He was born on October 4, 2008, the day after we were married and entered our lives in November of that year. We named him Ammo because he was shaped like a little bullet, and boy was he fast. Ammo was our first “baby”. A bundle of joy and boundless energy he brought so much happiness to our home.

While I had many dogs growing up, Ammo was the first dog that was truly mine, to train, care for, and connect with. Having never had a Dachshund before – but knowing enough to know he may be a challenge to train – he taught me so much.

Like getting stuck inside his dog beds after eating a hole in it, or hiding in cardboard boxes from flies that found their way into the shop, and lest we not forget about his love of bubble wrap. As I continued to photograph and video all of the entertainment the dogs provided me on a daily basis, I started to wonder what I should do with it all, other than filling up my computer. So one day I started a facebook page for Ammo. Slowly I began posting everything that made me smile, and there was oh-so-much to smile about.

As I began to find joy in writing Ammo’s posts on facebook, so did others. Slowly I began to notice his following grow (which quite honestly I never even thought was a possibility – it had always been just for me), and the more people that began to follow, the more I began to write. When I noticed I was eventually sharing stories through our facebook posts, I decided it was time to move all of it to a blog – where the stories began to really flow.

As the stories about Ammo’s life began to accumulate, I found myself inventing ways to have even more fun with him. Not only did I share his antics from around the workshop, but it spilled over to life on the family farm – which had started construction the year Ammo came into our lives. Ammo’s life was always intertwined with my trick ponies (that I had been training since college – also more accidental fun I stumbled across in my early 20s), and the cats (we cannot forget his early adventures with Cricket – climbing trees and chasing mice). The most vivid one being when Ammo and the cats once chased a mouse into the stall I was cleaning and up the leg of my jeans.

Then one year I decided to take Ammo to a local Dachshund race, and I was surprised to find that other people knew who he was from his blog. And when they asked to have Ammo perform at “half-time” the following year with him, our lives began to turn towards another adventure once again.

I asked a blogging friend to make Ammo a super hero cape and ordered him a “stunt helmet”, and even though he had only a couple of tricks under his belt at the time – I took a very distracted 1 year old dachshund into center stage and literally held my breath hoping he would actually perform. And perform he did.

I took him to Dachshund events, and schools and countless fairs. Sometimes with my trick ponies in tow, sometimes just him. We spent hours in my basement practicing his tricks and routines, we practiced on the farm, and at the workshop. We took training classes, then agility classes, and eventually Ammo on his first try passed his Canine Good Citizen Test, and earned his Therapy Dog Certification. I took him literally everywhere with me.

For 8 years, we had more adventures than I can even remember. And as Ammo’s blog continued to grow and fill with our adventures, so did the opportunities. He began to get sponsorships, appeared on animal planet, and even landed a Google commercial. Ammo was a big fan of the perks – the packages in the mail he got to tear into, the pictures he got to pose for which ultimately meant more cookies. He was a natural behind the camera and had voice and hand signals to get him to look and place himself in certain positions.

Then in 2016, Ammo embarked on one of his biggest adventures – as a big brother. I still remember the day we brought Miss P home from the hospital to meet Ammo. I wasn’t sure how he would take it, being an only dog for 8 years, but when we walked in the door Ammo was so excited he tried to jump into the carseat with her. It’s all we could do to contain his excitement at seeing his new baby sister for the first time – someone had to stand guard by the basinet for several days to make sure he didn’t launch himself into it from the couch to be with her.

Ammo took to his role of big brother with ease, and when only a year and a half later Miss F came along, he had two little ones to look out for. I slowly began to scale back on our blog, because lets be honest – with two littles under age 2, a business to run, a farm to help with, and a cute little Dachshund who kept me on my toes – something had to give a little. It was hard to take a step back from that part of life – because so many of you had become invested in Ammo’s life, in our life. I never imagined how many people would care for him beyond just our little family.

Even though our stories began to be shared less frequently, Ammo never slowed. He kept watch on the babies at the shop in the early days while they napped. He was who they learned to crawl and walk towards. He shredded their toys, and stole food out of their high chairs. He went sledding with them in the winter, and took countless stroller walks to get them to sleep.

While Ammo may have become less present on the blog and social media eventually as the years went on – our life with him continued behind the scenes. He went everywhere possible with us, soccer games, track practice, paddle boarding, riding ponies on the farm – continuing to go to the workshop. He snuggled on the couch with us for movies, and humored the girls as they dressed him up in tiaras. We even kept up our families’ favorite tradition of elaborate Halloween costumes, that we continued to share with all of you.

About 2 years ago, our best friend started to really show his age. He got a little more grey and began to enjoy longer naps in the sun than he used to. While Ammo fortunately never had IVDD like many Dachshunds get, he did start to lose mobility in his back end. We started acupuncture and had to adjust our adventures to what he could handle. We paddle boarded less and took shorter hikes that we could carry him on (all 20lbs of him!). I especially mourned the loss of our most adventure filled years, but we all began to cherish this new senior pup life with him. His adorable little face always poking out of his dog bed in the living room, the way he wandered around the kitchen still looking for scraps, his cute little yips as he dreamed of running at full speed – most likely chasing groundhogs. Life was slowly changing, but it was still oh so special with him.

In September of 2024, routine bloodwork popped up signs of the beginning stages of Kidney Disease and high blood pressure for our dear Ammo. While outwardly our boy seemed fine, internally he was starting to have to fight. I joined renal support groups for dogs online, read about supplements, and feeding low protein diets and we got his blood pressure under control with meds. I tried all I could to helpfully slow the progression of the Kidney Disease. What we all thought would progress over months and months, began to happen much too quickly as Ammo would have days of not wanting to eat.

On October 5th, 2024 we celebrated Ammo’s 16th Birthday. The girls decorated the house, and made him homemade treasures to tear into. While the days of Ammo tearing into packages and presents had slowly begun to diminish over the years, we weren’t even sure if he would feel up to participating this year. But when we brought out a yearly package that always showed up on our doorstep from some dear fans (S&T you know who you are), Ammo came alive once again for us. He shredded paper, and pulled out presents – ultimately getting to what had become a yearly tradition of unboxing none other than a roll of bubble wrap! It made us all so joyful to see him happy, just as he’s always been.

As October progressed I made countless batches of different types of food to try and entice his tastebuds while still being mindful of his Kidneys. We spent the month celebrating our favorite holiday where Ammo won several costume contests, and we wheeled him around in the wagon to trick-or-treat our small street on Halloween night. Ammo hung on as long as he could to spend one last special Halloween with us, before he let us know he was ready for one final rest.

We never expected to learn that Ammo’s kidney levels had drastically jumped since September, and his body was letting us know it was tired. He didn’t have any more fight left, and we knew it was time.

On November 2, 2024 the 4 of us gathered around Ammo on the family farm to say our goodbyes, under a special tree where some of his dear friends are buried. Snuggled in our laps and peaceful till the end, we surrounded him with all the love he has given us and oh-so-many people over the past 16 years. We laid Ammo to rest next to his best friend Trooper, and envision them frolicking together once again.

Our house feels empty without him, and everything reminds us of his presence. Pictures of him line our hallways, filled with 16 years of the most wonderful memories and adventures. We feel so very lucky to have had him in our lives for so very long. Saying goodbye is never easy, and I think it will be a long time before we begin to heal, but knowing that wonderfully spunky little Dachshund made it all worthwhile.

Thank you to all of you out there that have followed along on Ammo’s adventures for all these years, we know he was special to many of you as well. His stories and adventures will live on through this blog, and keep him alive in our hearts forever. We aren’t quite sure what is next for us, but as Ammo would say, Adventure Awaits! And I’m sure the next one will be out there soon.

Love you always Ammo. – Kyley, Mike, P & F