Heidi Break thru !!!

There was no time to grab a camera.

Heidi has been building up her strength and she has been able to walk some in the house. We have been going to chiropractic for almost a year and acupuncture for about 4 months now.

Heidi is not in pain, she is a happy girl, but has never been big on playing. She loves to destuff her toys and will chew on a rawhide or cow hoof, but has never been big on playing with the other dogs.

Well, the other night "the boys" were being their usual silly selves and doing zoomies in the living room/dining room. (Zoomies for those not familiar with the term is when dachshunds go silly and race around the house in circles). They were chasing each other, overtaking each other and having a great rough and tumble time expelling some pent up energy. Heidi watched them for a few seconds and then positioned herself at the narrowest point in their circuit, where they could not escape her. As Valentin came zooming by, Heidi pounced on him, FROM A PLAY POSE !! She stood with her front bowed, diaper in the air and held the pose until Valentin came by. After she pounced on him, they had a good wrestle and tussle together.

This is the first time Heidi has EVER done that in the 2.5 years that she has been with us. I have no idea what came over her, or if she will ever do it again, but my little girl felt good enough and had enough strength and muscle control to be a "normal" dog for a few minutes. It would have been wonderful to have captured that on video and be able to send it to her former foster mom, but there wasn't time and, frankly, I was in shock. If she ever does this again, the camera is now at the ready so that we can share with Mardy how Heidi continues to build on the start that Mardy gave her.

Aren't all dogs "special"?

Yes, everyone's beloved pet is special.


I named this blog "... life with 3 special dachshunds" because each of my 3 are particularly special plus their special needs. I started this blog to show how dogs with special needs, be it physical or behavioural, can have happy lives.


Heidi's special need is obvious; her IVDD, her cart (or wheelchair) and her diapers. Her love of life and people make her "differences" fade away within seconds of meeting her. She is truly special rather than special needs.

Valentin's special need is an invisible type of disability or special need. Due to the lack of socialization and mistreatment during the first 18 months of his life, he has fear aggression issues with people. From the first moment I met Valentin, he was fine with me, but he is definitely not comfortable with the rest of the world. As long as I control his environment and exposure to people, he can have a happy life; but it requires a constant awareness on my part to ensure he is not put in a situation that would trigger him. I also work with him on an on-going basis following a desensitization program specifically designed for him by an animal behaviourist. As our behaviourist has said, "Valentin is as much as special needs kid as Heidi". He has improved. Valentin is comfortable at his doggie day care and gives at least one of the staff members kisses. I expect that he will be a "work in progress" for all of his life, and I am fine with that. With me, he is as loving a little furkid as anyone could ever ask for.

Pogo was an indoor dog 24/7 before coming to live with us. His special need is learning about the great outdoors. He is almost perfect at using pee pads, but his transition to also using the great outdoors as a bigger pee pad is very slow. Pogo will hold it until he gets inside to his papers. We were out travelling for the day and I did not realize that Pogo had not eliminated once, although we were outside for a great deal of the time. The poor boy was so happy to get home and rush into the bathroom to his pee papers. You could almost hear the sigh of relief. He is also still learning about the great outdoors beyond being the world's biggest pee pad. Wind is scary, this invisible hand that pushes him along. Rain, cold and snow are things to be avoided at all costs (although the silly boy LOVES to eat snow and will sneak snowballs into the house, hidden in his mouth). His dachshund pattern baldness is a special need in so far as he gets cold more easily and usually wears a t-shirt inside for most of the year. When he came into rescue, he was misdiagnosed as having a food allergy. We do want to raise the awareness of this phenomenon that is more common to dachshunds.
The other thing that makes Pogo special, is not a need, but a characteristic. This boy can JUMP!! So far, he has gotten two loaves of bread down from the kitchen counter top. He can jump straight up, shoulder height. I am so grateful that he has (so far) not been able to combine forward motion with his leaps. We are working on keeping him on the floor, as this behaviour will almost inevitably lead to back injuries if he continues. Some statistics say that one in four dachshunds will have some sort of back episode in their lifetime, while others say one in five. My hope is that through education, the use of ramps, etc, that the odds are slowly improving for this wonderful little breed.

Next came our "special" girl, Heidi Ho Ho

Within two weeks of losing Champ, I had to take an extended business trip back to the company's head office. Valentin and I would end up living in an hotel room for 4 months (blessedly, a pet friendly hotel). I think being away from our home, the familiar surroundings and Champ's scent made it easier for Valentin to deal with his buddy's absence, but I could see that he was lonely and needed another friend.

I searched the DRNA (Dachshund Rescue of North America, http://www.drna.org/) website, looking at the furkids who had been waiting the longest for their forever homes and fell in love with Miss Heidi Ho Ho. There was something about her picture on the internet that kept drawing me back to her. The fact that she was a "special needs" girl did not deter me. Due to my working hours, I did not feel comfortable taking on a dog that needed expressing, but Heidi was incontinent and diapers easily handled that.


Heidi had been found by the side of a country, dirt road. Although it was early December in South Carolina, the people who found her kept her outside in a box on their front porch for a few days, in case someone passing by recognized her. She then was turned into the local kill shelter as a stray.

When no one claimed her after 7 days, she was scheduled to be killed. You see, Heidi was found already paralized. We estimate her injuries were 2 years old at that point and she had wear marks on her feet that she had previously been in a cart. YOU figure out how a paralized dog ran away from home. Heidi`s age was estimated at 7 to 9 yrs old at that time.

Blessedly, a wonderful lady named Mardy realized how special Heidi was, and stepped forward to become Heidi's foster mom. Mardy nursed Heidi back to health (she was very thin, had a UTI, her legs and feet were very scraped up from dragging herself over the rough ground). Heidi hated being in that cage at the shelter, her nose was bloodied from banging it against the cage bars. Here is a picture of her poor little feet when she came into rescue.

Mardy and I talked several times about Heidi's needs and how I would look after her, working and being single. In theory, on the phone, it was all good.

After being approved, volunteers helped to transport Heidi from South Carolina to the Canadian border at Niagara Falls. It was a 2 day car ride for my girl, she loved every minute of it and charmed each of her transporters. Heidi is a real trooper. I will confess to panic as the transport pulled away, leaving me holding Heidi. "What had I gotten myself into?" "How could I possibly care for her?" I wasn't even sure how to put her into her cart, let alone change diapers, etc. The first 5 or 6 weeks I guarded the last diaper that Mardy had sent. Each new diaper was carefully measured against the sample, so that I would get the hole for her tail in exactly the right place. With time, I did relax. Heidi was very patient with me. Today, I can free-hand cut the tail holes and change her diapers with my eyes closed.

We were in the hotel room for another month, then 2 months with my sister while I had knee surgery. Heidi did not actually settle in to her new home until 3 months after she became a Canadian. She took it all in stride. Heidi reigns over whatever situation she finds herself in.

Heidi was with Mardy for about 6 months before I adopted her. Being a foster mom myself, I know how hard it was for her to let Heidi go so far away, knowing that she would most likely never see Heidi again. We have stayed in touch for these past 2.5 years and 14 months after the adoption, Heidi and Mardy got to meet again in Virginia, at the Mid-Atlantic Doxie Phest. It was a great reunion, Heidi obviously remembered Mardy and I got to thank Mardy in person for the wonderful gift of Miss Heidi Ho Ho.


Here is Heidi in her newest cart. This was taken at one of Heidi's public education presentations. We teach children the proper way to meet a strange animal and that having "special needs" does not mean being different or excluded from day to day life.



This was the first day with her new brother, Valentin





Here they are today, as close as if they have been together all their lives.