Disclaimer:  I cannot be responsible for any reader that has an overt love of Dachshunds becoming weary with my wienie dog woes.  I understand that it may be a little hard to believe that so much would be going on with Jake that I could possibly gather enough evidence to write so much about him.  The truth is, I start out thinking “oh this will be a short post”, but by the time I am finished I’ve written a short story!  My apologies, but all of the accounts are true and I am sure if Jake could speak, write or raise a paw to indicate agreement he would certainly do so!  I think anyway.

We are back to summer days and nights again, at least for just a little while,  I hope.  It’s always a let down to welcome an early fall only to find out that it’s just a teaser.  The cool nights  produced a lot of dew on the grass.  One morning I let Jake out the front door for his first toilet run and went back to my bathroom to get ready for work.  Normally I no sooner get my hair washed or my scrubs on than I hear the familiar whine of him wanting back in ; a sound similar to a cat on the prowl and I have told him numerous times hoping it would shame him into stopping but it hasn’t worked, he doesn’t seem to mind that the neighbor dogs can hear him and are probably snickering amongst one another.  How embarrassing.

Stopping my morning ritual I went to the front door and Jake was not there, only a large wet spot on the sidewalk (he prefers concrete to wet grass, or any grass for that matter.”) In front of the flower bed that has just about grown out over the sidewalk I saw a rustling and then I saw Jake appearing to be limping, hobbling even.  Quickly assuming that something was wrong with his hips again I opened the storm door and called out to him and he just kind of looked up at me pitiful-like.  Still in my gown and bare feet, I went out to see what was wrong.  There’s nothing wrong.  Jake was simply trying to maneuver between the flowers and the yard and the limps and hobbles were his paws slipping off of the sidewalk onto the treacherous and wet grass!  He finally navigated his way through the obstacles and then he stood in front of his rather large puddle he had created that covered the entire section of the sidewalk that he had to cross to get back in the house.  He looked at me as if to say “what do I do now?”  Really Jake?

Before I could act he made the executive decision to trudge through the middle of it leaving wet paw prints to the door.  Ridiculous!  Not having this turn of  events penciled into my morning routine I hurriedly picked Jake up and  carried him to the utility room to clean his paws with Clorox wipes, he hates having his paws messed with so I thought I was really sending a signal  but he ignored me and went to his water bowl on the rug.  I’m sure his train of thought fell somewhere between a free ride to the utility room and mommy got to see him in all his frustration.

Jake has gotten pretty finicky when it comes to his treats.  His latest preference is chicken jerky.  Since he looks so cute when he is coming to fetch it out of my hand, I occasionally overindulge him, what could a little extra dried meat hurt?  One evening after dinner (and a few more treats) Jake is in his bed in between me and Randy, on the floor, in the living room and it is obvious to both of us that something is going on in Jake’s digestive system.  I found myself fanning the air with the couch pillow while Randy pulled his t shirt up over his nose.  A trip out to the sidewalk and the scary grass did not reveal much if anything that he needed to take care of.

During the night we awoke to a stench Randy could even smell through his CPAP mask.  Feeling like he was suffocating, he ripped it off his face gasping, but there wasn’t much improvement to the air quality in the  room even after a few minutes.

Randy too, became a little gassy the next day and was determined to blame the distinctive smell on the putrid air he inhaled the night before.  I agreed that Jake needed to sleep in his yurt in the utility room that night instead of his crate beside our bed (my version of a yurt being a  bedside commode covered with a blanket creating a tent-like structure.) Dachshunds like to burrow in things and be covered up when they sleep.

Okay, I gave Jake a little more than the recommended serving (maybe even a lot) of chicken jerky treats.  I knew I had to gain some control of this before Jake ends up (gasp) outside!  I know better, but I am a nurturer and a pleaser.  Come to think of it, I also continue to buy Randy his nasal spray that he has become dependent on.  That’s it, I’ve become an enabler.  I confess, I’m an enabler, there I’ve said it.

This past Friday I had a lot going on including a doctor’s appointment and steam cleaning the carpet that was overdue.  After I got back home from the doctor visit, tearing into some tacos was next on my schedule before beginning my big task of the day.  Jake stood motionless and staring as I ate so I slipped him a piece of shell or two, or three looking around as if someone might be watching me.  No guilty conscience here.

Running the vacumn cleaner was once a challenge with Jake in the house.  The second the on lever was pressed he would commence to attacking the vile machine with all the ferociousness a wienie dog could muster.    These days he makes a few lame attempts at biting it into submission but usually just succeeds in getting in my way.  Friday was no exception but I also had the steam cleaner out and running as well.  For a dog that does not want to place his delicate paws on wet grass, has no qualms about traipsing through the wet carpet and tile and to create little wet dirty trails throughout the house.  He seemed to get bored a couple of times and went to lay  in his kitchen bed for a little while and then he was back,  behind me, beside me, tangled up in the cord and moving out front to make sure I knew he was there to help out.  Maybe he was just hoping to solicit for an extra treat or two, I don’t know exactly.

I haven’t tackled the nasal spray dilemma yet but I have a different approach to the chicken treat indulgence.  In the dog isle at Walmart, I was studying the ingredients on the doggie treat bags and discovered that duck jerky treats have quite a bit less fat in them than chicken ones.  Jake’s veterinarian had discussed with me about keeping the level of fat content down in his diet and not feed him human food AT ALL.  So there it was, the REAL reason for Jake’s intestinal infirmities–the fat.  I  tossed them in the basket feeling much better about my enabling offenses.  But wait, there is still a serving size listed there under the nutrition information.  I can see the recovery process taking a little time for me and Jake to work through but I’m going to have faith that we will prevail.