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Brand New for November 2002
Come see my newest web page online with a dozen new
photographs of my travels in Israel. There may not be any dachshunds visible, but I think you might find the photos and the text of my time in Jerusalem and in other places of interest. Check it out at Israel Travel Photographs
Sweet Wotan, our 9-year old smooth red dachshund, had to have surgery in mid September 1999. Because he had not been neutered, he developed a very enlarged prostate which led to a perineal hernia. After checking with three vets on the islands, we decided to use a specialist in the Seattle area. So on September 16th we took the ferry to the mainland and drove to the Seattle Veterinary Hospital for Surgery. That night, board-certified surgeon Dr. Steven Stoll operated on Wotan. There were unexpected problems during surgery, which meant a longer hospital stay for Wotan and a much tougher recovery. It also meant complications such as the possibility of infection, a much larger wound, more pain, and temporary incontinence. The surgeon didn't think we should see Wotan right after the operation, so sadly we left him and went home.
Once we left the hospital we drove through heavy traffic for over an hour to the ferry landing in Anacortes. What an awful trip! Wotan was making pitiful sounds unlike anything I have ever heard in an animal. I was a nervous wreck just listening to his loud cries -- they were so unnatural and painful. I tried holding him but the cries and whimpers continued unabated. Nothing calmed him ... and I was crying, too. At the ferry landing we had to wait a few hours to get on while Wotan cried and howled non-stop. Finally we were allowed to pull onto the ferry -- that was when his crying stopped and he fell asleep. He never cried like that again. This photo was taken when we first got home. You can see the pained sadness in his eyes.
They hadn't made it clear at the vet hospital, but we soon found out that Wotan was incontinent. He seemed totally unaware (thankfully) of this problem -- what my former husband referred to as "poopsicles." This presented a problem, of course, since Wotan has always slept in our bed with us. We tried that night to keep him in a dog crate but his pitiful cries told us that wouldn't work. Our first solution was to try to diaper him. Here you can see Wotan in his impromptu diaper ... a pillowcase taped around his body.
That didn't work very well and his crying kept us both awake, so the next night the male human volunteered to sleep in the guest room with him. Again Wotan was taped inside a pillowcase in a new way. The male human at that time was a very good "daddy" to Wotan, cleaning his wound twice a day, giving him hot compresses and cleaning his rear frequently. I did two loads of wash most days. Since this happened in 1999 though, my former husband has never even asked about Wotan or our other 2 dachshunds friends tell me in over 13 months now. Even when the dachshund he proclaimed he "loved the most" (Gaudi) went suddenly blind in August he has never even asked one thing about him to any of our mutual friends or acquittances. Not even a quick "how is Gaudi adjusting to being blind" or any offer to help him in any way. That's "love" from a narcissistic male's viewpoint it seems.
Sad-faced Bridget and Wotan in the sun a few days later. The pillow under Wotan and the towels kept poopsicles off me. Wotan was very out of it because of the morphine patch on his shaved butt.
Wotan was very drugged with the morphine, and acted odd for days after he came home. When we gave him his favorite ball days later, he just held it motionless in his mouth for 10 minutes. His eyes look drugged and glazed. Wotan wanted to be held a lot, so we held him on a pillow covered with towels. He needed frequent baths for his incontinence. He seemed totally unaware of being incontinent, however, which was a relief as he didn't act guilty the way he normally would.
The male human tried a different way of encasing Wotan in his "diaper," this time with duct tape around his waist. It didn't work; he was out of the case again during the night.
Wotan had to be kept from moving around, so he spent his days on our laps or inside his basket enclosed by chicken wire. After a week passed, Shakti was less fearful and started to join him, lying in his basket inside the enclosure.
Wotan sits in his basket with a comforter draped over his cone. Sad eyes.
A bit happier a week later. Wotan with his ball in his mouth on Bridget's lap. At this point he wasn't playing with his bouncing balls, but at least he was holding them normally and picking them up off the floor himself.
Funny image of Wotan ala "The Flying Nun," with his ears jutting out of the Elizabethan collar he had to wear for weeks...we called it his "cone" -- thus he became a conehead or coneboy.
One game Wotan likes to play by himself is to put his high-bouncing rubber ball inside one of my shoes and then try and get it out. After a few weeks he was trying to play this game...only he had the handicap of playing with a giant cone on his head!
Sad or funny? I find this a touching photo, which is also rather funny, of Wotan enclosed in the pillowcase he had to sleep in for a month. This one was custom-made, with a drawstring neck and arm holes for his front paws. This pillowcase diaper he couldn't get out of...or move around in much. He was like a sad sack of potatoes.
Wotan lines up with his fellow dachshunds Shakti and Gaudi for their "nummy treat" which is food homecooked just for them...brown rice and organic vegetables from our garden. Yum they say!
More than a month later ... and Wotan is essentially recovered from his major surgery. Here you can see him in November, back at his old activities such as rock climbing on a long steep trail up Mt. Constitution on nearby Orcas island. To the right and far below him you can see the waters of the Sound, Lummi Island and the mainland of Washington.
Another thing Wotan's back to doing is fetching sticks. Wotan hates-- and I mean hates -- water, and yet he is compelled to chase stones, balls and sticks if they're thrown in. He alternately loathes and loves it when someone throws a stick into the very cold waters of the Sound. Here he is wading far out (for a dachshund) into this cold water to fetch a stick. He's up past his shoulders in it!
Triumphantly, Wotan the Mighty carries his prey back to the safety of the dry shore. A dachshund wins again!
And here we shall take our leave of him on a bright late-Fall day ... as he is out doing his favorite things: exploring the territory and hunting for voles and bunnies at American Camp National Historic Park.
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Please come by and see my new dachshund page as of August 2002. See wiener dogs hiking at the Pacific ocean, terrorizing small lobsters and plaster deer, moving their home and murdering rats (ugh!). All this and more at
Dachshunds Rule!
Want to take a trip back in time to when Wotan and Shakti were young puppies? Then stop by and see the web page I made in the Spring of 2002.
There are quite a few cute portraits
and action photos of them as dachshund puppies. The text tells of how we got the names Wotan and Shakti, what they mean and also talks about the defect Wotan was born with (which hasn't held him back in his life). Please stop by and see it at Dachshund Puppies: Wotan and Shakti
Come see another wiener dog page entitled "Adventures with Dachshunds". You'll see photos of German dachshunds we met this year on our trip to the "motherland" as well as the latest Wotan & co. adventures. See them attack balloons and boxes. Marvel at Gaudi's jazz singing. Come see Wotan with a yogurt container stuck on his head...that's a sight that will certain amaze and dazzle you! All this and so much more! Be sure to have your speakers turned on for the whole experience. 
Adventures with Dachshunds
I've traveled extensively in my life. If you are interested in seeing some of the places I have been to, stop by and see personal photos of some of my foreign travels. A handful of photographs from many of my/our trips to Europe are shown at this web page: Europe Travel Photos
Stop by to see my web page with over 20 large photographs and detailed text covering part of our almost month long trip to Europe in May of 2001. Come see it at Germany and Belgium 2001
See dachshunds licking horses, sleeping on plants, protecting humans from ferry boats and more at 10 Funny Dachshund Photos
A wiener dog (dachshund) steals $5 bills and tries to run away to buy pig ears but is caught and an attempt is made to remove the money from his mouth. A wily wiener dog (dachshund) steals a wad of $5 bills and tries to run away to buy pig ears but is caught and an attempt is made to remove the stolen loot from his mouth. Come by and see it at:Wiener Dog Takes the Money and Runs
Wiener dogs stare down Great Danes, get stuck in logs and blender jars, rips apart enormous carpets, swim in large ponds, hike on the edges of cliffs, help sift compost, and eat lots of pig ears. All that and more can be seen in action photographs at the new page Dashing Dachshunds.
This was my first page with animated graphics, and is also my first dachshund page with lots of text...and many funny stories about dachshund's behavior, some cute photographs and a mystery about an "angel" and a lost doxie. It's all here at:Dachshund Stories and Photos
It's NOT about dachshunds....it's an inspiring page of poems about nature. You can find it at Well Known Nature Poems
Stop by and see dachshunds in cages on ferry boats, doxies stuck in the slats of chairs sleeping comfortably, and dachshunds "going wormakin". Come see it all at Wonder Wiener Dogs of Washington.
Come by and see a page dedicated to the greatest dachshund in the world! Yes, it's All Wotan, All the Time
See dachshunds leap into a birdbath, destroying balloons, lifting weights, drinking espresso, imitating Mother Theresa and other strange and wonderful dachshund photographs atDoxie, Dachsie, Dachshund!
See photos of a dachshund atop a mountain, licking a glass case holding rats, wading in ponds amid sand dunes and other rare sights atAmazing Dachshunds!
Fellow dachshund owners...are you interested in posting to other dachshund owners about doxies? There is a good message board (not mine) for dachshunds at: Dachsie's Bulletin Board. Often there is funny and helpful dachshund info from other doxie fans. It's a great place to check out after you are finished visiting my dachshund photo web pages!
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This web page was updated Nov 2002. All contents ©Copyright 2002