[Our post today comes from Heidi from Portland, Oregon! She now lives with two Dachshunds, Señor Rolo and Miss Gigi. She rescued Gigi from Oregon Dachshund Rescue a year ago.]


I have always owned pets but I think that I had a thing against Dachshunds because so many of them are named after me. So I was in my thirties before I actually met a wiener dog and fell in love with the breed. I am mostly German and I can really relate to their idiosyncratic and sometimes extreme little (big) personalities!


Anyway, it was love at first sight for me and Señor Rolo, my partner's mini-Dachshund. It actually took longer for my relationship with his owner to develop over time! I am blessed by having a picture of Rolo and me from that first night, though I am truly horrified by the way that I am holding him. It looks like he is too!

Rolo is an extremely affectionate dog, but he is also at other times very independent. He is what I like to call a 'breedist', in that he only really likes other Dachshunds, which is why I rescued another
wiener dog to keep him (and me) company. He is very good at telling whether a dog has even a sliver of Dachshund in them, I have been surprised by his mellow response to another dog and found out from their owner that their dog was part wiener when I couldn't necessarily tell by the dogs appearance!

He loves all people but can have an attitude problem with other dogs, it depends on his 'mood' apparently.  His owner thinks that it's slightly funny when his 13-pound dog suddenly lunges at other (usually bigger) dogs, snarling, and demands to 'have' their toys, but it makes me worry about the little guy getting into a situation that he can't handle, through his own actions!

Rolo hates puppies in particular. When I met him he was only four and I remember asking his owner the first night I met him if he was a puppy himself, but he can have a grumpy old man attitude. I have found that telling Rolo to be a 'good boy' when he is in the process of meeting other dogs can encourage him to use his good manners but if his lip starts quivering you have about two seconds to reel him in before he will startle the day lights out of any civilized dog.

And I should mention that Rolo is all bark and no bite, even with dogs he hates, he suddenly will lunge and bark and snarl, but he doesn't actually bite them, which makes me worry about him even more!

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