Venus is back and so are we

It's U.S. Open time, and we are so glad the staff let us watch the opening night matches.
It's not that we were tired of Little League Baseball, but we really were. We didn't want to tell Staffer Mom, but we really didn't care what happened to those kids. A couple times, it was clear one of those teams could've fielded a whole lot better if they'd had a wiener dog for a shortstop.

By the way, we're watching a little differently this year. Bandit's lost all but a little of his peripheral vision, so Maggie's having to do some play-by-play commentary. She's focusing on Venus' tennis wear and doing a lousy job of giving the score. Bandit depends on Staffer Mom for the score and associated noises with great shots.
Careful readers know how much we love the Williams Sisters, so starting our viewing time with Venus tonight is a good omen for the rest of the week.

Hurricane leaves lazy day

So we've been waiting for days on this big Irene storm that was supposed to come through here and make a lot of noise. Nada. Nothing.
Apparently this Irene thing went on up north where the Yankees live. Hope they can deal with it. We've done our share of storms, and we really don't intend to do any more if we can help it.  One of them cost us our fave doghouse a few years ago, and we still aren't too happy about that.

In the meantime, the staff's been hanging around. Staffer Dad was so bored he decided we needed a bath.  Really? Surely there are other things to do.  Doesn't the cat need his claws trimmed or something? We'd be happy to help with that.

Fun time!

We're recuperating from two great weekends -- one with Aunt Audrey and one where we didn't get a bath!

Aunt Audrey came and played with us -- she even sent a few Cheerios our way the other morning when the staff wasn't looking . We know she was just looking after us since they were of the multigrain variety. It was fun having her here. She understands dachshunds.

And this weekend, we played until it was too hot outside. The staff made us come in and forgot it was bath time! Staffer Dad told us last night our luck wasn't going to last -- he said we smelled already. We resent that. Even the Kitten says it's not true, and he's got reason to lie. We kicked him off Blue Pillow twice in two days.

The long weekend

Yes, it's a holiday weekend, and we really weren't sure what was going to happen since Staffer Mom declared Wimbledon over for us when the Williams Sisters lost. But, things are looking better.

Today the staff took off and left us all day. They went somewhere requiring a ferry ride and time on an island with feral horses and wild boars. Whatever. We were prepared for the day to be a wild bore when they put us in the bathroom with the dreaded gate between us and the house. The stupid Kitten teased us from the other side until we figured out how to break out -- and then we were in charge.

We played for a while, chased Kitten a lot, and napped on Blue Pillow. When the staff finally got home, all we wanted to do was pee. They were pretty horrified to find us roaming free. Oh well. That's what they get for leaving us.

Now we hear Aunt Audrey's coming to visit, so this weekend shows much promise after all. She might feed us off the table!

Spiritual therapy for pets | savannahnow.com

Spiritual therapy for pets | savannahnow.com

It's Wimbledon time!

All in all it's been a good weekend -- the staff was around a lot, our friend Jake is here -- and we didn't get a bath. Best of all, there's Wimbledon.

Faithful readers will know how much we love the major tennis tournaments. It's Wimbledon time and the Williams sisters are IN.

Maggie loves Venus -- she's stylish and tough. Bandit prefers Serena's tough, competitive nature. Tennis-ball activities have long been favorites of ours, and we know how hard it is to play with them. The William sisters know how to make it happen.

We're sorry about Roddick's loss, and we can't wait to see what shapes up with Nadal and Federer. In the meantime, serve'em up Serena and Venus!

Enough of the Weiner jokes

We're really fed up with all the ruckus about Rep. Anthony Weiner. We've even heard someone call him a hound.

That's an insult to all of us who are really wiener dogs and hounds. Granted, he'd be lucky to be one of us. At least we have sense enough not to take pics of our parts and sent them out of Twitter. Geez.

Enough. Find another news story. Move on.

Hospital sleepovers and tourney time

From Maggie: We had a few scary days this week. Bandit felt really awful on Wednesday and the staff made him go to the Emergency Clinic. We didn't know what was wrong, but Bandit said he had a tummy ache and wouldn't move or eat. He said he was cold, too, and the nice vet said he had a really high fever, so he had a sleepover there.

The next day the staff took him to see our fave vets at Case Veterinary Hospital where Dr. Witherow poked and prodded him a lot. He must've liked it there, too, because he had another sleepover and Staffer Dad said Dr. Witherow stayed with him some.

In the meantime, I got lots of attention, which was OK but I didn't have anyone to snuggle with at all. I usually sleep with Bandit and he keeps me warm. Next time he's gone, the staff really needs to think about letting me sleep with them.

From Bandit: I've been away for a few days, and it sure is nice to be home. Dr. Witherow says I had some sort of infection. Staffer Mom lets me have extra treats with my pills. Staffer Dad takes me outside regularly and hovers a lot. I think he's still worried about me, and I wish he'd quit watching me poop.

From Maggie and Bandit: The best part about being home now is that it's ACC tournament time and the basketball is the best. The tournament is an important tradition in our house. Downside is that very little gets done and sometimes we have to walk around a lot and head-butt someone to get the staff to pay attention enough to let us outside when we have to go.

Whether the Tar Heels win or lose, it's a good time to stay on Blue Pillow in front of the TV. Granted, Bandit can't see much, but we always know who's winning by the noises Staffer Mom makes. We know enough to keep our paws out of her jump radius, too. A Tar Heel game can be a very dangerous time if we're not paying attention. We think the only thing that should be in danger is a Dookie.

Lame staff antics

Can you believe the staffers were trying to decide whether to watch The Oscars or Tar Heel basketball?
The Oscars will last all night anyway. They can catch up.

We've made it pretty clear we'd take action if we didn't hear some basketball on the TV ASAP. There's a freshly cleaned rug in there just waiting for our statement.

...And there's Tyler Zeller on the tube right now. That's better.

(And no worry -- we do care about The Oscars. After the game, we'll check to find out how SlinkyDog's movie fares...we're fans!)

Stupid human rules

We weren't going to blog again today, but Staffer Mom showed us an upsetting news story and we had to share. Can you believe the city won't let the Girl Scouts sell cookies in front of the Juliette Gordon Low House?  Click here.
They're Girl Scouts! The sell cookies to fund their activities. It's what they do.

Humans can certainly make a lot of stupid rules.  Reminds us of the stupid rules the staff gives us: no digging in the garden even when we know there are moles in there, no letting Skeeter Kitten go outside even when we know he should be out there permanently, telling us not to scratch or lick in front of company or eat out of the cat food bowl.
We're dogs! It's what we do.

Notes from the lowdogs' week

Hello!
We're so glad to be back and writing again! And, we're so happy to heave heard from our Navy buddies, Skipper, Cricket and Pretzel. They have a new friend, too, Mandy. They also let us know they got a Kackel Dackel game for Christmas...we're pretty jealous of that. They also donated one to DRNA for auction and helped fund placement for homeless dachshunds. Great idea!
(If you want to see how those cool games work, check the link in the previous post.)

We've also been playing outside more. It's been a cold, wet winter and that wasn't much fun. But the past few weekends have been great! The staff let us stay out until dark several times, and we've left them a few holes to fill when they are out there.

Also, we've been watching a lot of basketball. You know we love our Tar Heels, so Staffer Dad does play-by-play for Bandit during games. Today, though, he made us come in the house for a Missouri State game. He says they won a championship and we're glad for his Bears, but our heart belongs to the Heels.
And, we're ready needed outside. It past time to discuss bird feeder vandalism with the nasty neighbor squirrels.

Games we can play

So, we learned today from our friend Clarence about a dachshund game you have to buy.
Here's the link.

We'd play this for free if you'll give us some treats!

All dachshunds are works of art

Picasso had a soft spot for dachshunds -- rightfully so.
Here's more proof of it in the NY Times arts blog. Check it out.


Now we've got to convince the staff to get us some designer plates. Those stainless steel bowls aren't going to cut it anymore.

Happy Wiener Dog New Year!

Wow! It's been half a year since we last posted, and we're really sorry about that. Oh, and we're blaming the staff.

They've been pretty lame -- we don't always need their help, but we do need access to computers, good wi-fi and some quality attention. They also get distracted easily and have found many reasons not to help us out. We're not sure they should even be called "staff" at this point. We've regained our computer privileges, and we've been shamed by Aunt Audrey for not posting.

So, here's a recap since summer:
- We didn't get to go to the dachshund races. Again.
- Bandit's lost most of his eyesight. (He's officially got cataracts -- we don't understand why they aren't called "dogaracts," except that they are bad and that's probably why they are associated with cats instead of dogs.)
- Maggie has been at war with the Kitten, who is now called Skeeter.  The orange hellion steals Maggie's toys. He's going to pay.
- Ernie has been very sweet and squeals on Skeeter regularly, and he leaves us alone. He also tells us where to find his latest kills in the yard. We like Ernie. 
- The Kitten did not knock down the Christmas tree this year. We're all glad about that. The fallout from last year's incident affected all of us. The staff deemed us all untrustworthy for quite some time.
That's about it.

A couple other notes:
- Our friend Foster died last month. He lived with his foster and rescue friends at Miss Ellen's house. That made us sad. We're certain his friend, Henry, misses him very much. Henry has been sick, too, and Miss Ellen is taking very good care of him. We believe Foster is very happy now.
- Bandit can't really write much anymore, so most of what we say now will be from Maggie. He can still find a dead mole in the yard within 30 seconds of going through the screen door, but he's not able to type any more.
- One other thing: Aunt Linda has moved to town and now the staff is incorrigible. They stay out late, eat out all the time (lessening the possibility of floor food) and take stupid photos of us to text to her. 

So here we are at the new year. We've been thinking a lot about our resolutions, and we've decided not to have any. Making a resolution means we have to focus on those, and we just don't have the time. There's just too much to do -- don't need the stress.

If you made a resolution, let us know! We want to know what you're working on, so we can cheer you on!