM folder).

But I can only look up to you with Mini Doxie puppy dog eyes and ask for forgiveness.

– Three Miniature Daschund’s Daddy.

tagTRAX: puppy dog eyes | dog pile | mini doxie | spam folder | dog

I was talking to Pete today (Arfie’s daddy) and he said that Arfie is not potty trained. I don’t know what it is about Miniature Dachshunds, but it they seem to take forever to get potty trained. Just when you think they’re trained, they pee behind your back.

I don’t know how many bottles of PetZyme Stain & Odor Remover we’ve been through, but the product works and cleans up the odor and stain. If you have a Dachshund, order by the gallon!

Of course the disclaimer states that you may have to use more incase the potty went down into the pad below. Or do they just want us to buy more? I know that with Molly, we’re going to be using it for awhile.

Excuse the pun, but it’s raining cats and dogs here in Thousand Oaks today. I expect it will continue well into the New Year. Odie and Molly refusing to go potty is making it difficult for all of us.

I don’t know why these two don’t like the rain and I usually get wet standing outside with them until I make sure they go. Odie is really good and will hold it until the rain lets down but Molly who is not quite housebroken will hold it until she’s about to burst and then will find her favorite peeing and pooping corner.

On the other hand, Chloe seems to like the rain and will go outside. She certainly smells like wet dog when she comes back in.

Happy New Year,
Chloe, Odie and Molly.

tagTRAX: odie | rain | raining cats and dogs | chloe | wet dog