They Got to See the Beach. And Chase A Seagull.

We've never thought our two dogs, Daisy and Dottie, were all that good in the car. They both want to sit with the driver. They both get really nervous. So we had our doubts when we planned a quick family trip to the Oregon coast -- a trip of almost 2,000 miles -- that they'd survive.

But our dogsitters had moved. And we thought, what the heck?

There were times they didn't like the car. But they did fine.

And they got to play on the beach, near Face Rock at Bandon. And they had a ball chasing a seagull.

Dottie remains our miracle dog. She had IVDD a few years ago and was paralyzed in the rear end department. But she recovered. She still has a bit of a stagger, but can run. And loved running, chasing that bird.

Dottie Update: WALKING

If you’d asked me two months ago if I thought our dachshund Dottie would ever walk again after losing function in her hindquarters, I would have told you no.

Good news: I was wrong.

She’s been back on her feet walking for the past week and a half. She’s slow, she sometimes slips, most of the time walks like she’s a little bit drunk, but she is indeed walking.

She’s not out of the woods yet – we have to keep watching her closely to make sure she doesn’t re-injure herself, and that means carrying her up and down stairs, avoiding jumping, and doing what we can to make sure her desire to move doesn’t extend past her abilities.

We may still buy her a wheelchair for walkies, but at this time we’re holding off on that, hoping that her brief forays into the back yard and short walks through the house will be enough to keep her happy as she continues to heal. We don’t want the chair to become a crutch that slows down any further progress.

Dottie Update: Tail Wag

Early last weekend, after a good long nap with her mom, Dottie gave us both a vigorous tail wag when she woke up and saw us in the room with her.

That’s enormous progress. “Nothing could replace that tail-wag,” my wife said. It was heartening movement from a dog who lost use of her hind legs about three weeks ago.

Thanks to a good friend whose hobby is dachshund rehabilitation, we’ve started Dottie on daily bouts of physical therapy, moving her crippled joints through their range of motion two to three times daily, helping her preserve that muscle memory she’ll need if the nerves ever start to fire again – and seeing that tail wag certainly is an indication that healing continues.

She also wants to wrestle, though we’re being careful with that so she doesn’t re-injure her back. Nevertheless, to see her roll over on her back and bite playfully at our fingers is a good sight to see, brief as we keep the encounters. She wants that normal life and is doing what she can to get it.

Doggie Differences

Inevitably, with a new weiner dog in the house, she's going to be compared to her predecessor. And like all parents, we tend to look back on the past with rose-colored glasses, or, at best, brains fogged by the passage of time and the basic inability (at least on my part) to remember more than just a few days from our first dog's brief puppyhood.

So here are the big differences: Dottie doesn't sleep through the night. Starting at about 3:30 am -- no matter if she's been up all day or slept all day -- she's awake and ready to play. Heaven forbid if either one of us has to leave the room to use the facilities (we're both drinking a lot of water these days; it's inevitable) she's right there, ready for her day to begin. Not Moki. We remember her as the one who emulated Carol Burnett in that old comedy sketch where she and Tim Conway have guests who refuse to take their less and less subtle hints that it's time for them to leave so they can go to bed. She eventually gets curlers in her hair and pulls out the hide-a-bed, yawning deeply as her guests continue to prattle on. Moki put in the curlers. Moki slept through the night.

Dottie puts in the curlers. But she's a young'un afraid -- like our human kids -- that she's going to miss something terribly exciting if Mom or Dad are awake and she is not. Mostly, it's food she thinks she's missing out on. As I have to get up at 4 am in order to catch the bus to work at 5, she knows once Daddy is up that breakfast is inevitable.

Another difference: Dottie doesn't sit square on her obttom, with her legs poking out like pontoons. We called Moki's stance "Pontoon legs." I really miss them. But Dottie is, of course, cute enough on her own. We just hope she'll catch on to our own rhythms so we can sleep.

Mmmmmm . . . Power Cords

Yeah, I'm livin' the dream. Or at least livin' the reality that our own little rat -- a miniature dachshund puppy named Dottie -- is emulating our dear Ratbert by chewing through our computer cables. Yes, my wife warned me that I'd better get things cleaned up. I did do some cable organization, but apparently the power cord to our router just proved too tempting. I tried to fix the cord last night with the little culprit sitting in my lap as I worked, but no. So we'll have to go out and buy a new one. Luckily I was able to wire Michelle's computer directly into the internet, bypassing the network, so she could do her homework last night. And also lucky we were that I had finished grading for the week in my English 101 class just before Dottie got the cable gnawed in half.

I still don't know how these puppies avoid electrocution -- of course, the router only pulls half an amp, but still you'd think it would make their gums tickle. Moki, our first doxie, only did this once. Maybe we'll be that lucky with Dottie. Though I'm not counting on it. Moki as a puppy wasn't a genius, and Dottie seems dumber than a bag of hammers.

'I Call the Big One Bitey'

Used under the fair use doctrine for commentary purposes.

We've had our weenie dog -- officially named Dottie -- for a week now. Her personality, subdued by separation anxiety and unfamiliarity with the family fate has tossed her to, has emerged.

She's a feisty one.

Her preferred method of play is attacking my wrist and giving it a good, vigorous chew. No teeth marks yet, but I can assure you that I can feel the teeth when she's chewing on me.

We have finally gotten her some chew toys, and she seems to like them pretty well. Not as much as chewing on Dad, though.