Introduction to the Pack
Lex
Lex is my diva girl. She and I have lived together for 16 years now - shared many experiences, homes, and packs. She is a trooper. Always ready for an adventure - she loves to explore. Now she is totally deaf and nearly blind. She sleeps a lot, hates the antics of the puppies, but still has it in her to romp around, play and steal their toys.
She is a pekeapoo from a backyard breeder; had her back hip removed when she was only 6 months old due to Leggs Perthes; has seizures and asthma; but she also has a zest for life.
She is an idependent cuss. Only wants to be next to me when she is feeling poorly. I remember once I took her to the vet and he asked why I thought she was sick and I said, "Because she wants to snuggle with me." And she was. Ha!
She lived through my foster mom days - when we had a revolving door welcoming 5 fosters at a time to our pack. She was the boss. All toys belonged to her. She would make up tricks to pounce on the newbies. One I remember is that she would take the toys to the couch. Wait patiently for a pup to fall asleep on the floor by the couch and then drop a toy on their head. The pup would wake up and think, "Hey! A toy!" and she would pounce, snarl and take the toy back to her lair.
She is a pekeapoo from a backyard breeder; had her back hip removed when she was only 6 months old due to Leggs Perthes; has seizures and asthma; but she also has a zest for life.
She is an idependent cuss. Only wants to be next to me when she is feeling poorly. I remember once I took her to the vet and he asked why I thought she was sick and I said, "Because she wants to snuggle with me." And she was. Ha!
She lived through my foster mom days - when we had a revolving door welcoming 5 fosters at a time to our pack. She was the boss. All toys belonged to her. She would make up tricks to pounce on the newbies. One I remember is that she would take the toys to the couch. Wait patiently for a pup to fall asleep on the floor by the couch and then drop a toy on their head. The pup would wake up and think, "Hey! A toy!" and she would pounce, snarl and take the toy back to her lair.
Riley
Riley joined us when I first moved from Florida to Sheboygan, of all places, Wisconsin. He was from a home breeder - a step up from a backyard breeder but his gene pool was limited. For example, there are various types of dachshunds: short hair, long hair, wire hair and the like. Riley is a fuzzy hair doxie. His fur grows out like a dandelion ready to blow into the wind.
Riley is sort of a nebish. He loves to snuggle but does have a temper and can really snarl if he doesn't get his own way. He's not brave but takes it upon himself to keep us safe from the UPS man and mail lady, as well as wind and cars driving past the house.
When our hen, Glozel had house privileges (BZ - before Ziggy) he loved to play fetch with her, but she always cheated and would clop him in the face with her wing if he tried to get past her. He was frustrated because she wouldn't play his favorite game - tug of war. Chickens, although they can get pretty agressive tugging a worm, are not known for their skills at tug of war.
A good day for Ri would be if he could be adored, massaged, and fed. He hates car rides and sings the song of his people so loud that people walking on the sidewalk stop and stare at us when we drive by. I just try to look straight ahead and pretend it's not us. He would prefer not to meet new people, but once he does - if he falls in love with them, he hates to share. They are his.
Riley is sort of a nebish. He loves to snuggle but does have a temper and can really snarl if he doesn't get his own way. He's not brave but takes it upon himself to keep us safe from the UPS man and mail lady, as well as wind and cars driving past the house.
When our hen, Glozel had house privileges (BZ - before Ziggy) he loved to play fetch with her, but she always cheated and would clop him in the face with her wing if he tried to get past her. He was frustrated because she wouldn't play his favorite game - tug of war. Chickens, although they can get pretty agressive tugging a worm, are not known for their skills at tug of war.
A good day for Ri would be if he could be adored, massaged, and fed. He hates car rides and sings the song of his people so loud that people walking on the sidewalk stop and stare at us when we drive by. I just try to look straight ahead and pretend it's not us. He would prefer not to meet new people, but once he does - if he falls in love with them, he hates to share. They are his.
Ziggy - My Street Thug Turned Superstar
With Riley so weird, why in the world did we get Ziggy?
Well....
Riley was very attached to Lex, much to her chagrin. I was afraid that when she died, he would be beside himself with sadness so I wanted him to have a buddy that was his size and age. Seems logical? Right?
Ziggy was from a rescue. He was found roaming the streets of a major metropolitan city. His name and city have been changed because there was a big flapping hoohah after he was rescued. He was so overgrown, they weren't exactly sure what breed or mix he was. He had been abused. Someone broke his jaw so his bottom jaw healed crooked and his tongue hangs out the side of his mouth.
He looked so cute, but I was surprised at what a little street thug he was. Snappy, snarly, growly and just plain nasty. What a surprise to me and especially Riley. Ri was so nervous he developed a twitch everytime he had to pass Ziggy.
We were at our wits end with Zig. And yet, if/when a rescue dog loses a home, it often sets him in a downward spiril so I began looking for solutions. We went to the vet and tried meds but they made him more aggressive. We drove hours to a behavior modification guy but that didn't work out well. Finally, after many dead ends, we found Rebekah Hintzman of Ruff Acadmeny in Sheboygan and she walked in our house and within minutes, understood Zig, and he immediately knew she "got' him.
Zig needs a purpose, she explained, a job. He is incredibly smart and wants to please me, his pack leader, but does not have a clue what I need him to do. She worked with us for months and Ziggy and I finally formed a cool bond where we work together with the back. His job is to enforce my commands to the others.
We went from him not letting me - or anyone - touch him, to loving to be massaged and handled, still a bit on his own terms, but he truly loves Ziggy and mom time.
Note - he never plays tug with Riley because Zig is a fetch kinda guy. The good thing is, he tosses his own toy and then runs to fetch it. He loves to toss his toy down the stairs, run down and fetch it and then take it back up to do it again and again. If I had a video of this, I bet it would go viral. But another thing about Zig is that he loves to have his photo taken. So if he sees me with the camera, he stops what he is doing and poses for the shot.
Well....
Riley was very attached to Lex, much to her chagrin. I was afraid that when she died, he would be beside himself with sadness so I wanted him to have a buddy that was his size and age. Seems logical? Right?
Ziggy was from a rescue. He was found roaming the streets of a major metropolitan city. His name and city have been changed because there was a big flapping hoohah after he was rescued. He was so overgrown, they weren't exactly sure what breed or mix he was. He had been abused. Someone broke his jaw so his bottom jaw healed crooked and his tongue hangs out the side of his mouth.
He looked so cute, but I was surprised at what a little street thug he was. Snappy, snarly, growly and just plain nasty. What a surprise to me and especially Riley. Ri was so nervous he developed a twitch everytime he had to pass Ziggy.
We were at our wits end with Zig. And yet, if/when a rescue dog loses a home, it often sets him in a downward spiril so I began looking for solutions. We went to the vet and tried meds but they made him more aggressive. We drove hours to a behavior modification guy but that didn't work out well. Finally, after many dead ends, we found Rebekah Hintzman of Ruff Acadmeny in Sheboygan and she walked in our house and within minutes, understood Zig, and he immediately knew she "got' him.
Zig needs a purpose, she explained, a job. He is incredibly smart and wants to please me, his pack leader, but does not have a clue what I need him to do. She worked with us for months and Ziggy and I finally formed a cool bond where we work together with the back. His job is to enforce my commands to the others.
We went from him not letting me - or anyone - touch him, to loving to be massaged and handled, still a bit on his own terms, but he truly loves Ziggy and mom time.
Note - he never plays tug with Riley because Zig is a fetch kinda guy. The good thing is, he tosses his own toy and then runs to fetch it. He loves to toss his toy down the stairs, run down and fetch it and then take it back up to do it again and again. If I had a video of this, I bet it would go viral. But another thing about Zig is that he loves to have his photo taken. So if he sees me with the camera, he stops what he is doing and poses for the shot.
Fred
Okay, with Ziggy such a problem child, why add Fred?
Well...
Zig focused all of his energy on making Riley's life miserable. The initial behavior modification person said that if there were other dogs, Zig would be distracted. No comment.
But, now we have Fred who came from Brohn's Dachshunds - a very good breeder. He is perfect. He is so sweet and beautiful and is such a love bug. He is pure love. That is the only word to describe Fred -- my love boy. Well, some times I call him Noodle because he is so wiggly, but his major personality trait is loving.
Because Zig was still being a tyrant, (PR - pre Rebekah), Fred spent the first few weeks of his life in my cowl neck sweaters. This may have contributed to his snuggly, cuddly personality.
Why did I look at Brohn's website after I had Fred? Well...
He was just so perfect and snuggly, and I knew he had a litter mate from the same father, different mother. I had seen her when I picked him up. Should I? Every sane nerve and my brother, said: NO. Then my friend, Beverly Banov Brown, said, "You need some more girl energy in that house."
So......
Well...
Zig focused all of his energy on making Riley's life miserable. The initial behavior modification person said that if there were other dogs, Zig would be distracted. No comment.
But, now we have Fred who came from Brohn's Dachshunds - a very good breeder. He is perfect. He is so sweet and beautiful and is such a love bug. He is pure love. That is the only word to describe Fred -- my love boy. Well, some times I call him Noodle because he is so wiggly, but his major personality trait is loving.
Because Zig was still being a tyrant, (PR - pre Rebekah), Fred spent the first few weeks of his life in my cowl neck sweaters. This may have contributed to his snuggly, cuddly personality.
Why did I look at Brohn's website after I had Fred? Well...
He was just so perfect and snuggly, and I knew he had a litter mate from the same father, different mother. I had seen her when I picked him up. Should I? Every sane nerve and my brother, said: NO. Then my friend, Beverly Banov Brown, said, "You need some more girl energy in that house."
So......
Tilly
Tilly, sweet and sassy Tilly.
What a hoot. Her word is SASSY. She rules the roost of the boys. Fred, Zig and Riley love Tilly and she has them wrapped around her little white toe. Although at this time she is the tiniest pup, she is a hardy, rough and tumble kinda gal who gives right back what she gets. She will wrestle with the boys and just as you think she needs to be rescued, she will turn the tables and go after them. A good thing however, is when Tilly has enough, she comes over to me to pick her up. I guess I'm her time out person.
She and Fred are absolutely bonded. They are always together. They have their own games and they romp around and explore together. Fred sends Tilly down to the basement where we keep the toys to fetch toys for them to play with. She loves to sleep on top of him. All day they hang out together but at night, Fred is a deep undercover sort of guy, so Tilly snuggles next to me. This is my first bonded pair and they are an absolute delight.
What a hoot. Her word is SASSY. She rules the roost of the boys. Fred, Zig and Riley love Tilly and she has them wrapped around her little white toe. Although at this time she is the tiniest pup, she is a hardy, rough and tumble kinda gal who gives right back what she gets. She will wrestle with the boys and just as you think she needs to be rescued, she will turn the tables and go after them. A good thing however, is when Tilly has enough, she comes over to me to pick her up. I guess I'm her time out person.
She and Fred are absolutely bonded. They are always together. They have their own games and they romp around and explore together. Fred sends Tilly down to the basement where we keep the toys to fetch toys for them to play with. She loves to sleep on top of him. All day they hang out together but at night, Fred is a deep undercover sort of guy, so Tilly snuggles next to me. This is my first bonded pair and they are an absolute delight.