The Dachshund Artist

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Ammo

Secretly I have been working on a little project for the past few weeks. Yes, it’s true, Super Dogs sometimes have to go into their super bat caves and work on new projects. But now I’m ready to reveal it!

You might remember that I spend a lot of my time with a couple of famous Painting Ponies. The ponies have sold artwork all over the World, and I have to admit I’m a little bit jealous of their painting skills, especially my pal Minnow.

In my family, everyone is an artist. The ponies paint using acrylics, my dad is a graphic designer, and my mom is an artist and picture framer. Me? Well I started making scratch art last May. Using my paws I scratch Dachshund shapes and other fun things onto specially created boards. And while I love making scratch art – which has sold all around the World – it’s not really painting. How am I supposed to be an honorary member of Painting Pony when I don’t paint?

So I decided it was high time I started working on my own painted masterpieces. Now you all know I like to be a little different. How many Super Hero Dachshunds do you know? So I couldn’t just pick up a paint brush and start making paintings – I gotta stand out from my Painting Pony friends.

So with the help of my mom I made my very first watercolor painting on June 10th 2011!

My first painting, titled, “My Sunshine”

My mom helps me by putting watercolor onto the paper and then the rest is up to me. Digging, Scratching, even dancing – I mix those paints into a one-of-a-kind masterpiece!

I think it’s probably safe to say that I’m the World’s First Dachshund Watercolor Artist – beat that ponies!

Now with this great talent comes great responsibility (hehe had to throw in the Super Hero Reference there) – so with the sale of every one of my paintings I am donating 5% to some of my favorite charities. (Main Line Animal Rescue, Coast-to-Coast Dachshund Rescue, SPCA). My Painting Pony Friends also donate money to their favorite charities with the sale of their work – and over the years we have donated hundreds of dollars to animal rescue groups. Yeah for helping animals in need, because that’s what Super Heroes do!

Right now I only have one available work for sale. After all, you can’t rush perfection – and I like to take my time in creating my one-of-a-kind paintings. But don’t worry, there will be more in the future – and I’m also totally game for custom commissions!

“Backyard Bliss” by Ammo the Dachshund, June 18, 2011. Available for purchase here. One of a kind!

To see more of my art work as it becomes available check out my online shop that I share with the Painting Ponies. I’ll also be sure to let all my fans know whenever I have a new painting available for sale on the blog!

And in case you don’t believe me that I’m a REAL painter, here’s a video that my mom helped me make.

Now if you’ll excuse me, this super hero has some painting to do!

Initiation

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Ammo

The Painting Ponies that I live with are a special breed (according to my mom). They are all Chincoteague Ponies, which means they were either born wild on Assateague Island in Virginia or they are related to the wild ponies from the island. My best pony friend Minnow was born wild on Assateague 18 years ago – how cool is that – technically I’m friends with a wild animal! Mom says Boomerang and Blitz are not directly from the island, but their parents are.

Since I learned that to get off the island, Minnow had to join in on the annual Pony Swim, I decided that Blitz and Boomerang should probably learn to swim too. It was time for initiation!

I of course watched safely from the sidelines.

Blitz and Boomerang are on the left, and my other pony friend Jet is on the right. Jet is not a Chincoteague Pony so she was exempt from initiation, but chose to participate – well, because she’s an overachiever.

The ponies we’re just taking too long to get to the swimming part, so I had to send in my assistant to get them moving.

It’s Super Trooper, assistant swim coach!

I like to make Trooper think he’s important.

And we have a swimmer! Boomerang has passed initiation! Now he can call himself a real Chincoteague Pony. I’m like the best swim coach ever!

There should be a trophy for that or something!

Horse Show Dog

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Ammo

Being a horse show dog is a VERY tough job. We don’t get the glory of winning the fancy ribbons and trophies like the ponies do, instead we are behind the scenes taking over the jobs that no one else wants to do.

Take my job for example. I’m usually on patrol duty, in charge of guarding all of the tack and the trailer.

The hours are long, and usually it’s hot. But someone has to keep away the chickens….

…and the cows!

Stop giving me the stink eye cow! I’m watching you!

It could be worse though, I could be stuck on ribbon rack duty like my pal Trooper.

He has no idea that all the ponies laugh at him.

I have to admit, I laugh too.

Is there room for me?

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Ammo

My Painting Pony friends recently got a new horse trailer.

Can you believe it? All three of them can fit inside there. I was almost a little jealous.

But then I remembered I get to ride up front. In the air conditioning. Yeah, not so jealous anymore.

Heavy Weight

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Ammo

Yes, you read that right. I was in the Heavy Weight division at the Keystone Dachshund Races this year. You might not be able to tell by looking at me, but I’m a hefty 20lb “tweenie”. (and no, that does not mean I’m fat). It just means that I’m too big to be a mini dachshund and too small to be a standard dachshund, and it puts me in the weight class with the big dogs!

In my 5 Qualifying heats I earned three first places and two third places, which earned me three racing spots in the semi-finals.

In my semi-final runs I was up against some stiff competition, but in my final race I narrowly beat my fellow heavy weight competitor, earning me the coveted spot to run in the FINAL RACE!

Basically I beat out all of the heavy weights in my division, now it was time to run against the lean, mean, mini-dachshund, Dudley!

I raced my little heart out, but in the end, Dudley had a narrow edge on me – beating me to the line by a nose!

Mom and Dad were proud of me no matter what my finish. And I’m just glad I redeemed myself from my horrible racing skills from the past 2 years (in my defense I was just trying to play with all the other puppies – I’m a friendly guy!).

You can watch my previous racing escapades here and here.

And now, here’s my montage of all of my racing fun this year:

Stay tuned for more details about my big performance with my pal Trooper!

P.S. I guess this means I AM faster than a speeding bullet! huh?

Friday Fetch: Dogs at Weddings

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Ammo

I decided to have a little fun today via one of my new favorite sites, Pinterest. So while looking for something fun to share with you guys for my Friday Fetch, I decided to search “dog wedding” (you know, just for fun). The result looked a little something like this:

Click on each image to find their source.

Magical right? Sadly I didn’t get to attend my mom & dad’s wedding (I was born the very next day!) – but I suppose it would have looked a little something like this:

Yes, I’m quite jealous that Minnow got to attend the festivities without me. He even got a very important job!

He was the “flower pony” and had to walk down the wedding isle tossing flowers as he went. He was such a good “flower pony” that I was thinking maybe I should hire him out. I can see it now, “Amazingly talented pony tosses flowers at wedding for big time celebrities”. I’m totally gonna be rich. hehe.

wedding photography above by Dan Williams Photography

Went to the Devon Horse Show, to see the Sheep?

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Ammo

The Devon Horse Show is a yearly tradition for me. In fact, I’ve been attending every year since I was about 12 weeks old. If you have no idea what Devon is – here’s a little history lesson for you:

In 1896, the Devon Horse Show started as a one-day show. Now, years later, it has become the oldest and largest outdoor multi-breed competition in the United States. It is internationally recognized, USEF-A rated, and one of the most exciting events to happen in Chester County. While it draws top competitors from around the world, the show continues to reflect the local traditions and lifestyles of the Philadelphia Main Line.

Needless to say it’s full of fancy people in big hats, dogs, horses, carriages, funnel cake, amusement rides, shopping, and apparently sheep! Yes, that’s right sheep.

See my pal Trooper (the Australian Shepherd/Labrador) told me that there was going to be sheep herding at Devon this year. I knew that was something not to be missed. And since Trooper was too tired to come, I video taped most of it for him.

I guess it was pretty cool – although I’d still take my groundhog holes over herding around some sheep. To each his own.

After the sheep herding demo I was pretty famished, so I headed over to the concessions to grab some funnel cake.

Then I indulged mom and did a little shopping with her at Anthropologie.

Mom bought this:

Which I would have been much more thrilled about had it come with cookies in it. Ok, now I’m drooling.

Farm Boy

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Ammo

This is me.

I’m a farm boy.

Follow me and I’ll show you around my farm.

Now you can see why I LOVE being a farm boy!

Videography & Editing by Taylor Hellhake

Sounds of the Farm

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Ammo

You might think that the farm is a peaceful and quiet place, but the truth is, it can be quite noisy at times! Birds chirping, horses’ banging buckets, and we can’t forget Spider Kitty calling for her big brother Ammo to come out and play.