Race time's coming!

Today we learned it's time for the annual WIENER DOG RACES!
We invite all our buddies to bring it!

Your staffers can help -- they can design artwork to be used on the official T-shirts and logo. Here's the info on that. It's sponsored by the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. We're really excited about all of this!

Preregistration starts after Labor Day, and we're hoping to get to go this year. Usually the staff volunteers (the money goes to Dachshund Rescue of North America and other animal assistance charities) and they can't take us and work, too. We're hoping they'll figure out how to do it all this year.

So, we're asking all of you to let them know if we should go. We need your support!

We earn our keep and we're scary, too

Lately, when we irritate the staff by asking questions like "When do WE get a vacation?" or "Why do we have to eat in the laundry room?", it's been suggested that we might should consider getting jobs. As ludicrous as that notion may be, we know we'd be successful at many careers.
For instance, a cemetery owner in Fremont, Nebraska, uses a dachshund to clean moles out of the cemetery. You can read about it here.

We think that's absolutely something we could do. Heck, we do it now and we should ask the staff to pay us for that!

Also, Foster's and Henry's mom sent us a story recently suggesting dachshunds should be used more in comic books as the scary, threatening beasts instead of gorillas or dinosaurs. It's true. There's no way we wouldn't win those matches. No way.

Here are some quotes from an essay she sent over:
- "While a ticked gorilla is still throwing leaves around and having an ostentatious hissy fit, the wily dachshund will have already tripped you, crushed your trachea, and, as you suffocate, be sitting on your chest chewing on your ribs while farting in your face. And wagging his tail."
- "How many gorillas do you know in real life interested in world domination? Zero. Again, gorillas pale as a threat when compared to dachshunds, all of which are bent on world domination. Charles Heston would've lasted about 3 seconds on the Planet of the Dachshunds...."

And we've been forced by the staff (and Uncle Brad and Aunt Jenn) to sit through all five Planet of the Apes movies in one day, so we know this is true. If we were in charge, ol' Charlton sure wouldn't be doing all those NRA commercials, and he'd never say this because we don't allow people to talk to us that way. He'd be a believer in dachshund justice and working for DRNA (Dachshund Rescue of North America).

So, the staff should pay us for our star potential, too. We'd compromise for getting to eat dinner in the kitchen...near the cat food bowl.
Especially if it's full.

Remember to vaccinate; it's important

The following note is from the kind staff of our friends, the Navy racing wieners Skipper, Cricket and Pretzel. They wanted us to pass it along to all our readers, human and canine. The photo is of the wieners friends' foster brother Nicholas, who died this week because his former staffers didn't care enough to have him vaccinated against basic illnesses.

To Whoever Dumped the Red Dachshund with the NY Giants Collar:

This is to whoever dumped a sweet 1-2 year old red male miniature dachshund with the New York Giants collar along I-264. You might want to know he passed away this morning at 9 AM. No, he wasn't hit by a car although he came close several times before someone stopped and rescued him. No, he didn't die of starvation because he went without proper food and water for some time. What killed him was the fact that you sent him out into the world alone without being vaccinated and he contracted Parvo. When Dachshund Rescue of North America got him in he was already sick and we took him to the Vet. He has spent the last 3 days in ICU at a Norfolk Vet fighting to survive but slowly dying from the virus. No expense was spared in the medical effort to save him, but you not spending the money ($18 at the SPCA) to get him vaccinated sentenced him to death. And what is truly sad is that every time someone walked into his room at the Vet he would perk up and look to see who it was. He was looking for you, his family and would sadly put his head back down when it wasn't you. He showed such loyalty to you who didn't care enough to protect and care for him. We with Dachshund Rescue gave him love, medical care and were with him at the end, even though we didn’t know his name and had only known him a few days. Where were you? The people that had raised him from a puppy for the past 1-2 years and who he was so loyal to.

For those of you reading this sad story PLEASE vaccinate your pets. If you can't afford to take you pet to the Vet and keep them current, then don't get a pet until you can. Yes, it is wonderful that you have lots of love to give, but love will not protect an animal from disease. Parvo is a real problem in this area, highly contagious and unvaccinated pets are sitting ducks. We have seen it in our local dog parks and shelters, but it can be picked up anywhere a Parvo infected dog defecates. It can survive up to 9 months on any surface (grass included) even if the feces is no longer there unless sanitized with bleach. All this poor little boy had to do was walked through an area were a Parvo animal had defecated and somehow transfer it to his mouth and he was infected. So unless you keep you pets in a plastic bubble and never take them out, they are at risk for Parvo unless vaccinated.

For those of you re-homing animals: Please make sure the new owner is willing/able to provide Vet care. We at Dachshund Rescue of North America have seen many dachshunds that were re-homed on Craig's List and never taken proper care of. When these dogs got sick these new owners figure it is cheaper to find another puppy/dog than to pay the vet. So make sure your pet goes to a home that will truly care for him/her. And if you can't find a good new home for your pet take them to a shelter, SPCA or call a rescue group, don't just dump them somewhere like with this poor guy.

If you are looking for a dachshund to adopt or need to surrender one please check out DRNA.org.

New blog friends

Hey all! Check out The Long and Short of it All for more fun wiener news. This is a great blog by Joey and Maggie -- no kin to our Maggie. They collect all sorts of dachshund news and pop culture info about dogs like us. And of course, that's important stuff to know.

We need a nap!

And boy did we earn it!
Today was the monthly gathering for the dachshund club in Forsyth Park, and the weather was wiener-dog perfect!
Lots of friends and their staffers showed up. We saw chocolate dapples, chocolate-and-cream dapples, a pretty longhair, a 12-week-old puppy, and many more. We met a young, happy friend in need of adoption. His name is Ethan, and he's a small black-and-tan like us. If you'd like to adopt him, or someone like him, click here.
We played so much that we ended up sleeping all the way home in the limo.
Here's a link to the pictures of the old and new friends we saw today.

Woohoo! It's coming!

Every year something wonderful happens. Hundreds of us lowdogs gather for a magnificent time where all the world is focused only on us. (Granted, it should be that way all the time, but we all know it's not.)

We're talking about the annual Savannah Wiener Dawg Races. It's the greatest event in the world, and those silly Olympics things every few years pale in comparison. This year's event will be Oct. 6 on Savannah's River Street. Hundreds of us played together last year, and there will be more this year. Here's a link to a slideshow from the Savannah Morning News coverage in 2006. (When you open the page, click again on the slideshow link.) The pictures will give you some idea of the scene where all dachshunds are winners.

The event benefits Dachshund Rescue and helps other wonderful dog groups, too. If you love dogs like us, you can volunteer to help out at the races. Or if you've got a wiener dog, bring him or her to watch or race. There will be plenty of fun activities for humans and pups. We'll post more details before the races.
We can't wait!!!!