Sausage dogs

I am back from another dog sit. This time, two new dogs, both miniature dachshunds. My parents had these dogs, when I was young, and living with these two reminded me of their behaviour traits. The thing that I like about these dogs and that I had forgotten was they have very big characters. These two shared the same dad. One is only just a year old, the other a bit older than that. The eldest had been sterilised, and after the operation blew up like a ballon, he likes his food, but unfortunately they can’t get the weight off him. Next door to their house was a brick retaining wall, someone had planted strawberries, they were not damaged by birds or slugs. The owner of the house were away, else I am sure they would have picked these! The youngest dog, also shares a trait with my parents first dachshund, it loves to be covered up in its dog bed, by a blanket or similar. My parents dog would get in their bed after they got up, and would refuse to be turfed out of of it until she was ready to do so. 

I do rely on dog owners telling me what they want me to do with their dogs, in terms of house access, where they can go and when. Unfortunately when I came back after a night with a friend and a neighbour, I was met with this:


A cushion off the sofa had been ripped apart, we suspect the younger dog, he has done other damage in the past! ( but not to this level) the owner agreed with me, to lock them in the kitchen when I went out in future. Walking this pair is interesting as the eldest, he likes to stop and sniff everything in sight, which slows down the walk considerably! They go for walks on the nearby recreation field, where many others walking their dogs know this pair. In the evening, they love cuddling up and the youngest often rolls over on his back, four feet in the air. He is a bit naughty, and if each are given a bone, he will pinch the bone off the other one, and guard then both. But you can take one of the bones off him, and as soon as you pass the bone to the other one, it soon gets stolen again…


I have been doing some more work for the Horticultural association, sorting out things after the items fell off the lorry, trying to put in place something that means it won’t happen again! We have been getting some odd cache problems with the website, where members are seeing old data, which is annoying. I have raised this issue with the web site hosting company. I have arranged the dates to go back to Greece for a  holiday, Sifnos first, then Serifos. The trip is not as long as I had envisioned, as I decided to go and look after two dogs, one that I have known since she was a puppy. I am going to visit the family in their new home at the weekend. 


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