A Country Gal's Domestic Journey: It's a Wonder(wiener)ful Life

Oh my goodness this week has gone fast. Only 4 more days (technically 3) until my 20's are officially behind me! I'm having fun sharing some of my favorite moments with all of you but to take a wee little break from all the horse posts, I'm going to tell you about one of the best things I've ever done.

That makes this...

Favorite Moment #4 (technically this might be closer to #2 but I don't want to make Tony feel tooo badly) ;)

Getting a wiener dog. Best. Thing. Ever. Everyone should do it. They are the best dogs and I'm always telling Tony that Rudy is the best thing I've ever done. I think he feels a little slighted but hey...when he starts whining and wiggling his butt when I get home from work everyday, I'll reconsider....Just sayin'.

Ok I'm going to give you a super quick recap. I moved out briefly when I was 21 to work for a horse trainer. Unfortunately it didn't work out and she had to close her business, so feeling a little homesick and missing my own horses, I decided to come back home and start up my own full time business rather than finding another trainer to work for.

This decision led me to living with my parents for the next 3 years. At the ripe age of 24 I finally decided I needed to be out my own (once again) and found myself the perfect apartment. It was in the country and only 3 miles away from the farm that I did end up leasing.

Now back to the main story...

After only about 4 months (if that) I started searching for miniature dachshunds online. I had met one during a trip to Oklahoma one year and had fallen in love. From then on I knew that I would have one...SOMEDAY!
I finally found a place that wasn't too far from me and after numerous emails exchanged back and forth and for lack of anything better to do during the cold months, I convinced my mom to come and meet this woman and her dogs. She had 16 miniature dachshunds running around her house! I was in heaven!!! After seeing all those cutie pa-tooties I was hooked! In fact, I left with a contract and a future baby picked out. My mother was convinced I was nuts. After all, I had moved back in with them the first time, so what was to prevent me from coming back with a dog? (and oh yea...I had cats too) (Except here is where I should mention that I should have been allowed to have a wiener dog waaaay before then because my mother now asks when Rudy can come over...every time she knows I'm driving that direction, or when I'll be gone shopping for the afternoon, or when we have evening plans....you get the idea.)

Rudy took up cat cuddling early on.

I made a snap decision and decided I couldn't keep waiting for things to happen so I sent the contract back with my deposit and waited for my baby to be born. I was soooo excited! Then the mother that was to have my future pup had some complications and lost most of her litter. All she had left were two females and I knew that I wanted a male.

My next mama that I chose ended up not being pregnant.

Which left me to the last mama dog that was preggo. It was her first litter so I was a little hesitant since they didn't know what her puppies would be like. But when the time came she had one red male (which is what I really wanted) and I knew it was meant to be. Little Rudy was all mine. I had to wait a few weeks to see him and it was torture. She sent me tons of pictures so I could see how tiny he was but nothing prepared me for how itty bitty he actually was!

When I finally got Rudy (A Little Bit Rudy is his full name) home he was just a little nugget. We had a really cold May and he would just stand in the yard, shake, shiver and refuse to pee. And let me tell you, they don't make little doggie sweaters that little. So I made my own. From a sock. Ridiculously cute, I tell ya'.

He was the best puppy. He never whined and was my little snuggler. (Now I can't keep him quiet. He barks when he's scared. He barks when he's happy. He barks when he hears something...anything. Note: dachshunds are noisy) I took him everywhere with me. He went to horse shows, into restaurants (really), hotels and he came to the barn with me every day. He had his own little spot at the barn where he slept all day long but somehow always knew when it was lunch time. He even became a sort of dachshund rep at the horse shows. Anyone and everyone that had a doxie and had to leave them at home during a horse show came and held Rudy. He was like their "therapeutic" dog...their dog away from dog...he even had kids coming up and asking if he was the cute dog from the last show. He sure did get a reputation. Probably more than I did as a matter of fact. Huh. I guess it helps when you're cute and have sad little puppy eyes.

Last years birthday present
from Grandma.

Rudy will be 6 this March and there is not a day that goes by that I regret getting him. Some of you may think "he's just a dog" but most of you that know me will know this is NOT the case. He's my baby. Or my baby dog as I like to call him (which drives Tony crazy. Tony also thinks that I shouldn't talk to Rudy like a baby because he's actually 5. Hello, he's a dog. Like he actually knows the difference. Duh. In fact I'm pretty sure it makes him happy when I speak in high squeaky voices). Rudy makes me laugh every single day and makes me feel loved in a way that people can't. He knows when I'm happy and he knows when I'm upset or sad. And no matter what, he always tries to make me feel better. I love that crazy, loud, goofy little dog and I wouldn't trade him for the world!