Old Heidi has been with us for about 6-7 years. She came to us already 6 years old I’d guess. We rescued her from a family who could not keep her and had contacted a shelter to find her a home. We were looking for a companion for our daughter who is now 10. We were her 3rd family. So, she is getting up in her years at approximately 12-13 years old.

She has had quite a life. Her original owner was an elderly lady who fed her at the table and spoiled her rotten. Her second owner was a family with kids who got “too busy” for her and ended up crating her from 7 am to 8 pm at night and she was free in the house only as everyone slept. She was extremely obese when we got her from being fed canned food and from being crated all day.

So- we got her and put her on a diet which consisted of all the DRY food she wants- and lots of exercise and play outside. She slimmed down and learned to love being outside chasing critters.

After having her several years, we discovered her out in the yard paralyzed from her waist down. The vet said put her down, she had a 0% chance of pulling through. Instead, we made her a cart to hold her back end off the ground and carried her around for awhile to keep from getting sores. We gave her a couple anti-inflammatory shots. Weeks passed and she slowly, but surely, regained her feeling and eventually her mobility. She has always walked with a limp in her two back legs since then, a reminder of her paralysis.

In the last two winters we have thought she wouldn’t make it through the winter. She is graying all over and looking her age for sure. But, she keeps making it through and the warm weather is easier on her and she does better then. She seems to forget her stiffness momentarily when there is a critter to chase.

This fall, more than once we saw her standing in the middle of the road, blocking traffic, unaware she was doing so. We are the only ones on our road, so it’s not like there is a lot of traffic, but, we realized she can’t see or hear very well anymore.

This winter, she is very stiff. Her body almost looks contorted she is so stiff. In the morning she can’t walk right off- and drags her rear again and we wonder if she’ll be able to get her feet under her or not? After she warms up, she is able to sort of hop her legs around behind her but she doesn’t really move them independently anymore.

We invite her in the house whenever she wants- but she prefers outdoors and likes sleeping in the alfalfa in the shed in her spot. Well, this morning, I went out to check on her as it has been very cold. She barely could get up. She begged with her eyes and I carried her up to her food and water by the house. She refused her food and went to the front door and begged with her eyes to get in the house- which she NEVER does. You see, outside is where all the hunting and excitement is- inside never appealed to Heidi.

So, I brought her in and set her up with a bed and food and water in the house. I thought after she warms up, she won’t want in anymore and will start yapping like she does to go back out. A few hours later, no yapping, but I picked her up and brought her out to potty because it was that time. I set her down and she was hippity-hopping on the driveway and losing her grip on the ice and twisting sideways and sliding her back end around on the ice. She would hop her legs back under her and try again, barely able to control her own hind end. I think she is losing feeling in her rear, because as she hippity-hopped, she pottied and she didn’t even know. She hadn’t even found her “spot” yet on the lawn.

I watched her in the window for 5 minutes struggle outside and head for her hay in the shed, pause 1/3 of the way there, then turn around and come back to the door and beg with her eyes to let her in again. She NEVER begs for me to let her in except on the occasion of thunder and lighting or fireworks because, because, like I said, all the excitement for her is outside. She loves digging holes, hunting up squirrels and mice, and being, well, a Dachshund! She is more Dachshund than any Dachshund I’ve ever known.

It’s heartbreaking to see her give that up and want in the house- because that isn’t who she is. I have never put a dog down before. I have hoped and prayed she would die in her sleep in her “spot” sometime outside- die naturally, peacefully. I don’t want to have to be the one to decide, but I also don’t want her suffering and in pain. At what point do you give up? Or do you ever give up?

What do you do with an old girl like Heidi?

Franny keeps falling into the little gap between our chainlink kennel in the backyard and the retaining wall. We weren’t sure if she was being foolish or what the deal was. Everyone else manages to stay out of it. We have put rocks in the place where the dogs could climb in to keep them from doing so- but it wasn’t working for Franny.

Well…..l we figured out what was going on the other day on our twice daily “dookie patrol.” Guinny and Franny love to wrestle and play. Apparently, Guin has outsmarted her sister. She wrestles Franny strategically over to the place where you can fall in, leading her over there with a tumble here and there…. then she backs Franny up to the hole all the while putting on the act of playing around- and SHOVES HER IN!!! We have now seen her do this twice!! What a nice sister huh?

Poor Franny is gullible everytime and she is no match to her ever growing sister. I think Guinny is looking more like a walrus than a Dachshund these days. She is just down right huge. She knows some pretty good wrestling moves too- so don’t mess with Guin.

Well, I started a new tradition— or bad habit— whatever you want to call it. When I cook pancakes, I cook an extra one for each dog who is in the house that morning. I put butter and syrup on it (REAL maple syrup mind you), cut it up, and put each dog’s pancake on his or her own plate. Then, they all have breakfast on the kitchen floor and they all are learning to eat their own and not take anyone else’s pancake just because they are slower. Sophie, who has a hard time eating off a plate with her flat face, gets hers fed to her off a fork. She’s the little princess in the family so it’s only fitting anyway.

Now, some people would think I am nuts….but I think it’s so cute when they start getting crazy and excited when they smell me cooking pancakes!! They all hover around and KNOW what they are about to get. If Thomas chucks a piece to the floor while they wait- all the better!!

My Mom and step Dad used to do this with our dogs growing up. I couldn’t break tradition now could I?

Well, for our Brussels people, Sophie is due to have puppies February 8th with Oscar. They ought to have rough coat reds and belges.

For our mini Dachshund lovers, Millie is due February 18th with Charlie. They should have black and tans, chocolate and tans and wildboars in wirehairs- maybe a smooth, but mostly if not all wirehairs.

Tootsie and Muffin are both in season now, so we have more to come- they will have puppies late February or early March.

We aren’t yet sure about Pixie, the chihuahua. Time will tell if she is expecting or not. She should start showing soon if she is.

Life is going to get crazy again here at Gallagher Farm! It’s been a long break for us. I’m excited to have puppies again! Keep checking back for updates and of course, I will post puppy pictures right after they are born!!

Thanks for checking in with us- I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you and your four legged family members have a great Christmas!!

We will have many updates on our website after Christmas! The picture above is Tootsie, the famous Brussels Griffon!! (Sophie and King’s baby)

It’s been a long time since I posted it seems like.

Well, Sophie is bred to Oscar several times now. So hopefully, she’ll be having puppies in February!! After the false alarms on Izzy and Maggie, we are ready for some puppies! It’s been a long break between puppies for us. It was a nice break because they are a lot of work, but we are ready to go again!

Millie is just now in season. She’ll be bred next week to Charlie, that is, if he passes his exam. After two missed girls, we have to make sure his boys can swim, if you know what I mean.

We tried having Pixie bred, but we are not sure if she is. Time will tell if we can also expect some little chi’s soon.

Sophie is due Feb 8th. Millie will be due somewhere around Valentine’s Day. I’ll post a due date for her once she is actually bred.

We will have Tootsie and Muffin in season next, probably sometime in December for March babies. Then we’ll have Maggie, then Izzy again. So we’ll be booked up with puppies from February until June. It will be a BUSY spring at Gallagher Farm!

We are just trying to keep warm during this Kansas winter. We enjoy seeing the photos come in. Tootsie’s puppy, Allie, sent us a letter and dog bones and BBQ sauce the other day. It was so cute and we are both enjoying our treats! I hope you all have a great holiday and thanks for checking in at Gallagher Farm.

The excitement is just beginning again!!

We did a doggy spa yesterday since it was over 80 outside and we didn’t have to blow dry. I groomed them all outside and let the hair blow away in the leaves! They are all ready for winter. I’m glad we got another summer blast before winter because I wasn’t feeling well during the last one- that I thought would be our last nice weather of the year.

Izzy has steadily gained 1/2 to 2 ounces daily the last few days. I’d say that is definitely a good sign she is pregnant. I am so excited to see what she is going to have. I am afraid she won’t be having many. I may not be able to tell if Charlie carries piebald- I am dying to know if carries piebald! If she doesn’t have many puppies and none are piebald, we’ll have to wait until later to know. Charlie has tons of piebald in the 5th and 6th generation back. It’s a gene that often carries far, so we are hopeful!

We have had Bree, my friend’s Brussels Griff girl, here for a few days now. She has been bred by Oscar. I guess Oscar is NOT a dud stud! We weren’t sure when he wouldn’t breed the girls last time! He must have just been too young. I love Oscar- he is my baby. He loves me the best. I hope Bree has a lovely litter for Cherry. I can’t wait to see Oscar’s babies.

Oh I just love this weather- it makes me want to move where it’s 70 and 80 all the time. This weather is easy to have animals in. They aren’t too hot or too cold. I wish it’d last! But, the cold is on it’s way….

Pixie, our chihuahua, is the funniest dog. She is potty pad trained, so she roams the house free all the time whether we are home or not. At night, the kids say they hear her pitter-pattering in and out of their room collecting things they leave on the floor. Every morning her bed is full of treasure. Her all time favorite is underwear and socks. Her other favorite is a pair of Billy Bob teeth from the convenience store that she LOVES. She walks around with them hanging out of her mouth. We let her have those now because after being in her mouth all the time, nobody else wants to wear them. She is a crack up. Every morning I come down the stairs and she says, “RaaaaaaaaAAAAaaaaaaaar.” It’s sort of a yawn and a hello in chi-language. She does it almost every single morning.

Every morning I inspect her bed and have to confiscate doggie contraband. She has hoards of toys, but that doesn’t matter. She likes junk better. She would be a good street urchin dog. She is fast at stealing and hides things well. She will steal bits of food that hit the floor and when she is full, she hides them under the pillow of her bed for later. After a night of stealing and dragging things halfway across the house, she will sleep amidst all her junk. This morning I found the following- and this is in addition to several toys and bones she is allowed to have:

1 bookmark
1 blue Lego seat
1 small plastic gun (for self defense?)
a ziplock bag (she snatched it right out of the drawer when someone opened it yesterday)
a spanish flashcard (is she trying to teach herself her native tongue?)
a raw potato (she stole it from the pantry when nobody was looking yesterday)

This is just a typical morning here. I just thought you might think it’s humorous. Maybe I’ll post what she is caught with from time to time. The funny thing is she doesn’t chew anything up. She loves Willy’s crocs and you’d think a dog would shred them in no time- but she doesn’t- she hoards things, but she doesn’t destroy anything.

We sure get a lot of laughs from Pixie.

November 4th

I have had my needed break from puppies and I am ready to go again! I can’t wait for Izzy to have puppies. At this point, Izzy shows many signs of pregnancy, but she is not very big. I am thinking she is only having a couple of puppies. She has 18 days left and a lot can happen in 18 days. I was hoping for a bigger fatter belly at this point so I could say with absolute certainty that she is pregnant! Maggie tricked us last time and I don’t want that again!

I am looking to see some girth in the next week or so to prove to us 100% that she is pregnant! I have two people anxiously awaiting her puppies and I don’t want any disappointments! I sure wish pregnancy tests for dogs were an option. I would run around the yard and catch her pee on a stick. I hate waiting and waiting to find out- I am not a patient person by nature.

Mandy finally went to her new home a couple of days ago. She has a chocolate Min Pin, Nestle, as her bed buddy and friend. They play and sleep together. We sure miss her. The kids got attached to her after having her here so much longer than the rest. The only consolation was that we can see her whenever we want!

When Mandy went to her new home, we brought back Bree to be bred to Oscar. So she is visiting here until she gets bred and then we’ll bring her back to her home. Bree and Guinevere are becoming fast friends.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying the fall. I love fall. The only thing I don’t like about fall is that winter is on it’s heels and I HATE winter! More later….

October 16th

Well I am finally getting the “Past Puppies” section of our website done. For all of those who have sent me pictures, thank you! Those that haven’t, I’d love some to show off! Have a look around at it- the 8 week old puppy pictures are clickable to photos sent back to me from their new owners. We love seeing them in their new homes and we love the funny stories you tell us. This way I can share those photos with everyone else that looks at our website.

Izzy is looking more and more pregnant to me. I won’t make the call for sure on it until I see some more weight gain and a big belly after Maggie tricked us last time. I am so excited for her litter I can’t stand it. We are going to miss the family Thanksgiving dinner this year to be with her! We will have to make our own turkey here at home. She is due November 22nd. There will be no way to got to dinner this year. Hopefully she won’t be whelping ON Thanksgiving! In that case, it’ll be pizza.

We went to a dog show Sunday afternoon. Hannah and I are anxious to start showing. Guinevere will be our first show prospect. She is a beautiful red standard Dachshund girl. I will have her photos up on the website soon. Guinevere is a beauty. The Dachshund people will groan when they see her coming into the ring. She is a shoe in for the win. We are starting ring training with her now.

Well we just have Mandy here now. She will go to her new home in a week or so. She is with Penny, our piebald puppy we picked up Sunday. I traded my friend Mandy for Penny and Hazel. Mandy was forlorn after her siblings left, so we got Penny a few days early so she could have a friend. They are doing well together. Penny’s photos will be up on the site soon too.

Thanks for following the news here at Gallagher Farm!