Valentine's Day: A SPECIAL BOOK EXCERPT

Happy Valentine's Day, Doxie Lovers! Here's a special book excerpt to you from me:  

A Dachshund's Merry-Go-Round Life, Book 5

THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES

Excerpt 

— PREFACE –

Sarge Says . . .

Dear Readers,

THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES series has given me the opportunity to tell about my life, my family, and all those crazy experiences this very thankful doxie has had in my l-o-o-o-ng doxie life. I’m nearly fifteen years old now, which is ancient for a dawg.

With that said, I’ve decided that the time has come for me to retire from writing my books. Quite a merry-go-round ride, I have enjoyed sharing it with you. In this book, however, I’m doing something a bit different: instead of sharing my usual day-to-day situations and experiences, I’m writing the chapters about my favorite memories and adventures. I had so many fond memories that it was kinda hard to choose which ones to use for this final book.

There’s plenty of living left in me, I assure you, but I’ll be watching mostly from the sidelines rather than being the one who is doing everything. After all, I’ll be kept occupied in watching Duke, Gizmo  (that pesky, talkative cockatiel), Zoe and Charlie, Tate and Joey (The Fuzz Brothers), Piper, Aslan, and now Winston and Thor—and that’s just in my animal family.

My human family is growing older just like I am.  Annika, Alexa, and Asher aren’t the little babies first mentioned in my earlier books.  They are now—well, I’ll just let you read about them in this book.

My other family members are lovingly shared in these pages, too: Papa and Nana Duke, Sellars and Renata, Mama, Daddy, and the children, Uncle Kurt and Aunt Bethany, Uncle Steve and Aunt Dorothy, Clark and Mavis, along with a few others.

By popular demand, I’ve included some recipes of my family’s favorite dishes, because so many people have asked about them. Remember reading about Aunt Bethany’s Hot Fudge Pudding Cake and Renata’s Crunch Cake? Mama’s Banana Pudding? Nana’s Cranberry Banana Jam? Those recipes, along with several others, will send you to the kitchen to cook up some of these delicious Southern dishes and desserts.

Now that this book is available, I plan on relaxing more with my human family. Papa Duke and I are kinda partial to sitting on his front porch and watching the world go by. He talks to me a lot when we’re out there, and that’s one of my favorite things to do nowadays.

Papa and I are getting older, too, so I cherish every moment I have with him. He’s my honorary dawg and I’m his granddawg. The sunsets out there on his porch are lovely. Stop by sometime, and as we say in the South, “set a spell” with a tall glass of lemonade or sweet tea.

Always the chow hound extraordinaire,

Sarge

1 – Stop the Merry-Go-Round:

I Want to Get Off

I might sound like an old grump, but I never have liked merry-go-rounds—but then, I’ve never gotten on one, either.  Crazy contraptions, if you ask me. Anyway, I have always thought of my life like a merry-go-round because so much has always happened to me or to my humans and animals.  Perhaps I should explain further.

I’m considered a “senior” dawg now.  At age 14, I’ve probably seen it all, tried it all, and experienced it all, as far as a doxie possibly could.  And now, I just wanna lie back and enjoy watching Duke, Piper, Aslan, and Thor “enjoy” all the zany things that I used to wear myself out for. Like chasing a dumb ol’ cat. I just don’t understand why I used to enjoy that so much, because even if I caught one of ‘em, they’d just try to claw me or hiss at me (Aslan is especially fond of hissing). 

Now Thor—nothing scares that crazy cat. Believe me, I’ve tried to scare him, but it’s never worked. And now?  Well, it’s just not worth the effort, and we’ve become pretty good buddies, too. He’s still young—only a year old—so he has a lot to learn, but he’s afraid of nothing.  No matter how many times Mama yells at him, he still jumps up on the counter all the time, so I suppose that’s why she keeps all the food covered if they’re getting ready to eat. I wouldn’t be surprised if Thor tried to help himself to their dinner, either. I’ve even seen him on top of the fridge, just sitting there and twitching his tail. Don’t ask me how he got up there, either.

Now Piper only comes out these days when he thinks nobody else is around except our family. Some of Mama and Daddy’s friends think we only have two cats anyway, because Piper stays hidden when they come over. Thor and Aslan, on the other hand, go right up to any humans who enter our house like they are long-lost friends or something. They rub against the humans’ legs, meow, and purr. Personally, I don’t think they have much discernment at all. Why wouldn’t they wait and check out some of those humans before surrendering their dignity? That’s a cat for you, though. 

When Duke is here, he thinks everyone comes to see him. I used to be that way myself, but somewhere along the way, I realized that I’m just a small cog in a large wheel of life, and although I used to be cute, I don’t get as much notice now as a senior dawg. I move more slowly, I don’t hear or see as well as I used to, and I have gray hair around my muzzle and on my paws. I used to be a black-and-tan doxie, but now, I’m just a black-and-gray doxie. I don’t really mind all that, because as I said, I’ve had quite a ride.  But I’m ready to lie back and relax some now. Mama and Daddy realize this, and they help me up the stairs, get my attention by patting me on my back (since I don’t always hear them), and seem to care about me in a special way reserved for us older dawgs. I enjoy that kind of respect.

The children? They’re growing up way too fast.  Annika is now eleven, Alexa is ten, and Asher is five! Where has the time gone? Even Duke is now eight. He’s no longer a puppy, of course, and he’s settled down, becoming quite a handsome boy. I’ve trained him well, although he still has that puppy streak and will play with Asher for what seems like hours on end. I overheard Clark say one day that he doesn’t think that Duke will ever truly grow up. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Duke can act like a superior dachshund when necessary, but then get down on the floor and make the children laugh sometimes, too. I’m proud of him.

Others in my family are slowing down, too: Papa and Nana Duke are very old now (maybe about 100?), and they don’t travel much anymore. They even have a nice lady who comes to their house to help them every day. Papa no longer has a garden because he just can’t take care of it like he used to, he told me one day when he and I were sitting on their front porch. I was on his lap, and he was sitting there watching the sunset as he drank a glass of iced tea.  “You know, Sarge, we ain’t as young as we used to be,  is we? I cain’t do what I could do, and Ray-melle cain’t, neither. But the Lord has been real good to us, givin’ us good health fer most of our lives. Now, we’s gonna hafta jest slow down and take things as they come. You done started doin’ that, too, I noticed.” Yes, Papa, we are. I won’t pester you to throw my ball for me any longer, that’s for sure. I’m completely content to sit here on your lap and listen to you. I’ve always loved listening to you talk.

          

RIP Shadow, my doxie granddawg, who was my inspiration
for Sarge the doxie. We'll always miss you!
(January 2001 - February 2017)