Chipper...he was a miniature red brindle dachshund. I guess they were pretty rare. I actually had a woman stop me in the parking lot of Home Depot one time to ask me if he was still "intact". He wasn't, so she was bummed.
I called him "Chipper-D". I first met him through an outreach that I was involved in. I was matched with a woman who needed someone to come and visit. I am good at listening and that is just what she needed. She was an African American woman who grew up in the East. She had lots of good stories to tell and she enjoyed telling them. I enjoyed listening to them. We became fast friends. While I listened, I threw the ball for her dog. He was a crazy little thing. He was obsessed by his ball and later when I told my friend (who also visited his home) that I was going to take him, she said, "He is very badly behaved! How are you going to control him?!" In any case, during my visits I would throw the ball down the hall and he would chase it and bring it back. He didn't like to give it back, but he would if he knew I would throw it again.
Chipper's Mom became ill and passed away six months after we met. It was a great loss for me. I was invited to her bedside and I was in her home when she passed.
Then there was the question of her dog. I found out later that her family left Chipper outside for several days during the funeral and all that was going on at that time. It was September and he was not only a short-haired dachshund, but he was also kept indoors 99% of the time by his mom. There was talk of selling him and this and that. I finally stepped up and asked that they give him to me.
I went to pick him up after the funeral service. I was dressed up and was already worried about how he would fit in to my household. We had two big dogs, Bear and Lizzie, and I knew Chipper was a little hellion. I remember Chipper biting my shoe and then proceeding to pee on it to show me just how much he appreciated me taking him home. By the time you can imagine I was not impressed and was wondering what I had gotten myself into. But I knew that he would eventually be put down if I didn't take him. He was not wanted.
Chipper came home. I cannot say that he had a perfect life with us...ok, yes I can. I so wanted a baby and Chipper filled that hole for me. He loved to sit next to me on the couch or on my lap. He got to sleep in bed with us. He was a spoiled boy. He got along really well with Lizzie. They would play and play. But there was a lot of competition between he and Bear. One time he pushed Bear too far (think 113 pound dog against a dachshund) and I had to football kick Chipper from Bear's jaws. Not a pretty sight. Bear for the most part put up with him, but he could only be pushed so far.
I have to stop and say that we worked with him and he was much more behaved. I brought him back to visit his mom's son and his family. They were shocked and surprised at the change.
Later, Chipper got sick. I didn't know enough about dachshunds. I had only had big dogs. He hurt his back. It was a sad day. Acupuncture really helped, but eventually we had to put him on prednisone. It was a good option, but I believe that we did not take him off of it at a slow enough pace. He became blind and got a disease. It is funny, but I have been wracking my brain for the name of the disease, but I cannot remember. It affected his heart and his overall health. But at the beginning it was his blindness that worried us.
Chipper was the best blind dog in the universe. We were worried about him and considered putting him down, but his nose served him well. After his blindness, he and Bear got along a lot better. We even moved from his safe little yard out to the country. He would go out in the unfenced yard with the other dogs. He only got lost once and then it never happened again. I was in awe of him.
Chipper lived for three years after he went blind and two of those he lived out in the country where there were lots of smells and fun for him. He loved to rest in the grass and bake in the sun. He was 9 when he finally passed away. It was a beautiful sunny day in the country. The veterinarian came out to our place and cried with us when it was time. She said he was the best dachshund she had ever met. We prayed over him and held him. I feel like he had a good life and a good death.
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