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.

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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.)

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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!

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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.

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What am I going to do with Kool?

I know I'm a little late posting the blog today. Normally, I write my blogs a couple of days in advance and schedule them to post on Monday. I do this so I don't have to worry about keeping my promise to myself about posting once a week - it's already done! But with the holidays, I've haven't had a lot of time to write ahead. So even though I'd love to write a more detailed post today, I'm going to keep it short and sweet so I get it done! Next week (or rather sometime this week!), I'll have to come up with a great Christmas story about the boys.

The funniest thing that happened today was when I was lying on my bed just playing on the laptop. Kool and Swift hang out with me on the bed, and I was reclined with my computer actually on my lap. Out of nowhere, Kool climbs up on top of my chest and just stands there. I tell him to move, and he settles down by lying on my chest. I couldn't help but laugh. What a strange dog! But I love him to death.

And this has nothing to do with the boys, but I'm so excited about it, I'm going to tell you anyway. I'm making a pot roast for the first time with my brand-new slow cooker! Yay, cooking!

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Vacation and Coming Home to My Guys

Last week, I went on a short vacation to visit my parents in Ohio. My dad turned 75 this year, and we had a surprise party for him. I didn't tell him or my mother I was coming to Ohio and just showed up on the front door. It was so much fun. I love surprises!

I was only gone 5 days, but it was a long 5 days without my babies. My mom has a dog, and I kinda grew up with her, but she is just so different from my boys. First of all, Candy is 12 years old and losing her hearing. She's pretty calm, but she does bark a lot. (She's a sheltie, so we expect it!) Kool and Swift don't bark nearly as much as she does. She doesn't cuddle as much as they do, and she also expects to be petted a lot - she'll bark if you stop. I missed sleeping with my guys. I did take a nap one day with Candy on the bed, but she eventually left, and I woke up to an empty bed. :(

Candy

Kim watched the boys for me while I was gone. Apparently, she's much stricter with them than I am. They didn't bark once in her house. She has cats, so she'd let the dogs out on the patio to go potty, then tell them to go back into the kitchen...and they'd listen! They didn't even knock down the gate. (I think I just need to do some readjusting on the gate because her doorway is slightly smaller than mine.)

But Kim doesn't love on them or let them lick her. When I came home, they had escaped from my kitchen (of course) and attacked me as I walked in the door. We cuddled and hugged and played and licked (well, they licked and I got licked). I didn't even bother to close the door before getting down on the floor to greet them. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed with my boys.

I can't believe how much I missed them. I just hugged them and cuddled with them and loved on them. Swift's tail didn't stop moving, and Kool wouldn't stop licking me. What a nice way to know I am loved....

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Top Ten

Top 10 Random Quirky Things My Dogs do:

1. Swift puts his ball in his food dish when he's hungry.

2. Kool sometimes refuses to eat unless his food has been soaked. Even then, he looks at me like, "Really? I have to eat this?"

3. Swift likes to show me he's eating by carrying one piece of food into the living room where I am, chewing it, going back to the kitchen and getting another piece of food. He repeats this process until I pay attention to him.

4. Sometimes Swift brings his ball to bed. If I happen to roll over it in the middle of the night or it falls off the bed (even with no squeak), apparently that means it's time to play fetch - even at 3 a.m.

5. Swift and Kool wait for me to get out of the shower. I guess I'm not allowed to have alone time.

6. Swift likes to walk along the back of the couch. Sometimes he's klutzy and stumbles. It's funny.

7. Kool always instigates play-time between himself and Swift by grabbing Swift's foot. Swift doesn't always appreciate it.

8. After coming in from a rainy walk, Kool loves to be dried off with the towel. Swift hates it.

9. The boys can sleep! I often have to wake them up (especially Kool) in the morning to go potty. This morning, I got up early and turned on the lamp, which woke them up. We had cuddle-time in bed.

10. Swift burrows under blankets, and sometimes I can't find him on my bed. He's a true badger-hound!

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