Homer!

Well, we are once again a dogged household. We've been without a dog--for the first time in thirty-odd years--since our aged Molly (she of the gruesome post-mortem encounter with coyotes) succumbed to congestive heart failure at the age of sixteen or so, a few months ago. I'd wanted a smooth standard dachshund like my beloved Gus, if I could find one; most breeders these days seem to supply only mini-dachshunds or the occasional longhaired or wire-haired variety.

I'd been looking for a while, when I came across Kristin Cihos-Williams's Alphadachs breeder listing online. On impulse, I called, got Kristin at once, and learned that she was sitting at home with a very pregnant dachshund named Lily, who was due that very day. We hit it off, and stayed in communication over the next three or four months, with the end result that our son and I drove to Indio on New Year's Day to pick up one of the puppies from this litter (Kristin lives in Temecula, CA, but was at a dog-show in Indio, which is substantially closer to Phoenix).

It's a four-hour trip from Phoenix to Indio, but the eight-hour drive was well worth it.



[Hmm. I tried to upload three photos of Homer here, but not working for some reason. Will try again tomorrow--gotta go to bed now. [yawn].]