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The places in our house that Baxter can call his own have grown since the day he moved in with us. At first, his collection of beds was limited to four, three of them inherited from Kep and Padua, and one new bed we purchased from Wal-mart, all scattered throughout the house for his comfort and convenience. More than enough, we thought, for this little dog that we vowed we would not spoil.

Soon after his arrival when it became obvious that he would be a good traveller and house guest, we added to his collection a collapsible kennel. Cold and hard by itself, the crate needed a cushy mat inside, and thus arrived bed number five, a rectangular cushion that I covered in a pocket of cuddly red microfleece. An otherwise wonderful place for any dog to rest, but Baxter's least favorite bed because he uses it only when crated. Even though he is free to use it whenever he likes, I never see him in bed number five unless I'm looking at him through his prison bars.

The giant square pillow that is bed number six came at Christmas time, courtesy of his grandparents. Originally intended for human use to stretch out on the floor to watch TV, bed number six officially became his when our new reclining sofa arrived, though Baxter had already adopted this bed many months before that. Bed number six now rests at the foot of our bed and serves as the first stop in his nightly bedhogging ritual. A ritual that ultimately ends with his porcine transformation and domination of our own queen sized bed.

As Baxter defined and settled into the routines that would be his daily life with us, more beds made their way into our house. An orange floor cushion, a serendipitous ten buck find at Rugged Wearhouse, became bed number seven and has dutifully served as an integral late afternoon stop on his daily solar migration path. Bed number eight, an easy peasy practically free bed, is available for Baxter's enjoyment year round, though he chooses to use it seasonally, in the wintertime when Baxter glues himself to the nearby portable heater.

Easy peasy beds nine and ten are strategically placed in the family room and living room so that Baxter can rest quietly and still keep an eye on things. Some late summer nights, when the heat of my computer and the heat of my lap is too much to bear, Baxter trundles off to bed number ten, curling his body and dozing, patiently waiting until recognizes the signs that it is time for us both to go upstairs.

With the anniversary of Baxter's adoption happening later this month, I can hardly believe that he's been with us for two years. When I survey all the places that Baxter can now call his own, I realize Baxter's beds have invaded our house in much the same way as our little kielbasa has embedded himself in our lives. Slowly. Quietly. Wonderfully.

b. tzu's art of blankie-gami

There are all sorts of blankie configurations that the little kielbasa has perfected since he's come into our home. At first, tiny chumley really didn't know what to do with a blankie when he encountered it on his bed, other than sleep on top of it. Those were the days when his beds stayed neat and tidy, and young Baxter quickly settled into dream suckling slumber.

Perhaps it's when Baxter began to sleep with more regularity in our bed did he develop the habit of pulling his blankies down on his own bed, as if he were pulling the covers back the way he sees us doing it every night. There is blankie and there is bed, and I must be between it, he must have surmised from our nightly rituals. Now, minutes can go by while chumley scratches at his own beds, nudging his blankies every which way until he finds the perfect lumpy configuration. Most of his beds in our house are now a disheveled mess unless I undo his work, remake his bed, so that he can unmake them again.

Add a second blankie into the mix and a world of possibilities opens up for this little wiener dog's blankie-gami pursuits. In the winter, especially on when sleeping on the sofa, little kielbasa often stays completely buried under his blankies, with nary an air hole to let precious heat escape. Now, in the early summer, Baxter's underground blankie oasis reinvents itself as a blankie cave, with an opening just big enough to poke out stubby little feet, a wet nose, and even a little bit of tummy, to help keep things temperature controlled.

Yes, there are days when Baxter is all about the tummy tan, but there are also days like these when it's all about the blankie cave. My name is Baxter, and I am almost three and a half years old.

short stacked

Okay, I know. I had such resolve when we first decided to adopt Baxter.  No more than four beds, three of them inherited from his brothers before him, and one new bed.  Not a lot of toys and no way will this dog's stuff ever need to take up more space than the drawer underneath our washing machine.  My plan? Respect through austerity. 

Fast forward three or so years and yes, tiny chumley's beds and his toys are everywhere now, multiplied like little mischievous bunnies. Add to that the plentitude of blankies that Baxter can call his own, the overflowing bin of duds and clothes and head gear and, most recently, vintage eyewear and neckties that make up his wardrobe, and add his growing food and water bowl collection and what do you get?  Well, thankfully, one little doxie who is still as respectul and sweet as ever.

Which is why I guess I still want to make his home, his world, a more perfect and doxie accessible place. Now that Baxter can encounter a bed and blankie and toys practically every 15 feet in the house and can enjoy them as a nattily dressed dog about town, my attentions have apparently turned to things that help him monitor his world from a higher position that his stubby little legs will allow, and to the things that help him get up there. Upholstered benches and ottomans, which I like to call his kitty perches because he'll climb up on them and watch the world from his window, and the stools that act as steps to allow him to gracefully and safely get from floor to kitty perch and back again.  Because the little kielbasa is too kielbasa sized for those miniscule doggie stair step things, and because ramps take up way too much space for their single purposed endeavors.

And so, for now let's just say Baxter is well on his way to fine collection of kitty perches, thanks in part to an ottoman we already owned prior to Baxter's adoption and a bench and stool scored long ago from Marshalls, but lately, because these hands and paws were made for crafting.  Today, a peekypoo at the craftier side of his collection, made larger by two just these past couple of days when I finally finished regluing and reinforcing his $5 needlepoint flea market score, and after I salvaged the brass feet from a rickety thrift store find to make him a completely new happy kielbasa sized  perch using some fabu fabric and velvet that I discharge dyed and turned into piping.

Yeah, it's a tall world out there.  Somebody's gotta help the little kielbasa see it. :)

dog and duk self entertainment

dear diary,
u know how you sometimes wake up and think it's going to be a just another normal day waiting hours on end for walkies and so you go hang with your best friend duk duk and then u both just happen to see that your mom's scanner is on and nobody is around to tell u you not to play with it? well, let's just say yesterday was one of those days and hee hee hee hee hee o what fun we had! everything was goin swell til duk duk smudged the scanner then i tried to clean it off with my nose and that left an even bigger mess that mom couldn't miss and then when she found out she made us clean the scanner and my toybox and make our beds, which u know, was kind of a big deal now that i like my beds all nice n slobby.

but still it was all totally worth it cuz looky! i only wish i could've scanned my tushie too but dang if it was hard enough tryin to balance myself on duk duk's shoulders all the while he was tryin to hit the scan button. maybe next time we can get the other duks to help out. which i hope is really soon!



well today i am going to help mom and uncle dana rake and clean the garage today so i best finish my breakfast and get going.


toodley-doo!
b.

Being There

I am ashamed to admit how productively unproductive my life can be sometimes. Ask me what I did yesterday and my list of activities would seem impressively exhausting. Tended to my two gardens, pulled ripe fruits and veggies to sell and replanted my beds with seeds I had to go get from the garden center. Visited tons of friends and even went dancing with some of them. Hung out at the local cafe. Shopped for clothes. Went fishing. Installed a bathtub. Went for a run. Put new wallpaper up in my bedroom. Recarpeted the family room. Rearranged my entire house. Walked around my entire town not once but five times, shaking trees for much needed coinage. It's a wonder I have time to blog at all...Wait, shaking trees for coins? Yeah that's right, I did all these things online in Pet Society. I've fallen into a cyberhole and can't get up. Meet my new pet, Jenna. Another thing to take care of while not taking care of anything at all.



And so while the cupboards became barer and barer, while laundry piled up and calls went unreturned, while the cacophonous melodies of hammering and stomping serenaded me, I did everything and yet I did nothing yesterday. But fear not for the little kielbasa. Like every dachshund before him, Baxter has mastered the art of Being There, the subtle insertion of his little brown self in an activity for which he was originally not intended. Yesterday, as I tended to my growing cyber "duties", I typed away as I do now every day, with an eighteen pound hound who's decided his place is in my cushy human pillow of a lap. Hardly the best thing for circulation in my legs, but perfect, Baxter's decided, for his morning snooze.

double posties: u r invited! baxter & duk duk's amazing pupjama party weekend!

dear diary,
yippee skippee! normally i do not write u twice in a day diary but i just found out that my friend lulu will be coming to visit 2night and spend the whole weekend  and of course u know what that means - pupjama party!!  and to make it extra fun u r invited too!!

just remember, it's byopjs (bring your own pup jammies) and there will be no mooshy yucky kissy kissin or anything like so of course it's going 2 be fun fun fun! 

okay i have to clean my beds now and put away my toys and start making monkey chow milkshakes so i will talk 2 u later! :)

toodley-doo!
b. :)

doxie epoxy

Little boy stuck like glue after I came home yesterday night, ignoring George and his numerous comfy beds in favor of my lumpy, shifty lap. A price he's willing to pay, I suppose, to ensure his pack stays together.

In the two years we've had Baxter, we've only been away from him once, when he a bout with HGE caused him to spend the night at the emergency vet . We've been lucky that one of us can stay home with Baxter if the other has to travel, and that Baxter travels well, so that we can take him with us when we drive to visit family and friends.

I wonder what it will be like, the first time we actually have to board him. There's so much doxie epoxy keeping this pack together, they'll have to break out the industrial strength solvent just to break us apart.

Baxter the Brave and the Curious White Box

For Baxter, time marches to a different beat. His idea of multitasking is curling up in one of his many beds with one eye half open so he can simultaneously sleep, keep us company, and be on the lookout for any suspicious activity. Most of the time, sleep manages make itself into the primary task of the day.

This Sunday morning, Baxter had chosen himself a fine bed positioned with prime views of both the kitchen and dining room, both areas in which he knew his mom has been known to spend hours. A wise choice, he figured, considering I was getting things out of the pantry and starting to put things in the mysterious new white box that he could barely see on the counter. Once he confirmed nothing of interest was going to drop to the floor for his possible consumption, he let out a contented sigh and started drifting off to his one-eyed slumber.

The first beep from the white box was just loud enough to make both eyes open. His ears pricked by the second beep. Rarely did Baxter's multitasking efforts end with actually finding suspicious activity, but this white box was certainly starting to look like something he should be concerned about. The curious white box could barely get out its first lump-dump-dump sound when Baxter jumped out of his bed, now fully prepared to alert those around him to impending danger. By the time the white box got into full motion bread kneading mode, Baxter was engaged in the dance of bark and skitter. Bark. There's something strange going on here. Skitter. I think it might eat me. Bark. You better do something about it. Skitter. C'mon, this thing is PO-SESSED! Bark. Go away, white box. If they don't do something about it, I will. Skitter. Hey did that thing just move again???

And so it goes that our brave little barker can handle the meanest of toe sucking vacuum cleaners with nary a chirp, but has now made enemies with our new Sunbeam bread machine. Thank goodness for the overnight delay bake option.

double posties: dugout

Anticipation is a funny thing. Sometimes, it's full of wonder and excitement, like the anticipation for Christmas morning. And sometimes, like tonight as I write this, anticipation can be, well, hardly relaxing.

Tiny chumley decided he would prove those squirrels wrong and sleep in his own bed tonight. The sight of him hunkering down in his little bed reminded me of our initial bedtime policies when we - or at least I - vowed that he would only sleep in our bed on special occasions. Back then, all our bedtimes would start out in separate beds, and end with a chilled wiener dog gratefully rewarming himself under our covers after he managed to gently awaken one of us by trundling over near the bedroom door to activate the motion sensor night light. Tonight, I figured it was only a matter of time before the little kielbasa would recognize the error of his ways and would want to join us in bed, and so I tossed and turned, waiting for the night light to come on.

Minutes passed, turning into an hour. Dang, I figured. Maybe our boy is growing up after all. Maybe he doesn't wanna sleep with us anymore. But here I am, sleepless, so maybe I ought to make the most of it and catch up on the cyberworld. See if anybody's looked at the latest posts, answer any questions, and oh yeah, figure out what's wrong with the Networked Blog feed to Baxter's facebook fan page.

So it's double posties today, cuz I think I found the fix. And as you might guess, I also managed to fix my other problem. Little chum ventured forth from his bed to join me and is now snoozing away in my lap. Soon our pack will once again be together in bed, dreaming of rawhide and walkies.

master digger

mom, after i finish helping u dig the trenches for our new deck beds, do u think me and duk duk can take scraps from the lumber pile to make a new trebuchet? valentineys day will be here in no time and we really need to start preparing, if u know what i mean :)

bed slob

There must be something magical about turning four in a dachshund's life. At least for this little kielbasa. A switch of some sort that flipped on December 12th and told my little friend that he must from now on dig thru blankie after blankie in his bed, to get down to its supposed comfy core. Strewing his bedding carelessly about like a little kid digging through his toybox. Turning each bed he encounters into a disheveled pile of fleece, down, and whatever else I might have stuffed into a box to give my boy the cushiony comfort I thought he wanted. A switch that turned him into a total teenage bed slob.

It used to be that fresh-from-the-foster-home-Baxter would climb delicately into his bed, first lying gently atop whatever bedding he encountered.  Hardly leaving a trace of his presence after he left it.

As Baxter got older and began sleeping with us more regularly, a new phenomenon.  The uncanny ability to wiggle himself under the top layer of blankie, covering himself as he had seen his mom and dad do. Using his blankie the way he saw us use ours, and still leaving a fairly tidy bed in his wake.

But now at the ripe old age of four, it's now all about the digging. The rooting about.  The undoing of that which I redo everyday.

I am actually quite heartened that our journey has led us here, to the point where the little kielbasa thinks of this place and his beds as his home and sees fit to make it his own.  His little den, to be made however he likes in whatever fashion he'd like. I am heartened, even as I tidy up one colorful blankie explosion after another.

Home is most definitely where this little bed slob lies.

one little, two little, three little doxie dogs

It's been a blast taking care of our temporary trio of tinies. Amazing sights, like the little doxie pileups at the doorway when somebody spies a squirrel out back. And unsual activities, like having to log roll one or more snoozing sausage boy out of the way to make room on the sofa for a human. And yes, encounters inspired by Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, feeding Lily and Marshall their raw diet, and having had to deal with Lily's very unexpected backyard encounter with a freshly expired mockingbird.

Soon, our household will be quieter again, and though I am certain Baxter will be glad to have his toys, his beds, and his humans to himself again, I am also certain he will also miss his wonderful little partners in crime.

i'm sorry u have to leave today. let's do snackies again real soon, okay lily n marshall?

homeward bound

dear diary,
today i am writing u from the car cuz mom says we are going home and that will be swell because even though i had lots of fun with auntie robin and her family and kitties, there is nothing like sleeping in one of my many beds. and i cannot wait to show duk duk the super cool souvenir i got him.  it is a ball that honeybear says is made entirely of fur! though it seems a little gooey, so  i have a feeling kitty hairballs are a lot like puppy poopie snakes, only, well, u know, honeybear says it did not come from the treasure box.  so i have no idea how he made it. 

anyhow, i am still hoping that on the way back we can stop by the kibble factory so i am going to rest up while i can in my snoozer so i can be nice n awake for the snackie tour.  cuz, u know, i do not want to miss the part where they give u snackies.

toodley-doo!
b :)

to be or not to be

It was interesting, watching tiny chumley work through his little head whether or not he really could pull off being alpha dog. Testing the waters every once in a while in sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways. Like, not making eye contact and practicing avoidance one minute, then whining and barking at his guests the next, protesting their presence in one of his beds, or the attention they were getting from his humans. Things, I figured, he just needed to sort out on his own, really, so he and they knew where they all stood on matters of doxie criticality.

By the end of Lily and Marshall's visit, I dare say he had everything mostly worked out. Nobody was really gonna move or stop playing with his toys whether he threw a fit or not, nobody was gonna take more human love than they were offered, and most of all, nobody was gonna be da dumpty to his attempts at humpty.

With these groundrules firmly established, little kielbasa and his guests spent Sunday afternoon working as a pack, with Baxter serving as designated ensign squirrel sentinel, while his two older houseguests and commanding officers snoozed, awaiting his call. Baxter sounded the call to arms several times, and every time they faithfully worked our backyard to free it from squirrels. A well oiled machine, I figured, with every part in its place.

Or so I thought. When I looked up from my desk in the early evening, I saw my little curious boy, gingerly tiptoeing as best as a giant goombah of a doxie ever could, trying to make a space for himself between his buddies.

shhhh! i think i've got it figured out, his eyes did whisper when he glanced at me, maybe i can be alpha dog when they're sleeping!

home improvement

dear diary,
looky looky! u know the raised beds surrounding the deck in my backyard? the ones i like to run around in looking for bunnies that might be under the deck? well this past weekend my mom n my uncle made it a safer place for me and replaced all the rotting wood and even lowered it so i wouldn't have to jump so high, which will really help when i am in hot pursuit if ya know what i mean. the only thing that wasn't so swell is that i had to stay on the deck all the time on account of all the power tools n stuff, and i was rather put out with that. cuz i'm really not as little as my mom thinks i am. and i think i would be pretty good at bringing them tools - well okay, not the big yellow thing - but u know, hammers n pens n rulers n all the stuff that ends up falling on the ground.



oh well. maybe i can help with the next project, cuz i heard that we are going to replace some dead shrubs and i totally know how to dig. in fact, today, i made this big hole all by myself!



well, it is time for mom to wash my paws so toodles for now! -b

yummy yummy drippy runny

dear diary,
well duk duk and lil pink puppy found out that it was me who ate all the watermelon yesterday that we were going to try for unicorn bait, and now they both get first dibs next time mom refills the candy jar and they get to choose saturday morning cartoons for the next six months and i have to make their beds for a week. but let me tell u, diary, it was so worth it cuz, as u might can tell from the pictures below, that watermelon feast was really really puttin the yummy on my tummy!

anyhoo, i am glad at least i saved one tiny nibbleypoo for the unicorn which we will still put out tonight along with our glitter plate and our can n corn plate because i am so hoping that tonight is the night.  duk duk thinks our chances are very good because he has it on good authority that the unicorns get very bored at nights during the summer because their favorite tv shows are in reruns and well, what's unicorn gonna do besides wander around lookin for sumptin do and eat? and we've so got all that covered with the things we put out.  i sure hope when we trap our unicorn that he makes me a glitter hat, cuz I've made him a doozy and come wednesday we can both wear them and look super cool in for pictures!

well diary, i hope u r having a wonderful sunday!
toodley-doo!!
b. :)

very soon there will be doot (like at 10:30AM EST this morning)

dear diary,
well needless to say, our halloween trick or treating was a super success and we ate so much candy that we are still buzzing these many days later! this was actually a very beneficial thing as it would turn out, because me and duk duk are getting so much done.  like for instance, how we are going to post a whole sixteen special dooty doot items today at 10:30 AM EST.  some of them u already sort of know about if u follow us on instygram or facebook, but here we will give u a special peek at all the items and tell u a little more about them so u can be on the lookout.

1) Puppy blankie play mats: When I was little and just adopted, my mom made me a special me-sized blankie play mat.  She spread it out in a very special quiet place where she promised nobuddy would bother me or take my toys away or anything.  There I would get special delicious snackies  and I could play for as long as I wanted to.  Needless to say it became a very special spot.  Even now as I am turning into a ferocious wolf and have like, a million beds and blankies, if I get or find something super terrific on the floor, u can pretty much count on seeing me make a jaunty beeline to my special place to be with it on my special blankie.  Anyway, while we were thinking of how to help other doxies in need this year, me and duk duk  realized there might be other little wolves out there who might appreciate a special blankie play mat, too, and so we decided to donate all the profits from the three blankies we will be posting today to Sophia's Grace Foundation for Dachshund Rescue. Please be sure to look at each listing even if u do not need a blankie because me and duk duk think we did a pretty good job with the saleswolfship, if we do say so ourselves.

 2) Funky Monkey Pilgrim Party Hats! Yeppies, thanksgiving is an often overlooked holiday and me and duk duk thought it was time to correct that with new hats for seven lucky and exceptional thinkers and stinkers.  They go on pretty much the way u put on our birthday hats with the adjustable double chin strap design, only u wear them hopefully while u r standing in front of a giant plate of turkey or at least stuffing or at least a big bowl of snackies.

Here is a peek at all of them plus the blankies and brooches which we will show u next.

 

3)  Mixed Media Dachshund Brooches: Here is a peek at all of them and how they will be numbered for the posts.

 

This little fella is nakey and on the back is a duk with plenty of space for u to quack your own tiny secret message.

This girly cameo still knows how to party, cuz, u know, #smelledit. :)

This little nakey fella loves to fetch ballies, and pretty much everything else he finds on the floor. :)

 

This sweet little red is a bringer of joy, which shall be to all people. 

 

This dapper cameo also has space on back for a secret tiny message, because maybe u want to remember something or someone or just want to make someone smile.

and last but not least, a nakey doxie puppy, running as fast as he can, so he can pee on the tallest tree.

I hope all our makey goodies will find new forever homes, dontchoo? and as a special thank you for reading all the way down to here, we just thought we would mention that we hope to start dooting teeny weenie trees late next week and we are working feverishly hard on ornaments so they will be coming too sometime. 

toodleydoo!
b :)

merit badge

dear diary,
i was so confused by the weather yesterday that could not tell whether to bring my rain jacket or my sun umbrella for my walkies to the park and ended up bringing neither. which was the pits as a pup scout i should know better cuz even though it was not raining, it had rained earlier and i was getting dripped on by the raindrops that had collected on the leaves.  and then the sun would come out and it would shine on my wet head and then as the water steamed off i would start smellin all doggy which normally i would totally be all yippee about but not when i am on my walkies cuz then the squirrels can smell me coming and then they will stop what they are doing and scram. which should be because i'm chasin them, not cuz they're smellin me, right? so anyway  just when my head would get dry i would get dripped on again and boo hoo everything would start all over again.  so lucky for me we ran across a redbud tree with very large leaves and as u can see my pup scout training came in very handy.

well today diary i think i am helping mom and dad clear the family room so mister tasty ankles can come and install our new floor on monday.  mom says it might be a pretty big job on account of all the stuff we have everywhere but i say if it ain't snackies or toys or my beds, why do we even have it? 

toodley-doo!
b :)