The Story of Sassá

Sassá and her Mamita

We'll keep our introduction short on this very special story. Get ready to meet beautiful smooth black and tan 'Sassá' and her Mamita, Damiana Rodrigues, who hail from Brazil. Thanks so much to Damiana for sending in Sassá's tale! This is what dachshund love is all about.

I used to be a rescuer, working with a group that rescues dogs and cats from Brasilia (Brasil) public kennel. All animals that are left at the public kennel have only 15 days life - one week in observation to find out if they have rabies and 5 days for adoption. If they are not adopted within these 15 days, they will be killed together with rabies animals. So, to avoid this cruelty for healthy animals, our group takes care of all the animals we can and prepare them for our adoption fairs. Rescuers keep a few dogs/cats home, take care of them, feed them, bathe them and treat their diseases.
As I live in an apartment I could only help puppies and small dogs. One day I was chosen to take care of a 2 year old wiener dog. I knew Dachshunds to be nice dogs, but I have never lived closed to one. I said yes and later I went to pick her up. She was laying inside a cardboard box and the only thing she did was look at me with the saddest eyes I have seen in a dog.
I took her home (still inside the cardboard box), she didn't move. And when I took her out of the box to bathe her I saw the most awful thing ever: she was starving to death... She was so weak, so skinny, so filled with bruises and wounds, that she could hardly stand up.
I bathed her and dried her, she still did not move. I tried to feed her, she could not stand up to eat, so I had to feed her with a syringe. I named her Sassá (short for salsicha - portuguese word for wiener).
She was difficult to eat because on the streets she got used to eating human food from garbages. So she would refuse her dog food. Even if we mixed dog food with human food, she managed to separate them and eat only the human food. But on Easter somehow she decided it was time to eat only dog food and from then on that's her diet.
It took me 3 months of intense care, love, tender and lots of medicine so she could start getting fatter. But, although she was getting fat, her hair was still missing in a lot of places. So there went another 3 months of almost daily baths so she could look nice again.
During this period whenever I took her to adoption fairs people would ask me if she was available for adoption. I always said she was on treatment and only when she was completely healthy she would be placed for adoption. Of course I was already in love with her but I needed some time extra to finally admit she was mine.
Sassá taught me how amazing wiener dogs are: she is smart, she learns quickly, she is funny and she is the most adorable dog when she plays (and many times eats) her dental floss and her rubber balls. She also learned a few commands on her own: play dead, stop, go, wait. It was impossible for me, after 6 months of intense wiener dog life, to part with her.
Unfortunately every bad thing that she's been through, all that weakness and hunger, left a few marks on her: she is always with some health problem (sinusitis, kidney crystals) and we spend a lot taking care of her. But that's nothing compared to the company and love she gives us.
And now after 5 years together she is a mature wiener dog lady, weighting 20 pounds, with the most beautiful and shiny black hair, who eats only super premium dog food and who is so much loved by her Mamita and her Papito.

Sassá the day she arrived

At one week after rescue

Sassá today, sleeping on mama's bed

A beautiful girl