When we first moved in we had mice. That was about 2 yrs ago. This was an old abandoned house that needed a lot of work. That sits on a corn field.... so yep... lots a critters.

So when we finally moved the cats in, the mice got an eviction notice. I havn't seen a mouse in over a year.

Well the mouse hunter cat (Thomas) has been sitting at this grate, staring at it. Having never had mice before, it really made the cats happy to live here. I think he has wishfull thinking the mice are coming back.
He has somehow convinced Louie there IS something in there. Now Louie has spent over an hour today staring into this grate, that is under the sink. It is a heating/air vent.  None of the other dogs will even consider the idea. They have walked up to the vent, sniffed, gave Louie a once over and walk away.  I can see the looks on their faces are something like "Okay then.... walking away now".

After his dilengence at guarding this grate, no doubt a clear order from the cat. Dare not disobey the Captain of the Guard Sir Thomas! I went for the camera. I think Louie was thinking "Finally! Some recognition for my hard work!!!"  He went from watching the vent to digging at it.

I am half tempted to open the vent. I did say "Half tempted".  I have no desire to get my face that close to a dark hole with nothing but a flashlight to protect me. My luck, it is not a cute mouse but a LARGE, Hairy, Eight Legged, Vampire Toothed, Red Neck, Biker spider with a Mom tattoo.  I think Ill pass thank you.....

So go ahead Louie, you keep guarding that vent.  Maybe Sir Thomas will give you a promotion, and let you on cat nip duty.

I get asked this a bit. So I thought I would take a min and visit this blog. It is amazing how easily it was for me to switch to Facebook! I thought I would never catch on to using the page and here sits the blog all but forgotten!

In any event, the blog gives me more room to write, so I am putting the little update here.

The puppies are 3 days old now. They are still very tiny, about the size of mice.  They are an all day thought, and all night check up. Every couple of hours at night they need checking up on. They are getting supplemented with the bottle, about 3 times a day. In hopes that mom will be the main one feeding them. They need to suckle, and keep her milk flowing. If I always bottle feed, they won't look to Mom.

I have tentatively named them after Greek gods. I couldn't help it. Her last litter had Hercules, and well, the theme has kinda stuck with me. We have Athena shaded female, Apollo brindle male, Aphrodite brindle female, and Andromeda white chested female.

Apollo has done wonders! He has been gaining nicely! He is up to 4.6oz from 3.5.  So very pleased! He looks good, has a shiney coat. I have confidence in him. Andromeda is also doing well. She is up to 3.6 after a slight drop yesterday to 3.2.

Athena was doing well, but she has only maintained. I need her to gain. Then there is Aphrodite, she has gone from 3.5 down to 2.8. She isn't eating well, just doesn't want to. She cries a lot, that is good sign. She is fighting. But my heart breaks, I am trying everything I can.  She is just so tiny. We have spent the day, bottle feeding her every 2 hours.

And that is where we are, feeding and fighting to hold on to them.

Paige gave me a big surprise yesterday! Normally, I know ahead of time when she will be giving birth. She has a ritual, they all do. The day before they are very needy, and nest alot. She didn't do that. In fact it was life as usual. She ate all her dinner, then played with the puppies. She hasn't been able to jump on the couch in a few days, but that is normal. So when she came up to me demanding to be picked up and rubbed on the night before, I didn't think anything of it.

Yesterday morning she jumped and ran in circles all excited to go outside. She did her business loved on me somemore. The only thing that was odd, was that she wanted back in my room, even though I was leaving it. She went under the bed, then into the closet. Rolled my eyes... "Whatever". The closet is not a comfortable place, it is a catch all! But if she wants to hide in there so be it. After about an hour of not seeing her, I went to tell her to get out of the closet, that she was NOT going to have her puppies in there! I was gonna put my foot down and that was that!........... Yea right. (her last litter was in my laundry basket!)

Moved all my clothes so I could see, just exactly what she was calling "comfortable".  I couldn't see anything, I went to reach for her and heard a whimper......  She didn't,   Oh yes she did.

She opened a bag of old kids clothes, and made her nest. Two little puppies wiggling around.

Beautiful, strong puppies, just wiggling all around and one proud momma with a huge smile on her face panting. I tried fixing up the whelping box, moved the puppies, she ran right back in the closet. Moved her again, right back in she went. Okay, hard headed!  Obviously this is not a one man job. Called Anna to fix the whelping box, Called the hubby, to clean out the closet, and I tended to Paige and the puppies.  I walk away to get pen, paper and supplies, and Im not fast enough, she just had #3.

It was definitly a crazy full day! We ended up with a piebald female, with lots of little round dots, and twin boys. The are practically identical!

My dogs don't chew. I havn't really had an issue with them chewing anything other than their toys. When they are in the mood for cruchy... Well there are plenty of sticks outside! They get chewed, crunched and occasionally snuck into the house. Ofcourse there are always exceptions. And Dude is my exception. Dude has a taste for collars. yes collars. And not just any collar, it must be, and always is, Louies collar.  I have replaced Louies collar , yet again, today. He has had this collar for about a month... maybe... hard to tell. I stopped keeping track.  His collar was holding on by a thread.

This is Louies last 2 collars. I have tried all different types, none have faired well. Tried leather once, Oh that made Dude VERY happy, those didn't last a week. Two dogs got leather, two dogs were collarless in less than 7 days. This wouldn't be so annoying, if not for the tags. I have to constantly transfer his tags to his new collar. That usually involves a pair of pliers and a bandaid.

Going to leave you with a clue on how spoiled my dogs are........

This is Louie. In my bed. I got up in the middle of the night to potty, when I came back my spot was gone. The little brat snuggled into my spot between 2 pillows. I love the look on his face. It says "turn off the light its 2am and Im trying to sleep". What you don't see is that the other half of his body is in my covers. Rotten!! I politely picked him up and put him on his side of the bed. To which he let out a small grunt and a deep breath.

Puddin is a very good Momma! She keeps them well fed. These puppies are little porkers. All they do is eat and sleep, they are so cute. What is cutter than a chubby baby? They all have a little fat roll on their butts! Hercules even has fat little feet, I keep hearing that little girl off the Despicable Me movie  "Its so fluffy I could die!" they are so fat and fluffy! They just bring a big smile to my face. When your holding them, they are very relaxed. They don't whine, don't try to wiggle away. They just lay back, yawn and get comfortable. They are so mellow, not a care in the world.

Ofcourse they are so used to momma being right there and a teet, just an inch away, that when they wake up they just turn their heads to eat. They do this even when being held. I will be holding on to one of them cuddling, and they will start licking my arm. Did I mention cute!!

I am having a difficult time commiting to coat type. I had them pegged. Duke and Dutchess were shorts and Hercules was a long. Well, my shorts starting getting fluffy.  I am pretty certain Hercules is a long, but the other two... Not so much. I have called in some breeder back up, they agree the pups look like a plush coat. Which would make them technically shorts, but fluffy shorts.  Or we are all off base and I managed to get 3 longs.  Only time will tell. I am looking for a wave in the ear hair. Longs have a slight wave on the ear.  Hercules has it.  I am waiting to see if the other two develope it.

Paige knows she is pregnant. She is back in her princess mode. Well, she is always in princess mode. She is the princess! She is in her demanding mode.  She wants her belly rubs.  She knows  she will get them too. So she has been belly up at every chance in front of anyone sitting still. Ignore her and she kicks her feet (little brat).

It has been a busy day! Both Fancy and Polo went to new homes today. Fancy was picked up this morning and the couple was sooo excited to get her. I have been on the phone with them a lot today, so excited!

Well by evening, instead of getting a call from them it was a vet. They took the puppy in. Which is GREAT!! that is what you want! except the took her in. Now get this... Because they worried she was deaf, or hard of hearing.  They would call her name, make noises at her or clap and Fancy would ignore it most of the time. This is their first dachshund. I don't think they were prepared for ornery.  I assure them she is NOT deaf. Vet is an older fellow and is ready to disagree. Says that he can find NOTHING wrong with her ears, so she must be deaf. I get put on speaker, All I do is click at the dog and she looks for me. NOT deaf. They do it, she ignores them. I do it again, she looks for me. They say she hears it when I do it. They are going to "re-check" her on Sat. to be sure. It really just makes me chuckle. She loves me.

It is a lot for a puppy to take in. All of a sudden they are in a new home, new people. It takes a little time for them to get comfortable. But this was a first, I had not heard of one of MY puppies being so stubborn that they all out IGNORE their new mom and dad! Little brat! I think maybe she was a little over spoiled here! just maybe!

It is just a phase. I know as soon as everyone gets used to each other, she will come around. The lady is already taking naps with her, she is going to be a well loved pup, just being all kinds of stubborn at first. But that is a Dacshund, and she is one very smart Dachshund! They are not keeping her name though, she is now Molly. How sweet is that?!

Ah man! Deaf indeed! Such a little stinker! She is too young to be in her teenager stage. Right now I just think its a blessing she can't talk. She needs one of those t-shirts that reads "not listening!"

Polo also got picked up today. They intially wanted Fancy, but called a meer hour after she left. Sweet quiet Polo, was a little depressed when Fancy left. He searched the whole house for her. When he couldn't find her, he resorted to staying next to me. Wouldn't let me out of his site. Sweet boy.

It is a little depressing. The house is quiet. No one is playing tag, no one is running up and down the hall barking. Just quiet. Puddins sweet babies arn't even whimpering. I think that is the hardest part getting used to the quiet again. But looking down at my feet, I have Louie, Cookie and PiePie all snuggled close. I just love my babies.

What a coincidence the last 3 litters were all born on Sunday! Puddin gave birth to 3 little sweeties yesterday.  There is 2 boys and one girl. All are English cream with one boy being brindle. Coats will be determined hopefully by week 2. These have the possibility of being either long or short hair.

Poor Puddin never did nest. Normally a dog will pick a spot to have her pups, and Puddin didn't do this. She instead nested by attaching herself to a human. Friday she was up my butt, wouldn't leave me. Had to with me everywhere! Well I move a lot!  So when my daughter came home from school and was more than willing to sit with the dog for long periods of time, Puddin took her attention off me and onto Anna. Poor Anna, wasn't allowed to go anywhere! She took the trash out and Puddin through a whining fit. This lasted all of Saturday as well. It was really cute, and shows you they need us as much as we need them.

People like to say its just a dog, it doesn't care where it lives. They think it is nothing to rehome a dog. They don't realize how attached that dog gets to its people. Or how much you break their hearts to just send them off to someone else. Okay, enough of that, not getting on my soap box.

With the birth of the current litter some folks are already looking to the future.  Yesterdays puppy mail brought inquiries of Paiges next litter. The chocolate litter. Yes this litter is still planned. Paige is coming into heat a little later than expected. Right now it looks like we would have puppies in June instead of May. Once she is bred her due date will be posted.

Puppies got their microchips today. Marco and Fancy gave a quick yelp and that was it. Wyatt, Polo and Sohpia made a BIG fuss.  So glad that is done and over with. While we were at the Vet I noticed the sign for Rabies shots. Turns out this month is Rabies clinic month. Rabies shots are discounted and you don't have to pay the office visit fee. Brought the whole crew in.  One by one, i have a bunch of sweet calm quiet dogs. All together and they are noisy, and bark at everybody. It was like trying to catch a water fall. Silly dogs. They did do good, everyone got their shots and we went home. By the end of the visit they didn't want to leave. They were just getting in good with all the vet techs (amazing what a few treats will do!)

Stopped at the pet store, took Paige inside for a new harness. She is strutting around like she is the princess (cause she is). Walking up and down the isles sniffing everything. In an instant my princess went from exploration mode to "pick me up! Pick me UP!"  I look up and there is a very happy Mastiff. Really excited to see us! and trying her might to convince her mom and dad to come say "Hi".  I just had to giggle. We stopped at the collars, Paige is now hiding behind my legs. The Mastiff is coming our way, they need a collar too.  She was such a big beautiful Mastiff and soo happy! They like the same harness I was picking for Paige. Paige was not happy and just wanted to leave. I could see it in her eyes "Momma, she's huge!"

I was watching an episode of Dog Whisperer and he said dogs don't see size. They don't care how big or small another dog is, it is all about vibes and what not.  I think after today I would have to disagree. If that mastiff had been a little dog, Paige would not have minded so much (she is the princess afterall).

Puppies are the sweetest little cupcakes! They got their first shot yesterday, such good puppies. No crying! They are 6 weeks old now and due for their updates photo shoot. I am having to put that off. With the knee surgery, I can't get down to their level to take photos.  My daughter Brianna tried. She got the camera out, set up the box, and away she went. Or so she thought! It was quite funny listening to her trying to talk the puppies into sitting still. HA! They were soo excited, they said "play time!". She tried "Please?!" she said "sit", yea that didn't do anything!  She ended with a "Mom, how do you do this?, they aren't still?" trade secret my dear, trade secret!  No, its actually simple. You wait till they are ready to take a nap.

Fancy is by far the most outgoing happy puppy. My son has taken a liking to her, so she has been getting extra attention. Attention she is just lapping up. He carts her everywhere. She is going to make some little child very happy!

Up coming litters!!!!!!

Puddin is getting a belly! She likes to eat, so if you don't watch her she will gorge herself on food. I mean, this dog will eat soo much, she looks like she ate a football. She has an unhealthy obsession with food! So to see her walk around with a pudge, i have to keep reminding myself she is pregnant, rather than running to see which bag of dog food she broke into!

Paige is to be bred at the end of the month. This will be our last chocolate litter this year. Next chocolate litter won't be till spring next year.  I had plans to breed her to Dude, and get some dapples but there has been a change in the line up. Someone has fallen in love with "Sugar" now Lola, from her last litter. So we are going to have a repeat of that breeding. Paige and Louie will be put together again. This will be another all chocolate litter in either solids or piebalds. All green eyes, in either half or long coat.  Will update with due dates and belly shots as they come.

Don't recall if I have mentioned it already, but this litter is one smart cookie.  I need to move them into the puppy pen, I know this. I planned on doing it this weekend. They are a quiet bunch, don't complain.  I have been giving them thier freedom for  a few days and they get out of their box, only to sleep on a cushion right infront of it.  Their favorite thing is just the ability to go in and out of the box. They really don't wander around the room or investigate. Except for Fancy, and Marco.  They are not all that adventurist but, will look around a little.

Fancy came up with the bright idea of trying to push against the wall to move the box, so she can get out. Theres that smart cookie, Im talking about! She has tried walking on the lip to get over the side. All this is extremely cute since they still have that puppy wobble to their walk.  I just find it cute, she wants out, but when she out, she doesn't go anywhere.  She just wants out on the principle of wanting out. So this morning she and Marco show me they have a new trick. Jumping. Ahhh how cute! Those wobbly little tykes are trying to jump!  Yea, that didn't take long to master.

I leave give the kids breakfast, come back and Fancy is out of the box wagging her tail "Hi!" at me. What? How did you get out? Put her back in the box. Put the kids on the bus, come back. There is only 4 puppies in the box. Now I KNOW the kids didn't take her out.  Put her in the box again. Walk out the door and wait, Sure enough she is jumping onto the shallow side, grabbing the lip and pulling herself out. Little turkey. Guess they are getting moved to the puppy pen RIGHT NOW !   Fancy was cool with it, she was like "Awesome, what can I get into?" The other puppies not so much.  Marco was a little curious at first, but then decided against it and cried a good bit.  Sohpia, Polo, and Wyatt, got in the bed and laid down. Not interested in checking out the new digs.

Wyatt is such my little scardy cat. I think its funny. Usually, its the runts, the little ones who are shy, scared, or just not outgoing. Not with this litter.  Polo, itty bitty Polo, is just as outgoing as his bigger siblings. He plays with them and plays hard! Now Wyatt, is a big baby. He does not like it when the puppies play rough, he does not like being alone. He is very shy. And he is one of the bigger puppies. Funny little role reversal.

The next time I get the bright idea to "fix" my webpage someone needs to kick me!!!

Had the idea to move Puppies page two, to page one by just copying page 2 onto page 1. Yea, sounds nice and easy doesn't it!!  Sounds like a great time saving idea. Yep, such a good idea that took me about 5 min to do, and another 2.5 hours to fix!!!! Seems that when you do that, page one starts to think it is page 2, then I can't get into page 2 cause there is now 2 of them. Confusing!!!!

On the good news, I had to go all the way back to an original 2009 save. Since I had to do that, I went ahead and added a new page! I now have a "Shop" page. Been thinking about adding it for a few months now.  I will move the magnets over there, and hope to sell dog beds, crate mats and blankets there.  I will also be adding some Dachshund themed hand quilted quilts to the site. That is all a work in progress. Hope to have it up and running by April.

My puppies are too smart for their own good. They want OUT of the whelping box. Such smart cookies are trying to push the bed away from the wall, so they can have freedom!  They are going to be stuck in that box a bit longer, till they can all get in and out easily. With Polo being so tiny that might mean another week.  We'll have to wait and see.

Mickey found herself a new home yesterday.  I got several emails for her, this family emailed called and couldn't wait to some meet her. They have a little boy, and he was all kinds of excited to play with her.  That makes me happy, she needed to be with someone to run with, and a mom that just wants to cuddle. It was a good fit.

I missed her last night. Did what I am not supposed to do, and I got a bit attached. Got used to the little sweet following me around the house, and waiting for me outside the shower.  I miss singing "Mickey-Doodle-bug"

Now it is time to focus on the current litter.

Feeling so detached since the laptop broke! Daughter dropped it and now the screen has a bunch of cracks in it. It will turn on, there is light, but that is it. Havn't called HP yet, because I am assuming, they are just going to tell me to buy a new one. Blah!

So doing the weekly broadcast is going to be hard to impossible.

The little wiggles are doing great! They are such a quiet bunch. They don't complain, they wag their tales so happy each morning. I go and lay with them and they just scoot up to me. So sweet. They already have very nice plush coats. True longs. I am loving their fur. 

It is hard to tell coats on creams and brindles at birth. I do my best, but often I have to change my intial assessment.  Fancy is a Black and Cream. She is losing her shading bit by bit. It is still up in the air, if she is still shaded or brindled. Going to take a little more time.  Which is the same with Polo. I can tell he is pointed. But golly Day, he is as black as midnight! He is either heavily shaded or heavily brindled. He is so tiny I can't tell either way.

Polo is the runt. He is only 14ounces compared to his siblings of 1lb 4oz.  He is not sickly, just tiny. I am thinking he will be a very small adult male. Which is not common, most of the time, the runts or petite ones are always girls. Girls are naturally smaller. I got a rare luck of the draw, and now a petite male!!! It is rather exciting. At this rate, he should be a tiny 8-9lb MALE!

The puppies have tiny little nubby teeth. Next week they will start on kibble.

Moving right along, Puddin is 2 weeks along. I will be posting her 3 week photos soon.

Taken today from left to right we have:

Sophia(bottom), Marco(bottom), Polo(top), Fancy(bottom), and Wyatt(top)

I know, I know. I havn't posted in over a week. I just havn't been a regular cheery self when coming here. I have gotten a few emails for Mickey, and where as that should make me happy, I was quite disapointed.

I am a nice person, I try very hard to help. But there are those people that want to take advantage of my kindness. I got three emails from 3 different people, but I believe they were all generated by the same person. Each email basically said they like Mickey, but after a few emails said they could get a cheaper puppy elsewhere, unless I was willing to come down to their price range.

Like I have said time and time again. It is a fair tradeoff for me to sell for less to go to a good home. A great home is well worth the lowered price. I have placed a few pups this way. Sold to a lady with 1 yr old twins, who showed up everyweek to visit her puppy, that was soo worth a "discount".  But I am not going to lower my price just to give someone a bargain puppy, I want there to be a connection, This puppy to be wanted for who she is, not because someone is just looking for a good deal.

I do hope to place Mickey. She deserves a good home! Someone that looks at that face and can't live without her.  Sorry to lay this all out there. I am not angry, just disapointed.

Pie Pie had her puppies. This is the first time I have had 2 sets of puppies in the house. I usually keep it planned to where, one litter of puppies is grown and in their new homes before the next litter is due. That didn't happen this time around. We have back to back puppies. I thought I would have my hands full, but no.

Lola and Mickey are such good puppies they are just part of the family now, so I can put my attention on the new borns. I am truely lucky to have such a wonderful dog family!

Speaking of Mickey and Lola, they are proving once again the best toys are the free ones. They are jumping on and dragging a paper bag around the house.... Again! I took pictures of the last time.

I spend the money on the good toys, and they play with a bag.  The bag they have right now is one of those brown paper grocery bags with handles. To say the least the handle is the favorite part at this point. Silly puppies.

Pie Pie's puppies are doing good. Gaining weight, sweet little puppies. This litter barely makes a noise. They don't wine. You get some puppies that just fuss a lot, and this litter is such a good litter. No fussing.  There is one puppy falling behind just a tad, so she is getting hand fed at the moment. I have been giving her a little extra so she can keep up with her siblings. It is so sweet to feed her. So tiny, fits in the palm of my hand. Tiny little legs, big round belly. Puppies grow up so fast. Hard to think in just 2 short weeks they will open their eyes, and start to walk.

Yes Puppy Cam will be up this Friday. I am going to split it up. Show Mickey and Lola for about 45 min. then the remainder on the newborns.

I was a little late getting the puppy cam up. I got so caught up getting the puppies ready to go that time just slipped by.  Sugar and Clyde will both be leaving tomorrow. Yea! So Exciting!

Now, as soon as I laid down to set up the cam. The Dachie rador kicked in "comfy bed straight ahead!"

If anything I know that I am LOVED and that i'm Comfortable!

I am very excited to announce a much long waited upcoming litter!

Puddin has started her heat today! This will be her first litter, I am extremely excited. I have been patiently waiting for her to come into heat for about 2 months now. She will be bred to Milo.

Both her and Milo have really long bodies, She is built like a race horse and he is that long lean and low I love. This will be an all English Cream litter in both Long and Short hairs, with or without brindle patterns.

Milo is a 10.5lb boy, and Puddin is 12.5lbs. This litter will be on the upper weights of a mini.

If everything goes according to plan puppies should arrive the first week of April, and ready to go home in June.

Keeping fingers crossed with LOTS of belly rubs!

Puppies are 7 weeks old! That means a trip to the Vets office to get microchips! Puppies each got the once over from the vet, had their weights taken. They are looking good

Poor dears did not like getting the microchip, but on the plus side it is something that only has to be done once. They are gonna get some extra treats, and lots of cuddles.

Wow it is hard to believe they will be going to new homes in a week. Just ONE week. Time flies! Well, 2 week for Lola. I get to hold onto her an extra week till she flies off to live in North Carolina. 

I feel like I had so much to say, I sat down here to type and I am coming up blank.  So I am going to go play with my puppies

Dachshunds are heater hogs. Just so you know!

How to make a Dachshund quilt. Easy step by step guide.

1. Choose your favorite colors and patterns. Dachshunds come in a wide array of color/coat/pattern options. For a more colorful quilt be creative in your choices!

2. Lay out your begining squares.

I decided to start off with a spotted theme, and threw in some solid chocolate and Cream for some flavor. I also decided to offset the Long stranded white with some shorter for a nice slick look.

3. Now that you have your basic block you can add to it for a little more definition. This is a good time to decide how big of a quilt you want to make.

As you can see with my example I continued with the spotted theme. Except this time I went for a little color on color. A little chocolate on chocolate. I liked the light shade in contrast to the darker splashes chocolate. I also feel this makes those long white strands pop against this slick palate.

4. Lastly put your finishing touches on. You might need to rearrange some blocks, or "brush" up your long or short strand of fabric.

And there it is! My very own dachshund quilt. I love how the Dark brindle adds a splash of color to this otherwise light hearted quilt! Notice how in my example the blocks are woven in and out of each other to create a truely unique blanket.

Here you can see my daughter example using the same materials, but in a different fun pattern. Looks warm doesn't it?

It was a busy weekend here at the Clover Patch. Saturday had me running errands all morning.  Needed puppy food and shots. Got home, and had to face the cold hard truth that I  MUST give the puppies their shots today. I am such a softy. It makes me feel like the bad guy. Most of the time the puppy doesn't even feel it. They just give me an akward look "What was that?", But every now and again, I get that one puppy that just screams. Breaks my heart.

So going into it I am more nervous than the puppies. What a good litter this is! None of them cried! They didn't even notice, they were eager to go play. Yes, such good puppies!  They were extra good and all took their wormer. Now you recall I said how badly they hated it at 2 weeks old? Yep, like I said at 6 weeks they love it! Sugar and Clyde were licking the outside of the bottle in hopes of getting more, silly puppies!

Did the six week photo shoot. Clyde and Mickey did not cooperate. He just wanted to sleep and she wouldn't sit still. Sugar and Lola, just georgous!

I also made the booboo of missing Fridays broadcast. I think I made up for it by recording a video of them playing in the sun room AKA puppy room.

You can see that here http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/12079127

Oh my goodness! It has been a long day at this computer. I had homework to do, got it done. Then moved on to more fun things, Puppy things .  Updated the site, blog and FaceBook.

I was having a great day! I have been pushing for Clarksville vets to adopt a Spay and Neuter program for years. Currently there is only one vet that will alter a dog cheaply, and only for animals adopted through the animal shelter. That is great, but not helpful in the grand scheme of things.

The Humane Society of Clarksville, TN is building a brand new building! A spay/Neuter clinic! That is WONDERFUL news!  I want to contribute as much as possible. So I went to a fundraising site that I belong to, and ordered some car magnets! There are 3 to chose from a PawPrint that says "Life is better with a dog" (5"x5.5"), a Heart "dogs" cutout (2"x5"), and a bone that says "I heart my dachshund" (2"x7"). I am selling them for $6 each and proceeds to go the Spay and Neuter program. I am very excited to be doing this and hope you will pick up one or all 3 of these cute magnets! To purchase go to my homepage at www.CloverPatchDoxies.com

Ok, now that the excitement is out of my system. I have to tell you about PayPal.  They have these buttons, you see them on my site. It allows you to pay for shipping or deposits. Well, I wanted to use those buttons to sell the magnets. I made 3 seperate buttons that would take you to a shopping cart, the first button worked, the second button worked, and third button............. Well when I would add the third button the other 2 buttons would morph into button #3. It was a headache. I spent hours on here trying to fix it, copy code, paste code. over and over.

I gave in and called PayPal. Told them the situation. In total, I was on the phone with them for over an hour. They took GREAT care of me, looking into this unusual problem. My website is now up and running, all the buttons work! I am estatic, and pleased with the great service! Sometimes I feel they are really expensive, but after today, I feel it is worth it. Visa never gave me such time.

So that is it, that has been my long day on this computer. My dogs miss me, going to go curl up with them on the couch and open a bag of chips. Maybe the dachies will even share them with me??

Swing by look at the magnets, pick up one, or two or three  Help me support Spay and Neuter Programs!

I have been counting down the days, waiting to post Pie Pie's six week belly bump. Her belly is down right huge and I have been dying to share it with you!

She normally has nice small litters. 3-4 puppies. This has me scratching my head, we are either going to have a bigger litter OR we will have some really fat puppies!

 Mickey and Sugar are still available. They are opposites when it comes to personality. Mickey is very outgoing, she just jumps at you ready to play. Where as Sugar is more laid back, she loves to sit in your lap, she does love to play, but just isn't as rowdy as Mickey. They are both very sweet girls, that get very excited to see us.

I kept the puppies in the Whelping box as long as I could. Had to hold out for tiny little Lola.  She liked the comfort of the box. Well, it was 3 against one. Her spotted siblings wanted OUT!

Yesterday after the broadcast I moved them all into the SunRoom into their 4X4 pen. Oh they liked that! Even Lola, who I feared would get very shy. Nope, she proved me wrong, she was just as excited as her brother and sisters. They had to check out every nook and crany. They are doing very well, and love they new digs.

That just makes me happy! Because that means no more 6am wake up calls!!! Yes, the puppies wake up with the sun. I do not. They clearly get that from their mother. Their Father, Louie, is NOT an early bird. I am up at 7:30, all the dogs go outside for their morning business, all the dogs except Louie. No, Louie is crashed on the dog bed in my room. At 7:30 he gets up and slowly walks under my bed. He refuses to be Bright eyed and BushyTailed till about 9am. At about 9am, with my coffee in my hand he will come say "Hi", do a big stretch. That is when he is ready to go out. Yes, that is some of that Dachshund stubborness you read about.

Well I was hoping for more Feedback on the photo I posted. Was really hoping to hear some funny tags. I am going to leave it up for a few more days. So far, my husband has been the comical one. Love his comment about the wind tunnel.

I can come up with all sorts of little comments for this bat earred, tounged out puppy, But would love to hear how creative yall are!

This little contest is up on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clover-Patch-Doxies/120544741329977

Daughter says it's more fun if you win something....  So.... I guess the comment with the most Likes with win a "Love my Dachshund" Paw magnet!

Alrighty! Puppies are 4 weeks old today, which means updated puppy photos. Sounds simple right? Just take a few snap shots of cuddly fuzzy puppies?

Trying to take a still shot of something always in motion, is not easy. Mickey thought it was a game. She was making noises at me, barking and all around just having fun. I had to keep picking her up to put her back on spot. I think she was playing tag... Because as I would put her back she would run at me with puppy growl. Didn't think I was going to get a shot of her. Such a ham.

Clyde thought it was some kind of play time as well. In one of the shots you can see he is biting my background!  Oh they make me smile!

Lola was the only one who really just didn't care. She just started to walk off like "I am going back to bed!"  Sugar, was more in the way of "Why?" Why do I have to be over here? "why is that thing flashing at me?"

I did manage to get a few good shots, then rewarded them all with play time, they are nicely wore out and taking a nap now.

They have also been started on puppy food, We start weaning this week. Sometime this week they may get moved out of the whelping box and into the puppy pen. Going from such a small area, to a huge one can be scary, so I like putting that step off as long as possible. They are growing up on me, however, so I won't be able to put it off for long.

I keep meaning to post, but havn't taken the time to sit down and type. Last Friday Clyde surprised me. Just like  new born baby smiling for the first time, Clyde walked up to me wagging his tail! Oh it made my heart melt. Those little wobbly legs, and that little tail whipping to see me. He is such a sweety. I am such a sucker for the boys, and Clyde, is no exception!

Saturday, first thing in the morning, he was wagging his tail again to say "good Morning!" and right along with him was Mickey. Slowly as the week progressed they all started wagging their tails. Now it is a joyous sight each morning as four little tails greet me with "Hello!"

Puppy tails and Kisses? Is there a better start to the day?? They are walking so much better now, still got some wobbly sea legs at times, but all in all, they are doing GREAT!   Mickey and Clyde seem to be my more outgoing puppies, they love to play, come to me when they hear me, and are even barking. Yes barking and play growling with each other. It is adorable.  Sugar and Vixen, um I mean Lola! are my more laid back sweeties.  They don't like to play as rough as Mickey and Clyde want to play. 

All of them are very interested in Moms food. Next week they will start on kibble. The way they are acting, I know they will take right to it. Their teeth are little nubs at the moment, barely breaking through.  Won't be long now.

I would love it if they would be awake on todays broadcast! So far, they have been napping in the afternoon. I would love to show how playful and just plain ADORABLE they can be.

Paige is finally finding the perfect balance in being a Mom and being my lap dog. The first couple of weeks after birth she gets depressed. She wants to tend to her puppies and stay with them, but she also wants to be part of the family still, and be with us. It is hard on her, and I end up spending a lot of time sitting with her as she feeds. Now that the puppies have gotten older, they don't feed as often and Mom, can spend more time with us peoples. She is perked up, right now sitting on the couch with me eldest getting her belly rubbed.  She is such a ham! She really is my best bud!