[Hey gang, it is my absolute pleasure to let you all know that we're back up to full capacity here at Who's Your Dachshund! Please welcome the latest addition to our team, bringing our total contributors back up to ten and our total dachshunds up to sixteen. SIXTEEN! Yes. It's madness...I know. But enough about me, take it away Bridget!]

I graduated from college on the East coast in May of 2008. My entire life I’ve been an Air Force brat…forced to cater to the every whim of the government’s hold on my dad and our family. After living in Arkansas, California, Texas, and lastly Maryland, I understand that I had a more fortunate military experience than some other “brats.” I never had to be dragged overseas, for example. I’m extremely close with my family, but after I graduated and had my own apartment in big, bad Baltimore City with no roommates to speak of, it got a little lonely.

Okay, it got a lot lonely. Enter Merlot. (Yes, like the wine…)Merlot is a chocolate and tan long haired miniature dachshund. I knew it was meant to be, because I never looked for her and she found me. I got an email one day from a woman who had a litter of dachshund puppies (her first, only, and last) and had one left that they’d been trying to re-home for a few weeks. Merlot was 12 weeks when she found me. She was the runt of the litter and a little fireball. She was a very fluffy wiener I liked to call Fozzy Bear (before she lost her baby fuzz). Merlot is FULL of personality. She talks to me all the time (the way dachshunds do); she’s very communicative. Sometimes, I think I can almost see her snapping her fingers at me and rolling her eyes with attitude (if dachshunds could do that).

After putting her through puppy kindergarten and conquering a plethora of new tricks, I thought I had the best little dog; she is SO eager to please me – very people-motivated. I looked at Merlot as a not only a companion, but a challenge. But I noticed she would drag all 20 of her toys out of her basket every morning unsatisfied with each, which led me to believe she needed a friend to play with. Okay, maybe I was looking for an excuse to get another wiener dog…I don’t know.

Enter Moses. He is a black and English crème long haired miniature dachshund. Moses was the fattest and fluffiest from a litter of three. He is the laziest dog I’ve ever known. He watches Merlot run laps around my apartment. If there is little to no movement involved, count Moses in. Otherwise, he prefers to watch. We call him Monster Truck because he is so broad in the shoulders and SO clumsy (he once fell nose-first into a pond of water from trying to get a drink!). He is also bigger than Merlot now, even though he is almost three months younger.

Merlot just turned 6 months old. Moses will be 14 weeks old December 5, 2008.

Merlot is the personality. Moses is the sweetheart. It’s their world. I just live in it.