Monday, March 28, 2011

Swift Loves His Squeaky

Swift is totally and completely in love with his squeaky toy. He carries it around everywhere. Sometimes he can't decide between squeaky and dinner (but other times he gets so excited for dinner that he'll drop squeaky in his food dish). Lately, in the evenings, while I'm eating dinner or watching TV, Swift won't leave me alone. He squeak-squeak-squeaks his ball and wants me to throw it for him. It's a never-ending battle. And, although he doesn't do it often, he will become so attached to orange squeaky that he insists on bringing it outside on potty breaks.
Any little squeak gets Swift's immediate attention. Even if it's in my coat pocket at the park and he's forgotten about it, his ears immediately hear any subtle squeezing, and he go berserk, wanting me to throw it. If it's the middle of night and he has brought orange squeaky to bed, I must be careful not to roll over it or else Swift thinks it's playtime.
One Saturday, we had a big day. Swift and Kool and I went to two meetups - first we went to The Bellevue Dogs Under 35 lb Meetup Group. Then we proceeded to our regular dachshund meetup. The boys were pretty exhausted (as was I), and later I caught Swift napping on the pillow I brought out to the couch. What did I find? Swift sleeping with orange squeaky.

Swift does not like to share squeaky. Here he is, with a protective arm on it. Last summer, we took his ball to the park, and a French bulldog decided it was his ball. He stole it from Swift and wouldn't give it up. Swift wasn't quite brave enough to try to take it back, but I could tell he was devastated from the defeated look in his eyes.
"That's right. This is my ball."

He's also on constant alert, as I mentioned earlier. Swift likes to get his picture taken and is pretty good at posing. However, once I took the video and squeaky came out of hiding, Swift was ready for action. Here he is looking at me, ready to go at a moment's notice.
"Is it playtime?"

It was pretty late, and I was definitely not in the mood for squeaky playtime. I tried to ignore him as best I could (which is hard because he's so darn cute!), and he finally gave up. I think he was too tired anyway.

"Ah, forget it. I'm tired."

But when he isn't tired, he runs with that squeaky in his mouth with all his might. Here he is, in action, with the wind blowing his ears and his tail straight up with happiness. I love this picture of Swift, and I think it shows his love for his orange squeaky.





Monday, March 21, 2011

Adventure Weiners!

I met a girl named Jessica through my dachshund meetup. She and her boyfriend have two dachshunds, and they go hiking adventures with them! She has a blog called you did what with your weiner? It's all about the adventures she and her boyfriend have with their two dogs, Gretel and Chester.

Jessica's been creating smaller, easier weiner adventures for those of us in the meetup group. We've gone on walks around Greenlake (3 miles!!), and she's also scheduled harder hikes in some of the parks/mountains in the area. I went on one a couple of weeks ago at Carkeek park. Man, am I out of shape. Poor Swift and Kool wanted to catch up with the rest of the dogs, but I was lagging behind. After making it up the *huge* hill, the rest of the hike was fairly easy. I was so proud of my little boys.

It's a wiener dog parade!


Saying hi to everyone at Carkeek


Kool trotting along the trail at Carkeek


This summer, Jessica is going to plan a sort of training series so we can get into hiking shape with our doxies. I'm so excited for that! Hanging out with other dachshunds is fun, and it will definitely be easier with a group of people.

The group after our hike at Carkeek


About half of the group at Greenlake


Swift and Kool say, "We're ready to be adventureweiners...

as long as Mama carries us, right?!"




(All photos courtesy of Jessica Williams of the youdidwhatwithyourweiner.com blog.)




Monday, March 14, 2011

Dachshund Meetup

I'm part of The Eastside/Seattle Dachshund Meetup Group. We meet once a month to have fun, talk about our dogs, and sniff each other's behinds (that's what the dogs do, not the humans). I've been a part of the group for about 3 years, and it's just gotten more and more fun. During the summer, we meet outside, usually at Magnuson Park in Seattle or Luther Burbank on Mercer Island. During winter, we meet up at Fuzzy Buddy's, a doggie daycare in Seattle.

The group has ebbed and flowed in size, but the past few meetups have had about 20-30 dachshunds, which is so much fun! Here are a few pictures from our meetup a couple of weeks ago.



It appears that someone has something very interesting - probably treats!




It's a gaggle of wiener dogs!




We all have so much fun hanging out at Fuzzy Buddy's. Join us next time!




Monday, March 7, 2011

Dachshund Love

I love my dachshunds. This morning, Swift was sitting on the bed, staring at me when I got out of the shower. His ears were flipped, and he just looked so adorable. Sometimes I can't help myself, and I just run over and smother him with kisses and hugs. Of course, he thinks it's play time and runs to get his ball.

I also like to cuddle with the boys when I'm on the couch or when I'm getting ready for bed. Swift and Kool climb all over me, like I'm a mountain to be conquered or something.

Kool, King of the Mountain


Kool looks like he's plotting something. Hmm...he's probably about to attack my face with kisses.

Now Swift here just loves you with his eyes. How can you not think he's the most adorable dog in the world?

Swifty Baby

Now I know I'm getting mushy here, and I know I've said it before, but I can't believe how much I love these guys. My life is better with them in it.