The Not So Brave Little Dachshund

Oscar is so strong . . in body and in spirit. He’s like a little tank and when he decides he’s going to do something . . chances are, he is going to somehow do it. I find it so weird that he has such a strong “can do” attitude, is so bull headed but yet he is so afraid of everything. I understand him being afraid of fireworks but he’s also afraid of the tiniest little bug, a plant outside gets a new flower, the flashlight makes a shadow on Vince’s shop . . Oscar is scared to death.

The fireworks got really loud here Saturday night. He was in a panic. He was really scared. I tried comforting him but he just wanted them to go away. Then Sunday night, they were equally loud and he never got scared.

Last night, they were crazy loud and just rattling the walls. He was really scared again. About 11 p.m. I was ready for bed so I took him out. No way! He tried every way he could to get back inside. I kept saying “Go pee! Go pee! It’s ok. Go pee!” It didn’t take him long and he finally peed. I picked him up and held him tight and we went back in the house. The fireworks continued but he curled up on his bed and went to sleep.

Maybe going outside and hearing them he realized they weren’t going to hurt him? I have no idea.

Another weird thing . . you know how Rita has always been so afraid of thunder. We’ve tried Thundershirts, medication, this kind of drops, that kind of calming spray and nothing helped. She is no longer afraid of the thunder. The last several times when we’ve had thunder, she didn’t bark. We had a thunderstorm early Saturday morning and she never made a sound. I do believe she’s lost some of her hearing. Vince and I were talking about it and then last night he said “I’m going to take Rita out” and she heard that and came running so . . who knows.

My biggest concern with getting another dog was that Rita would teach him to be afraid of the thunder and that hasn’t happened. I would say having Oscar around calms her (not sure Oscar’s energetic little self calms anyone) but Speck was around in the beginning and she was still afraid of thunder.

Rita and Oscar still don’t have much interaction. He’s so rough and he scares her . . not to mention that desire he has that neutering will hopefully take care of. I don’t mind Oscar being with Boots because Boots can get away .. Rita can’t. Oscar wouldn’t hurt her on purpose but she seems so fragile. She’s a tiny little thing and even her bones seem so small where Oscar . . oh, my . . he’d just as soon run into something and knock it out of the way instead of taking an extra step to go around it.

I often wonder what neighbors think if they see us out. He’s always on a leash and he’ll be running and jumping and going in circles. He’s chasing bugs but people can’t see the bugs . . they just see a dog that appears to be doing some crazy moves.

I’ve never seen a dog love to run and play as much as Oscar does. He never gets tired of playing and even when he’s napping, if one of us moves, he opens his eyes and watches . . just in case we’re going to grab a toy and play with him. He’s such a fun little dog but he definitely keeps us on our toes.