Friday, February 15, 2019

Her Origin Story.

My dachshund, Weenie.


To my dearest friends and followers,

Today's post isn't about me. It's not about another author or a work of art I like. It's about her - my dachshund, Weenie. I decided to write this post in honor of her since her 11th birthday was yesterday (yes, she was born on Valentine's day), so it seemed fitting to me. Here's her origin story and how we got to where we are now.

Oh, where do I start? I guess I'll go back to before she was born. I had wanted a dachshund for a while, and I knew I was going to name her Amber. The spring after I turned 12, I got a red short-haired miniature dachshund. I'm still sensitive about this, so I'm going to skip the details otherwise I'll start crying, but basically Amber got super sick and after multiple visits to the vet, Amber died on November 27th, 2007 at 8 months old (I only know this because 13 year old me wrote in my journal an outline of a dachshund with tear drops and the dates March 11th, 2007-November 27th, 2007). Roughly 5 months later, my parents took me to look at dachshund puppies. I remember that day perfectly, as I sat down on the floor of the strangers home and this little female puppy came up to me and started licking me. She sat in the box on the seat next to me on the car ride home. Several people said it was good that I was replacing Amber, but that bothered me. I wasn't replacing her. She can't be replaced. I was simply getting a new dog. I named her Marcie, but she quickly earned the nickname Weenie.

She's been a pretty good girl. She's honestly a great comfort dog and likes to sit on my lap. She does seem to do a fair amount of barking, but it's ok because she's cute!! And she smells sometimes, but that's ok too because she's cute. XD She does have her moments though of getting into plenty of trouble, like not listening or chewing up the paper from the trash. She also growls sometimes if I try to get her out of her safe box.
Most dogs don't like to go in kennels, am I right? Well, Weenie is not one of those dogs. For as long as I can remember, a kennel has been a positive thing to her. I've always kept one in my bedroom with a blanket in it and she likes to lie down in it during the day, even when we lock her in it sometimes. It's her safe box. She has never spent the night in it though. She got to sleep in my bed.

I talk to Weenie a lot, and I feel like we understand each other pretty well now. When she whines, I ask her what she wants, and then she gives me happy feet if I name the correct thing. When she's upset and I tell her she's ok, she believes me. Except when she barks. I have no control over that. I didn't teach her to play fetch, she just knew that she had to bring it back if she wanted to keep playing. She's a super smart little doggie.
She's been through so much though!!

In 2010, just before her 2nd birthday, Weenie made the move with us from sunny California to the freezing cold of South Dakota.

In 2016, just before her 8th birthday, Weenie had a spinal disk injury and couldn't walk. She was on crate-rest for 8 weeks and recovered nicely.

In 2018, Weenie lost someone very dear to her. My sister had a chihuahua that was only a few months older than Weenie. She passed away unexpectedly this past summer, leaving Weenie alone. She started acting out, chewing things, escaping all of her enclosures, etc. And then she moved nearly halfway across the continental U.S. to be with me and my new husband.

Marriage for me has been a little difficult for her at times. She gets jealous. She barks a lot when the two of us are talking and not paying attention to her. She barks when he comes home from work and greets me first. She wants to be in the middle. Literally. We can't sit on the couch without her begging to sit between us (we've given in every time). She wants to be the center of attention and is adjusting. I'm adjusting too. So is David. They're getting used to each other, and she actually listens to him when he calls her now!! When he tried to take her out, she would literally hide behind my legs. Now she follows him to the door, slowly but surely. Everyone is adjusting.

She is doing pretty great though. She has a safe box at our house and a safe box at my in-laws house. She has toys at both houses. She gets to play fetch in the back yard, she gets to go for walks around the block, she gets to go to town with us sometimes for a trip to the pet store or Walmart, she gets to see her Uncle Dan every few weeks, she gets to lie in between us in our bed sometimes, she gets 3 meals a day, sometimes more because she's cute, she gets a bath once a month (she hates baths, poor baby), she has a new brother (my husband's little dog, Howard who also recently lost a buddy and gained a sister).
She's very particular about the whether and has been so for years. If the ground is wet from a recent rain shower, she's very hesitant to step off the path. She likes sunshiny days and recently has been wanting out to sun bathe next to Howard.

A few weeks ago, David and I were talking about how a dog reflects it's owners personality. I asked how Weenie and I are alike. He said we're both youthful and that couldn't be more true. Weenie is up there in doggie years, at 11 years old for us, but she acts like a puppy and likes to run, jump, and play. I asked David what it means then that Howard acts like an old man. David declared, "I have an old soul!"

Yesterday was not an example of our daily morning routine, as it typically looks like me getting out of bed because she needs to go out. I take her out, she does her business, we come back in and I feed her kibble. I then sit in the kitchen until she's finished because if I leave her, she'll just follow me to the next room. I do this for every meal. Yesterday however, I got out of bed, took her out, came back inside, made her eggs for breakfast as I always do for her birthday, sang Happy Birthday to her, then gave her the eggs. When David came home from work, we took her to PetSmart and let her pick out a toy (she picked out a fox). Since then she has not let Foxy our of her sight. XD I am not a crazy dog owner.

I'd love for you guys to share what kind of pets you have in the comments!! As always, thank you so much for reading!!

Yours truly,
Me

3 comments:

  1. I always wanted a Weiner dog but my wife is scared of little dogs. We got three mutts and no matter how long you're married or how long you have the pups they will always try to get in between and be the center of attention. It's just cute enough that you can't be too annoyed with them.

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