E - Mails

Hi Birgit,
for the 3 months we have Schatzi, she is doing wonderful, a very lovable doggie and still looks at everything new with huge, astonished brown eyes.
One of my pool buddie's granddaughter has - or better had - a small dachsie, for whom she had to find a home, because she will go to college out of state and nobody in her family wanted the dog.
So we have Molly now for a week. She is a carefree, friendly, self reliant and self assured little girl, about 3 years old.
She was a stray, picked up from the Humane Society and lived in an apartment for 3 years. Her mom worked and is a student and Molly spent lot's of time entertaining herself.
Schatzi accepted her, more or less and had to establish boundaries today. She learns from her and imitated several things and is on the way to become a real dog.
We have never had a dog with boundless energy ! She can race after squirrels good five hours and then keep going inside without tiring.
We are working with her to learn a few basic rules like no barking and not shredding everything in sight.

That is a little update from here.
I hope you are doing well ! Take care.

Hi Geli,

Very nice to hear from you and that things are going well with Schatzi.
It is probably good for her to have a new buddy and she surely couldn't have found a more wonderful home.
I have six Dachsies at my house right now, three of my own and three fosters.
I just had one of the sweetest little girls returned to me.
I adopted her out but did not listen to my gut that told me this was not right.
I could not get her off my mind the whole time she was there. When I got her back, she was skin and bones and had several bare patches on her back.
I personally believe that she just was so unhappy there that she didn't eat right and lost her hair. She gained weight now and is a happy and loving little girl again.
I so wish I could keep her, she is so attached to me and I know it will be hard for her to go into another family. Oh well, she will be with me for a while until I feel that she is ready. Wish you could take her, then I would know she is in great hands. She is an extraordinarily beautiful red long haired girl, very tiny and about three years old. Her name is Penny, maybe you remember her.
Take care and stay in touch.
Birgit :-)

Love Is The Only Truth


From Helen, the behaviorist and trainer :

How are things going?
I hope that she has become happier!!

Hi Helen, thanks for checking on us.
Things are tremendously better.The reason, we got a dachsie from a student, who is going out of state and no one in the family wants that little girl.
I expected her at the end of August, but her mom gave her up about 2 weeks ago. She was a stray, lived for 3 years in an apartment and spent a lot of time on her own. But she knew her way around a house, how to be a doggie, including being friendly, happy go lucky, and self reliant .
I see incredible improvements with Schatzi.
She copies Molly, she explores never before stepped in rooms, gingerly puts her paws on a couch and considers hopping up there.They are streaking around the house and backyard and track the fox and a raccoon. Schatzi is not scared of noises anymore, including a thunderstorm and is way more interested in her world.
They play very well together, although there are the occasional spats about possessions and food . Schatzi thinks she is now the alpha dog and Molly is testing her.
All in all, things run very smooth and they both seem very happy and busy.

One question : How do you get Schatzi to sleep a little longer in the morning ?
5: 00 am comes real early, and I am quite tired.

Helen :
Oh Dear!
5 am is quite early.
Does she have to go potty or is she hungry or???
If she needs to potty, I'd limit her water intake after about 9pm.
If she is hungry, I'd give her a snack before bed.
If she just wants you to get up, I would ignore her for 15 minutes extra a
few days or a week until you build up to her staying in bed longer.

Good luck!!