Must Be Santa Paws

Christmas Time makes us want to wag, so we made a video where Tootsie and her buddies listen to Dachshund Daddy's very special rendition of Must Be Santa.

Bryan Adams recently released a very special video for his own version of Must Be Santa and asked his fans to come up with their own version. We hope he likes Tootsie's very special version!

Dachshund. Air Mattress. Inflate.

Special Remembrance: Sweet Sir Yugi

It's hard to believe that our friend Sweet Sir Yugi passed away one year ago. We're thinking of Yugi and his Mom and sending lots of love.

Here's an encore showing of Dachshund Daddy's movie, "Be Like Yugi."

And here's another, "Shakespeare in the Bark."

Yugi gave Tootsie a frisbee -- smaller, for her size. About a month ago, after not touching it for a very long time, Tootsie picked it up and started playing with it.

We miss you, Yugi.

Love,
Tootsie & her humans

The Dachshund of Music

My friend Moira asked me if hiking in Switzerland and/or Austria makes me feel like I'm starring in The Sound of Music. Yes, it does! (Minus the nasty WWII parts.) So it comes as no surprise that I am uniquely placed to audition for a new film: The Dachshund of Music.

For my audition, I'm warming up my voice with special tongue, mouth, and face exercises.

I'm practicing my German and learning apple strudel recipes.

I'm hiking long distances over high-elevation pastures and sniffing for marmots along the way while looking for Christopher Plummer singing "Edelweiss".

And with Mom's help, I'm twirling. I'm twirling. I'm twirling.



How do you call a dachshund named Maria? Me!

Do you think I'll get the part?

Kisses and Wags

Meet my fur-friend Steetch, the Swiss Border Collie whose wagging tail provides the soundtrack to this video!

Be Like Yugi

Yugi is home with his mom and is feeling better, but please keep sending him healing vibes, magic juju, and the Power of the Paw.

Dachshund Daddy celebrates Sweet Sir Yugi in the acoustic version of his chart-topping hit single "Be Like Yugi," inspired by the 1991 Gatorade jingle "Be Like Mike".

Please check out the wotten-waven video starring Yugi along with Truffle and me.



Do you think "Be Like Yugi" will be a hit in your country, too?

Locking Horns

Here's some mountaintop action captured by Dachshund Daddy. A word of caution: this video contains explicit footage and is intended for a mature doggy and kitty audience.



This footage was shot at the top of Monte Zucchero (literally, Sugar Mountain) in Southern Switzerland.

Non-traditional Banking

Tootsie, Truffle, and Yugi in conversation at
Antelope Valley Summer Camp.

Shakespeare in the Bark

Happy birthday, Shakespeare!

Mango Minster 2012: Adventure Animals Category!

Dear Mango Minster Judges and Kindred Hearts:

I, Tootsie, am a Bicontinental Adventure Dachshund.

Thank you for the opportunity to enter the 2012 contest. I am an adventurer who lives and travels on both the European and American continents and logs countless hours hiking in the Alps and the American West.

I travel by plane,

by train,

by gondola,

and by many other methods of transport, including automobiles, buses, cogwheel trains, funicolari, and ferries.

Fur Disclosure: I’ve never ridden a chairlift because I don’t think it’s safe.

As part of my residence in southern Switzerland, for which I obtained a Swiss Pet Passport, I'm required to embark on another sort of adventure. As a middle-aged doxie, I am learning to understand one of Switzerland's four national languages, Italian: "Seduta, Bassottina. Brava!" ("Sit, little Dachshund. Good girl!")

I love hiking. I’ve hiked all over Switzerland: Canton Fribourg in the west,

the Greina Plateau in south-central Switzerland,

Canton Appenzell in the northeast,

and in many other places.

I’ve hiked in the Austrian Alps,

in the French Alps,

and in the Italian Alps.

Once, I encountered a viper on a trail near Passo Vivione in the Italian Alps. There's no picture, because, duh, we're not going to hang around with a deadly viper on the trail, but here’s a link to what the viper looked like. Freaky!

I’ve also hiked in the Appennines in Tuscany

and regrouped in a Tuscan hilltown.

Though naturalized Swiss, I'm a proud United States citizen by birth (though the U.S. doesn't issue legal pet passports).

I love hiking in the American West, especially in my home state of Idaho.



I also like to hike in Montana.

Before Christmas, I met Santa Claws in downtown Bozeman.

The whole schnaa of being bicontinental means I’m a super lucky little dog. I get to go sailing in the San Juan Islands in Washington State,

explore the rocky shores of Puget Sound,

and walk along the sandy beaches of Tuscany,

where I filmed this movie.

I’m a fit little dog, but I wasn’t always this lucky. Before my forever parents adopted me, I was a very sick little dog. It was not clear if I would be well enough to live this life.

My special vet Dr. Ward of Pet Mobile saved my life. Dr. Ward performed surgery to remove huge bladder stones. Just a month later, I had three abscessed teeth pulled at one time. Ouch.

Yet after each surgery, I woke up wagging. My special vet assistant Brenda says that I always wag! My previous caregivers Clara, Sarah, Sadie, and Sophie, who found help for me with special vet Dr. Ward, confirm that I have always wagged. It’s true. Wagging is the leitmotif of my life.

Even before my renaissance and all my current travels, I believe I have always been an “Adventure Dachshund.” Why?

Because, to me, real adventure begins in my heart. Real adventure is reflected in my wagging tail. When I wake up every morning, I wag. I wag because life is sacred, and I'm grateful for mine.

Thank you for your time and consideration of my entry in the 2012 Mango Minster contest.

Keep on wagging!
Love,
Tootsie

P.s. Now I'm going to take a nap!

Lakeside Bachshund

Last week Uncle Pog visited us. We took him on an exploratory walkie along the shores of Lake Lugano and leveraged his cinematic talent to complete principal photography of our new short, "Lakeside Bachshund". What is a Bachshund? A dachshund who enjoys listening to Bach, like me! Watch me as I wander along the lakeshore to Bach's "Air on the G String."



Check out my first short, "Catch a Wave"!