Oh Dog!

Our dear dog, Dade, is not allowed on the couches.

There are 2 practical reasons for this:

1. Dachschund's are susceptible to bad backs. Activities like jumping up and down, climbing stairs, etc. increase the risk that he will injure his back causing paralysis or needing to be put down. While this does concern us, we are fairly realistic about it as well. For example, he has to go up and down the stairs to go to the bathroom. We did not start by keeping him off the furniture, but our personal reasons for changning our minds coincide with practical reason #2.

2. Dade, like other dogs, pees when he is excited. As a young pup he liked to sit on the back of the couch basking in the sunlight and look out our front window. Every person knocking at the door or walking by, sent him peeing all over the couch and anyone sitting there. Anyone who has ever visited us knows of Dade's bladder control issues when he is excited. One night Dade was sleeping in our bed, Kurt came home late from a trip, and Dade was startled awake and peed all over. I'm pretty sure that was when we decided he had to stay off the furniture.

(Should anyone feel sorry for him, know that he still gets plenty of loves and attention.)

So it was a surprise this afternoon when I was copying pictures from my camera to my computer and found this one-- Dade sitting on the couch.

After questioning my kids, Austin confessed: Yesterday while I was outside with Olivia & Jolie, Austin came in and decided to play with my camera, catching the culprit in the act. Dade knows when my back is turned. Speaking of which, look at what I just caught him snacking on:

OH DOG!!

I love our dog, but

It gets tiresome finding chewed up toys, especially when the doll ends up looking like it is vomiting fluff. Nyah wants me to fix it. I don't think that is going to happen.

Jolie & Dade - Best Friends

Jolie absolutely LOVES Dade!! Whenever she is in the living room she makes a beeline for Dade, who is usually laying out in the sun. He licks her face, she licks his, she pulls his ears or tail, he snaps at her as a warning, she bites him or pinches his fur.

She likes to slip away from the rest of us into the laundry room, where Dade's crate is kept. She dives into his food and water, much to my disgust- cleaning dog food out of a 10-month-old's mouth is not fun, especially with those teeth.

She likes to do many of the same things Dade does- pull all the toilet paper off the roll and eat it, pull things out of the trash can, play "fetch" with her siblings (they really do throw things for her and she goes and get thems), pick up toys in her mouth and carry them around, they both like to chew on books, and well, pretty much chew on anything they can get in their mouths. I think Dade is a little jealous Jolie can reach the water in the toilet bowl.

Eating with out using her hands-

Learning new tricks- she started climbing onto her bike, and anything else that isn't too high, like the dishwasher, boxes, stools, etc.

Slipping her best friend snacks-