Home Sweet Home

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Ammo

Home. Work. Farm. That pretty much describes a good majority of my life. So I thought it would be fun to give you all a little “peek behind the curtain” and show you exactly where I spend my days & nights.

This is home – my quiet little street in the ‘burbs where I have my own doggie door, keep all my favorite toys, and get to take naps on the couch.

studio 3

This is work, right smack dab in the center of town.

studio 3

It’s where I spend my Tuesday through Saturday greeting customers.

studio 3

I take my work very seriously and although sometimes you’ll catch me napping on the job, it’s usually just a ruse to get you to rub my belly. (I’m sneaky like that)

ammo the dachshund at work

iron horse farm

This is the farm – my home away from home. It’s where I help train the trick ponies, do my chores, and play tag with Trooper and the kitties.

iron horse farm

And if I’m truly showing you where I REALLY spend most of my time, there is one last photo I must divulge.

iron horse farm

These are my groundhog holes. And I’m only showing you this because I KNOW you can keep a secret.

After all, there’s only one Super Dachshund fit to guard these holes, and it’s me!

Leaf Break

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Ammo

Things are a little quieter around here now that fall has arrived. The shop slows down a little bit before the Holiday rush, the ponies start growing their winter coats and I don’t have quite as many things booked on my calendar.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

So it’s nice to take this little fall break and play in the leaves.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

Did you know that you can find buried treasure in fall leaves?

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

It’s true, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

All you gotta do is wiggle your little nose and let it lead you too it.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

And if you can’t find the treasure, than I hate to tell you, but those darned squirrels probably took it. Sorry pal, I guess you’re out of luck this year.

Excitement Abounds

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Ammo

Yesterday morning on the farm a cool mist of fog rolled in over the hills.

misty morning on the farm

All the horses amidst a backdrop of fogginess had such an ominous look about them.

early morning mist on the farm

Including my pal Spider the Kitten.

early morning mist on the farm

Mom said the foggy sky must have brought out the feisty in Spider.

early morning mist on the farm

I have to admit, she had a crazier than normal look in her eye.

early morning mist on the farm

But when I inspected her thoroughly ….

early morning mist on the farm

…and sniffed every square inch…

spider and ammo

….I couldn’t find anything that smelled like feisty! Nope, just regular old Spider.

Feisty smelling or not, excitement abounds whenever Spider has the look of fire in her eyes!

ammo the dachshund on the farm

Yipeee!

Dressed in Yellow and Ready to Rumble

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Ammo

Sometimes when I’m at the farm I get the itch to wrestle and run like crazy. Sadly, sometimes my pal Trooper isn’t there to wrestle with me – so usually I find the next best thing, one of the cats!

Unfortunately the cats don’t always always feel the same way I do.

P.S. If you haven’t already seen it, I’ve got my new 2012 calendar available for purchase in my online shop! You’ll get to see my happy face all year long!

Friday Fetch: Mr Chewy

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Ammo

I was super excited when my pals over at Mr Chewy offered me a chance to test out their website. Their tag line? Delivering Pet Happiness – basically I was sold.

Mr Chewy is a website that sells pet food, treats, and toys at everyday low prices. The best part, you can get it shipped right to your front door with free shipping on orders over $49.

When I went to check out the website, the first thing on my mind was FOOD. So I was super stoked when I saw that they carry my pet food of choice, Wellness, which also happened to be a tad cheaper than at my local pet store too. So I loaded up my cart in their easy to navigate site with the essential dry dog food and of course a few other items that I thought would be fun to try.

mr chewy

Here’s a list of what made it into my shopping cart:

12 lb. Bag of Wellness Small Breed Adult Dog Food
Merrick “The Sarge” Dog Bone
Flossies Spiral Chews 6″ – 8″ by Merrick
Merrick G.I. Bone Dog Chews 4″ – 6″
Blue Buffalo Blue Mini Bars Chicken & Cheese

Three days later there was a package waiting for me at my front door.

ammo the dachshund mr chewy

I wasted no time digging into my package full for goodies from Mr Chewy.

ammo the dachshund mr chewy

Everything smelled so wonderful, but I quickly pulled out my favorite pick of the bunch.

ammo the dachshund mr chewy

If you’re wondering how I liked it, just check out my eyes, no explanation needed!

The best part about ordering from Mr Chewy is that it saved me a 12 mile trip to my local pet shop to get more dog food. Which means I have way more time in my day for more adventures! Yipee!

As a bonus you can even schedule monthly deliveries of your favorite products like dog food and flea & tick prevention. Plus you can save 15% when you schedule your first delivery. I’m thinking I need a monthly delivery of bones & cookies – now if I can just locate mom’s credit card!

You can check out Mr Chewy by visiting their website or following them on facebook & twitter.

Disclosure – I was given a gift certificate from my pals at Mr Chewy in exchange for a review of their site. However, all opinions are entirely my own!

Fetching Finds: My New Voyager Jackets

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Ammo

Don’t worry, I’m not packing my bags and moving north to become an Eskimo.

ammo the dacshund k9 voyagers coat

Nope, I’m just modeling my new jackets that mom got me from Voyagers K9. You might remember that I posted about them a few weeks ago (which you can read here).

ammo the dacshund k9 voyagers coat

Well my mom thought I could use a little wardrobe update this winter so she contacted them and ordered me two custom made coats to fit me exactly.

Since I’m too big to fit into their mini dachshund coat I had to send in custom measurements. So after Voyagers K9 got all my measurements, mom ordered me a winter coat and tummy warmer in yellow and she even had them put in an opening for my harness on the winter coat.

ammo the dacshund k9 voyagers coat

Last night I got to put my coats to the test out on the farm and since I figured some of my canine friends might be in the need for a winter coat this year too I thought I’d share a little review for you!

ammo the dacshund k9 voyagers coat

Pros:

Very warm, especially when you layer a tummy warmer & winter coat
Fits me like a glove and is exactly the perfect length
Love the hood on the winter coat because I can cover up my ears when it’s really cold
Seams & velcro seem strong
Not too bulky and it’s easy for me to move around in
I can still fit my glowdoggie collar over top of the hood so I’m safe in the dark
The coats make me look oh so stylish

Cons:

I couldn’t order any of the coats with a d-ring sewn onto the outside
Optional harness opening in winter coat is too high near my neck, meaning I can’t wear my custom harness from my pal Baxter’s mom because the d-ring is too far down my back. But it was at a nearly perfect position to work with my Puppia harness that I have.
They couldn’t put a harness opening in the tummy warmer, but the neck opening sits a little farther back so I can still reach my d-ring if I wear a harness under the tummy warmer. (I could also probably fit a harness on top of the tummy warmer since it’s thin enough).
The coat doesn’t go in between my legs like some of the other coats I have, although I feel like I can move a little easier without any fabric there. Time will tell if it keeps me warm enough in the snow without something to protect my chest.

UPDATE – apparently there was a slight mix-up and my coat actually didn’t come with a harness hole, what I actually thought was a harness hole was a hole for a collar. So I think with a harness hole put in it will be at a better position to be used with my custom made harness. I’ll update everyone as soon as I get to test it out! Yipee!

ammo the dacshund k9 voyagers coat

Overall I think my new coats are the perfect addition to my winter wardrobe. We’ll see how long they can hold up to the rigors of farm life!

P.S. Don’t forget Voyagers K9 can make custom coats to fit any size dog, even mixed breeds!

Disclosure – I was not paid or compensated to write this post for Voyagers K9, I simply thought their coats looked warm and snuggly!

Halloween Weekend Adventure

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Ammo

Over the Halloween weekend I went on nearly a 400 mile excursion to visit a place that is very special to my pony friends, Assateague Island, Virginia.

See my pal Minnow was born wild on Assateague 18 years ago, and every year he returns to neighboring Chincoteague Island to perform for a week during their annual pony penning. I never get to go because the island isn’t very dog friendly and sitting in the car is not a good idea in the summer heat.

ammo the dachshund rest stop

Even dogs need to take advantage of the rest stop!

But this time as all the ponies loaded up for a special trip to Assateague to ride on the beach in the cool fall weather, I was allowed to come! Yipee!

The even better news was that I got to leave behind a rare October snowstorm in PA for the still cold but way less snowy weather in Virginia. Score.

Upon arriving Saturday evening I got to attend a special picnic where mom got to meet up with her Chincoteague Pony Friends from all across the country. I even got to meet a bunch of my facebook fans in person for the very first time, and I wasted no time showing off some of my favorite tricks so that everyone could have a good laugh.

assateague island

The next day we were up early and headed across the bridge and onto Assateague Island with all my pony friends in tow.

Dogs aren’t allowed on Assateague (seriously?) so I spent my morning snuggled in a pile of blankets. Honestly I can’t complain, from what the ponies tell me it would of been too cold for me anyway.

riding ponies on assateague

Meanwhile mom got to live out her dream of riding the ponies on the beach. Boomerang and Blitz were excited to visit the island where their parents were born years earlier. It was a very special trip for everyone.

minnow on assateague island

Naturally mom spent hours on the beach taking pictures of the ponies. She promised me she’d show me all the cool photos once she has time to filter through the nearly 1,000 photos she took (and I thought she took a lot of photos of me!)

But here are a few she showed me last night that I thought were extra special.

chesapeake boomerang

chincoteague minnow

chesapeake lightning

I taught those ponies everything they know. Don’t forget that! 🙂

After our beach adventure we headed back to the mainland so the ponies could participate in a fun show. They won me lots of ribbons – but I won the most special one of them all…

The costume contest! Well, ok, Minnow might have helped some.

Then on Halloween morning we made one last drive out to Assateague so the ponies could say goodbye to the ocean before heading home to PA. I told them I had to be back home in time to hand out candy to all the trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood!

So how about that for a Halloween weekend adventure? Pretty exciting, right? I just might have to spend the rest of the week catching up on my sleep after this weekend fun!

P.S. More fun photos from our amazing adventure will be popping up on the Painting Pony Blog & Facebook page as soon as my mom has a chance to filter through them all! So make sure you check back soon!

Rocket Dog 2.0

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Ammo

Remember how I lost my rocket pack that my mom made me for Halloween? And I suspected that the groundhog in my backyard found it and was rocketing around all over the place? Yeah, well I was pretty sad about not having a Halloween costume this year, but my mom knew just what to do to make me feel better.

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

It’s Rocket Pack 2.0! My mom made me another one – an UPGRADED one to be exact.

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

See version 2.0 has wings, which means I can rocket even faster!

ammo the dachshund rocket dog dino

I was having so much fun playing Halloween dress up that I even tried out a few different versions for my costume. Rocket Dinosaur? It’s a possibility.

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

Ultimately I think I decided on just plain Rocket Dog though, it really highlights the rocket pack. Although there is one more thing that would make my costume out of this world…

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

Mom, can you PLEASE make me a rocket ship out of this cardboard box?

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

I promise if I end up blasting to the moon that I’ll be back in time for dinner! After all I don’t want to miss tick-or-treating.

Happy Howl-o-weenie Everyone!

The Adventures of Rocket Dog

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Ammo

Ever since my mom made me my very own rocket pack I’ve been itching to have some Halloween adventures! So it was just my luck when we hosted a SUPER HERO Halloween party at my house last weekend.

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

I of course dressed up as Rocket Dog, complete with my led glowdoggie collar too!

ammo the dachshund rocket dog & the rocketeer

And I think mom was jealous of my rocket pack, so she made herself one too and dressed up as the Rocketeer.

captain hindsight

Dad on the other hand went the more obscure route and dressed up as Captain Hindsight (honestly no one was really sure who he was). In hindsight he probably should have been something everyone was more familiar with. hehe.

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

Of course I had to invite my best friend Trooper to the party. And wouldn’t you know he dressed up as his favoritest Super Hero of all…..ME!

trooper the hot dog

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

I spent most of the evening contemplating when my big adventure might happen and just at the right moment I rocketed out the front door with my rocket pack when mom and dad weren’t looking. hehe.

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

All the super heroes at my party went running through the neighborhood trying to catch me as I zoomed about with my rocket pack. Mom says thankfully they were able to spot me easily with my glowdoggie collar on and Captain Hindsight (aka dad) jumped in a briar bush after me. Sadly I snagged my rocket pack on something in the woods and my amazing Halloween adventure came to an abrupt end.

I was pretty bummed about losing my rocket pack, but atleast it was fun while it lasted!

ammo the dachshund rocket dog

I’ll always remember you rocket pack and the fun times we had!

Rocket Dog

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Ammo

Technically Halloween isn’t until Monday, but I just couldn’t wait any longer to share my very special Halloween costume with all of you. It is way cool!

ammo the dachshund rocket dog