We saw the Wienermobile!

It's true! The staff took us on a great field trip this weekend!
We saw the official Wienermobile, or at least one of them.

While we weren't allowed to go inside, we did get to stand on the steps and we had our pictures taken with it.  Here are a few of the pics -- the best ones have the staff in them because they were helpful and lifted us up so we could see better. Staffer Dad also let Bandit sniff the back end of the giant hotdog, and Maggie got to look in through the windshield since she was told in no uncertain terms she couldn't drive.

The hotdog was parked in front of a Kroger, and of course we couldn't go in there either. Lots of people were hanging around, and we expected to come out of the deal with at least a munchie or two. But, it was a pretty clean parking lot. The Wienermobile's staff was really, really nice, and one of them even said she was from Staffer Dad's home state, Missouri. If you want to see more about the stop in Savannah, here's a video of the inside and other pics from savannahnow.com.

All good field trips are educational. Here's what we learned:

• There are eight total rolling wieners and six on the road. The other two are for back-up. You can learn more about the fleet here.
• The big wiener sits on a Chevy truck chasis. We wondered about that since it seemed roomy and nice.
• There is no chili or mustard or relish on it. Just a dog and a bun. The seats are mustard-colored, though.
• The way-cool celebrity meat vehicles winter in Wisconsin and head all over in the summer driven by students who call themselves "hotdoggers." They keep a blog, too.
• Wiener dogs who eat hot dogs are not cannibals. Hot dogs aren't made from wiener dogs. We were very glad to have that fact reinforced. The Kitten told us they were. But, thankfully, we learned that's not true. Wonder why he told us that?

Field trips are fun!

Super Bowl stupor

It was a strange weekend at our house. First of all, there was no internet. Again. The staff has to get this figured out.
We do have a few observations to share:
- Puppy Bowl. We noted they'd added an extra deck on the "stadium" this year, but we didn't see nearly enough dachshund action. The Kitty halftime was a nice touch, and we definitely liked it when they dumped a bunch of paper on the cats at the end. We often want to do that to Ernie.
- The Boss. Bandit likes Bruce very much, but neither of us understood why he needed a football game for an opening act. Bandit felt that was disrespectful to Bruce and the Band.
- Commercials. Again, a bunch of big-ass horses. Remember the Sprint dachshund commercial anyone? Dachshund...oxen....you know.
- The Australian Open. Thank heaven it's over. As careful readers know, we love our tennis. But, those 3:30 a.m. match starts were killing us. If the Aussies really want us to watch, could they please move the times to something normal? Maggie was crazed for Serena, so those early mornings were vicious and interrupted our routine. We both admit the Williams sisters doubles team is so scrappy and strong, they should be honorary dachshunds. Definitely on the Fierce List. Definitely.
- The Tar Heels and great basketball. What a great basketball weekend -- buzzer beaters and the Heels on a roll! Oh yeah...Duke lost. Staffer Mom was happy about that.
- And finally, Staffer Mom cooked a lot and we found some pizza cheese on the floor!

Not just tough. Beagle tough.

Today we've found a new hero for our Fierce List: Sofia the Beagle.
Watch this video to see why. Hang with it and you'll understand, especially if you've followed any of our digging escapades over the years.



Some of our best friends are beagles,including our buddy Sidda who is quite an escape artist in her own right. We also remember with fondness Uncle Brad's old Girlfriend. She wasn't a date -- he had some dogs for dates, but not this one -- she was a great, brave beagle friend. Her stubbornness made her an honorary dachshund. Video star Sofia's tenacity makes us proud.

P.S. Thanks to Houck for passing along the video.

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Sorta good deeds

Staffer Mom always says no good deed goes unpunished. We're not really sure what that means, but we do know that sometimes they are rewarded, too. While we were surfing the Net today, we found this Fierce Wiener Friend who's learned a skill and is taking care of a staffer. We're proud to bring this to you. After all, it's not every dog who learns to push a wheelchair.
(Of course, Maggie says our staff better not even think about it -- when Staffer Mom broke her leg, we couldn't even get on the couch for weeks. We also wouldn't go near her crutches -- she was lethal with those things.)

Under the heading of Dubious Good Deeds, check out the dachshund who plays with fireworks. It's the feature video this week on The Daily Dachshund. And no, we don't approve of what the authors named the video, but the staff tells us it's possible it's accurate. (Apparently, where Staffer Mom works they say truth will get you out of all sorts of trouble.)

Anyway,we've got to figure out how to get the staff to buy us some of those things that shoot fire!!

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More fierceness

Today's headlines bring us lots of great wiener news, and we're obliged to share.

First off: Take this one, for instance. It's about a brave wiener with a seriously fierce staffer. The owner and her friends dug for nearly 8 hours to find her dog. You'll just have to read it to find out why you shouldn't be wandering around a gopher-tortoise hole.

And the other news of the day comes from our old neighborhood. It's all about a fierce dachshund named Seabiscuit who warned her owner about mean coyotes in the yard. We were alerted early today about this story from Uncle Mike and Aunt Allison -- Bisquick the cat's regular staffers.

See. We told you wieners and their staffers are tough!

A very brave warrior

We just heard about this and we MUST share with you.
Check out this clip....it's a little slow in the beginning, but it got a lot better when the wiener dog showed up.
It's vintage wiener bravery! We're naming this new friend to our Fierce List.

Heels and Buckeyes

From Bandit: Tonight's basketball game is really starting slowly for the Heels. Staffer Dad says the Heels are "cold as a wedge" and I don't want to know what that means. I still don't know what a Buckeye is, and I can't figure out why they've got my fave player Hansbrough "The Animal" befuddled under the basket. He's bigger than everyone and he's fierce. (As careful readers know, Fierce is our highest compliment.) He needs to just chill and take on the triple team. Kick it out!
As for the endless Jimmy V Week early in every basketball season: Ok he was Fierce in the end, but he's gone and it's time to play ball. And he coached for the Wolfpack. (At least it wasn't Duke.) Insult to injury. Move on. Go Heels.

Wags and kudos

Careful readers of our blog will recognize comments by our friend Bebe. She wrote an essay for Newsweek and it's really good. Aunt Allison sent us the the link.

She's worked hard over the years, and we love just about anything that's fierce. So she's made our annual Fierce List! (That's a good thing.)
Congrats Bebe!