Puppies in Profile

Calm down - its still the first week OK? I'm still excited about having them around the house, so this type of post is going to show up with alarming regularity. Once they stop being "cute" I'll get more settled. And I received several requests to tell the world a bit more about our Nora and Nicky. Honest I have! Would I lie to you? Well yes, but not about things like that!

Both pups were born at Casa delgi Orso in Capena just north of Rome. Massimo Buzzanca and Tizzana Talo have previously bred St Bernards but in the past two years had added daschies to their breeding activities. He's a vet with a practice in Rome and she manages the kennel. There is a restriction on the number of litters so we rest assured that it is not a "puppy mill." Their facility is well maintained and I watched them with the dogs - there was a good deal of honest affection and caring, something I don't think you can fake with animals. Our guys came from two different litters born about a week apart. A few week's ago I put up some photos of their dames and sires. Now here's some details on the kids, as well as those gratuitous Puppy pictures.

Ladies and first born take precedent of place - plus she tussled with Nicky for it and won - so:
Here's Nora!

• Registraton name: Eleonora della Casa degli Orsi
• Known as: Nora
• Born: February 13, 2009
• Mother: Lucy - Italian, Dwarf Wire-haired Dachshund, Italian Champion in Boar Hunting trials
• Father: Ligetfalvi Erik (Camillo), Hungarian, Dwarf Wire-haired Dachshund, Italian Champion in Burrow trials
• Observations: On the day we picked her up at the kennel she was quiet shy and almost apologetic for being in the back seat. Its all an act! She is already showing the hunting instinct that makes her parents champions. And she has quite the growl on her for such a little thing.

Then there's our Nick:

• Registraton name: Fantastico Nicky della Casa degli Orsi
• Known as: Nicky
• Born: February 24, 2009
• Mother: Catullus Filomena (Giverny), Hungarian, Miniature Wire-haired Dachshund
• Father: Catullus Indian (Monet), Hungarian, Miniature Wire-haired Dachshund
• Observations: He started being real sucky on the ride home and continues to be the biggest suck in the history of dogs. Despite being 1/3 her size he is able to hold his own in puppy scraps with Nora. And he seems to think he has right of ownership to my lap.

So many of our friends sent us great suggestions for names and there were some heated discussions - okay outright fights - until we settled on Dora's suggestion: Nick and Nora. Cute but of what significance? Well despite what an Anonymous commenter rudely suggested I am not the only one who immediately cottoned on to where she was coming from. One of Hollywood's greatest couples were Myrna Loy and William Powell as Dashiell Hammett's wild and witty detectives Nick and Nora Charles. The first Thin Man movie was screened in 1934 and 5 sequels followed, the last in 1947. Unlike many sequels - Rocky XXXIII et al - the series was consistently carried by the chemistry between Powell and Loy; erudite, witty scripts mostly by Hammett and the writing team of Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett; and for the first four, the direction of W. S. Van Dyke.

As Carla reminded me Nick and Nora had a dog of their own - Asta played by that well-known actor Skippy. The only Asta they will be getting will be of the stuffed variety!
And then when their awake they can fight over it - and they will!

30 aprile - San Pio V Papa