Bean and I have been doing very well in the months since the last post. Her potty training is excellent although there are still very infrequent accidents that happen (mostly in my parent's bedroom and the formal living room...there might be some spite involved there, lol!). We've gotten to know eachother a lot better and I love her better than anything ever I'm pretty sure.
Her favorite places to sleep are in my lap or in front of the wood stove, but she sleeps without complaint every night in her kennel (I bought her a new, bigger one!). She eats food with the boys because we can't stop her, but I additionally feed her some wet food to supplement for all her little puppy dog needs.
Bean loves to CHEW! Loves it so much. Her favorite chew toys are her nylabone ring and a stuffed rabbit with a squeaker in it. She also chews anything plastic that hits the floor so sometimes there are sacrificial plastic offerings of tv trays and the lot. Harder plastic, since soft stuff she'll chew up and attempt to ingest. I usually keep plastic away from her since she gets totally obsessed with mauling the poor plastic things.
She's totally integrated into the pack here in the Ebacher house. The boys play with her cautiously, aware that she is smaller than them and can't be jumped on. Bean is VICIOUS with her tiny flashing teeth and she goes for the ankles, seriously. She makes the mean little growly noises when she plays that reminds me of a gremlin. <3 I play with her quite a lot every day because she needs that kind of stimulation and exercise. Plus it's beyond cute.
I take her to the dogpark, but she's such a momma's girl and doesn't really leave my side. She's bolder when I bring one of her brothers along. I'm glad she comes straight to me when I call else I wouldn't feel safe bringing her to a park like that - I would never let any harm come to her in a place like that, but I want her to have as much socialization as possible, and the park has really helped so far. Last time we went was about four days ago, and she sniffed, played and generally interacted in a healthy puppy way with every dog we came across. I was BRIMMING with pride! People always comment on how pretty she is, and a lot of people don't recognize she's a dachshund. WHY? Other dogs don't come so long, after all!
People socializing is going well too. I've had to make it clear that once a person is IN the house and we (the humans) have approved of the visitor's presence, it is INAPPROPRIATE to continue barking at said visitor. If she gets all barky she gets put in time out or a few minutes (time out being the hall bathroom!) and then we repeat until she gets the point. Yesterday she finally stopped barking at Diana, my mom's friend, who comes over to visit every few weeks or so. And today (so proud here) she stopped barking at Sue (my friend) and even sat on her lap without being plopped there! Oh Bean. You're growing up!
Her coat has grown in so beautifully, but we've had to cut her butt tufts as she tends to mess them up and I hate to wash her more than once a week...more than that can't be good for her coat, I figure.
She still gets into mischief as much as she can manage, and keeps us all thuroughly entertained with her antics! She's cherished by all who meet her. There's nothing better than waking up and getting greeted by this dog who is obviously happy to be alive and wants to PLAY! It sure brings light to my day.
Hope you liked the pictures in the next post!
