HOW IT ALL STARTED

When my youngest daughter, Andie, was 3 years old she got a puppy for her birthday. It was a female smooth haired dachshund. Andie named her Spooky Pumpkin. She loved that dog and played with it all the time. At some point Andie started asking if Spooky could have puppies and I promised her that eventually we would do that. Well, I never felt like it was the right time to make the commitment to have puppies and then in August of 1999 Spooky had to be fixed because she had gotten a cyst. Andie was very upset because Spooky never got to have puppies. Then on New Years Eve of that same year Spooky became very sick. We spent the day just holding her and spending time with her. I didn't try to take her to the vet because of the holiday. The next morning when we woke up, Andie went to feed our animals and she found Spooky in her doghouse in the exact position she had laid her in when she had put her to bed the night before. Spooky had died. Of course we were heart broken. Especially Andie who loved Spooky dearly and happened to be the one to find her dead.

It wasn't long until Andie was asking for another dachshund that we could breed and I promised her that this time we would breed her as soon as she was old enough. I started shopping around and found a lady that had puppies for sale. When we went to look at her we thought we were going to look at a smooth haired dachshund. I had never seen or heard of a longhaired. Andie fell instantly in love with her and so did I. Chili was the cutest puppy I have ever seen so, of course, we bought her. She was the best puppy. So well behaved. Trained easily and I spoiled her rotten. After chili's first heat I began to look for a stud to breed her with. I had read about breeding in the meantime and felt like I kinda knew what I was doing. I found out after a few months that Longhaireds were hard to find. I finally bought a male puppy to raise and breed with her. I bought him on chili's first birthday 2-7-01. The deal was that we would have one litter and if it was a good experience and not too much trouble that we may have more litters. If it was a nightmare (I have heard stories) we would have them fixed and that would be it.

Chili went into heat that June. Rocker (the stud) was only 6 months old. We decided it would be the "proper" thing to do to marry them. After all, you shouldn't just go around having babies unwed. So we had a little wedding, both bride and groom wearing the proper attire. It was really more of a run a muck photo session than a wedding. But we have pictures none the less. They tried to breed and Chili actually had a false pregnancy. The next time she went in season they bred and her puppies were born on her 2nd Birthday 2-7-02. She had 3 pups. They were all perfect. And I had no idea how I would live up to her first and second birthdays on the ones to follow. A husband for the first birthday and 3 kids for the second birthday. That's big stuff.

Everything went so well with the breeding, pregnancy, births, and raising the pups. The whole experience was very good for Andie and myself. They sold very quickly and so after the little ones were gone we just couldn't wait to do it again. On Chili's 3rd litter she had 6 pups. She was huge and her belly was dragging the floor for the last week. She delivered them like a pro and they were all healthy. So far we haven't had any pups die and I am so thankful for that. My mother instantly fell in love with the runt of this litter. By the time I was ready to start taking deposits on them, Darlin (the runt) was my mom's. As she raised darlin she fell in love with the breed also. My mom has had a lot of dogs but never has been so attached to a dog like she is to Darlin. Everyone that I have sold a pup to over these last 3 years has reported back with the same impression of this breed. So I recently moved to be closer to my mom and we decided to start a new hobby together. Breeding miniature longhaired dachshunds. I love the birthing experience and mom loves everything after. So here we are now starting out with a few new dogs and hoping to grow.

  
Chili at 6 weeks                                           Andie and Spooky

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