Long before I ever had a computer or cell phone in a truck, I had a dog in my truck. I’ve been putting off introducing her because since hubs fell off the roof last fall she has been with my parents, living a very cushy life in northern Minnesota. I’m thinking that when it comes time to come home we may have to drag her kicking and screaming away from my parents as she gets fresh made meals of chicken and brown rice daily with my mothers dog Hoard…
The other reason Harley has been with my parents this long is because we had to let go of our lab Dottie last summer and Harley lost a ton of weight when this all came about… Dogs have kinda been sent to the back burner since then.
Harley has been around since the 90′s. I bought her in Fort Lauderdale Florida when I had a turkey run from Barron WI to Deerfield Beach (Publix) and then Miami back to Chicago… I had to sit a weekend and Harley was found along the way. She’s been in the truck with me ever since.
Dottie had been on this farm since before I moved here. She and Harley were the same age, and aside for the size difference the two got along famously! They were sisters from the start, but Harley ran the show, and Dottie followed.
Dottie was a hunting dog…. She would hunt anything that moved. The day I took this photo she was in a TON of trouble! She had disappeared from the farm and we looked high and low for her. We took off in the truck looking for her on our gravel roads, thinking the worst. On our way home I was about to turn off the tar onto our gravel road when I saw a tail stick up in the ditch across from our road…. There was Dottie, about 3/4 deep in a hole she had dug after lord only knows what. I gave her hell and she headed home…. Her mouth was PACKED with mud, along with most of her body and she was wore out! Funny though, it didn’t matter if she was in trouble or not. She was happy, she was doing what she was bred for and that’s all that mattered to her!
Harley use to love trucking, but these days she loves the farm! As little as she is, her spirit is HUGE! She does not know that she’s a mini dachshund! She thinks she’s a Rottweiler, Great Dane, or Pit Bull! There is nothing small about Harley Rose and she will take on anything! Sadly, my chickens usually take the brunt of the “anything” some days…
Harley looks sweet, but she is as quick as a wink, and mean as a hornet when it comes to sharing food with chickens! And she has no problems pulling feathers off them when they think she should share a bone or any other treat! (No chickens were harmed in this photo)
So, these days we are thinking of getting another mini dachshund to keep Harley company, but it’s a tough decision! We cannot replace Dottie, and Harley is going on 13 years…. We know Harley needs company, yet it’s a big step to bring another baby onto the farm, or at least it is for us!
About Bethany
Thank you, Bethany, for sharing Harley and Dottie with us. What beauties! That look on Dottie's face–pure bliss. Dogs live full tilt–no brakes. So much to learn from them.
Thanks Bethany, for sharing Harley an Dottie with us. Harley reminds of the dog I had while I was married. His name was Sonny, 3/4 Beagle an 1/4 Terrier. When we got stationed in Oklahoma, our house on base had a finced in back yard. And there was a window along side the back door an he would stand there for hours on end, some times weather was too bad to let him out, or it was too cold. But, during the Spring an Summer . . . He would stand at that back window, he was looking for rabbits, an when he saw one . . . Hannah, bar the door! Only relief was to let him out, an he was out the door like a shot out of a gun. He never got one, but he came darn close a couple of times. But during the winter when there was snow an ice on the ground he would try to come to a screeching hault BEFORE he'd hit the fence, snow an grass an a whole bunch of whatever else would get kicked up with him trying NOT to hit the fence. I miss him.
aw shoot girl, you got two dogs you may as well have 20!
Your Harley and my dog Corser would either get along famously or eat each other alive… or perhaps plot together on their inevitable world domination. And also, is your parents' dog really named "Hoard"? Am hoping you didn't just misspell "Howard" because "Hoard" is an awesome name for a dog!
That dirt eatin’ grin is worth a million bucks (as are the rest of these pics.) They make us happy and drive us crazy. My dog took an injudicious leap and broke his leg a few weeks ago and he’s been following me around so closely that he keeps hitting my ankles with the cast. I can’t seem to fend him off and I have bruises on my ankles and feet.
So sorry for your loss. I imagine the circus awaiting me at the gates…