If you happen to own Dachshunds and you were wondering about buying a Snuggie for your dog, you may want to read the Snuggie for Dogs Review.  The review examines the Snuggie featuring Odie as the test subject and model.

I don’t want to spoil the review, but Odie likes his Snuggie.  Because he is a typical skinny short hair dachshund, the Snuggie works really well for him.

However, I don’t think I would get one for the girls since they are long haired and don’t really need the extra warmth in our mild Southern California weather.

But if you happen to have a long-haired dog, look at the next size up or at least measure your Dachshund first to get the proper sizing.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the review as much as Odie enjoys his Snuggie!

It was difficult to bend over today with my sore back and I wish I had a pooper scooper to pick up Odie’s poop.  But alas, no such luck and I had to resort to going down on one knee to scoop up the mess.  It was fresh an warm — if you wanted to know — which is something pooper scoopers do reasonably well at masking that gushy feeling you get when you use the old inside-out hand in the dog poop bag trick.

Dog Waste Bags to the Rescue

I ran out of my favorite dog waste bags, aka Ralphs 1 gallon bread bags, and been reusing the plastic grocery bags.  Besides only able to recycle grocery bags once, they’re pretty useless and you might as well use a paper towel instead.  They catch the wind and you end up getting crap all over your hand from the little holes and tears in the bag.

I finally gave up looking for the cheap bread bags — which you can get 75 for about two-bucks — since no one is buying them or Ralphs is pushing the more expensive zip-lock type bags.

I really didn’t want to start buying dog poop bags since they’re priced in about same range as zip-locks, but my ever so friendly neighbor with the “keep your dog off my grass” sign gave me a dirty look indicating that I better have one or else.

Sorry for the regression, but I managed to find some really good biodegradable dog waste bags at Tuesday Morning which sells Pet Zone’s Pik-Up-Bags for about half the price you would get in a pet store.  I don’t know if they carry them all the time, but I got a month’s supply until I can go back to my regular bags.

I’ve been reluctant in buying a pooper scooper, but with my back out of wack, it’s been hard to go outside and pick up the mounds of Dachshund mess that is starting to pile up.  After all, I’m only a dog pooper scooper!

We switched our dachshunds over to a new homemade pumpkin and chicken dog food recipe. Chloe – who is very finicky – just loves it.

The main reason we switched to this diet is to bulk up Odie’s poops so it will help him express his anal glands naturally.

It’s very simple to make.  I just pick up frozen chicken breasts from CostCo and a small can of pumpkin.  Two breasts are defrosted in a microwave for about 20 min and then cooked about 7 minutes on high until done.

I slice the breasts into small pieces and add a can of pumpkin.  It makes about 6 servings for a small dog a miniature daschund.  Total cost runs around $0.75 per serving which is cheaper and far better than normal dog food.

Odie was back at Midtown Veterinary Clinic last Saturday.  He had problem walking so with my over protective imagination, I thought he injured his back again.   His symptom was that he would walk a few feet then sit, walk a few more feet then sit.

We went for the “ride” to the Vet and he seemed ok.  The normal bad dog jump from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat trying to get a good look out the window.  As soon as we got there, he took off with a strong walk towards the Vet’s office and got a good whiff of dog fear and headed back to the car.

I knew at that point it wasn’t his back but his anal glands or something else.  Sure enough, his right gland was not coming out clean.  (Thanks, Dr. Martin, that was something I didn’t need to see or smell.)

Dr. Martin gave Odie an anti-inflammatory shot for the pain and a round of antibiotics to clear up any infection.  That seemed to do the trick.  He also recommended adding fiber such as Metamucil to his diet to bulk up his bowel movements.

I found a really good fiber (Konsyl) that is made for Diabetics and does not contain added sugar or sugar substitutes found in other over-the-counter fibers.  My thought is that this is a really good fiber for dogs.   I just mix in about a 1/4 teaspoon to his dinner every night and he gets a nice bulking poop to help clean out his anal glands.

This is sorta off Dachshund topic, but it brings back some nightmares I had while we were considering relocating to Florida a few years back.  I had an insane fear of one of my Dachshunds being eaten by an alligator.

This nightmare came true for Greg Lenoir who saved his Rat Terrier from a shark attack.  He letting his dog swim in a lagoon where a 5 ft shark viciously grabbed the dog and took it under water.  Greg dove head first with his fists balled and slammed into the shark.

He said it felt like “punching concrete,” but the shark let go off his dog and both swam back to shore while the shark went off in the other direction.  He rushed his dog to the vet to take care of some serious bite wounds.  Greg’s dog survived the shark attack and he will always be a hero to me and the Three Dachshunds.

Our sleep was interrupted this morning with a loud “clunk.”  Usually that means that I feel asleep watching TV and the remote slipped off the bed and hit the wood part of the sleigh bed.

Last night we weren’t watching TV and the remote was safely on top of the night stand, so what hit the side of the bed?

You guessed it right, a Dachshund.

Chloe has been having a difficult time finding a “safe” place to sleep on our bed.  She usually sleeps on our son’s bed so there’s be plenty of room for the four of us.  But with the summer break, he’s been staying up late and Chloe been with us during the night.

It’s not really all that bad since the two girls sleep at the foot of the bed and Odie in between us, but I had a nightmare  and end up kicking Chloe hard enough to make her yelp out of her sleep.

I typically don’t react to the dream state and it was a weird dream coming back from LAX on a bus through some of the less desirable neighborhoods. When some thugs decided to pull a knife, the reflexes kicked in an Chloe got the brunt of it.

Since that “Freddy Kruger” episode, Chloe moved from the foot of the bed to edge of the bed and out of kicking distance.

But apparently, she doesn’t know that I also like to knee “Freddy” in the groin and she went sailing off the bed landing 3 feet below with a “clunk.”

I picked her up and she went to the safety of the center of the bed.  At least that’s what she thinks for now…

Today we’re taking a walking down to Krispy Kreme to Celebrate National Donut Day to get four free donuts; one for Chloe, Odie, Molly and of course a donut for me.

Not that I let them eat the whole donut, but my Dachshunds sure have a taste for the the warm glazed donuts just out of the oven.

The funny thing is that when the four of us go for a walk, Chloe, Odie and Molly go in different directions. But if you say “lets go get a donut,” they’re headed off intently to get their donut.

So today is Dachshund Donut Day, take a walk with your doxie down to your favorite Donut shop and celebrate it with him.

Last week our house was painted by Eric Ortlieb, an excellent Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village Painter. His team of painters were in and out of the Doxie’s backyard causing the Dachshunds, especially Odie, to start barking.

Normally, I leave the curtains open, so the three can look outside while we’re working. But with the constant barking, I had to leave the curtains closed.

Since it was impossible to let them out during the day, they we’re pretty much couped up all day long. If I was able to get home during lunchtime, they were able to go for a walk and do their business.

So it was a stressful week for the dogs. But as Eric said, he would keep the paint off the dogs. Now our house looks great, the Doxies are clean, an can now go out and play outside.

Yesterday was time to give the Three Dachshunds a bath. We used to send them out to the groomer at PetSmart, but since Odie ruptured his disk, I’ve been giving them baths.

Since I’m a perpetual clogged-up-sinus guy, it usually starts with my wife Ann saying “Molly stinks!” Even then I push it out to the weekend or several weeks later until I start noticing the problem.

The best shampoo that works for our long-haired Dachshunds is Hartz Groomer’s Best 3 in 1 Conditioning Shampoo Tropical Fruit Fragrance. It leaves their hair clean and silky smooth. It’s kinda hard to find but you can pick up a bottle at Walgreens, CVS or your local supermarket. It’s got a picture of a Red long-haired Dachshund on the bottle.

Odie is the first to go into the bath. With his short hair, he’s the easiest to clean and air drys in about 20 minutes. Molly goes in next followed by Chloe. In both cases, Odie had to help wash the girls wanting to hop back into the water with them.

The two girls always take several hours to dry since the absolutely hate the blow dryer. Just a simple towel dry and let them run around damp. When they get somewhat dry, it’s time comb out any tangles.

Molly has the finest baby hair you can imagine. I never knew how she keeps it so soft, but now I know…

Molly eats fabric softener dryer sheets. She especially likes Bounce. It makes her fur soft and static free. The only problem is that dryer sheets do not digest and she ends up throwing it up making a terrible mess. Our other Dachshunds don’t touch those things, but she sure likes them.

Last week she managed to get one all the way down, and only to get it stuck at the tail end. Needless to say, it was like pulling one of those magic handkerchiefs that never stop coming out of the magician’s hat.

My goodness, the thing was as long as her!

The dogs are happy that we’re back at work this week. They can go back to their routine of sleeping all day long.

The past few days they didn’t know what to do with them selfs. As soon as it hit 9:00 PM, they were the first in bed and asleep before their heads hit the pillow.

For once, Odie didn’t get up during the night to ask to go out. This meant a peaceful night sleep for all of us. Regardless of being on vacation, he got us up bright and early at 6:00 AM. So much for sleeping in.

I’m not really a YouTube fan but I like their service and I can post some videos of our three Dachshunds up there for free. For some reason, I can only record 14 seconds on my cell phone but at least you can see a video of Odie and Chloe. Molly is still camera shy since her bad hair cut. I’ll try to sneak a picture of her when she’s sleeping.

Like all pet owners, the recent recall of dog and cat food really had us scared. Lucky for our three doxies, their favorite food (Ceasers) was not on the list of recalled dog food.

Over the past months we’ve been trying to “wiener our dogs” off the can food by cooking for them. As it turns out, the cost of preparing and cooking for your dogs is less expensive per ounce than store bought dog food. I’m sure it’s by far fresher and healthier than what comes in those cans.

To reduce the cost, we look for the “Manager Specials” where the date is about to expire. Usually, we’ll pick up 1.5 lb of Jenny-O ground turkey for $1.99 at Ralphs on Saturday and cook it up for our Dachshunds that afternoon.
It will feed them for two meals, three if we add rice.

Isn’t it strange how dogs associate things?  For instance, I’ll go to the kitchen and pull out a plastic baggy and Odie will immediate run to the front door.

Either he’s reading my mind that we’re going for a walk or he’s associating the plastic bag with walking.  He doesn’t do this when I get a bag out to put some food away.  But perhaps he has something else on his mind … food!

Dachshunds are stubborn dogs. Especially when it comes to potty training. Molly still has her occasional “accident” when she forgets to go #2 in the morning. When she was first learning, every night she would wander upstairs and find that special spot in the guest bedroom and leave #1 or #2.

Needless to say, we have a nice urine stains in the room making it somewhat embarrassing to have guests stay in that room.

I just got a link request from PetStainRemoval where they are offering a free sample of their urine removal solution they want you to try. You apply it to the spot and 1 to 8 hrs it’s gone! With three Dashunds, I’m sure I’ll need the gallon solution to clean up that guest room.

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

When Odie is hungry, he’ll go and get one of his dinner plates that we usually forget to pick up the night before.

In this case, he was playing Frisbee with it … tossing it up and down trying to get my attention. He finally stopped after he ripped the Dixie plate into shreds.

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.

Adam Katz (Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer) wrote a really good puppy article on ArtWoo.com. Pippin, the puppy in the story, reminds me a lot about our Molly.

When Odie ruptured his disk, we moved Odie into Molly’s exercise pen to keep him from hurting his back. Molly, still a puppy, not quite housebroken would get into a lot of trouble.

We would come home and find things chewed up … shoes, pillows, furnature. She simply was bored.

No matter how many toys we got her, she still ended up chewing on the wrong thing. We should have got another pen for her like Adam suggested for Pippin, but we didn’t and now have chewed-up furnature and soiled carpet.