And Puppy Dogs' Tails

Anyone of the two - okay maybe four - people who read this blog regularly will remember when there was a Reesie Report . It appeared sometimes once a week and during his last period of illness almost daily. Reesie was our second pup - the first was Bundnie, a smooth haired dwarf dachshund that got us in Cairo in 1991. Reese, much to her disgust, followed three years later when we lived in Chicago. He was a long-haired miniature daschie and, as we discovered much later, deaf. The Cairo Princess and the Midwest Farm Boy - they were as different in character as sunrise and sunset. They both lived to a good old age: our wonderful vet back in Aylmer always said he wanted to be reincarnated as our dog because he knew he'd get nothing but the best. And I guess we did make sure they got the best but then they gave the best so there was no problem.

This shot was taken in Warsaw with my first digital camera - I forget how many pixels it was but it was pretty darned primitive. Bundnie was giving me her famous 'yeah, right!' look.

They both were well-travelled dogs - Cairo, Chicago, Ottawa, Warsaw, Aylmer, Montreal - they had more frequent flyer points than some people I know. Reese made his final journey to Roma with us but he was 14 and the adjustment to a new place was beyond him - he never did like going to far from home. He took ill in October 2007 and when he had a stroke on December 27th that year we decided that we could not let him suffer. If my heart was broken in two when Bundnie had to be put to sleep, it split in four when it came time to say goodbye to Reese. Not that I loved him more just that he was such a sweet, gentle, trusting, little creature and there was an incredible void with both of them gone.

Many people suggested getting another dog - even our Big Boss who is a major dog lover - and "when are you going to get another dog" became a standard question from friends and family. But it wasn't something I could do that easily. The grieving took a long, long time.

So why am I writing this now - well it looks like the time has come. As anyone who has been owned by a daschie will tell you they are addictive as a breed - those little sausage shaped bodies worm their way into your heart. So we began looking for breeders in our area and beyond. It turns out that there was one very close to our friend's Linda and Nazareno in Capena just north of Roma.

The good people at La Casa degli Orsi (The House of the Bears????+) breed wire-haired daschies and Saint Bernards - an interesting contrast. Two of their bitches had litters within the past month and the puppies will be ready to leave their dames by the end of April. So last Saturday we went out to look. The facility was clean but lived in, a home to both the breeders and their animals. There was an obvious affection for the dogs - large and small - and the dames and sires all were healthy, good-looking champions.

However we didn't get a puppy... no we are buggers for punishment... we got two! A female from the first litter and a male from the second. The logic was: its as easy to train two as to train one! I'm not sure how sound that logic is but....

Unfortunately when I went to see them again today I wasn't able to get really good photos but here's what I did get.
The female is the little dark one on the left and the male the reddish colored on the right. And that would be the male in the centre photo. She is a bit on the feisty side, he was very content to fall asleep in the palm of my hand. This is like history repeating itself.

Now comes the hard part - finding names! My darling Dora has suggested Nick and Nora, Laurent has been thinking Pina and Mimmo, I've been pumping for Fred and Ginger, Jack in Beijing has come up with some Chinese appellations, and Yannis gave us a whole raft of snappy Greek names. But we're still looking so if you have any ideas send them to us.
13 marzo - San Salomone