Tony Blair receives puppies that gave Margaret Thatcher her last smile

Looks like we can add former Prime Minister Tony Blair to the list of Dachshund Lovers!  He is receiving two Dachshund puppies belonging to Baroness Thatcher’s former private secretary Lord Charles Powell, whose sausage dog Talitha recently gave birth. These are the puppies who you may remember gave Thatcher her "last smile."  Via The Telegraph:

Lady Powell said Cherie agreed a month ago that she would take two of the litter and during Lady Thatcher's funeral they spoke again, reported the Daily Mail.

“I had told Cherie about the puppies and then we spoke again at the church and I told her they how they were doing,” said Lady Powell.
“She is taking two for her children, Kathryn and Leo who adore dogs. I am pleased they are going to Cherie.
She added: “I have also sent a letter to Pope Benedict to see if he would like one. But really I want them to all go to friends.
“If I give the puppies to Cherie and the children I can stay in touch with them and get regular updates.”
Lord Powell said he was relieved to be giving away some of the litter, saying: “With the puppies, which are all in Carla's bedroom, we have got 14 dogs altogether.”

We would love it if the Pope had a Dachshund!  So, The Pope and A Dachshund walk into a bar....

 

These are purportedly the Dachshund puppies in question. 

Wally Leads By Example

Thanks so much to our pretty friend 'Princess Lea,' who hails all the way from Slovenia for sending in the latest Drabble! 

Read more Drabble at GoComics or keep up with Wally at his blog.

It should be noted that Princess Lea was recently on TV!  She writes: 

We have to report we were on the evening news (sort of J) while we were walking in the park.

We just had to get some prosciutto from a famous Croatian singer, Severina.

And we disturbed the interview for Slovenian TV. The prosciutto was nice!

 

Way to go Princess!  You can watch the interview at 24ur.com.

Do The Dachs Dance

Thank Dog It's Friday, because now we can sing.  Here's a fun little ditty from the 2013 kids' movie Curious George Swings Into Spring.  Turn up the volume and have a great day!

Thanks so much to 'Hedwig' and 'Schatzi,' who hail all the way from beautiful Sacramento, California for sending this in!

26 Hours In The Drainpipe

There was Dachshund Drama in Berlin on Tuesday when 'Oscar' and 'Emmy' went for a walk only to disappear in a drainage pipe.  Oscar came back out after an hour and a half, but the award goes to 11-year-old Emmy, seen here, for getting stuck for the next 26 hours.  Her owners feared it was all over for her, as she is on heart medication twice a day, and her whimpers were getting weaker as time dragged on.  Thankfully some fine water company workers were able to free her at last.  Via Bild.de

Wirehair Wednesdays: Pearl and Friends

It's been ages since we've had a Wirehair Wednesday.  This pretty little puppy is going to have a lot of pals to keep her busy!  By Vimeoer Appliqué Films

Retro Dachshund Fun

It's like visiting Grandma's house in the mid 1950's. 


Photo source unknown.

Fashion for Dachshundists Spring Summer 2013

As spring erupts and sniffing opportunities abound and the warm sun makes its glorious return, it might be time for some new duds.  And there's no better place to look than our favorite line:  Italy's Harmont & Blaine.  We love it when you adorn yourselves with our likeness.  Turn up the volume, expand the screen, and join us on the catwalk Dachshundwalk.

Vintage Dachshund Art: Adolf Eberle

Video by youtuber Leonid LL

Who?  Adolf Eberle was born in Munich, Germany, on 11 January 1843. He died in the same city on 24 January 1914.

A genre painter and the son of the animal painter Robert Eberle, Adolf was schooled in Bavaria. A pupil of the Munich Academy and from 1856 of Piloty, his first painting was shown in 1861.

Eberle’s natural abilities at figure interaction and accuracy keep the viewer marvelling and those who already own his work from selling. Adolf exhibited at Vienna, Dresden and Munich and received a medal at Vienna.  Source.

His paintings, which include many dogs, mostly Dachshunds, sell for tens of thousands of dollars today.  Thanks to an Anonymous Dachshundist for sending in the video!

High Five!

'Princess Lea,' who hails all the way from Slovenia, sends in the latest Drabble and says:  Here's Wallie giving a high five. I think this he is the cutest everJ

Read more Drabble at GoComics or keep up with Wally at his blog.

Wiener Dog Nationals 2013 Movie Trailer

It looks like the long-awaited Wiener Dog Nationals movie is finally going to see the light of day!  Here's the trailer for the film, which is being released on DVD and Digital Video on July 2nd, 2013.  Start saving up your kibble!  Find out more at Inception Media.

Happy Birthday Gracie!

It's the Birthday Girl!

 

Thanks to much to Gracie's mom for writing in all the way from Portugal on this special day.  She pens:

Hi Rowdy and Bette!!!

Just wanted to share the birthday of my doxie mix, Gracie Blanche the First, who turns two today, 17th of April.
She is my very first dog and shares the house with my beloved 3 cats (Tomy turned 14 this monday, Silvie is 8 and Safira will be one next saturday) . I wanted to buy a purebred longhair dachshund, but then I saw her, her owner couldn't keep her any longer, and I didn't resist.
She came to our home on October 13th and it was amazing how fast she adapted to us, our cats and our home. It was as if she always had lived with us! She is such a sweetheart, a playful dog, that enjoys long walks but that also can't live without sleeping under the soft warm blankets...my blankets!!! 

Love you guys :)

The £1,500 Dachshund Stairlift - Video!

We're quite sure that you remember last week's story of The £1,500 Dachshund Stairlift.  Here's a fun video about the story via Daybreak ITV1.  Fantastic cheery wallpaper by the way.

By youtuber smassudi.

Rollin' With Rowdy

He's such a good boy

 

Move 'em on, head 'em up Head 'em up, move 'em on Move 'em on, head 'em up Rawhide Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, Ride 'em in, Let 'em out, Cut 'em out, ride 'em in Rawhide!  RAWHIDE!

 

Teckel Superstar!

You're a Superstar, yes that's what you are, you know it.  Thanks so much to our good friend 'Lovie' for sending in the link to this video.  He speaks a little German and has been able to ascertain some info about it:

Hey Rowdy and Bette,

A friend of mine from Germany sent me this link, a trailer for a Dachshund documentary on the German channel Arte. Unfortunately we can't watch the whole show here on the USA but the trailer is so sweet and wonderful!



Lovie, you're a superstar for sending this in!  Turn up the volume and have a great Friday.

Video by youtuber exilim1968.

Vintage Dachshund Lovers

Well aren't you proud of your little 6-pack?


Mid-century photo source unknown.

Margaret Thatcher's Final Dachshund Moments

What was the very last thing that made Margaret Thatcher smile before she left this earth?  Dachshund puppies of course.  Thanks to our friend Jerry for sending in the link to the Guardian:

Among the last things Lady Thatcher saw in the final hours before her death on Monday was a video of eight biscuit-coloured Dachshund puppies and their mother.
The dogs were the property of Lady Powell, the Italian wife of the former prime minister's trusted Downing Street private secretary, Lord Powell who on Sunday night was the last person to visit Lady Thatcher as she neared the end of a 20-year battle with strokes, memory loss and the rheumatic condition polymyalgia.
Sitting with her at her suite in the Ritz where she had been staying since the end of last year, Powell took out his iPad to entertain his former boss. On it, he showed her a video that his wife had sent him from their home outside Rome which the former prime minister had visited for several years running during her decline.
She had smiled at the antics of puppies and their mother, Lady Powell said her husband had told her. "That was probably her last smile," she told the Guardian. "After seeing her, Charles's comment was, 'I'm afraid that she will not be with us for very long. I think she's drifting away.'"

Was Margaret Thatcher ever owned by her very own Dachshund?  Not that we can tell, but Lady Powell goes on to say in Anorak:

Lady Thatcher adored animals. I have a dachshund puppy called Maggie that she loved. I name all my animals after friends and distinguished people. I have two black sheep called Barack Obama and Colin Powell.”

That’s raci…!

The £1,500 Dachshund Stairlift

We gotta tell ya, we thought WE were living the dream with our $25 stool at the side of the couch that we use when Dad rarely lets us up there, but THIS really takes the cake.  A £1,500 stairlift just for Dachshunds?  Wow.  Thanks to our friend Mrs. Drummond for sending the link to The Daily Mail, here's an excerpt:

Climbing the stairs can often become a struggle as you get older – even when you have four legs. But it is no longer a problem for these three dachshunds after their owners bought them a £1,500 stairlift. Sheila and Harry Lee installed the lift after one of the dogs, six-year-old Pippa, had to undergo a £5,000 operation on her spine.
They had been concerned about Pippa and their other dachshunds – Millie, seven, and Heidi six – straining their low-slung bodies as they negotiated the stairs to their beds. ‘We saw an advertisement for the stairlift and thought “Why not?”,’ Mrs Lee, 57, of Ossett, West Yorkshire, said yesterday.

Read more and see more fun photos at The Daily Mail. 

Dachshunds in Pop Culture: Anna May Wong

Who?  Anna May Wong (Chinese: 黃柳霜; pinyin: Huáng Liǔshuāng) (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961) was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. Her long and varied career spanned both silent and sound film, television, stage, and radio. Born near the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with the movies and began acting in films at an early age. During the silent film era, she acted in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first movies made in color and Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Wong became a fashion icon, and by 1924 had achieved international stardom. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe in the late 1920s, where she starred in several notable plays and films, among them Piccadilly (1929). She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937), and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express (1932).  Source.

Oh yeah, she was also a stylish Red Smooth Dachshund Lover.

Jack And His Flock Of Sheep

Round 'em up!

Your new 'Long and Short of it All' hostess 'Bette' got to attend her very first playdate with 'Rowdy' and our agility friends a few days ago.  'Jack' the Border Collie, who is just a puppy at 7-months-old himself, made a beeline to Bette to play with her and he got a little rough starting out, and boy did she whip her snout around and let him know what's what.  He didn't bother her anymore.  Later, they were playing together, and even with all the other Dachshunds around, the two of them took a nap together.
This wasn't your average playdate, either - it was also a spa day.  This crew gets together every two weeks for a spa day, and we were invited over to join them for "nails, teeth, and ears."  It took over three hours of hard work for the humans to drummel/grind 163(!) nails (each dog has dew claws, plus Rowdy has an extra nail on his back right foot), clean 18 ears, and scrape and brush lord only knows how many teeth.  It was exhausting.  But afterwards it was playtime in the yard.  One game we played was called "Find It!" where a handful of kibble was thrown in the grass and we had to sniff it out.  A few rounds of this was better than hunting for Easter Eggs.  You should should have heard us all barking we were so excited.  It was a funny sight. Hope we get invited back real soon.

Something's Stinky

Thanks to the Slovenian Princess 'Lea' for writing in with the latest 'Drabble!'  She pens:

Dear Rowdy and Bette,

Congrats on you new family member!

I think it’s time for Bette to meet Wallie.

Kisses to all from Slovenia

 

 

Read more Drabble at GoComics or keep up with Wally at his blog.

 

Did you know that yes, Drabble cartoonist Kevin Fagan does indeed have his own Wiener Dog?  Thanks to our friend Jerry for sending in the link where you can see a photo of the studio watchdog:  The Cartoonist Studio

 

We have it on good authority that her name is 'Lucy!'

All About Bette: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Going To Be A Bumpy Night

Kisses!

Please welcome your newest hostess to 'The Long and Short of it All.'  Her name is 'Bette,' as in Davis.  No, not Middler!  It's been nearly two months now since Joey has passed, and Rowdy was so incredibly bored that we started to look for a buddy for him.  It's a terrifying task to adopt another long dog after one has passed, with so many guilt factors closing in around you, from "it's never, ever, enough time so that I pay respect to the wonderful dog which has passed," to "how do I make the right decision to adopt a new friend?"  You think about these things through the course of your daily life:  "after THIS dog, the NEXT one is going to be this way.  We are going to do things like THIS, and boy will everything be great." 
It's been my dream for some time to be able to be owned by a Standard Dachshund.  A Big Giant Black and Tan Dachshund - almost a rarity in today's age of the popular mini's.  Shortly after Joey passed, a beautiful big Red Smooth was available through our local Dachshund Rescue, Rowdy's alum, MidWest Dachshund Rescue.  But it was just two weeks after the loss of Joey, and was just too soon.  And in just two days, the big handsome guy was adopted - GONE just like that.
Maybe once a year or so will we ever see a Standard Dachshund come up for adoption in rescue.  A good friend started to put out feelers among her reputable breeder friends - is there an adult Standard Dachshund out there who maybe has been showing, but has gone sterile, or who has finished showing and is looking for a permanent place to call home?
Enter Bette.  She and her littemates were bred for show, but as the 9th and last puppy available in a November litter, she needed a non-show home because of an underbite.  We took one look at that underbite which causes her bottom lip to stick out and thought - just makes you want to kiss that little lip!  So, while we weren't looking for a puppy really, we couldn't pass up this opportunity to give this girl a home.
Her breeder is fantastic - if all dogs came from breeders like this, there would be no dogs in Rescue.  A contract was signed that stated if we came to a point in our lives that we could not care for the dog, the dog is to be given back to the breeder where she will always have a home.  Other points in the contract included a spay clause, and that "this dog must never be tied up outside," but is to be kept as a dog in the home.  While we are still struggling with not getting a dog through Rescue, we are also proud to support the fine Dachshund breeders out there who are doing it for the love of the Dachshund breed, and not just for money. 

And we're in love with little Bette - she is so snuggly, and so sweet.  She is just beautiful.  At 4 months old, she weighs a whopping 12 pounds.  She should be somewhere between 25 and 28 pounds when fully grown.  She and Rowdy get along famously - they bonded immediately, and after sleeping together, they run and run and run and run and run. Bette gives Rowdy a run for his money when they play together - she doesn't take any crap - and it won't be too long before his little sister will be his big sister.  Rowdy is so happy!
From somewhere up above, we know that Joey and Maggie are smiling down on us and our new adventures. 



Oh yeah, turn up the volume.