dachshunds | Dangerous Common Sense

Day 64 — Expanding Her Territory

Aurora’s adventure today was deciding that the back yard — all of it — is part of her domain.

She’s been pretty bold for a while about wandering all over the bricks and going back to the lemon tree to sniff and chew.

Day 64 — Exploring the Backyard

This evening, Aurora took the path between the bushes and went out to the Outback!

Day 64 — Aurora In the Way Outback

Of course I went with her, looked ahead to make sure that there were no evil predators lurking around, and generally did nervous parental things. For her part, Aurora was fearless and happy.

By Galen|2018-12-06T16:33:57-08:00November 26, 2018|dachshunds|1 Comment

Day 63 — A Day of Activity

Sunday is touted as a day of rest. It isn’t for a puppy and her family!

Aurora played with the pack and with the humans starting about 6 am.

Today’s pictures are from the afternoon visit of out-of-town guests.

Day 63 — Allen Meets Aurora

Allen and Neil stopped in to greet a somewhat reserved Aurora. They both got down on the floor to make Aurora more comfortable.

Day 63 — Aurora Gets Held

Aurora seems to be checking in with me to make sure she has the adorable puppy act down right.

Day 63 — Happiness is a Warm Puppy

She seems to have convinced Allen that she is lap-worthy.

Neil, wound up the meeting by ruffling her ear while she was still being held by Allen.

Neil strokes Aurora's ear a peace offering

Day 63 – A Finger on the ear as a Peace Offering

By Galen|2018-12-03T19:35:06-08:00November 25, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments

Day 62 — Home Life

After yesterday’s visits and excitement, this Saturday was a low-key, at-home affair.

The camera didn’t get taken out until almost dinner time.

I recorded Aurora’s source of chronic puzzlement: how to operate the stairs!

Aurora with her front paws on the bottom stair

Day 62 — Contemplating the Stairs AGAIN

Then I asked Geoffrey to pose with Aurora, because it had been a while. Geoffrey did his best to make me wonder if he was a fit parent!

Geoffrey Holding Aurora with Only a Slightly Demonic Look on his face... and a look of resignation on hers

Day 62 — Only a Slightly Demonic Look

By Galen|2018-12-01T14:58:32-08:00November 24, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments

Day 61 — Maintaining Traditions and Meeting MORE People

After the big Thanksgiving dinner for the humans, we all weighed ourselves this morning. In Aurora’s case — and only in her case! — heavier is better. Today she was 4 pounds 6 ounces. That’s five ounces more than the last time we weighed her five days ago. Good girl!

The pack stayed together and decompressed most of the day. By “decompress” I mean run, chase, chew, and snarl for an hour or so followed by complete collapse for several hours; repeat!

Aurora’s newest discovery is how to walk up the side of the decomposing planter box and join generations of dachshunds in staring at the world from its heights.

Day 61 -- Aurora reviews the world from the planter box

Day 61 – The Tradition Continues: Dachs in a Box

Cute girl!

Geoffrey did some work on his computer in the TV room. The pack happily joined him.

Day 61 — Find the Hidden Dachshund How many dogs are on the bed? Look carefully at Zenith.

Click on the picture (and any picture in the blog!) to see a larger version. In this case, even clicking may not help you count all pack members. Aurora is snuggled up to her mother’s underside!

The long weekend let Aurora show off to more visitors.

We were very happy to have our neighbors come over to see the puppy that the must have been hearing throw temper tantrums!

Day 61 — Charming the Neighbors

Aurora showed off her ability to run and hold on to the ball at the same time. She also enjoyed being held and petted — adoration is always a good thing.

Later Aurora met more friends for dinner. Ron and Richard were generous attention-givers, too.

Day 62 -- Richard and Ron Pose with Aurora

Day 61 — Richard and Ron Pose with Aurora

By Galen|2018-12-01T14:37:07-08:00November 23, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments

Day 60 — Early Childhood Training

There are a few things puppies have to learn at an early age. Aurora isn’t housetrained and cannot do any tricks, but we have taught her some behaviors for social and safety reasons.

Puppies need to be held stomach up, getting cradled. This reinforces that the humans are the pack alphas… we get to have access to the soft spots.
Puppies need to open their mouths wide when we say ,”Awwww!” This means if they put something dangerous in their mouths we can get it out without a struggle.

Day 60 - Geoffrey getting Aurora to Say "Awww!"

Day 60 – Say “Awww!”

Humans need to repeatedly touch the puppy paws and hold whatever part of the pup we want. Besides showing who is in charge, we want the dogs to be accustomed to being touched and petted. We want Aurora to like it when visitors touch her!

Soon we will need to move on to upper-division commands like “Come!”, “Stay”, and “Off!’

But, enough for today. Happy Thanksgiving!

By Galen|2018-12-01T11:10:07-08:00November 22, 2018|dachshunds|0 Comments