A new perch!

We didn't think the staff would let us go without a place to nap, but we were unprepared for the way-cool pillow they brought us. It has a warm side and a cool one. It's fat and feels firm on our backs. It's Great!
We slept for 3 straight hours on it just to make sure it was the right one. We still miss Green Pillow's homey smell, but we'll get this one just right over time. Oh yeah.

R.I.P. Green Pillow

So this is how it ends.
We run into the room, and it's gone. Our dear Green Pillow.

It's true. It had lost its padding, cushioning for our backs. But it was still our safe place to run when we were in trouble. The staff always promised we'd never suffer consequences of our mischief if we ran to Green Pillow and stayed for a bit. We used it well.
The round mound has been our spot to view the world: We've welcomed new kittens, old friends and good parties. From there, we've cheered the Heels to championships, the Cardinals to the World Series and watched Serena take on Venus and line judges.
It's a warm place where we've snoozed for many, many hours on cold, rainy days.
And best of all, nothing in this world smelled like our friend, Green Pillow. And that is probably why it is now gone.

Rest in peace, Green Pillow.

Cold weather blues

We're not sure why it's cold outside, but we can attest that is and has been very cold. It's so cold the staff won't even make us stay out for our normal time in the evenings before bedtime. Staffer Mom says no beast should be out in this weather, and we're OK with that. We did suggest she let the Willis and his deer friends in the house, and she refused to consider it.
Maggie got a science lesson, too. Bandit remembers living in Kentucky where it stayed cold a lot. He said that pee will crack when it hit the cold stone outside the door, and it will! We've tried it several times now and so Staffer Mom says we have to go all the way off the walk before we can pee now. That's probably for the best anyway since the grass doesn't seem so cold.
It needs to get warm soon. We can only amuse ourselves in this cold for so long.

Home again, and the truth about Kitten

Whew.
It's been a wild week or so, and we're happy to be home with Green Pillow and our fave food bowls. It was a nice time, though. We met a new puppy friend, Gilmour. Our staff spent a bit more time than we thought was appropriate, but he did seem sweet enough.

When we got home, we found Kitten had just taken over.
He's a pain in our hides, and we're really very tired of his getting to be anywhere he wants and going places we're never allowed. We're posting a couple examples to prove the situation.

1- The Christmas tree. Yes, it was supposed to stand upright, and yes, the staff did decorate it. Staffer Mom was not amused.
2- Kitten in OUR laundry room. Note to selves: Find a way to get Staffer Dad to shut the lid. Even if we're too short to turn on the washer, he can sit in there for a bit and reflect on his behavior.

Many holiday miles

We've gotten some miles on us over the past weeks -- been through four different states in the limo, but the staff's avoided Alabama for once so that's a plus.

(Careful readers know Maggie's a 'Bama native, so we can't be too harsh. But, when she has particularly impertinent days, Bandit's fond of saying "You can take the girl out of Phenix City......")

Anyway, we had a very nice visit with grandma, Aunt Audrey and Cousin Ellen in NC. Ellen is pretty cool because she's got a long dog, too, named Duncan. It's a Corgi, and we accept those as extended family. (Extended...get it?)

Now we're at the beach. It's raining, so that makes the walks a bit shorter because Staffer Dad doesn't like water on his head and he can't handle us and an umbrella. The beach trip was nice -- we got to stop at our fave walk area at the Osceola Forest. We stopped once other time at Staffer Mom's fave truck stop near Tallahassee (good coffee). That was the best! We found gum in the parking lot near the car. Staffer Mom wasn't very happy about that, but it was good stuff. Peppermint, maybe.

It might clear off tomorrow, so we'll be walking more. It's been windy here, and we saw some overturned trash cans down the street. Score!

Holiday fun

We can tell it's nearly Christmas because the staff's dragging out the holiday boxes and stuff. They also keep leaving the Santa and Elf costumes for us out where we can see them. Like that's going to make us put them on.
Staffer Mom put a Holly Elf collar on Kitten the other night -- he even acted like he liked it. What a suck-up! We had to give him a bit of respect later when he took the Santa hat and hid it under the bed. He was right -- she was going to try that on him next.
Yesterday the staff hung wreaths on the windows and doors. Today they put out poinsettias in the house where we can't get to them (no fun there) and it looks like they are about to drag in a tree.
We've already told Kitten how much fun it is to climb a fully decorated Christmas tree and bite the lights. He seems excited about the possibility.
Was that wrong?

Thanksgiving reading

We've been doing a lot of reading this weekend -- Grandma was here, and she played with us a lot, but she also was gone shopping a lot, too. The blogosphere is amazing right now. Our buddies Joey and Maggie over at The Long and Short of It are posting terrific stuff constantly. Who knew Gypsy Rose Lee had a dachshund? We were thrilled to find out!
They also posted the classic scene -- Staffer Dad's absolute fave -- from Pink Panther..."Does your dog bite?" If you've seen it, you know. And the Dachshund Dude's Twitter feed keeps us hopping! If you tweet, check him out.

We found this blog, too. It seems appropriate, and we feel like turkeys for not mentioning Thanksgiving. We're thankful for a lot of stuff, and we should say it.

We're thankful for Staffers Mom and Dad, Grandma, moles, green pillow, popcorn, our great aunts and uncles, Ernie (not Kitten), computers, our blogger buddies, plastic monkey, warm blankies and snackies.
It's time we said it.

A break, sharing staff and pirates

We spent a week at the spa -- and yes, there was a bit of trickery involved. Maggie ended up getting some dental work and Bandit got a few needles. Nothing big -- turns out he's just getting old. All that said, the treats there were good, so we really didn't have any complaints. The staff needed a break from us, so it all worked out.

The last few weeks have been all right. It's getting darker earlier, so we don't get as much good dig time in the evenings. The kitten is bigger now, and he's a lot more annoying. He keeps trying to sleep in our beds and pushing his toys under furniture and turning on the sad eyes so the staff will rush to his aid. We're really not sure where our staff became his staff. What's with that?

We think Staffer Mom's been feeling a little bad about all of this. Today, she's letting us watch all three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, so it's a pretty fair trade at this point. Maggie loves Johnny Depp, and the undead monkey gets raves from Bandit.

Ok. We're at the spa.

The staff took us to the spa the other day and they haven't returned yet. We don't think they are abandoning us here, but there are worse places. Last time we were here, we got shots and some good treats. This time the staff here is playing with us, let's us talk to them and gives us our meals ON TIME.
Maggie's a bit concerned it's a trick. Bandit says it's a good gig and we should just roll with it.
Truthfully, we miss our staffers, but we'd rather be stuck here with Dr. Carla and Dr. Miranda...they know us and there's no way they'd trick us. Right?

Slinky Dog gets his due

It's taken three movies, and finally Slinky Dog gets top billing in the next "Toy Story" movie. The poster proves it.

For years, that cowboy who talks like Tom Hanks and those other stupid toys have dominated the screen time in "Toy Story." Finally, our kind gets some appreciation. And he's been around a long time -- the first Slinky Dog goes back to the '50s, or before our staff was even born. We think the voice of Slinky Dog was better when Jim "Ernest" Varney did it, but we'll like the new guy OK.

Want to update your education on Slinky Dog? Here's the Wikipedia entry.

Behave or get busted

We've been reading some this week and wanted to share some of what we found.

Here's a story about a wiener friend who had to be rescued while being rescued. You've got to give her props for making everyone focus on her for a bit. We're glad she's not hanging out on the airfield anymore, and we hope she and her pup found a good home.

Also, here's this interesting blog we found the other day. We thought it was pretty funny. Up to a point.
No biting.

This has to stop

With the racing season over, we're back to our normal lives -- or what used to be normal before the kitten came.
He's growing up and thinks he one of us. It's a real pain. He's everywhere.
Last night, he slept between us on our blankies in the bedroom, and now he's trying to take over green pillow in the den. He has tons of toys all over the house, and now this.

How do we convince him he's got to earn a spot with us? Any suggestions? We don't want to resort to biting.

People who love wiener dogs are the best

Staffer Mom's gotten a lot of good notes since the race from dachshunds and their staffers who were there. Lots of people and dogs had fun, and that's what matters.

One family drove from Maryland and wanted her to know how much fun they had on the trip and during the race. They say they'll be back next year.
Another family drove from across the state and said they loved the city and the race, too.

One wiener's staffer helped out another couple by sitting outside with the wieners while the couple went in to a restaurant for a nice lunch. The couple appreciated her kindness so much, they bought her a lunch gift certificate.

And that's our point: Wiener dogs and their staffers have special bonds only other wieners and staffers understand. And that's that.

Racin' on the Savannah River

The staff has returned with tales of another great Savannah Wiener Dog Race on River Street. There's no better way to celebrate Octoberfest on the River!
More than 130 wieners racing and lots of great people there to watch. Wow!

We're sorry we missed it, but the staff showed us the video and some photos and that's all good.
Here are the Savannah Morning News links for the photo gallery and video so you can watch, too.

We're going to go watch the staff drink a beer. There won't be a video for that.

The lost art of supervision

From Bandit: So today, Staffer Mom came home and got me -- I knew it had to be important. She needed help. The folks were setting up the Savannah Wiener Race track and they needed guidance.
Boy, did they.
Only a real dachshund can show humans how to set up a decent race track.

Darn glad I was available. (Maggie wasn't allowed to go....and she would've been a pain in the butt anyway. A construction site is no place for a princess.)


So I ended up spending my afternoon on River Street in Savannah directing the construction of the race track for tomorrow 's wiener races. I really don't know what they were thinking -- they nearly forgot the whole finish-line fence, and they totally didn't remember to push the gates up so they wouldn't drag in the grass on the start.
But I reminded them, and it's pretty smooth now.

The photos are of the construction, and the last one is of me sitting in the middle of the track testing it for traction and quick paw release. It's a good track.

We're looking forward to a fast day!

A couple days....

The running of the wieners is only a few days away. We're really excited, and we're holding hope for a change of heart from the staff. They've told us we can't go, but we think they'll relent and take us.
The field is set late Friday -- gates, tables, tents, stage and the track. We really want to be able to go. What do you all think?

Gearing up for the race?

It's only 8 days until the Savannah Wiener Dog Races, so Staffer Mom went out today to scout the course.
She reports good track conditions, slightly damp grass, but well-maintained.
Here's a photo from our point of view so you racers will know what to expect:


If the mowing is fresh and there's no rain within 12 hours of the race, we expect a fast track.
We hear the field is growing daily now, with at least 3 dozen already entered and more to come. Remind you staff: Pre-registration closes on Oct. 1. If you pre-register, there's more time to play!

Get ready. We're in the countdown.

About that Waving Girl statue....

It's time for us to remind all of you about the Savannah Wiener Dog Races coming up in October.
They'll be in downtown Savannah on River Street near the Waving Girl statue on Oct. 3....you can pre-register to run at this link. Preregistration is better because you can get through the line faster and play more!

The location is a terrific one -- cool grass to play in and lots of breeze. But, there's only one problem: We've realized the dog sculpture with the Waving Girl is NOT a dachshund.
It's got a decent snout on it, but its ears are all wrong.
If it didn't look so much like Lassie, we'd really complain. (Careful readers know how much we love Lassie.)

And yes, we've been told the statues are based on real beings but it just doesn't seem appropriate now that the annual wiener run is such an important part of Savannah's Octoberfest. We think they should at least add a new dog friend for Waving Girl. The other one can stay, but there really should be a wiener dog there, too.

Staffer Mom says things change slowly in Savannah and if things got changed out for reasons of appropriateness and reality then Waving Girl would be holding a beer in a 16-ounce foam cup instead of a towel or whatever it is she's waving.
We like to think she's signaling for another beer.

A bizarre time of upsets

Ok, so first Venus lost at the U.S. Open, and then Roddick lost and things were bad. We did like Melanie Oudin and enjoyed having Cljisters back. And Roger -- we're sorry. You're a decent human.

And then there was Serena. Good grief! Bandit was really annoyed at how the announcers were shocked, shocked at it all -- he's a fan of McEnroe and Connors and knows they got away with more. And he was impressed at the warped racquet. Wow. that would hurt. He doesn't approve of Serena's behavior at all -- after all, he says the poor person was just doing her job, albeit badly.

Maggie, on the other paw, is glad someone's finally taken a cue from her. Serena
just went "all Maggie" on that poor lineswoman. Maggie thought it was funny, and still thinks Serena went easy on her.

We both agree that if they had dachshunds as line judges, none of this crap would happen. Let the Labs and other retrievers be ball kids, and let us do the real stuff. Guaranteed the calls would be accurate -- after all, who's closer to the line? Wiener dogs or humans? Get real.

Interloper

So tonight, Staffer Dad was taking care of a few things out on the carport (it's hot and we were napping). We hear him talking outside, and we realize we're not out there, Ernie and Skeeter aren't out there and Staffer Mom is checking her FaceBook stuff. Who is he talking to?
He finally came in for a minute and we look out the window and see ANOTHER DOG! WTH?
(We learned WTH from Staffer Mom's phone....sometimes it has an H, sometimes not...we're still figuring that out...)

Anyway, IT'S ANOTHER DOG! Some kind of spaniel retriever thing. And, IT OPENED THE DEN DOOR AND CAME IN! Again, WTH?
Staffer Mom started yelling at it; Skeeter ran; and Maggie hid her duck toy from it and glared. Of course, Bandit was the most polite -- he just walked up and greeted it. We weren't sure what to do, so I guess our genuine natures just came out.

It's now back outside. Drama's over. We hear it outside, and we think it's lost. We're really sorry for that. But it can't come in anymore. Maggie can't sit on the duck toy all night. That would hurt.

We're fans

Careful readers will know we're pretty big tennis fans. Labor Day weekend has brought us a new tennis star to follow: Melanie Oudin. She's gritty and stubborn, just like a good dachshund. And, she's still a winner at the U.S. Open, and we're glad for that.
What's been bothering us through her matches are the announcers who seem to think Marietta, Ga., is some backwater place where kids only can hit tennis balls up against their garage doors.
Can someone please give Enberg and McEnroe a trip to the ATL so they can see it's not exactly Rincon or Ellaville? We've been to all of those places on car rides, so we can compare appropriately. Maybe they should go on a car ride with us just once....we bet Johnny Mac won't be making fun of Georgia again.

Long weekends are for long dogs

We love those long holiday weekends humans get. While it is troublesome that the staff stays underfoot for the whole time, they do let us run around the house more than usual. The biggest problem is Staffer Mom thinks those weekends are for "projects" and "cleaning."
Hanging around her is pretty risky when she's in full focus, and you never know what's going to come flying -- today it was old boxes and a bunch of paper used to wrap stuff when you move. She found a box she thought needed to be liberated, so we decided to stay out of her way and watched the U.S. Open instead. We really love Sharapova, but we like Oudin, too. So, we'll be cheering for Oudin on Monday, and we hope Maria's feeling OK.
Tomorrow: The Williams Sisters. Excellent.

'Bye Chanel

Today's inspiring dachshund story comes from NYC, where Chanel the wire-haired dachshund had her last day. Many of you may remember the world's oldest dog is a dachshund, and she is now gone. Here's her final story.

One other thing to note on that page: Friday is Take Your Dog to Work Day. Sadly, we don't think our staff will let us go with them.

Digging, sniffing and a bath all in a weekend

The title of today's blog pretty much sums up our weekend. We did a lot of snoozing, too, but felt more strongly about the other three. Staffer Dad took Bandit on a ride to the gas station, so that was big, too.
We spent the rest of the afternoon checking in on the Wiener Nationals -- lots of prep and great dogs were running. Here's the link to one of our favorite blogs where they've posted lots of reports, photos and videos.
Don't forget: The Savannah Wiener Dog Races are coming soon!
Happy Wiener Weekend!

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 know, we know!

It's been awhile. Really a month and a half or so, it just feels like a long time. (Maggie, right, slept through it all.)

There's been a lot of digging, mud and raccoon break-ins. The staff's been keeping us busy since they took vacation, and the raccoon(s) out back are still breaking into the porch on random nights to eat our dog food. It's annoying, but we do get to help clean up by snarfing up a lot of the spilled food.

Vacation snooze

We've been due for some time out after having to deal with the kitten for a few weeks. The staff obliged this weekend.
They took us to our favorite place: the beach.

We've spent most of our time wisely, sleeping, walking and watching Wimbledon. Aunt Jenn has been around to run us through some Yoga practice -- we prefer the term Doga, but whatever. At left, you'll see a move Maggie likes to call Downward Facing Dog Facing Dog.

Today, we get to chase birds off the deck!

Raccoons ate our food

A few weeks ago, the staff got the bright idea to get new containers for our canine cuisine. The stackable bins would sit on the back porch, and they'd be convenient each morning and night for the staff to get our dinner to us faster. And, they'd be out of the house and away from Ernie's prying paws.

Then the staff noticed odd things moved each morning on the porch, and our brunch munch started disappearing. And, our water dishes were nasty each morning. Two days ago, the staff used bungee cords to hold the lids shut on the food bins. The next morning, dog food was everywhere on the porch.

This could only mean one thing: The raccoon family had returned. Apparently, they've been coming in each night, grabbing a free Science Diet dinner and washing it in our water bowls.

So now the cool food bins are sitting in the middle of the house, and Staffer Mom's trying to make the latch on the back porch work again. That's not going to help. We're pretty sure the masked bandits are coming in and leaving through Ernie's cat door.

Should we tell them, or let Ernie take the fall? Tough call.

NOT BILLY MAYS!

(Sorry for the screaming headline, but we thought it might be appropriate.)

Just yesterday we were yelling at the kitten to get away from the TV while the Billy Mays ESPN commercial was on.
We liked Billy -- he improved our quality of life when he convinced Staffer Mom to buy OxiClean. She was able to clean up after us faster and better and that kept us from getting in trouble so much. We tested his pitch about stains from spilled wine, and it works. However, Staffer Mom's never letting us get near a full wine glass again.
RIP, Billy.

Kittens and tennis don't mix

We've discovered we have common ground with the kitten -- he apparently likes tennis. Too much so, if you ask us. He won't get out of the way. Because everyone lets him play with everything, he thinks he can play at Wimbledon, too. He's also developed an affinity for Andy Roddick.



Today was our first full day of watching Wimbledon this year. Staffer Mom was good enough to leave the TV on for us while the staff was doing other things.
Now we've got to figure out how to keep the kitten away from the TV. Bandit thinks we should just be patient. When kitten starts that crap when "Law&Order" is on, the staff will take care of the whole problem.

'Bye Michael

You may not realize it, but we are real music lovers. And we can sing -- we'll make a video for you some time.

Bandit's a real fan of Michael Jackson, because one time Michael came to Pensacola for several weeks while Bandit was young and he remembers the craziness. Michael ate flowers and went shopping a lot at an antique mall where Staffer Mom found a lot of dachshund stuff.

Maggie's too young to remember the good performances, but Staffer Mom made her watch "Thriller" one night on the 25th anniversary of it -- the whole thing. Long version. She does appreciate it all more, but thinks the whole moonwalk thing is stupid.

Neither of us really understood the nose job thing. We love our snouts and think everyone should. We can't understand why he wasn't happy with his own snout.
All that said, we hope he's happy now and dancing a lot.