He was such a tough little dog. There were so many times that I didn't think he'd pull through something, and we'd have to put him down... like a couple of years ago, when he fell down my parents' stairs. I thought for sure he would have damaged his back in some way, but he just ended up with a broken nail. He's gone through several bouts of not being able to use his rear legs, but he always pulled through in the past, which is pretty amazing.
When he was about a year or two, I picked him up to hold him, and Ollie being Ollie, he struggled to get out of my arms pretty much immediately. Well, I didn't have a good hold on him, and he leaped/fell onto the kitchen floor, then started yelping and running around in a circle on his shoulder because he couldn't use his right front leg. I'll never forget that image, although I'm not traumatized by it anymore. ;) Anyway, I was completely distraught, vowing that I would never pick him up ever again (as I was holding him in my arms to comfort him, haha). We took him to the vet, etc., and that little butthead milked it for all he was worth whenever he was around me. He limped for two weeks, and one day my mom took him out without a leash, and he suddenly took off. Of course, he didn't go far, but my mom had to show me that he was completely fine. I stopped babying him. ;)
I taught him how to sit, lay down, and "play dead" (all he did was put his head to the ground, eyes wide open, tail wagging). My dad taught him how to speak, lol. Ollie would sit next to us at the table while we were eating dinner, and he'd stare at dad. My dad would look down, and Ollie would immediately look to the floor, like he was saying, "If I can't see him, he can't see me." He did that for the longest time, until he realized Dad wouldn't do anything, and he stopped looking down.
He LOVED to sleep with us under the covers, as it was always warmer there, and he always somehow managed to push me to the edge of the bed, leaving him with nearly an entire bed all to himself. Our other Dachshund, Sammie (whom we had for just a few years and had to put to sleep for several health issues that he had--kidneys, back problems, skin problems) taught Ollie that laying underneath the blankets is better than laying on top of them.
Brody still hasn't caught onto that trick, lol. In fact, I think it freaked him out when he first saw Ollie get under the blankets on the couch. There were several times that Brody didn't realize Ollie was laying under the blankets. Brody would always make a wrong step, and suddenly we'd hear a snarling, growling racket coming from underneath the blankets, which would make Brody FREEZE and look at us like, "Help me."
My only regret is that I wasn't there for his last moments--I always promised myself I would be there for him. :( :(
Some pics of Ollie:
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