Dachshund Adventures or What did I get myself into?

It's a doggie heaven here. Let's see: five female dachshunds, one male dachshund, and one huge male lab. The logistics are absolutely amazing, especially when my brother and sister-in-law go to work in the mornings. The girls get herded into the bedroom and adjoining bathroom with newspapers on the floor. There are several little ladders onto the waterbed for the little ladies to climb. The boys get to stay in the other bathroom during the day. Then when SIL gets home, the boys get to go outside first. Then they're brought back in the house and the girls get their chance. Everything is securely fenced, from the side garage door on, including one strand of very mild electric wire along the bottom to discourage digging.

The girls usually get to have the run of most of the house when people are home, and they are usually very sweet and well-behaved, especially when brother and/or SIL are home. However, Monday was "fun." They both go to work really early, so Linda left me a note explaining that the girls were in the bedroom, so after I took my shower, would I please let them back into the bedroom when I left, otherwise they have tendency to "get into trouble." Well, those girls were way too fast for me, and all of them escaped into the dining room (fenced off from the kitchen) when I opened the door. Since they'd only been around me a little the night before, I was still a stranger and they went crazy. Wouldn't stop barking, yipping, and snarling, and there's no way I was going to even try to pick any of them up.

I took my shower, to the barking chorus, and when I came out, it got even louder – fortissimo. There was absolutely no chance I was going to be able to herd them back into the bedroom. So, I finally gave up and just left the bedroom door open for them, figuring there really wasn't anything they could do in the dining room. No wires or anything to chew on, nothing to choke on, etc. I fastened the gate into the kitchen securely, at least I thought. As I left the house, I let the two boys out into the garage, and they could go from there into the fenced yard. I went back to my RV, secure in the knowledge that everything was okay.

However, I had to go back into the house for something about 30 minutes later and knew right away something wasn't quite right. I opened the door from the garage into the kitchen and was greeted by all five girls waiting for me at the door. One or more of them had managed to open the darned gate. Oh, geesh! So now I heard the reprise of the constant barking and snarling concerto. I rounded up a couple of kitchen towels, managed to get the girls back into the dining room, and tied the gate shut with the towels. Finally!

Everything was okay for the rest of the day as long as I didn't go back into the house. I did let the boys back into their bathroom, to the chorus of female voices.

The little monsters were so beautifully behaved when Linda got back--they even nuzzled my legs, licked my arms, and one even climbed into my lap. What’s that old saying – “Butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths?”

Yesterday morning I made sure to get into the house while Linda was still there, and took my shower after she'd finished getting ready for work. Ah, those girls were perfect little angels. Before she left, she stuck them into the bedroom and left the boys outside. Those boys love me for some reason. I have no problems with them at all. The girls stayed in the bedroom/bathroom all day, and I used the boys' bathroom. I even managed to get some sewing done in the dining room.

Interesting critters.