Good morning

Mornings is Schatzi's happiest playtime.
6:30 is time to wake up Dad.
She hops around the bed, races from top to bottom the tail flying and waving. Dad pets her, tussles her big hair, and tries to win a few more minutes peace.
The chewie comes out and she throws it around, hopping back and forth until it lands into the canyon down there somewhere.
Dad gets up, puts on warm clothes over the PJ and off they go to see if the back yard is still there.
The newly discovered western perimeter must be patrolled , there you can even look into the next yard ! Interesting view, since there is only a single fence on that side.
The east side has a double slatted fence, courtesy of Schnapps, our # 6.
He hated the neighbors on that side with a passion nipping them a few times. So Dad had no choice but to build a more secure fence, especially since Schnapps was so skinny, he fit right through it.
Schatzi follows the fox trail, occasionally finding a treasure ! A Pizza crust that the squirrels did not schlepp up the big tree and a dry piece of an apple that got over looked.

Running exuberant circles like a miniature pony around Dad who is getting colder by the minute, Schatzi is finally ready to go back in. Her knees must be getting better since she is exercising a little.
She is watching for her breakfast and finally made the big decision, that eating is more important with company than waiting until the kitchen is clear.
Tummy full, curled up and covered she takes a nap.

Schatzi is not good with cleaning the dishes.
She leaves a few little pieces which would have been unheard of in the dachsie's time . They all had their bowls, putting them down and saying the name at the same time prevented disagreements.
When they were all done with eating, Waldi waited for me to see if it is okay to check for left overs. It was always okay . You could have been putting the little bowls straight back into the cup board, so clean . Just kidding. Waldi also cleaned anything he could reach in the open dish washer.
He got enough treats, but some times you had to fake him out and everybody else too.
This I learned from Mausi in Germany.
Mausi is a wirehair dachsie and on a strict diet. Her mom takes a big plate and rubs liver wurst all over it. Mausi licks and licks and thinks she is getting a really big treat.

We let Ohren our # 2 dachsie clean a wide stainless steel pan too. He stood inside the pan with 2 paws, working hard like a dish washer in a steamy restaurant, almost taking off a layer of metal. Ohren had Cushing's disease and had an enormous appetite. The vet told us to add mashed green beans to his food. This would make more volume but not a lot of calories. Still, I think, he was always hungry.

Schnapps was starving when we got him. He weight 11 pounds, had a bacterial intestinal infection and you could see his ribs. He must have been on the street for a while, running with a gang of bigger dogs, the people in the Human Society told us.
No body inquired after him when he was jail. I like to think, his owner had to go into a home and who ever took him in, let him run away. Or how they do it in Germany when vacation time comes, they just kick the dog out on the Autobahn.
Schnapps ate a great big slice of german bread with liver wurst in the morning just as an appetizer. After taking Dad to work, all of them had the real breakfast.