A Pal for Malibu the Mini-Dachshund

by Dana
(Lake Tapps, WA)

Our 15 year old Mini-Dachshund, Malibu, lost her life-long buddy, Brutus, in November of 2010. Malibu was so lost without him, sitting outside in the middle of the night howling-obviously calling for him to come home (we have a doggy door out to our backyard). My husband sat up with Malibu several nights for 45 minutes at a time, trying to get her settled down.

I searched several places online for another companion for Malibu, but everyone wanted such a high fee. Finally, I saw one on the Tacoma (WA) Humane Society's web page that we went down to take a look at. He was a standard Dachshund, and his paperwork said that he had been returned to the shelter because of aggression towards their smaller dog. Well, that wouldn't do for a companion to a sweet non-aggressive 15 year old.

Turning around to leave, we heard a little commotion in the pen across the way, and looking over we spotted a Mini-Dachshund trying desperately to get our attention, wagging her whole bottom and jumping up and down on those short little legs of hers. Her name is Tootsie, (I'm guessing from the name Tootsie Roll-she is a little round, but we are working on that). We instantly fell in love, but I wanted to make sure Malibu and Tootsie would do well together, so we had a "meet & greet." At that point they just sort of ignored each other (a good sign) and were both more interested in their surroundings.

There was a bit of a delay in getting Tootsie home, as the Humane Society still needed to do a profile on her, and they had to reach both of the two names on the microchip. I needed to get back to work, so we put a deposit down on her to "hold her," and my husband picked her up later. When I got home from work, I wasn't sure what I would find. But there was Tootsie, wandering around like she had always been there. Tootsie keeps us amused with her "crazy ears" that make her look like she wants to take-off flying. Where Malibu had been sleeping a lot and showing many signs of depression, right away she started perking up and displaying much more energy and sleeping at night, curled up next to Tootsie.

The two of them are always together now, and we will probably be back at the Humane Society at some point in the future when Tootsie needs a pal.


Dana, thank you for sharing this heartwarming story and for making two dogs happy! Please look for their photos on our home page in the next couple of months. Jo