[LARRY NOTE: For this edition of our long-running feature Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap, we called upon our pal Diane Combs to tell us the story of her latest little guy who knows The Art of Slumber and has a history worthy of a rescue tale!
Here’s Diane’s report and, of course, some photos of Wally (right, in a bowtie) and the gang, including Mini-Dachshund Larry, the undeniably cute and clever dog who inspires me to sign any correspondence with “The OTHER Larry.”]
My Newest Rescue – WALLY
By Diane Combs
I’ve had nothing but rescue dogs since the 90’s. After I got my first rescue dog, I knew that’s all I’d have from then on.
Currently I have four rescues – Maxine, Rita, Wally & Larry. Larry is named after my friend Larry Powell. Posing on the living room couch from left to right are Max and Rita, a couple of terrier mixes, and Wally and Larry, the Dachshunds.
Of all the rescues I’ve had over all these years, Wally has been the most challenging, but I haven’t regretted adopting him for one second.
When he came to live with me through CAMO Rescue (click on the link HERE), he had spent more than four years as the “stud dog” in a puppy mill until CAMO was able to rescue the dogs and place them into foster homes.
At that time, his name was Thumper, and he was placed with veteran foster couple Tommy and Cindy Bull who really loved him and gave him a good home. After about 2 months he was posted on the CAMO website. That posting in February is when I first saw Thumper. [That is the photo CAMO posted.]
CAMO was recommended to me by my accountant who had adopted three older Yorkies from the rescue organization and said that CAMO mostly adopted out small dogs.
At the time I had four dogs – two Mini Dachshunds and two small terrier mixes. However, I knew that my oldest dog, Myrtle (a Mini Dachshund), didn’t have much longer,. Sadly, I did have to put her down on her 16th birthday in February of this year.
I already had my eye on Thumper and had even met him for a home visit with his foster dad, Tommy. However, I didn’t want to bring him into my home permanently until Myrtle had “crossed the bridge”.
In a home visit Thumper got along well with my other dogs, and Tommy said, “I’ve had 30 to 40 foster dogs, but this one is the most loving, affectionate one I’ve ever had. He’s beyond special.”
By the time I adopted him about two months ago, he had turned 5 years old (this past December) — and I had been looking for a small dog between 4 and 8 yrs old. He is a “tweenie” Dachshund, weighing in at about 12.5 pounds, somewhere between the preferred weight of a mini and the larger standard Dachshunds. His coat appears to be more that of a wire-haired Dachshund.
However, just out of curiosity to know more about Wally, I did a DNA swab test on him recently and sent it off to a company called Wisdom Panel and I was very pleased with those results. I did not send in a picture or any hint that he was a Dachshund, but his results they sent to me said “100% Dachshund with a wiry coat”.
His loving Foster Dad Tommy was right – Wally needs a lot of love. Having spent many years in a puppy mill (probably most of that time in a cage), it’s no wonder he craves affection.
I had fallen in love with his face on CAMO’s site, and it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with him in person – such a sweetie. Since I have a habit of naming my dogs after friends and loved ones, I re-named Thumper “Wally” after a good friend of mine – Matt Wallace (a dog lover).
Wally’s biggest challenge to me was to teach him what a leash is for – walking! I’m sure nobody at the puppy mill ever took him for walks. It
took me three weeks of daily training, patience on my part, and lots of fully-cooked, unseasoned deli chicken as a reward. Finally he went from just sitting like a stubborn mule to getting up and actually walking. Now he walks nicely on a leash around the block !!
That third week when he finally showed such progress in walking on a leash, I was so excited I made him a certificate which I proudly have hanging on my den wall.
I put in his official name as Sir Wallace Henry Combs because one friend of mine said he has the face of a prime minister (“Sir”), and I always thought Henry would be a good name for a Dachshund (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
The next step in my challenges with him would be socialization. He had warmed up to me fairly quickly, but it is taking him a while to warm up to people he doesn’t know. Hard to blame him for his lack of trust in people.
I’ve taken him with me to PetSmart three times, and one of them was on St. Patrick’s Day (left). He was a big hit, but he didn’t seem real comfortable.
Then I tried taking him to a dog park. He walked on a leash from the car to the gates but was more comfortable around the smaller dogs once inside.
He is now signed up for a six-week obedience school at PetSmart beginning 05/05. This will hopefully build his confidence around other people and dogs of all sizes.
Wally is a really good dog who is trying hard to please me, and he does. He’s a very gentle soul and gets along great with my other dogs. His personality really comes out when he’s home with me and my other dogs – he runs around, wags
his tail, etc. But I think there are some influences from puppy mill demons deep inside of him. However, we’re working on getting rid of those.
The Other Larry asked me to send him a picture of Wally snoozing. After I did, Larry asked if Wally was snoring when I took that picture. I told him I didn’t think so, but he does snore quite a bit – not real loud but loud enough to let me know he’s not having any bad dreams from his previous puppy mill life. [That final photo is a nose-to-nose-pose of Wally and his pal The Other Larry.]
The other day another friend of mine said, “I’m so glad Wally has you.” I said, “I’m so glad I have him, too. He’s probably only had three people in his life who loved him – his foster dad & mom and me”.
"I do love him dearly and he knows it, so that makes me happy that he’s so happy.
[DEAR READERS: Send the photos and tales of your happy dogs and cats and other sleeping beasties to d[email protected] and we’ll spotlight them in our long-running weekend feature, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. You’ll be helping people smile -- or maybe even help a person decide to give an adorable adoptable a new home.]
