My little dog, Ricky, went to Heaven last Monday, and it was a terrible thing to have to say good-bye at his relatively young age of eight.  However the vet concluded he likely had a cancerous tumour somewhere, and stated the most humane thing to do would be to euthanize him.

I felt totally sick at the thought, as he was still a gorgeous specimen of a dog, but I didn’t want him to suffer.  Nice Dr. William allowed me to be there throughout, from the time they sedated Ricky to the time he was given the lethal injection.  I believe he died very painlessly.

But there I was again, holding a dead dog and feeling terrible.  Nicky dug a grave beside Arnie and Mojo, and I laid him into it and told him what a good dog he’d been.  Then Nicky covered him up, and we walked back to the house feeling sad, like each time before.

After 18 solid years of dachshund ownership every corner of the house and yard hold memories, so I immediately ordered another dog!  I flirted with the idea of getting one from the SPCA and then imagine my surprise to find two pure bred standard red dachshunds at the Vancouver branch.

I immediately contacted them, but they said these dogs weren’t approved to a home with cats.  If only I hadn’t blabbed.  I then inquired about a mixed breed at a shelter here, but it had just been adopted.  I scoured the net for standard dachshunds for sale, and found two breeders in Alberta.

I contacted both, and sadly one retired.  The other said she’ll have a litter in 18 months, so I’ll certainly be the owner of a standard then.  However, as Nicky said, “mom, we can’t live for 18 months without a dog” and I totally agreed.  I contacted some miniature puppy owners and one of them seemed to have a dog of interest.

I said to Terry, who lives in Williams Lake, that I don’t want a super tiny dachshund, as I actually prefer the standards but they’re so hard to get.  Terry said her male is 17 pounds, so actually between a miniature and a standard in size, so I said okay to one of her pups.

So I’m going to be a mother again and I’m kind of excited about it.  I’m a bit worried about the current lull on Hall Road, as there used to be hours of barking per day from this yard.  You know how quickly people get used to something.  Now that it’s been quiet for a while, a healthy dachshund’s lungs might cause upset.

Nicky keeps doing his part in keeping the neighbourhood on its toes.  He arrived home with a BB rifle in order to shoot a mouse in the basement.  I said for the love of God, don’t shoot up through the basement ceiling into my foot as I watch TV.  I’ll have to be super careful with that new pup.