Fun & Frolic - August 4, 2009

This is Cedar here and it's my first post since taking over the blog for Dasher. He's loving his new home with his uncle Fred and his friend Ginger. Dasher and Fred came to stay at Island house for about 10 days last month while Auntie Tamara and Uncle Kevin went on vacation. We had loads of fun and we missed them when they went home. Dasher says when Kevin introduces him to their friends he says "This is Ginger, this is Fred and this is Fred's dog Dasher." Mom about wet her pants laughing when she heard that. But it's probably true - those boys wrestle and chew toys all day long. Now Auntie Tamara has to pick up the fluffy guts from the toys that Dasher disembowels.

Leisl's puppies are just over 7 weeks old and have had their shots. That's the fun part because now they are allowed to go play outside and have visitors. Dolly, Elektra and I babysit for them when they are outside. They usually mob me right away and then we run around and play chase.
They love to wrestle and bite and often beat up on Dolly and I but it's all good fun. We love to take care of them and make sure they stay clean, which can be a real challenge as they move fast and run through everything, even poo.















Nana Kathy is away for a bit, so mom is babysitting for her doggies. They miss her lots and so do we, especially Kate. She misses Nana bringing in the dog laundry in the morning with a few kibbles tucked inside. We all hunt through the blankets like we're tracking bunnies, looking for any stray piece of food that got left behind. Nana had to run to Montana and drop little Maggie off at the Tekelwood farm and then is off to visit family in Utah. We're getting part of a cow in September - well just the meat and chew bones - so here's a picture of Dinner Bell.

Stay cool amigos,

Cedar

New Beginnnings - July 13, 2009

Well, I've spent some time off and on at my Uncle Fred's place and have decided it beats living with a bunch of girls. We wrestle all the time and get rowdy. Auntie Tamara said I could come live there so I've decided to take her up on it. She took us to the local Earthdog trial this last Saturday and this is us after. Fred worked real hard to race in to the hole then breathed on the rats, fiercely. My granny Mitzi used to do that, but now she barks like the judges want, and had 2 legs of her Master level finished. As for me, I chickened out at the entrance. I'm just not sure I'm ready to go into that dark hole - unless there's liver or cheese at the end. The rats are just not enough of an enticement yet, but maybe later. My mommy dog, Elektra hasn't tried it yet, but she does bark at birds bunnies and kites.

Marti and Tessa were here for a few days and they had fun in the wild winds of Whidbey, flying the kites and watching Elektra and Cedar chase them. They couldn't figure out what their facination was with the whizzing bits of cloth, but Elektra wanted to kill them every time they hit the ground. Maybe it was the spinning tails or just the whirring and flapping noise that they made. Either way, she injured Marti's kite and it had to have a quick duct tape repair before setting aloft again.

Momma Terri, Daddy Mike and the Sahlin's spent this last Saturday paying their respects at the traveling wall up in Bellingham. No, they aren't joining a biker gang. This was the group of motorized patriots and veterans, that met at the rest stop north of Bowe Edison and rode as a memorial group up to the park in Bellingham for a ceramony and an hororary slaute ride past the wall and the 4 mounted pannels that held dog tags commemorating those lost in the current Iraqi conflict.
Iraqi Conflict dogtags commemorating Operation Enduring Freedom.












Waiting to pay our repsects to the memorials and the fallen heros they represent.









Making the ride.












Whatever your politics, mom thinks we should put it aside and remember that heros are fighting in a foreign country, away from their families, so we can keep our freedoms and to defend those of others. We strive to always remember them.

Since I'm hanging with Fred and Ginger now at Auntie Tamara and Uncle Kevin's, Cedar will be taking over the Diary. I'll still keep her posted on what I do and visit island house when I can. In the mean time, have an awesome summer.

Dash

Dachshunds Rule - July 1, 2009

Been on vacation, but mom made this great slide show for you. More later.

Dash

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Easter Basket - April 14, 2009

This post is very late, because mom's been busy and I'm down in Bellevue with dad, so I couldn't remind her. Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We didn't have an egg hunt, the weather was too ugly up on the island. Mom wanted to dye the puppies pastel colors before putting them in the basket, but Nana Kathy said "No way!" She tried to colorize them in her photo software, but it wasn't the same and in the end, they settled for this. It is cute though. I'm sure you're wondering where the other three are - mom couldn't get eight in the basket. This is Connor, Houdini, Abby, Bunny and Maggie. It took about 50 shots, to get this one - they wiggle around so. The whole litter are over achievers. They have already started trying to walk and sit up and they are drinking goat's milk out of a bowl already. Mom didn't let me have that stuff until I was 5 weeks old and these guys are only 3 weeks today. Sheesh, some people's children. Oh well, I'll try to tell you all about my adventures with dad when I get back. He's taking me to a field trial this weekend. Hope I see some bunnies.

Later,
Dash

Photo Shoot - April 1, 2009

The weather is really crappy. It's your typical Seattle area spring - rain, rain and more rain. The down side is, we're stuck inside. I could go out in the yard, but why, it's mostly mud right now and mom would just make me wipe my feet when I come in. I hate it when she wipes my feet.

Mom snuck out to Nana Kathy's tailer this morning and snagged a picture of the new babies. They were a week old yesterday, and mom and Nana are obsessed with their weight. You'd think they were ballet dancers or wrestlers or something. Anyway, I guess they're all getting enough to eat because everybody has put on a few ounces since they were born - even the smallest guy, Houdini.


Mom and Nana decided today would be a good day to photograph everyone, so of course we were all relegated to the kitchen behind the x-pen. Elektra and Ganny Mitzi are obsessed with the babies and all they want to do is clean them - go figure. Anyway, we watched while this little sqirmers got their first portraits done. It was quite the production. I felt like we were hanging out at some photo shoot for a magazine or something.


Mom thought you would all like to get a good look, so here they are in the order of their birth - Connor, Mirage, Abby, Bunny, Preston, Maggie, Trixie and Houdini (Harry). I'll try to keep you updated as they grow. Hopefully it won't be too long before they're running around. Maybe they can help me beat up Cedar and Dolly.

Later,

Dash

Island Life - March 29, 2009

This was the crew on moving day. We finally moved up to island house permanently the first week of February after mom got laid off from her job. There was no reason for her to stay in Bellevue, so up we went. She and dad spent 3 days with a moving truck running back and forth and we were stuck "behind bars" so they could leave the doors open to move the couches and stuff in and out. All in all, it wasn't a bad experience and now we get to hang out in the country. The coolest thing, is the quiet and lack of city lights. Mom says it's darker than the inside of her head, but it makes for a wonderful view of the heavens. The whole milky way is sprayed across the sky, like paint splatters on black velvet and the frogs sing to us every night.

We have a new computer room too, with a view of the pond. There's plenty of room under the desks for our special dog bed and Cedar even gets special treatment sometimes. Nana Kathy lets her sit on her desk in a tiny bed and covers her with a blanket.


Watching the weather come in over the Straits of Juan de Fuca has become a wonderful novelty. The cloud formations are so awesome and make some of the most interesting shapes and colors across the canvas outside the windows. Winter keeps cropping up whenever it feels the urge, and though today is sunny and bright, the pond looked like this just 2 weeks ago. It makes life exciting and different. Mom says, "It sure beats sitting in traffic on 148th." Whatever that is.


















Despite the peacefulness of island house, we have had some excitement in the last week. This is Maddie. She's very pregnant in this picture and, like all of us, loves to sit in the sun and bake on the cement of the car port.

This last Tuesday, she went in to labor and gave birth to eight puppies. Mom and Nana Kathy helped her of course and she had the job done in just over three hours. The rest of us were stuck "behind bars" in the kitchen, but it was better that way. I didn't want to see that yuky stuff anyway. Elektra was all worked up, she kept wanting to lick the puppies and help keep them warm. I don't see what the big deal is, they're too little to play with anyway. There were five girls and three boys - six creams and two black and cream. The puppies have all gained weight and are very healthy. I can hardly wait until they're about 5 weeks old and big enough to chase around the yard.


















Well, we gotta go and unload some stuff off the trailer. Mom made a trip down to Bellevue yesterday to bring back the washer and dryer. I'll leave you with another wonderful Whidbey sunset.

Later,
Dash

"Oh, Canada" - January 26, 2009

Well, I got to visit a foreign country. Some people don't think about Canada that way, since it's "attached", but I thought it was interesting. Mom and Nana Kathy took me, Elektra, Maddie, Lisel, and my uncle BJ up to the Ladies Kennel Club show this last weekend. It was my first indoor show and only my 5th time in the ring. I couldn't beat uncle BJ - he's pretty good looking - but the judge did give me the Reserve Winners ribbon on Saturday over 2 other dogs, so I guess that's pretty good. I just liked the liver mom had in her pocket. Maddie made it to the breed ring on Saturday and uncle BJ on Sunday. Mom took him in for Nana and they made the first cut - the top six dogs. Nana was pretty happy about that, but he didn't place in the end.

The indoor ring was way different. It was at a fairgrounds area and we were in a horse arena or something. The floor was dirt and smelled like large animals. It was way cold up there too. They still have snow on the ground and Elektra and I took forever to find the right potty places. We had to search around our hotel - which was really nice but didn't have much grass to speak of. Mom and Nana froze their hands and feet helping us look. The rooms were nice and the next morning we had breakfast in the room. Mom set off the fire alarm making toast and Elektra hid under a chair. No fire trucks came though and they didn't even yell at us.

When we got back to island house on Sunday, I
pretty much passed out and so did everyone else.
Dad and Oppah spent the day chasing mice in Arlington under a crawl space. Lilly was going to help them, but they didn't let her go down because it was too icky. She found a dead rat at island house though, after stalking around the heater vents for a couple of weeks. It must have gotten the special food mom and dad left for it and over eaten. He was totally stiff and dad threw him out so nobody got to play with it.




I should tell you that we had a really fun Christmas and New Years at island house. We still had lots of snow up until the day after New Years and some of the pond is still frozen and slushy. Here's Cedar and Dolly all dressed up under the tree. I don't think they really liked the dressing up, but they looked very festive. We laid around by the wood stove, watched some TV and ate junk food. I think our humans did the same thing, but they played a few games too.


Well, we are home in Bellevue for a few days and have to catch up on a bunch of stuff. I sure wish this house would rent or sell. We want to stay up at island house all the time. Just look at the beautiful sunsets we get to enjoy.

Later,
Dash