Chris
04-09-2005, 12:12 AM
This is the story of how I came to be owned by two standard smooth red boys, Copper and Junior.
I live in Ocala, FL (along with most of my family) and for my fathers birthday we had decided to get him a dachshund. He had owned several over the years, and was ready for another. My sister lived in Birmingham, AL at the time, and every day on her way to work she drove past a house that had these two dachshunds tied to a tree in the front yard with a sign that said "free to a good home." We finally decided that I would drive to Birmingham to get these two boys as a gift for my father.
When I got there they were in the garage and the owner told me she had to keep the older one (Junior) separated from the other dogs because he would not tolerate her two german shepherds. Copper (Juniors son) could not be separated from Junior so they had to go together. Aside from an infestation of fleas they were both in good shape and very friendly, so I took them to my sisters house and bathed them. That was probably my downfall.
The next day I drove them home (7 hrs in a camaro) and was very pleasantly surprised by their behavior on the trip. Two very well behaved boys. When I got them home, though, is when things went awry. My father, it turns out, likes black and tan dachshunds, not reds. I knew he liked b&t but did not know it was exclusive. To make matters worse, by that time the boys had decided I was their person. They followed me around the house, and when I sat on the couch they wrestled around so much trying to get the coveted spot pressed up against my leg that I usually ended up sitting in the middle with a warm furry armrest on each side. I've always been a dog person so I wasn't too upset by all the attention, but eventually it became obvious that there was no point in calling them my Dads dogs.
3 uneventful years went by, and I had brought my boys up to Ocala to visit my parents for a weekend. As I was loading them into the car my mother came out with a cordless phone and told me my brother wanted to talk to me. I didn't get them secured in the car and it led to Junior getting hit by a toyota. I rushed him to an emergency vet hospital, where xrays showed a broken pelvis to go along with his obvious road rashes (including one on his scrotum, :yikes: ) I left Copper with my parents and drove Junior to my apartment in Longwood, and the next morning took him to an excellent surgical facility, Affiliated Veterinary Specialists. $3500.00 and 2 weeks later I brought him home. He had also had a ruptured eurethra, and the surgery for that cut through a lot of muscle so he couldn't control his bladder any more, in fact he leaked anytime he laid down. The vet told me he might regain control eventually or I could medicate him to dry him up. I didn't like the sound of that, so my furniture started sporting plastic raincoats (I couldn't leave him on the floor by himself, could I?) and I invested in a carpet cleaner machine, which got quite a workout. It took 7 months of laundry every day and cleaning carpets and gallons of enzyme cleaners but he eventually regained control of his bladder. :cheer:
2 years later I noticed Junior was slowing down a little. He was 11, and getting very white in the face, so I thought it was just age. I took him to the vet anyways and it turned out to be arthritis in his hips. Medication took care of the problem for a couple of months, then he seemed to be slowing down again. I took him back to the vet, and he was diagnosed with a kidney infection this time. Out came the antibiotics and we tried everything for weeks to get that infection cleared up, to no avail. Finally my vet told me Junior should be seen by a specialist so back to the same place that fixed his pelvis. As part of their diagnostic routine they did a full body x-ray, and the results were as bad as they could be. Aside from the kidney infection he also had dozens of tumors all throughout his body, but particularly affecting his lungs. They informed me that with full hospitalization they could keep him alive for another 6 months at most, but I could never take him home and he'd spend the rest of his life hooked to machines. I made the only decision I could and spent the next few months doing a lot of cuddling with Copper. I'm not sure who was comforting who more. :sob:
Copper had never had any problems but dental, and was a year younger than Junior. I was hoping to get him at least to 13 or 14 years old, but it was not to be. 16 months after losing Junior, I woke up on a Tuesday morning to hear Copper coughing and retching, and he brought up some foam. We had had a pretty vigorous play session the night before, and he seemed fine then. It was off to the vet again, and the diagnosis was fluid in the lining of the lungs, possibly heart related. He was prescribed diuretics to reduce the fluid and I was to bring him back in a few days so the vet could try to hear his heart (he couldn't hear it well enough due to the fluid to say one way or another.) Wednesday night Copper started stretching his neck out to get air, and couldn't lay down. I rigged up a prop for his head so he could lay down and keep it stretched out, and the next morning it was back to the vet. The vet said I should take him to a specialist, but Maitland (where Junior went) was too far for him to go in his condition, so I took him to Gainesville (35 miles from Ocala.) The facility there put him in an oxygen cage and did a sonogram of his heart, and ruled that out as a cause. They then turned him over to an internal medicine specialist, who needed to do a few tests and asked me to leave him overnight. Then next morning she called with the bad news. Copper had a tumor on his kidney that had thrown off a blood clot, which had migrated to his lungs. During the night it had thrown off another clot which was damaging his heart. I was told he could be kept alive by transferring him to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine teaching hospital, but there was no chance he could live without life support and no chance of recovery. :sob:
I lost both my boys at 11 years of age. In 6 years I spent over $7000 in vet bills, but I would gladly give up anything I own to have my boys back.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners8.bmp
Me and my boys in a chair. It's hard to get used to sitting by my self now.
Junior on my right, and Copper going for my face. He managed to get his whole muzzle in my mouth one time while I was yawning. I felt his tongue on the back of my throat. :yikes:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners1.bmp
Me taking a nap with my furry little blankets. Junior on his back, copper against the back of the couch. After losing Junior Copper still preferred to lay like that.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners2.bmp
Copper looking back.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/mom_n_weiners.bmp
Sitting with Grandma.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners5.bmp
This one is to show that they ocasionally did get on the floor.
I live in Ocala, FL (along with most of my family) and for my fathers birthday we had decided to get him a dachshund. He had owned several over the years, and was ready for another. My sister lived in Birmingham, AL at the time, and every day on her way to work she drove past a house that had these two dachshunds tied to a tree in the front yard with a sign that said "free to a good home." We finally decided that I would drive to Birmingham to get these two boys as a gift for my father.
When I got there they were in the garage and the owner told me she had to keep the older one (Junior) separated from the other dogs because he would not tolerate her two german shepherds. Copper (Juniors son) could not be separated from Junior so they had to go together. Aside from an infestation of fleas they were both in good shape and very friendly, so I took them to my sisters house and bathed them. That was probably my downfall.
The next day I drove them home (7 hrs in a camaro) and was very pleasantly surprised by their behavior on the trip. Two very well behaved boys. When I got them home, though, is when things went awry. My father, it turns out, likes black and tan dachshunds, not reds. I knew he liked b&t but did not know it was exclusive. To make matters worse, by that time the boys had decided I was their person. They followed me around the house, and when I sat on the couch they wrestled around so much trying to get the coveted spot pressed up against my leg that I usually ended up sitting in the middle with a warm furry armrest on each side. I've always been a dog person so I wasn't too upset by all the attention, but eventually it became obvious that there was no point in calling them my Dads dogs.
3 uneventful years went by, and I had brought my boys up to Ocala to visit my parents for a weekend. As I was loading them into the car my mother came out with a cordless phone and told me my brother wanted to talk to me. I didn't get them secured in the car and it led to Junior getting hit by a toyota. I rushed him to an emergency vet hospital, where xrays showed a broken pelvis to go along with his obvious road rashes (including one on his scrotum, :yikes: ) I left Copper with my parents and drove Junior to my apartment in Longwood, and the next morning took him to an excellent surgical facility, Affiliated Veterinary Specialists. $3500.00 and 2 weeks later I brought him home. He had also had a ruptured eurethra, and the surgery for that cut through a lot of muscle so he couldn't control his bladder any more, in fact he leaked anytime he laid down. The vet told me he might regain control eventually or I could medicate him to dry him up. I didn't like the sound of that, so my furniture started sporting plastic raincoats (I couldn't leave him on the floor by himself, could I?) and I invested in a carpet cleaner machine, which got quite a workout. It took 7 months of laundry every day and cleaning carpets and gallons of enzyme cleaners but he eventually regained control of his bladder. :cheer:
2 years later I noticed Junior was slowing down a little. He was 11, and getting very white in the face, so I thought it was just age. I took him to the vet anyways and it turned out to be arthritis in his hips. Medication took care of the problem for a couple of months, then he seemed to be slowing down again. I took him back to the vet, and he was diagnosed with a kidney infection this time. Out came the antibiotics and we tried everything for weeks to get that infection cleared up, to no avail. Finally my vet told me Junior should be seen by a specialist so back to the same place that fixed his pelvis. As part of their diagnostic routine they did a full body x-ray, and the results were as bad as they could be. Aside from the kidney infection he also had dozens of tumors all throughout his body, but particularly affecting his lungs. They informed me that with full hospitalization they could keep him alive for another 6 months at most, but I could never take him home and he'd spend the rest of his life hooked to machines. I made the only decision I could and spent the next few months doing a lot of cuddling with Copper. I'm not sure who was comforting who more. :sob:
Copper had never had any problems but dental, and was a year younger than Junior. I was hoping to get him at least to 13 or 14 years old, but it was not to be. 16 months after losing Junior, I woke up on a Tuesday morning to hear Copper coughing and retching, and he brought up some foam. We had had a pretty vigorous play session the night before, and he seemed fine then. It was off to the vet again, and the diagnosis was fluid in the lining of the lungs, possibly heart related. He was prescribed diuretics to reduce the fluid and I was to bring him back in a few days so the vet could try to hear his heart (he couldn't hear it well enough due to the fluid to say one way or another.) Wednesday night Copper started stretching his neck out to get air, and couldn't lay down. I rigged up a prop for his head so he could lay down and keep it stretched out, and the next morning it was back to the vet. The vet said I should take him to a specialist, but Maitland (where Junior went) was too far for him to go in his condition, so I took him to Gainesville (35 miles from Ocala.) The facility there put him in an oxygen cage and did a sonogram of his heart, and ruled that out as a cause. They then turned him over to an internal medicine specialist, who needed to do a few tests and asked me to leave him overnight. Then next morning she called with the bad news. Copper had a tumor on his kidney that had thrown off a blood clot, which had migrated to his lungs. During the night it had thrown off another clot which was damaging his heart. I was told he could be kept alive by transferring him to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine teaching hospital, but there was no chance he could live without life support and no chance of recovery. :sob:
I lost both my boys at 11 years of age. In 6 years I spent over $7000 in vet bills, but I would gladly give up anything I own to have my boys back.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners8.bmp
Me and my boys in a chair. It's hard to get used to sitting by my self now.
Junior on my right, and Copper going for my face. He managed to get his whole muzzle in my mouth one time while I was yawning. I felt his tongue on the back of my throat. :yikes:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners1.bmp
Me taking a nap with my furry little blankets. Junior on his back, copper against the back of the couch. After losing Junior Copper still preferred to lay like that.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners2.bmp
Copper looking back.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/mom_n_weiners.bmp
Sitting with Grandma.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y135/Chris_C/weiners5.bmp
This one is to show that they ocasionally did get on the floor.