I had two relatively unexpected dachsie encounters this weekend.
The first one was VERY unexpected. I was playing a cocktail hour for a bar mitzvah at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, Maryland when someone brought a smooth b/t standard male into the cocktail hour. He was very well behaved. Of course, when I was done playing, I HAD to go up to the owner and talk to her. Her pupper was a 2 year old. He was a rescue. Apparently, he was supposed to be shipped to the Phillipines as a show dog, but that fell through, so he was given to someone who owned one of his littermates, but apparently that didn't work out, so she took him in. I'm still not 100% sure exactly why he was at the party and how the hotel managed to "look the other way". You don't see too many true standards out there these days.
The second encounter was certainly less unexpected. I was on bicycle patrol as a volunteer with the Park Police and my partner and I went up to Lake Frank. As we're riding along the trail, I see a magnificent and very sleek clear red smooth. The one rule of patrolling with me is that we ALWAYS stop for dachshunds! It turns out Sherwin was a 6 year old male who was rescued via DRNA. He was tossed into a dumpster in Louisiana and was heartworm positive among other health issue. For a while it was touch-and-go if he was going to make it, but his dachsie spirit pulled him through. You would never be able to tell what he had been through. Sherwin kept looking into the woods in an aggressive stance. It turned out he saw some deer about 150 yards into the woods and wanted a piece of them! The owner said he was a pure hunter. The one odd thing was that he would look for movement in the trees to bark and chase squirrels, but squirrels on the ground didn't bother him.
The unexpected encounters of succesful rescues kind of balanced out our disappointment that my in-laws were not going to be keeping Baxter. I hope Baxter has a "happy ending" like the two dachshunds I came across.
Your encounters made me smile :thumb: Keeping good thoughts that Baxter also finds a wonderful home !
I found out a bit more about the first encounter: The first dachshund, the b/t standard, is named Marcus. He is a therapy dog. The woman who owned him lost her husband to cancer. Her therapist recommended a constant companion who would give her adoration and comfort. Somehow they were able to get Marcus the same kind of access a service dog has, so he is allowed to accompany her anyhwere. Apparently, it is working.
If I'm correct then Sherwin was originally fostered by a lady named Beth with DRNA. He was found covered with paint in a dumpster behind a Sherwin-Williams Paint Store. His picture is on a stand-up I created to help raise funds for DRNA's medical bills.
Sorry, I don't have the raw before and after photos available to post.
(http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr289/JetEd73/whatwedo.jpg)
That's him!!! Wow. That is very cool.
You could never tell what an ordeal he went through earlier in his life. He's pretty much a typical happy and HEALTHY adult dachshund.
Pretty much as a rule, attention, love, and good care can turn most basket cases into beautiful loving companions.
You must be very near DC, maryland...Beth tells me that Sherwin was adopted by the people that fostered him and lives very close by. In fact Sherwin and his owners atteneded last years Mid-Atlantic Dachshund Phest.
The Dachshund Phest is on Oct 1st this year. Sadly due to my work, Mr. Wilson and I will not be able to attend and go to the races. Considering that Wilson won 6 of the 7 races we figured it would be nice to give someone else a chance to win this year...
Yes, I live in Damascus, Maryland, about 25 miles north of DC and about 25 miles west of Baltimore.
I saw Sherwin at Lake Frank, which is in Rockville, Maryland (where I grew up). He is one cool pupper.
While Im not a full DRNA member right now I still foster for them. It's the fosters that are the back-bone of rescue and it's the fosters that get the biggest reward in rescue. A person won't really figure that part out until they've fostered 4 or 5 dogs. I've had the privilege of getting to know more dachshunds on a personal level than most people do in a life time.