The Mackenzie is Out of the Bag!

Wow! It has been over a month since I have last written, so let me give you this word of advice: Don't get two puppies during the last couple of months of the semester! It has been non-stop puppy and homework since the middle of November! (And puppies eating homework, more on that later.)

But wait, I said "puppies" even though the last post talked about one puppy. Since my fiance is a follower of this blog, I couldn't let the Mackenzie out of the bag until I got her. I couldn't just get one puppy, especially when it comes to the uber-social doxies. While "Ty" (henceforth known as Doppelbock) would have been perfectly happy being an only child, I couldn't stop thinking about the little dark chocolate pup that I had to scroll past every time I wanted to look at Doppelbock. When I received an unexpected windfall from work, I decided to surprise my fiance with two puppies! I called the breeder and found out that "Rocky" (henceforth known as Mackenzie) was still available. Not only that, if I bought one I received $50 off the second one which meant that I could actually afford the drive to get them! (I live north of Chicago and the puppies were located near St. Paul.)

I was so excited to surprise my fiance with the second puppy, but I was also in for a surprise as well. Now, anyone who looks at the name "Rocky" would expect the puppy to be a boy, I know I did. I was terribly excited to get two boys because that it what I had growing up. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Mackenzie had lady bits instead of male bits! The breeder asked me if that was ok, and I looked at her picture online and, well... I'll let you try and see if you could say no to this face!



She looked so sad and shy, she was practically begging me to take her home! I could hear her little puppy voice saying "Please don't leave me without my brother!" I was excited because I knew my little Doppelbock would be able to bring her out of her shy little shell. Again, this was another thing I got wrong. More on that a little later.

So with the money paid and the deal in place, I went with my sister to pick them up. Like most reputable breeders, this one is located in the middle of nowhere to ensure that the dogs have lots of room to run. I was very impressed by how well the dogs were kept, and how well mannered the dogs were. As you doxie owners know, there are two types of dachshunds; the bad mannered and the good mannered. There is almost always no in between, and usually you are more prone to get the badly behaved ones.

When I arrived at the house, I was greeted by the owner's daughter, who said she would bring the puppies right out. Two seconds later, a little 3 year old girl came walking out holding my future puppies. I wish I would have taken a picture! The puppies were holding on for dear life as much as the little girl was. When she set them down, Doppelbock (the boy) ran behind me and began to shake while Mackenzie (the girl) hopped right up onto my lap and began giving me puppy kisses with vigor! Her tail was wagging so hard that she wagged herself right off my lap! All the while, Doppelbock huddled behind me, whimpering slightly. Well, I was wrong about Mackenzie being the shy one!

So we grabbed the puppies and puppy packs and headed back home. The puppies lasted the entire five hour drive without having one accident, and four out of the five hours they slept. When we stopped at the rest stops (which was frequent because my sister has the bladder of a ground squirrel) I would place the cage next to me and open the door. Again, Doppelbock huddled in the carrier while Mackenzie charged forth in order to plant her puppies kisses all over anyone who would allow it.

Now, I had told my fiance about getting the second dog shortly before I went to get them so it wasn't a total surprise. However, when he saw them it looked like Christmas had come early! They cautiously walked out of the carrier and then ran right towards my fiance. I looked at him and he looked at me and without saying a word we could tell what we both were thinking. "What the heck do we do now!?"

I knew what I wanted to do. Before they became too independent and less likely to participate, I took pictures for the family Christmas card!

As you all know, the only time to get an untrained dog to pose for pictures like this is the get them after a five hour car ride and right before bed. And after this picture, I placed them in their kennel and they slept through the night.

And by slept through the night, I meant slept until about 2am. Unfortunately for my fiance I can sleep through the apocalypse, so he had a rough couple of weeks. We were so proud of the puppies because they only woke up during the night the first few days. Now, they go to be with me at one in the morning and wake us up a 9:30 am. How nice is that?

Well, this summarizes the first couple of weeks with the puppies. The next installment will include their first doctor's appointment, potty training, puppy school and the little quirks that we have been discovering! Oh, and how they ate my homework.