Those Special Dachshunds: Meet Blue Dixie and Her Red Brother Duncan!

She almost glows!

Thanks so much to Callie Dunbar for writing in and sending such nice photos of beautiful blue smooth 'Dixie' and her handsome red smooth brother 'Duncan!'  Your Long and Short of it All host 'Joey' would like to add that your Independence Day celebrations would be complete with the addition of a bright white piebald!  Joey always has to have his say, huh?  Without any further ado:

Hi Joey and Maggie!

I'd like to introduce you Dixie, our 4 year old blue mini doxie. Dixie is a darling girl, she loves her family and is as sweet as can be (once she gets to know you). She has been a part of our family for three years now, she came to us via craigslist. We responded to her ad and were told we had to come pick her up that night (at around 9:00 p.m.) or she was going to the pound the next morning because her owners couldn't have dogs where they lived. We had no idea dachshunds even came in this color until we met Dixie. Apparently she is quite rare and the majority of blue dachshunds, including Dixie, suffer from Alopecia. She has some short hair on her face and legs, but her body is almost completely bald. Since she has no hair she gets sunburned very easily and gets cold quite easily as well, so she has quite the wardrobe and (unlike most dogs), she loves and appreciates her clothes when she needs to wear them. She is also especially fond of burrowing into anything warm and snuggly and taught her older brother (who I don't think had ever even seen a blanket before we got him) to do the same.

Dixie's older brother is Duncan, an 8 year old smooth red tweenie we found at the pound two years ago. I've never met a dog as loyal and sweet as Duncan, although he does have a few "quirks" and abandonment issues we've had to learn to deal with. For example, when he's feeling submissive he rolls over on his back and pees like a fire hose, but we figured out that if we cough, he stops and jumps up! Oh, and he loves to ride in our daughter's car seat when she's not in the car!

I could go on and on about our wonderful Dachshunds, but will stop here. We are all long time fans of your blog, Dixie and Duncan especially enjoy the videos! 

Duncan relaxes in the car seat

Everyday Is Like Sunday

Meet smooth blue(?) and tan 'Suede,' and his/her human Kelley Skinner, who hail near Chico, California.  They made a trek to Dachshund Sunday, a local meetup/get-together which meets the second Sunday of every month in Chico.  Suede sure is a looker!  Read more about the event at ChicoER. 
Meetups are a great way to socialize your Dachshund and to admire the breed.  Find a local meetup near you on meetup.com, or Yahoo Groups. 



And if there is a Dachshund Sunday, then every day should be like Sunday, which leads us to this Morrissey video taken in 2005 on his 46th birthday in Manchester, England, performing the 1988 hit Everyday Is Like Sunday.  We'll seize any moment to promote our idol, we're sorry, we just can't help ourselves.

Dachshunds Teach About Life and Love

Meet Stephen and Gail Valenti, who hail from Metairie, Louisiana, and their beloved blue and tan smooth 'Smokey,' who passed away last year at just 5 years old after a bout with lymphoma cancer. The Valentis were so distraught after losing their little friend that their oncologist referred them to counseling for their grief.

“We visited with the counselor one time for about two hours and she was just wonderful,” Stephen Valenti said. “She got us over the hump — as it were.”
“She was wonderful,” Gail Valenti said. “She had dachshunds also and that helped.”

The Valentis now have an isabella and tan Dachshund named 'Izzy.' They highly recommend counseling when grieving over the loss of a pet. Read all about it at the Advocate.


Now meet cute little red shaded smooth 'Willy,' when he was a puppy, in 1993. Willy hailed from St. Petersburg, Florida, and passed away this last April after a happy life with his family. His human, Arleen Spenceley, recalls the wonderful memories that Willy left them with:

My parents, my brother and I sat in a circle on the kitchen floor of our home in Spring Hill and put Willy in the middle. He frolicked, like puppies do, into my mother's lap. How little we knew then of how much he would make us laugh, all we would learn from him and how much we would love him.
With Willy also came lessons. I learned to how to clean up after someone. I learned to share a bed. I learned to ignore his breath and let him lick my face, and how to lift a couch off a dog.
I learned to make sacrifices for the sake of somebody else. I learned to be patient. I learned to love.

Read all about Willy, who recently would have turned 16, in a great post at the St. Petersburg Times.

Dachshund Puppies Stolen From Denver Colorado Breeder

'Studley Do Right,' the blue and tan piebald puppy seen here, and 'Denzel,' a solid black longhair, were stolen at 1 AM on Saturday night from a breeder in Denver, Colorado. There is a $100 reward. Find out more at FOX31 or from the breeder's website.

UPDATE: 8.27 - 7 PM: Good to hear - Studley has been returned, but Denzel is still missing according to the the Dapple Doxie website.