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Technically, she's a red standard dachshund. In reality she's twenty-four pounds of devoted affection. She wakes up in the morning wagging her tail and remains relentlessly cheerful through the day. I've even caught her wagging her tail while she's sleeping. She is simply the happiest dog I've ever known. She is an ex-show dog, retired at the age of five after her successful show ring career and two litters of puppies. The breeder put her up for adoption on the Internet and I volunteered to give her a home, sight unseen. Carrie Ann arrived via Delta Airlines from Washington State the summer of 2000. She was scared but she walked out of her crate wagging her tail with a hopeful look on her face. Rescue me, she said, get me away from noise and strangers and please, please hug me! We were happy to oblige, and we've been hugging her ever since. Carrie Ann was appalled at life in Minnesota at first. Walking on grass? Horrors! Going out when it rained? Never in a million years! Snow? She'd rather die than get her delicate feet cold and wet. Her newly-unstructured lifestyle was strange and unsettling. Gradually, though, her show ring inhibitions faded away. She learned that she could run, not just trot, on a leash. She didn't have to stick right by my heel at all times. She figured out that the 16-foot retractable leash meant she could explore all those interesting smells on our walks. And miracle of miracles, this winter she actually voluntarily plowed into snow in the backyard in pursuit of birds, squirrels, and those oh-so-tempting bread crusts we threw out for the sparrows. Rain is still a problem (she hates getting her head wet) but all in all she's become a Minnesotan. She adores carrots (actually, any kind of vegetable, but carrots are her special favorite) and ice cubes. She lives to sleep on my lap. We play fetch-the-fuzzy-squeaky-banana and take long walks around the lakes. People smile when they see her jauntily trotting along, her tail waving like a whip antenna, her ears pricked in interest at everything she sees. She greets me when I come home from work with leaps of joy and delirious laps around the house, leaving skid marks in the carpeting on the corners. She is the best dog in the world, and she knows it. |
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