HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, GRANDDAWG!

Today, January 22, marks the 11th birthday of Shadow, our illustrious granddawg!  As daughter Holly posted on Facebook, he's weathered six moves, three kids, and two cats!  He was, after all, their "firstborn" son.

Happy birthday to you, our doxie man . . . you've made so many things in our lives much more interesting--not the least of which is the fact that you helped me realize my dream of writing books!  And, our doxie Duke is thrilled to have you as his buddy and loves it when you visit us whenever you can.

May you have many, many more years as the elder statesman presiding over the animals in the family--Duke, and Piper and Aslan, the cats--as well as the grandchildren: Annika, Alexa, and Asher (harking back to the family dog Nana in Peter Pan!). They simply view you as their older brother, and you've never thought of yourself as a mere dog, anyway.

Dachshund lovers, we think that is fine and proper, don't we?