I forgot to introduce my best friend, a six-months old lovely dachshund whose name is... Socrates. He came into my life after a long period of considerating the pros and cons of having a dog at home. I used to have two dogs in the past (Rhudolph and Franco) hen I was still living in Buenos Aires, two lovely dachshunds, smooth haired ones too like Socrates and I must say both of them were incredibly smart and affectionate. The first one, Rhudolph shared my childhood memories and Franco, who's still alive, living with my parents today (he's 13 years old and still plays like a puppy!) shared my adolescence and youth... They were both standard dachsies (weighing between 9 and 12 kilos). Rhudolph was very intelligent and most of all extremely devoted to chase! Franco, inspite of being bigger in size, he is also incredibly smart but does not have exactly the profile of a "hunter" he's extremely affectionate and kind to other pets (be it a rabbit, a hamster or even a cat!).
I had been here for five years and I terribly missed having a dog by my side, but since I worked and often had to travel I knew for sure that having a 12 kg dachshund would not be sensible decision. So I started looking for a small dog, like a Chihuahua or a Pomeranian, even if I did not like the first and the second was too "hairy".
One day I saw an add in a newspaper. A breeder was selling two "Chiyorks" (a crossed made out of a Yorkshire and a Chihuahua) so Christophe and I went there and saw the puppies, they ressembled their father, a Yorkshire and the result of this mixture was not a good one, their mother did not seem to have a good character, neither did the father. We explained the breeder that we were looking for a small dog (not weighing more than 5 kg) so that he can travel with us when we go back to Argentina to visit our family. The breeder told us that he had two small teckels (they were not Kaninchen but their parents had been "crossed" with kaninchen teckels). And that's how we "met" our little Socrates. He immediately liked us, he was small, we saw his parents, which were small too, and above all, they were friendly, so we said, ok why not, let's take the risk....
Today, Socrates has reached his maximum weight (4,5 kilos) and we're looking for a lovely dachsie girlfirend for him... There's a serious "proposal" coming from a standard dachshund from Alsacia! But, since she's only six months, Socrates will have to wait a year to have a girlfriend. Our vet told us to wait a little too. I'd love to give one of his puppies to my mother.
Socrates is one of the best things that happened to me recently. Between funerals and health problems etc... Socrates brings joy to our lives, he's our angel... a real blessing.
And with this picture I wish you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
