The Hotdog Blog!

Puppy Bowl Sunday With Joey and Rowdy

We couldn't decide whether to watch the Kitty half-time show during the Puppy Bowl, or the Cougar half-time show during the Super Bowl. Just kidding....we love you Madonna.

We crown 15-week-old 'Oscar,' from Furever Dachshund Rescue, Puppy Bowl MVP. Way to go Oscar!

NEW BOOK Alert:"I Can't Believe I'm Fair Isle Knitting"by Sheila G. Joynes

My new book just arrived! I was so excited I was shaking when the post brought it to my door! I am very pleased with the final product. It is now available through"Leisure Arts"andDebbie Macomber's A Good Yarn Shop,Amazon. It will ship to all Joann's stores on January 4th, 2012. If you know of other shops and places to buy this book, please email me and I will add them as a source.DetailsWith this thorough guidebook from Sheila G. Joynes, you can easily learn Fair Isle knitting and gradually expand your skill level while making a colorful cowl and hats for the family. Everything you need to know about Fair Isle knitting is here. As a special feature, you can personalize the color keys, making it easy to use the yarn colors of your choice. To inspire you, we've shown two color versions each for five of the six fun projects: Garden Cowl, Columbia River Ear Flap Hat, Autumn Beanie, Little Sophia's Hat, and Ginger's Slouch Hat. The final and most advanced project is Cranberry Rose Hat. Just think how thrilling it will be to say,"I can't believe I'm Fair Isle Knitting!"

Dachshund Lover Ben Gazzara Passes

Ben Gazzara enjoys the view of Dachshund Royalty, Suzanne Pleshette, in the film A Rage To Live,1965.

Our hearts are with the family and friends of Dachshund Lover Ben Gazzara, who passed today at 81 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Mr. Gazzara was an American film, stage, and Emmy award winning television actor, and television director whose long career included playing Brick in the original ?Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? on Broadway. Via theNew York Times:

Mr. Gazzara studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in Manhattan, where the careers of stars like Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger were shaped, and like them he had a visceral presence. It earned him regular work across half a century, not only onstage ? his last Broadway appearance was in the revival of ?Awake and Sing!? in 2006 ? but in dozens of movies and all sorts of television shows, including the starring role in the 1960s series ?Run for Your Life.?
If Mr. Gazzara never achieved Brando?s stature, that was partly because of a certain laissez-faire approach to his career: an early suspicion of film, a reluctance to go after desirable roles.
?When I became hot, so to speak, in the theater, I got a lot of offers,? he said in a 1998 interview on ?Charlie Rose.? ?I won?t tell you the pictures I turned down because you would say, ?You are a fool.? And I was a fool.?

With his third wife, former fashion model Elke Gazzara, Mr. Gazzara would adopt a Dachshund named 'Maxi' from their daughter. Maxi had such an incredible life that Elke would soon chronicle her in the 2007 book 'Madison Avenue Maxi.' The book detailed Maxi's worldwide jet-setting lifestyle, including meeting such notaries as Roman Polanski, Gena Rowlands, John Voigt, Danielle Steele, Gay Talese, Peter Bogdanovich, New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Frank Gehry.

Elke, Ben, and 'Maxi' Gazzara

Go Brees!

Brees barks his way around his Lafayette, Indiana neighborhood on Tuesday

What's in a name? You might have big paws to fill if you're named after Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. Viajconline:

Brees the red dachshund often becomes confused when his owners watch the New Orleans Saints' football games on television.
Lafayette's Karen Kepner -- who owns the dog along with her mother -- laughed this week when she recounted the scene that typically ensues when Brees hears references to his namesake, former Purdue University quarterback and current Saints star Drew Brees.
"He'll watch the Saints games with my mom. When she'll holler -- 'Go Brees!' -- he'll ... try to figure out what she wants," Kepner said.

Drew Brees at the Saints Super Bowl Parade, 2010. See the resemblance?

Longfellow, The Local Church Mascot

The Rev. Charles Strietelmeier, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church in Hobart, with church mascot, 'Longfellow.'

As the Augustana Lutheran Church in Hobart, Indiana, celebrates its 150th Anniversary, they reveal their handsome mascot - red smooth 'Longfellow.' No wonder the church has been around such a long time. Thanks to our pals'Turbo' and 'Lily'for writing in with thelink:

Dear Joey and Rowdy,

While we longdogs usually hang out in low places, some hold very high positions.
Take Longfellow, can you imagine the responsibility that comes with being a
church mascot? No howling at the choir, keep the leg down at all times, the
list is endless. Not that we dachshunds would ever do anything wrong...or
actually NEED to go to church, but something like this just might get us
off the couch on Sunday morning!

May peace be with you,

Turbo and Lily

Look What The Cat Did

It's another "so glad you're home" photo making the rounds viafunnydogsite.

Related: Uh Oh

Dachshunds To Watch Out For: Her Name Is Charlie

Keep an eye out for this beautiful Grand Champion who hails from Woodland Hills, California, as she competes in the2012 Westminster Dog Showin a few weeks. We'll be rooting for you Charlie! Via theLos Angeles Daily News.

The Dachshund Matrix

If you didn't see the movieThe Matrix, you probably won't understand it, and even if you did see the movie, you're probably still so confused, that you still don't understand it. ByDraw the Dog.

Friday Night At The Movies With Joey and Rowdy: Pluto's Heart Throb

It's been four long years since we featured beautiful 'Dinah' the Dachshund inPluto's Heart Throb. Grab a Dachsie, set 'em on your lap, and catch it beforeThe Mantakes it down.

Related: Dinah the Dachshund

Mortimer: The Wonely Wiener Dog

Meet 'Morty.' He's six years old, he's from Toronto, and he (and his father!) are looking for love. We laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. By youtubertheto711.

Wirehair Wednesday: Oliver's Travels

What's he rebelling against? Whaddya got? 'Oliver,' who hails from Sterling, Connecticut, is theMaitre DeatSterling Pet Lodge,and studied Attention Span Growth atWoof. Feeling the need for wind in his beard, today he took out 'Bertha' for a spin. Keep up with this handsome guy atFacebook.

Spit Splicing ends of your yarns together when adding new yarns or colors to your project!

Spit Splice for adding new yarn!!! (wool): (1). separate the plies, (2). fray the ends together (3) spit on the ends (4) rub the ends together in the palms of you hands just as if starting a little fire. :)
I have tried this with other natural fibers with some success.

Book Signing at"Debbie Macomber's A Good Yarn Shop"

Book Signing event, 01/24/2012"I Can't Believe I'm Fair Isle Knitting"a step by step instrucions and techniques on Fair Isle.

2012 South Beach Dachshund Winterfest -- World's Longest Dachshund Video!

Hundreds of long dogs and their humans descended on Lummus Park in Miami Beach, Florida, on Saturday for the 10th annualSouth Beach Dachshund Winterfest. Activities included Dachshund Fortune Telling, Doxie Funhouse (tunnels, Odor-ama, scary badgers!), a Talent Show, Singing of the Dach Song and The Grand March! We're so jealous.
Awesome video - The World's Longest Dachshund Video as a matter of fact! - by youtuberElga Gutierres.

Ouijee Quits

Ouijee Quits
by 'Ouijee'
Edited by Whitaker Williams for theAmerican Dachshundmagazine, January, 1973

In time, one can adjust to almost anything - even Obedience School. By the end of the first lesson I had learned to "sit." A couple of lessons later I learned to "stay." But it was harder to teach me to "down" than most dogs. When your chest is only an inch off the ground when you are standing, just to eliminate that inch seems irrelevant. And from the point of view of a standing adult human being it is hard to ascertain whether I am standing, siting, or lying prone so, after four lessons when all the other canines collapsed gratefully at the command "down," I was still sitting. I caught up with the class two lessons later however. And when, at the end of the seventh lesson, the other pupils were heeling close to their master's leg with the leash tossed casually over a right shoulder, I was still struggling.
My father looked exasperated. "Ouijee, what gives? Are you stupid or just stubborn?" In answer I gave him the most withering look I could conjure up on short notice to warn him that he had better be nice or I would turn into Gomer Pyle again.
As I said, you can adjust to anything so I went to the eighth lesson with anesprit de vie, un coer heureus, and a hey nonny-nonny and a ha cha-cha knowing that after this there were only four more lessons to go and I was still surviving.
The lesson started without event. I noticed a new pupil, a Wire-haired Terrier named Cubby. It was obvious that he hadn't slept well the night before or had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed as he was glaring and growling at everyone. We all have our off days so I thought little of it. I decided that he had just been watching too many gangster movies on the late, late show. I hated myself for it but couldn't help thinking, "That mutt does not belong in Obedience School. He's the Reform School type."
Just before we took our recess Gene had us line up single file to exit out the back door. Just ahead of the door he was stationed with the Wire-haired and we all had to pass by, sort of like a reception line, but instead of shaking hands with each of us Cubby simply showed his teeth and snarled. It is a very unique twist for a formal party don't you think, but I'm afraid it will never catch on.
Gene had armed himself with a training wand or whatever they call it. It seems it is an electrically charged thing-u-ma-jig, and is supposed to induce obedience. I gather that when applied to a dog's epidermis it produces the same pleasurable sensation that a dentist's drill does when it hits a nerve.
During recess we learned that our dear little buddy, Cubby, had been expelled from another school, not for using a switchblade but for making do with his own teeth. The authorities issued an ultimatum that either Cubby be taught to conform to societyor else! Gene, whose card reads "Whatever your problems - we can correct them," agreed to correct Cubby's problem. Now I wouldn't have my worst enemy "or elsed" so it was all right with me.
In the second session our new "tricky" trick was to learn the figure eight. It is done in couples. One master places his dog on the floor with commands to "sit" and "stay" and then moves back about twelve feet. A second master and his dog weave in and out, around the dog and then around his master, in a figure eight. This, I thought, could be fun done to music like a square dance.
Before we tried the exercise we were paired off, the Sheep Dog with the Abominable Snowman, a pair of Shepherds, the two Afghans and so on down according to size. And who do I end up with? The juvenile delinquent. But I was so happy that Cubby was being rehabilitated that I really didn't mind. To play it safe, however, Gene took the place of Cubby, who should have been stationed on the floor. Cubby's master stood at the other end of the figure eight with Cubby, on a short leash, between his legs. With my father I started weaving in and out. I wasn't afraid. Saint Francis would look after me. We made several successful passes and - then it happened. Cubby lunged, set his teeth in my side. I screamed in pain, my father almost had a stroke, and Gene pried Cubby's teeth off my rib cage. It all happened in just a moment, they could find no blood but we were all unstrung - mostly me.
I'm afraid that Saint Francis had just stepped out for a short beer. On second thought, no. It could have been much worse. No serious harm was done. Really good Saint Francis was in there pitching. But you can understand that I was all in favor of calling the whole thing off and being a dropout from O.S. as of that very moment.
Gene and my father decided against it. We stayed the next ten minutes until the end of the class. They didn't askmewhat I wanted to do so I just waited in shock until the bell rang. Home had never looked so good and I settled down to lick my wounds. Father thought that I was just bruised but he soon discovered that I had been chewed by a couple of canine cuspids. I'd had enough for one day, and I was worn to a raveling thread. I went to sleep.
The next day we saw the veterinarian. I had already been given rabies shots; so there was no problem on that score, but there is always the worry about infection from a dog bite so I had to take six antibiotic pills over a period of three days. I take vitamins every day and I gobble them right down. They're not bad. But the antibiotic jobs! Ugh! I refused them until my father decided to bury one in a half teaspoon of ice cream. Man! Did I slurp it right down in a hurry. It was the first human food I had ever eaten. You know what? I could eat ice cream forever.
The next week we went back to school again. I had hoped the place would burn down but it hadn't. I felt like a guy getting back on a horse after he had been thrown in a steeplechase and had broken both of his legs and an arm or two. I began to tremble the minute we started off in the car and by the time we arrived I was vibrating like a harp string. I was shaking so badly that I think my teeth were chattering. If it hadn't been a hot night, I'd have sworn that I was having a chill.
The minute we stepped through the door I spied Cubby. In all honesty I had no impulse to rush up and kiss him to let him know that all was forgiven. Instead I backed right into my father. We then discovered that the monster was wearing a tight muzzle - one week too late. Impulsively I wished that it were made of wet rawhide and would shrink as it dried. Then I promptly unwished the wish. A fate like that I couldn't choose even for Cubby but I did hope that his muzzle was tight enough to hurt just a little - all right, quite a little!
The lesson began as usual. We all lined up and started walking around the room, heeling. Gene gave the command to toss leashes over right shoulders and make us heel without restraint. For the first time I cooperated. I couldn't get close enough to my father's left leg for whatever protection it might afford. A burned child dreads fire and, Man! I had been burned.
I behaved pretty well. I responded to all the commands, but like someone in a daze, and between each one I tugged at the leash with the rear exit door the main objective. Every other dog seemed a potential enemy and for the first time I was aware of how many were in the class. I felt all the calm composure of a not-too-apt swimmer, being tossed into a school of man-eating sharks, wondering, "Who gets the first bite?"
When recess eventually came I tugged toward the exit door. We didn't head for the wide open fields as usual but, without any collusion between the two of us, we both made straight for the car.
Father drove slowly. "Relax, Baby," he said. "You've had it and, believe me, so have I. We're not going back. You won't get your diploma but that doesn't matter. You have a Heidelberg scar instead. Wear it proudly! And you've learned all the important things; to sit, to stay, to come, and to mind me. And you know what 'NO!' means. You may not take top honors in a figure eight contest but who in the world can you figure eight with in suburbia?"
I stopped shivering. Life, once more, was a beautiful, delectable, wonderful bowl of cherries. I pressed my head against my father's chest to let him know I understood and then curled up in his lap. I sighed a happy sigh and went to sleep.

END

Ouijee had several columns running in the early 1970's issues of theAmerican Dachshundmagazine. This is one of his better ones. And yes, our paws sure are tired from typing it out! Unrelated mid-century photo source unknown.

Joey's Corner: Pouncing Piebalds

'Blair'

When you've only got the ground clearance of a Twinkie, 8" of snow can be a challenge to get around in. Fortunately, these Portland, Oregon girls are snow bunnies and enjoy short romps in the white stuff! ViaKGW News.

'Whinnie'

Police Dispatcher Helps Dachshund Owner Save Dog's Life With Heimlich Maneuver

dispatcher 12.25.11byBruce MacLeod

(Click to play 911 call). Imagine that it's a festive Christmas morning and you're giving your Dachshund her Christmas present when all of a sudden she starts choking on a piece of the gift or wrapping paper. She's going to die. You frantically call 911 who won't send an ambulance for an animal. Oh My Dog.
Thankfully, this Royal Oak, Michigan 911 operator was able to help with Heimlich Maneuver instructions. Harrowing. Via theDaily Tribune.
Make sure and learn how to do the Heimlich Maneuver on your dog so this never happens to you!

Public Safety Aide Stacey Sheldon, our Hero.

Drabbling In The Rain - Revised

Did reader pleas make it through to our favorite comicDrabbleafter last weeks episodewhere Wally so excited to go for a walk in the freezing rain?

Thanks as always to our pal 'Princess Lea,' who hails all the way from Slovenia, for sending this in.

My First Hardcore Song

This will kick-start your Friday. Thanks so much to Allen Robson for writing in:

Dear Joey and Rowdy,

I visit your site everyday and absolutely love it. I've never passed anything on before but, here is a cute short video of an 8 year old girl's take on a hardcore song which includes a cameo of her Dachshund Robert. Very cute.

Very Viral! 4.5 Million views in one day!

New Drug May Help Save Dogs With Spinal Cord Injuries

TheUniversity of California, San Francisco, has announced their work with an experimental drug which may benefit dogs with spinal cord injuries. The drug has already proven effective in mice, and the next tier of the study will look at its effectiveness in previously injured dogs:

Dogs with spinal cord injuries may soon benefit from an experimental drug being tested by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine& Biomedical Sciences ? work that they hope will one day help people with similar injuries.
Funded through a three-year, $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, the drug to mitigate damage has already proven effective in mice at UCSF. Now the Texas team will test how it works in previously injured short-legged, long torso breeds of dog like dachshunds, beagles and corgis, who often suffer injuries when a disk in their back spontaneously ruptures, damaging the underlying spinal cord.
About 120 dogs a year that develop sudden onset hind limb paralysis after such injuries are brought to the Small Animal Hospital of Texas A&M University, where they receive surgical and medical treatment similar to that for human spinal cord injury. Now, researchers will test whether the new treatment works on some of these dogs, with their owners? consent.

Read all about the study atUCSF. It's great to see some therapies emerging for Dachshunds afflicted with IVDD.

Remember, if your Dachshund shows signs and symptoms of back issues, or goes completely down where they can't walk, there are options out there! Take your dog to your vet immediately, and listen to the good advice offered atDodgerslist,your Dachshund disc disease/IVDD resource. There's always a link to them in the links column on your right. They have a very active discussion list, and are real pros when it comes to offering advice for IVDD Dachshunds and general Dachshund health.

Naturally Occurring Spinal Cord Injuries in Dogs

2.3%of dogs admitted to veterinary teaching hospitals have naturally injured spinal cords
48%to72%of all affected dogs are Dachshunds
1in5Dachshunds are affected over their lifetime
Other common breeds: Beagles, Corgis, Pekingese, and Shih Tzus