DUCHWOOD DOXIES AT THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

"Tad"
Ch. Duchwood's Tad of Doxdane MS, C.D.X., T.D., C.G. - our first dachshund and our foundation sire - euthanized at age 17 (acute kidney failure)


"Tess"
Duchwood's Tess of Doxdane MS, C.D.X., J.E. (ch. pts. including 1 major) - our second dachshund and our foundation bitch - full sister to Tad from a later litter - euthanized at age 14 1/2  (acute kidney failure)


"Flint"
Ch. Duchwood's Flintstone MS, C.D. - Tad's son - euthanized at age 15 1/2 (complications from Cushings Disease and colangiohepatitis)

  "Chip"
Dual Ch. Duchwood's Microchip MS - 11/28/89 - 7/20/05 - age 15 years, 8 months - euthanized due to acute kidney failure


"Zoe"
Duchwood's In The Zone MS
(Ch. Duchwood's Count Cameron MS x Duchwood's Magic Crystal MS)
My precious, sweet Zoe had to be euthanized 5/10/07 at age 17 months due to complete AV heart block and a bleeding liver with masses in it.  Waiting for autopsy results.  She went from perfectly healthy to deathly ill in less than a week.  Nothing could save her.  Vets at LSU have never seen anything like it in such a young dog.  No clue as to what happened to her yet.

Duchwood's Garnet Glitter MS (liver cancer at age 11 - primarly cancer was mammary gland cancer)

Duchwood's Pebblestone MS (in  a pet home - bacterial cardiomyopathy at age 8 due to incompetent veterinary dental care)

Duchwood's Tornado Patch MS (in a pet home - bacterial cardiomyopathy at age 8 - in pet home where they neglected his teeth). Dachshunds are notorious for getting dirty teeth and gingivitis.  The bacteria gets in their bloodstream and causes heart damage.  Brush your dog's teeth several times a week and get a thorough dental cleaning done by your vet at least once a year after age 5.  Feeding raw, not cooked, bones like beef rib and knuckle bones and raw chicken thighs at least once a week will help keep those big back molars clean and save on vet dental bills.

Duchwood's Dewdrop MS (botched C-section - idiot country vet twisted her intestines when she sewed her up)

Duchwood's Little Belle (autoimmune hemolytic anemia or something similar at age 10 following yearly vaccinations - was in a pet home) - do not vaccinate your dachshund past the age of 8 - over-vaccination is leading to autoimmune disorders and death in dogs!

"One crowded hour of glorious life, is worth an age without a name".  Alexander Pope

 WHERE TO BURY A DOG
 
 "If you bury him in this spot, he will
 
 come to you when you call - come to you
 
 over the grim, dim frontier of death,
 
 and down the well-remembered path,
 
 and to your side again.
 
 "And though you call a dozen living
 
 dogs to heel, they shall not growl at
 
 him, nor resent his coming,
 
 for he belongs there.
 
 "People may scoff at you, who see
 
 no lightest blade of grass bent by his
 
 footfall, who hear no whimper, people
 
 who may never really have had a dog.
 
 Smile at them, for you shall know
 
 something that is hidden from them,
 
 and which is well worth the knowing.
 
 "The one best place to bury a good
 
 dog is in the heart of his master."
 
 --- Ben Hur Lampman ---
 
 from the Portland Oregonian Sept. 11, 1925
 
I AM YOUR DOG
I am your dog, and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your ear.

I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some have children to raise.  It always seems like you are running here and there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer. See the way my dark brown eyes look at yours?  They are slightly cloudy now.  That comes with age. The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle.
 
You smile at me; I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine?  Do you see a spirit? A soul inside, who loves you as no other could in the world?  A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for just a simple  moment of your time?

That is all I ask. To slow down, if even for a few minutes to be with me.  So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen, of others of my kind, passing. Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat.

Sometimes, we age so slowly before your eyes that you may not even seem to know until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes. Still the love is always there, even when we must take that long sleep, to run free in a distant land.
 
I may not be here tomorrow; I may not be here next week.  Someday you will shed the water from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills their souls, and you will be angry at yourself  that you did not have just "One more day" with me. Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me.

We have NOW, together. So come, sit down here next to me on the floor, and look deep into my eyes. What do you see? If you look hard and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart to heart. Come to me not as "alpha" or as "trainer" or even "Mom or Dad," come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another's eyes, and talk.
 
I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something profound about myself, or even about life in general. You decided to have me in your life because you wanted a soul to share such things with. Someone very different from you, and here I am.

I am a dog, but I am alive. I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls. I do not think of you as a "Dog on two feet" -- I know what you are. You are human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.
 
Now, come sit with me, on the floor.  Enter my world, and let time slow down if only for 15 minutes.  Look deep into my eyes, and whisper to my ears.  Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true self.

We may not have tomorrow, and life is oh so very short.
 
Love, (on behalf of canines everywhere)
Author Unknown