Sally

It's been a sad time in our dachshund community this summer. You may have seen the notice on our site last month that our dear Peewee> went to the Rainbow Bridge on July 10. We are grateful that she had a long and happy life, and that she enjoyed good health up until the last few months. She was around when we got the idea for Dachshund Delights and launched the business. If you've ever ordered anything from us, there's a good chance that she was in the workroom to supervise the packing of your merchandise. She's buried in the woods just north of our headquarters, and she is visited often. We are comforted by the knowledge that she romps, whole and healthy, with her granddaughter Stubby.

 

Gretchen

Just a week before Peewee was born in 1986, a dachshund was born in Texas. Fifteen years later, she was to precede Peewee in death by just about that same week. Gretchen shared her life with our friend Karen Henry. In fact, she was Karen's first dachshund, and her loss is felt keenly.

 

Sally Gets A Treatment

The allergies became so severe that when we first met Gretchen, she was wearing a baby's t-shirt. There were so many things that could not touch her skin without causing a reaction that the t-shirt was the only thing that let her go about without being in costume. In her later years, shots were able to control most of these reactions. All of us who were her friends rejoiced the year we got a Christmas card and found that little Gretchen could show us her smooth mahogany fur.

 

Gretchen Braves The Elements

But any problems that Gretchen had were overshadowed by those of her sister Sally. And as if to share everything in their lives, Sally followed her sister to the Rainbow Bridge early on the morning of July 21, 2001, less than a month after her sister's passing.

That Sally had a life at all was thanks to Karen's love and devotion. When she was only six months old, Sally was turned in at the pound by her owner. You see, the owner was going to move, and he didn't feel like paying an extra deposit at his new apartment for the privilege of owning a dog. A rescue organization claimed Sally, and Karen took her in a month later.

For a few months, Sally was a normal, happy pup. Then she began to stumble. Then she couldn't walk at all. Tests proved that Sally's first owner had saved money on her in other ways: by not getting her puppy shots. Sally had been exposed to distemper and was suffering major nerve damage. At her worst, she could scarcely sit up or bark.

But if you ever had the privilege of meeting either Sally or Karen, it wouldn't take you long to discover that both of them were fighters. Through all the trials, frustrations and expense, as Sally had acupuncture and received treatments to electrically stimulate her atrophied muscles, as Sally had to be in a four-wheeled cart because her front legs weren't strong enough to let her use the two-wheeled variety, neither gave up. Sally proved herself to be a normal, stubborn playful dachshund who just happened to not be able to move on her own. Karen proved herself to be a tireless and uncomplaining friend.

Sally leaves behind a great legacy in the form of the Able Dogs Web site. When she went looking for a support group for owners of special needs dachshunds and couldn't find one, Karen formed her own. The Able Dogs site now acts as a source of information about canine disabilities and as a place where owners can trade advice, experience and encouragement. And to complete the chain of sadness, the Able Dogs site was created by our friend Julie Wrigley Smith, owner of Gracie, another special needs dog. We have just learned that Gracie went to the Bridge in April of this year.