Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Fun with Weiners

I wish I had some pictures to share from our fun weekend. Alas, I have been slacking on the photo-taking. My excuse (which is real) is that my phone is so slow to take pictures, it's often difficult to get more than a tail in the photo! I need to remember to bring my camera instead of relying on my phone.

Saturday was hot, hot, hot. We went to a meetup at Luther Burbank on Mercer Island. I really like that park. You could tell it hasn't been raining because the grass was not lush and green like usual. We all ended up sitting in the grass in the shade. The dogs were pretty lazy, but that could have been because of the heat or because their humans were sitting on the ground with perfect doxie-sized laps. We got to see some old friends, like Dobby, Baxter, Ziggy, and Holly, some fairly new ones, like Dolce, Fritz, Gretel, and Liesel, and even made a brand-new friend, Duke.

The boys were pretty worn out after Saturday, so we just hung out around the house, gearing up for Sunday!

Sunday morning, we got up early and drove up to Edmonds to the Off-Leash Area on Edmonds Beach. It's such a beautiful park. The dogs really love it. Although it was foggy and cloudy, it was much cooler, which was nice and easier for the dogs to have fun. We hung out with Tag and Amber. Tag apparently is in *love* with Kool. He followed him around, sniffing his ears and butt, and eventually humping him. Poor Kool! Gretel and Chester were there, too, and Chester, being the adventureweiner that he is, kept wandering off to explore the rocks. We also made lots of new friends! Dolly and Simon, two beautiful black-and-tans, were there, as well as Brandy and  her buddy (whose name escapes me now). We talked about swapping dog-sitting, so it will nice to have a network of people to go to instead of boarding our pups!

Later that night, we went over to Janis and Lindsay's house to visit with Tag and Amber. They are going to watch the boys while I'm out of town, and we wanted to make sure it would work. Tag was very glad to see his new best friend, Kool, again, and showed his love by humping Kool several times. :) Swift was his usually crazy, insane self. He just chased ball after ball after ball. We finally had to make him stop because he was getting so hot. I think they're going to get along just fine!

When we came home, I lay down on the couch to watch some TV. I guess Lindsay wore Swift out with the ball-throwing because he immediately lay down on my chest and went to sleep. I love exhausted doggies.



Monday, August 22, 2011

You Know You're an Adventureweiner When...

The Adventureweiner Club is tons of fun. How can you tell if you're one of those lucky dachshunds? Here's how!

1. If you are prone to "wet-belly syndrome," you might be an Adventureweiner.

2. If you like to leave nose marks on your mom's clean car windows in anticipation of your next hike, you might be an Adventureweiner.

3. If you think you are the cutest thing ever and are surprised when someone doesn't pay attention to you, you might be an Adventureweiner.
Chester
Photo courtesy of Jessica Williams
www.youdidwhatwithyourweiner.com

4. If you're tired of hearing, "Wow. Can those short little legs make that hike?", you might be an Adventureweiner.

5. If you can out-hike your mom, you might be an Adventureweiner.

6. If you think only dachshunds have the right to exist, you might be an Adventureweiner.

7. If you're an expert at sneaking snacks, you might be an Adventureweiner.
Swift and Kool trying to sneak a snack from Deb

8. If your mom always keeps a blanket and towel in the backseat to clean you off, you might be an Adventureweiner.

9. If you show no signs of fatigue on the hike but pass out in the car on the way home, you might be an Adventurewiener.


And the number one way to know...


10. If you were a mountain goat in a previous life, you are DEFINITELY an Adventureweiner.

Swift and Kool being mountain goats

Gretel - Definitely a Mountain Goat!
Photo Courtesy of Jessica Williams
www.youdidwhatwithyourweiner.com




The "Adventureweiner" name is trademarked by the Adventureweiner Club of Seattle.




Monday, August 15, 2011

Grooming Lessons

Since we do most of our walking on grass or trails and not on concrete, the boys' nails don't wear down. They can get pretty long, and especially with Kool's long hair, I often don't notice how long they've gotten. I tried to use a Pedi-Paws nail filer, but it took so long to get the nails to a manageable length, and they grew so fast. I finally gave up and bought a nail clipper.

The clippers worked okay until the day I clipped one of Swift's nails too short. He yelped, of course, and began to bleed everywhere. I mean, this wasn't just a little nick. I definitely cut it way too short. (I had just gotten my carpets cleaned, and he was dripping blood over my clean carpet!) I panicked. I tried to find something to stop the bleeding. I knew I didn't have a styptic pencil or powder, but I thought that maybe flour would work. No such luck - all I managed to do was get flour all over the counter and all over Swift's face and paws.

So here I am, carrying Swift in my arms, holding a bloody paper towel around his paw, trying to figure out what in the world I am going to do. By this time, Swift has calmed down, and he's just fine with mommy holding him, but now I'm the one panicky and upset. I finally go next door to Kira and Chris, holding Swift, asking if they know what to do. They have a dog and a daughter, so they are used to these kinds of things. :) Their calming presence relaxed me. Kira poured some cornstarch (or cornmeal - I can't remember) into a bowl, and we were able to stop Swift's bleeding.

I brought back the little bowl of cornstarch into the house and let Swift go but tried to keep him calm. Yeah, right. All the excitement got to him, and he kept running and jumping. I had to keep putting more cornstarch onto his nail because it kept coming off. Luckily, the bleeding had mostly stopped by this point. Now all I had to do was clean the blood up. I kept finding spots on the carpet from when the cornstarch would come off, and I also found some on the couch. Jeez, dogs are hard work. :)

Ever since that incident, Swift does not want his nails even touched. I have to put my entire weight onto him to hold him down. I'm lucky if I can get even one nail clipped on Swift at a time. Kool struggles a bit, but he's pretty calm for the most part. I can usually get a whole paw done at a time. I clip their nails once a week to try to keep them under control. Last week, I clipped Kool's just a tiny bit short (only a tiny drop of blood showed up - not even enough to drip), and he got upset. I gave him a treat and tried to pet him afterward, but he just ran away from me. No way was he going to let me touch him! Poor little guy.

I feel badly that I can't keep their nails trimmed nicely. I feel like I'm torturing them - especially Swift, who has began to screech when I try to hold him down. Does anybody else have horror stories about clipping nails?



Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Wordless Wednesday #5


Mr. Kool aka Barky McBarkerson







Monday, August 8, 2011

Wiener Weekends

Since I work full-time, I try to take full advantage of my weekends with the boys. Sometimes I don't spend a second away from them. Those are the best weekends. I wake up to doxies in my face, wanting to go outside. If I have errands to run, they go with me. (And sometimes if they're good, I'll stop by McDonald's and get them a McNugget for a treat.) When I am just hanging around the house, they're by my side or on my lap. And then on Monday morning, it's back to the "real world." It feels weird not to have them in the backseat when I drive to work.

And then there are the weekends where it's all about the dogs! We go hiking - with other adventureweiners or with other dogs; we attend doxie meetups (or maybe just small dog meetups); we find doggie fairs/festivals to socialize with other dog-lovers (and get free treats!). I love these weekends as well, but they can be pretty exhausting. I find myself taking naps with the dogs. Don't get me wrong - I love to cuddle with my guys. I love exhausted doxies - they're so cute when they're sleeping.

But the worst weekends, in the boys' opinions, are the ones where I am super-busy and leave them behind. It breaks my heart to hear them barking when I leave. I just know they're saying, "Why, mama? Why? Why are you leaving us?" Sometimes they just refuse to stay in the house. If I haven't put them in their kennels yet, they run out the front door when I open it. They race as fast as they can down the stairs. It takes forever to get them back inside because they know. How do dogs sense when we're going to leave them behind? And of course, Swift always tugs at my heartstrings because he hides under the bed when I try to put him in his kennel (but that's a regular occurrence anyway).

It's funny how my life now revolves around my dogs. Lately, I haven't really had a weekend without them, which makes it all the harder when I have to leave them behind. I definitely prefer wiener-full weekends over wiener-less ones!



Swift Giving Me Puppy Dog Eyes
"Don't Leave Us, Mama!"




Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Wordless Wednesday #4



Yes, it's Cat Week over at the Blog Paws Blog Hop, but we're entering anyway! :) Hop on over and leave a comment on all these blogs!





Monday, August 1, 2011

Wiener-Q

Okay, I must admit, I stole the title from Jessica. We had a barbecue at her house a few weeks ago. There were 9 dachshunds and 11 humans. Jessica dubbed it the Wiener-Q. I don't think the doxies appreciated the jokes about roasting weenies. :)  We had a blast just hanging out with our doxie and human friends.

Marshall decided he was the doxie-in-charge, and Sienna and Sunny both tried to challenge him, but he wasn't having it. And Chester tried to steal Swift's squeaky, and Swift snapped at him. Chester had stolen it a couple of times before, and I think Swift was finally fed up! Other than those few little skirmishes, everyone was very well-behaved.

There was lots of food for the humans and also yummy treats for the doggies. You'll see their special treats below. And the best part? Sangria, courtesy of Janis and Lindsay! Yum!


Shawn Roasting Those Weenies!

Begging for treats from Steve

Steve passing out more treats

Our new friend, Sunny

It's a toss-up whether Tag was trying to find shade
or just waiting for food to drop from the table!

Amber with her mama, Lindsay

Marshall checking out something stinky in the grass

Sienna decided this was her new toy. She brought it from
inside Jessica's house and played with it all afternoon!

Sunny looking up at her dad

Princess Gretel in her tutu

Why are all those doxies being so good and eating their own food?

Because they got doggie frozen yogurt!

Kool say, "It's so good, I have to lick it all off my nose!"

Yummy yogurt!!


Check out Swift eating his frozen yogurt