First day at his new home

Hogan first came to visit from the shelter with another dog named Duke. Duke was a bit of a wild child and found some chocolate chips to eat. Yikes! Duke seemed to have a great personality, but was just a little hyper. Hogan, meanwhile, quietly sat at my feet and let me pet him and even gave me a kiss. I didn’t have to choose; I was chosen.

The lady who owns the shelter with her husband brought him yesterday with all his paperwork. She reiterated that he needs to get heartworm and flea pills once a month, to feed him only one cup of food a day and go easy on treats so that he doesn’t get overweight (a very real danger to dachshunds), and to exercise him frequently.

The first place we went was to Lanier Hardware, where they make doggie tags. The said it would be okay to bring him inside and of course he was so cute that people kept petting him and he loved it. He peed as soon as we got out of the car and again as we left the store. The next place we went was to my daughter’s group home. He peed as soon as we got out of the car. We didn’t go inside because one of the residents is afraid of dogs.

Then we went to a couple of stores, where he stayed in the car with my daughter, then we took a mile walk at the Senior Center trail. The first half of the walk he peed nine times. I do believe he is not peeing but attempting to mark territory, as there couldn’t possibly be any pee left inside of him. The second half he only appeared to pee three times.

So far, except for a mild snore when he took a nap soon after the lady from the shelter left a light sneeze or two, and a low yelp in the car when the seat belt wouldn’t allow him to get comfortable (I remedied that immediately), he hasn’t made a sound. I don’t know what his bark is like because he hasn’t yet barked. Neighboring dogs have barked at him, but he hasn’t answered.

I bought him some rawhide treats but only wanted him to eat it in the little bed he has been completely ignoring, choosing  instead to make MY spot on the sofa his napping place. But I didn’t want him eating the rawhide on either my sofa or my bed, so I put it in his untouched bed. He went for it and started carrying it away. I picked him up, put him back in the bed, and said, “Stay in the bed”.  I only had to do this twice more and he stayed until he finished his treat, which took about half an hour. He’s not been back in it since, however.

He really likes Rebecca a lot and sits by her most of the time when we’re watching TV. He truly enjoys going for rides in the car and walks. If I don’t lose weight now, I never will. I love him already.