Today I was telling Vince that I feel like, with all the stories about Oscar’s bad behavior, I’ve given all Dachshunds a bad name. Oscar will be two years old on December 14. I thought we would never make it to this point. He has calmed down so much, especially with Cooper here. they run off a lot of energy playing. Oscar is still looking, non-stop, for something to get into. We’ve learned to put anything up really high if it interest Oscar. I can’t believe how high he can jump and how much time he will spend trying to get a piece of paper that’s sitting 4′ above his head. Oscar is very high strung and I don’t think that will change. He will sit next to me for hours, as close as he can get . . but when he wants to do it and at no other time. Oscar is much like my first Dachshund . . he’d just as soon bite me as not if I cross him. And poor Vince . . he can look at Oscar wrong and Oscar is ready to bite him. Vince is afraid of him, and Oscar knows that. He’ll start to bite me and let him go for it and he never actually bites or, I should say . . hasn’t yet.
While I’m writing this, Oscar is sitting next to me sleeping. A year ago, I didn’t think he would ever do this except late at night when he was very tired and ready to go to sleep. I’m thankful he will sit next to me and sleep, but it is usually after he and Cooper have played hard for half an hour or so.
Little Cooper, on the other hand, he can just wake up from a long nap and if someone wants to hold him and snuggle, he’s ready to fall asleep in your arms. He’ll be four months old this week. He’s still a bundle of energy when he’s playing. He loves to play but he definitely isn’t high strung like Oscar is. Cooper is happy to run towards something new and explore it where Oscar will go out of his way to walk around a speck on the floor if it wasn’t there yesterday.
Cooper is happy to see anyone. If a stranger picks him up, he snuggles just like he would with us. Oscar snapped at a neighbor who tried to pick him up when he was about Cooper’s age. Cooper is doing ok with the house breaking. We aren’t there yet but four months is still young. If we’re holding him, or he’s sitting with us on the furniture, or even during the crate at night, there are no accidents. If he’s playing with Oscar, there are accidents so we only let him on the carpet if we’ve JUST taken him out and then, after about 20 minutes, we stop and take him out again. I consider him house trained when he tells me that he has to go out and never goes to the bathroom inside – he knows to tell is in time to get him out.
Cooper really is a dream puppy. He’s so easy to handle. I can trim his nails without any issues at all. Because he has black nails, I trim them every few days and just snip the ends off. Oscar’s nails are white and I can see the quick so I’m not nervous to trim his nails. I tried Oscar’s nails when he was 4 months old and it has been a fight – a screaming, crazy dog – every single time I’ve tried it.
For all of Oscar’s crazy behavior, he was easy to house train and I considered him fully trained at 5 months and I don’t think he’s had an accident since then.
We’re pretty lucky to have them both!
Sandy Gail Hutchins says
Love those stories about Oscar and Cooper. Little Cooper is the kind of puppy that I adore. Oscar is so beautiful and has such a lively personality.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Having had Chad and no other children, I knew that all children were different but I never experienced the real differences by not having two or more of them 24/7. I know all dogs are different, even the same breeds. I’ve only had one dachshund at a time until now and it’s been a real eye opener to see how different two of them can be. I love them both and enjoy every minute with both of them, though Oscar wears me out quickly. Even going outside on a leash, they both notice butterflies, birds, airplanes, petrified worms . . Cooper with want to chase a butterfly or eat something off the ground. I say NO and he stops and goes on to something out. With Oscar, he wants to pull and tug, act like he’s going in a different direction, I give him a little slack and he takes off after the butterfly I thought he was leaving alone. You cannot take your eyes off Oscar for a minute . . except when he’s sound asleep!