I’m not quite sure how this happened, but Dachshund No. 5 has arrived at the ranch. They seem to slip in under cover of darkness, stealing hearts as they go (or, I should say, as they come). These Dachshunds are fast moving up to challenge the Labs as the largest number of any one breed at the sanctuary. At the moment the score is Labs 7, Dachshunds 5. The newest arrival is Belvie, a miniature Dachshund who came to us from the Kootenai Humane Society in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
I took this photo above of Belvie and Bailey this afternoon. The only way to get Belvie to sit still long enough for a photo was to have Alayne hold a squeaky-toy over my head … hence the intense look you’re seeing in those two faces. Bailey came out to have his photo taken because, well, he’s a camera hog. (His motto is, "Have camera, will appear.")
Belvie belonged to an elderly man who had to go into a nursing home. His toenails were so long they curled underneath his feet, and he was terribly skinny. (He’s still thin.) Belvie first went to a private rescuer, but he needed medical treatment for an abscess on his face and some dental work that this rescuer couldn’t afford, so he ended up at the Kootenai Humane Society. He was briefly adopted by a family in Missoula, but that didn’t work out, so back to the shelter he went.
The Missoula family felt bad about it and contacted us to see if we would be able to take him. In the meantime the shelter continued to try and find someone to adopt him, but didn’t have any success. So we agreed to take him, but only after Alayne had come down with a bad case of Dachshunditis and mumbled to me from her sickbed, "Well, jeez, what’s one more Dachshund anyway?" (Hmm.)
Belvie’s got the classic bad back problem that affects our other miniature Dachshunds. He can get around at an astonishing rate of speed, but swiveling and sashaying (is that a word?) as he goes. He has difficulty climbing up and down, and occasionally teeters over, but he’s not as compromised as Bailey by any means. The back problem, of course, affects his neurological capabilities, so he has the usual incontinence issue our other mini-Doxies have. (Please join us as we celebrate National Linoleum Appreciation Week.)
Belvie is obsessed with soft squeaky toys, just like our blind dog Goldie. Whenever we come into the house, he gets excited and grabs a toy and starts running in circles through the living room, around the kitchen and across the dining room, making a big loop through the house, squeaking as he goes. In this photo he couldn’t take it any longer and began barking at Alayne to demand that she finally … "finally, I tell you!" … give him that toy!
(Click on photos for larger image.)
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