The Life of Riley

My name is Sir Riley VIII.  Everyone just calls me Riley.  I am eight years old and a black and gray dapple Dachshund.  I have had a pretty rough life.  When I was about six years old, my human mommy died.  I was really sad.  Then my human sister took me to live with her and her seven year old son.  That was not a good idea because the boy was pretty rough with me and I bit him.  So my sister gave me to our brother who had a son who was sixteen years old.  That kid was given full responsibility of me, but did not really know how to take care of a Dachshund and I was not happy at all.  Eventually, they gave me to the Las Vegas Hot Diggity Dachshund Club & Rescue (LVHDDCR).  

I love my foster mommy & daddy and they love me, but it wasn’t always so.  I had a bit of an attitude when I came to them.  I had double ear infections and I was in a lot of pain.  When Mommy or Daddy would try to put medicine in my ears I would bite them.  That made Mommy cry and both of them would get angry at me.  

One day a friend of Mommy’s came over and said she could help me!  I thought it would be a good thing, but it turned out to be bad.  She said that if she rolled me over on my back it would make me submissive.  Well, that may work for other dogs but it made me furious!!!  She did this almost every day for several months and I never got better, but much worse.  After I bit her hard, on a walk, she told Mommy that she couldn’t be around me anymore.  Mommy understood and I said good riddance! 

During the time the friend was trying to help me, Mommy, who is the Adoption Coordinator for LVHDDCR, was trying to find a forever home for me.  She found one in Pahrump and took me there.  I was there for six days.  The man did not tell Mommy that he was going to leave me outside all day!  I barked and barked because it was winter and very cold!  I was trying to tell that man that I am a house puppy, not a yard dog!  Finally he called Mommy and she sent Daddy to go pick me up.  Daddy and I were SO very happy to see each other.  There was one other person who thought she wanted me, but I tried to bite her so it did not work out.  You see, I was so happy with Mommy and Daddy that I did not want to find a different forever home.  I wanted them to be my forever Mommy and Daddy.  

I was still biting Mommy and Daddy when I got angry, but Mommy said I was getting better.  She tried to talk Daddy into adopting me, but he was not sure yet.  They already had four dogs: Zoe, the big Cocker Spaniel who does not like anyone, she is 12; Ziggy, a 7 year old piebald Dachshund; Butchie, an 11 year old red and black long haired Dachshund; and Mozzie, the Chiweenie puppy that Mommy could not find a home for, so she adopted him. Daddy said the house was too full and told Mommy to keep trying to find me a home.

Mommy kept trying, but I was growing on her.  Sometimes she would send Daddy messages that pretended to be me talking and say, “Daddy, I am a good boy.  Please ‘dopt me.”  Daddy thought that was cute, but he was holding off.  You have to understand, it was not because he did not love me; we were, and are, the best of buddies.  We spend all of our time, when Daddy is home, together.  Daddy is the one who takes me to the vet and gives me a bath.  I even sleep with him.  Daddy snores REALLY LOUD, so he cannot sleep in Mommy’s room, but the snoring does not bother me.  I kind of like it.  And I get to have Daddy all to myself.  Besides, Mommy says I am a bed hog when I sleep with her and she has to sleep at the foot of the bed.  

One day, the lady who runs the rescue called Mommy and told her that if she and Daddy did not adopt me, she would have to put me to sleep.  I am smart enough to know that means I would die and I was SCARED!  I should not have been scared, though, because there is no way Mommy or Daddy would let that happen.  They love me as much as I love them!

I have a very good life with Mommy and Daddy.  I have a problem, though; I am fat.  Not just a little fat, either.  My belly almost touches the ground.  Mommy has me on a diet.  I only get one-third of a cup of diet food twice a day, which is 4.2 ounces total.  She also puts green beans in my dinner because she read that it will help me feel full without making me fatter.  I love them!  I do not get very many treats, either. 

Mommy and Daddy try to walk me but I can only walk a few feet at a time.  Mommy says I have the shortest legs of any Dachshund she has ever seen; but that’s not why I cannot walk far.  The pads on my feet are extra big and when I walk, my feet roll around.  It is very uncomfortable and it makes it difficult to walk.  Mommy and Daddy say they will keep trying because being fat is very bad for a Dachshund’s back.

Overall, I am crazy-happy about my forever home and Mommy and Daddy say they are crazy-happy to have me here.