Dachshund means badger hound in German because they were breed as a hunting dog and would go into animal burrows and driving out the badger, rabbit or fox.
In Europe, dachshunds come in three sizes, standard, miniature and rabbit. The United States recognizes the standard and miniature. They have three different coats. Our dog, Winnie, is a shorthair or smooth and there are also longhaired and wirehaired.
Their coat can be one of several colors or combinations of colors. Winnie's is red, also called tan, and there is also redish-yellow or black and tan. Wirehairs can be grey and white, brown, red, black or a combination of these . The hair color of a dapple can have patches of several colors including brown, gray, white, red and black.
Her whole name is Winifred (Winnie the Pooch).
Winnie has had 2 surgeries on her back. She had 2 ruptured disks and then a couple of years later she had another ruptured disk in her neck. Amazingly, she recovered beautifully. There isn't really any signs that she ever had anything wrong with her. Now we have to try very hard to keep her from jumping on and off of the furniture and from going up and down the stairs-not good things when you are a "wiener dog."
The only thing that is still suffering is my pocketbook.
UPDATE: 4-4-06
Thursday 3-2-06
I am so sad to say that I had to put my Puppy to sleep on this day. I miss her so much. She has had liver problems for a few years now. Her enzyme counts kept getting worse and worse each year but she was on a special diet for that and had been doing fine until about 10 days or so before she died. She has always loved to eat but she all of a sudden one day wouldn't eat the special diet food. I finally did manage to get some rice and baby food into her. She had just been to the vet in January for her yearly checkup and she weighed over 10 lbs. When I took her back to the vet for the final time, she had lost 2 lbs. in a little over a month.
On the day that she died, I had just come home from work and she went out to pee as usual. She came in and went into her crate while I made dinner. All of a sudden she started breathing heavy but I didn't really know what it was. She didn't stop this for a couple of hours. I tried to calm her down and took her into my bed and stroked her but she started to leak urine too so I got scared and finally called the vet. It was late and so I had to take her to an emergency facility. The vet there wanted to put her on oxygen and do tests but she had been through so much in her life that I couldn't let them put her through anymore pain or needles. I had to make a quick decision. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I held her little face in my hands when they euthenized her. She went right away. I got to stay with her for as long as I wanted. When I finally left I asked the vet for some of her hair. I had her cremated and she is now in a box in my bed along with my little beanie baby weiner dog. I have her fur in a littlle silver box that I wear around my neck along with my wiener dog charms. She was a wonderful girl and I will always remember her and love her.
as a puppy
on our boat in Maine
A faithful dog will play with you
And laugh with you...or cry
He'll gladly starve to stay with you
And never reason why.
When you're feeling out of sorts,
Somehow he'll understand,
He'll watch you with his shining eyes
And try to lick your hand.
His blind, inplicit faith in you
Is matched by his great love.
The kind that all of us should have
In the Master up above.
When everything is said and done,
I guess this isn't odd.
For when you spell "dog" backwards
You will get the name of God.
7/5/91 - 3/2/06
I have of Winnie
How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?