Zoey
In November of 2003 Beautiful decided that she wanted a dog. That would actually mean another dog as “Tyler” (the submissive mutt) had been a part of the family for about 6 years. However, that did little to dissuade Beautiful from wanting a puppy and specifically wanting a dachshund. Her husband (known as weasel in these parts) was not interested in another dog mostly because he had become the primary care giver to the plethora of animals that had paraded throught the home at one time or another. 2 dogs, 5-6 cats, mice, brazillian walking sticks, 2 ferrets, salt-water fish, etc… So, it was stalemate, at least for a while.
In December Weasel finally broke down and began researching dachshunds while looking locally for dachsund puppies. With a bit of luck some puppies were located just a few miles away. Beautiful was partial to the dapples that she had seen pictures of in Weasel’s research and the litter did have one dapple girl unfortunately she was spoken for already. Still, a time was arranged and the whole family went to see if one of the other puppies would make a good addition. Upon seeing all the puppies Beautiful was quickly drawn to the runt of the litter. She was black and tan as were most of her litter mates and was clearly the smallest of the puppies. It didn’t take long for a decision to be made, a deposit to be paid and the family returned home to discuss a name for upcoming arrival. Several weeks later “Zoey” was brought home with much fanfare. Beautiful doted on her and the children were quite taken as well. Weasel had to admit she was cute but for the most part let the rest of the family enjoy the puppy as much as possible. 10 days later Beautiful left for Colorado for a week to help close friends who had just given birth to their first child.
While Beautiful was gone Weasel became the primary caregiver to Zoey. When he would go to the basement to watch TV or work on the family computer Zoey would have to be carried down the stairs so that she wasn’t left alone after the kids had gone to bed. And then she would have to be carried upstairs at bedtime of course too. When Beautiful returned the results were quickly apparent, Zoey had bonded with Weasel and he had bonded with her.
A tumultouous time for the family ensued. Feelings were hurt, a few fingers were pointed and through it all Zoey grew. She was firmly entrenched as the belle of the family when at the age of 5 months due to an unfortunate accident Zoey was taken to play fetch with the angels. It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire family was devistated, particularly Weasel.
