Whenever you open your heart to the love of another, be it human or animal, you also open your heart to grief at the loss of that loved one. We've all experienced it - heart-breaking, gut-wrenching sorrow that nothing can

adequately assuage at the time of the loss. May we offer our sincerest sympathies on the loss of your dear dachshund, whether you only had it for a few hours, or loved it for an entire long lifetime. We know full well what it's like to lose someone so special, so precious, so irreplaceable, who loved so unconditionally. There is no doubt that you have been left with an enormous dachshund-shaped emptiness in your life, your heart and your home.

We get lots of calls and emails from people who have lost a treasured and cherished friend and family member (they're not really "just pets," are they?), and who want to "replace" that little person with another just like it. "I've always had a red smooth-coated female, and that's all I want," they'll say. Or it was a long-haired black & tan - or whatever. We are pleased that you love and honor the memory of your dachshund enough to want another who will be exactly like it, but let's be fair, both to the old dog and to the new one.

Humans are all unique - we have our own personalities, quirks, idiosyncrasies, habits, etc. Well, dogs are the same way. Just as you will never replace a dear departed human with someone else who is "just like him/her," you can

never exactly duplicate a dachshund, even from the same litter. There will always be the tiniest difference - as well as some major ones!

In all fairness to the new pup, any time you try to replace an old one with another very similar one, even calling it by the same name, it has to try to live up to your hallowed memories, when all it can be is itself. Just like a person, each puppy, each dog is a unique individual that cannot be pressed into the mold that made another. The mold is

broken when each is created!

So, we encourage you to come to Flickennel and meet ALL our available puppies (and adults). Most of the time, when bereft owners come looking for a certain type of dachshund, they go home with something totally different. We allow the dog to find and reach out to its new person, to bond with him or her - and it's surprising how often it's not at all what the person was looking for. The Bible says that man looks at and judges by the outward appearance, but God sees and judges the inside, the heart and soul. The soul of a dog is just as complex, just as wonderful, as the soul of a human being, and to truly find one's soul-mate is a heavenly experience.

Please, in your grief, be consoled by considering the possibility that your dear departed friend has no equal - but that there is another unique little chum waiting patiently for you to come and find him or her.

This  page is dedicated to the memories of all the little ones who have passed so unfairly from this life, leaving the world a sadder and lonelier place, but it's also dedicated to all the little ones who will come along to create their own places in our hearts and gladden us with their unconditional love and loyalty, if we will only allow them to be

themselves and love them for who they are.

If you would like to email us a favorite clear photo of your dog, with its name and yours, as well as a brief note about it, we would love to add it to our gallery of Dachshunds to Remember. Send it to Janet at flickennel@hotmail.com, and we will gladly post it here. (We reserve the right to edit for the space allowed.)

9/4/2021 ~ I found an essay today, called "How to Grieve for a Very Good Dog," that brought tears to my eyes as I remembered the agony of losing our dear Jack on February 2, 2020. My husband and I had both bonded so closely with him that it ripped our hearts out when he died. The essay I just read explains why it hurts so very much when a deeply-loved pet dies, even more than losing a parent, spouse, or other human family member. Please read it, too. You're not crazy, or being over-sentimental. Your searing grief is very normal, but there is hope for moving beyond it. Vestiges of it will always linger near the surface of your consciousness, waiting to wring more tears from your eyes, but you can and must allow new bonds of love to tie you to another. We are made to love and be loved, deeply and dearly. ~~ Becky Sewell, Flickennel website admin.

SAMSON

10-31-02 to 6-5-09

Our dear little "other son"

and fearless truck-dog,

destroyer of wild Texas tumbleweeds.

SUGAR

8-9-02 to 7-20-14

Our first dachshund, and the very best.

Returned to God - thanks for loaning her to us! We hope You enjoy her as much as we did, Father!

BRINDLE

4-22-05 to 9-15-18

Too soon gone, even at 13+, sweet girl.

Jim & Becky Sewell

Photo taken 6-5-07 by Wyatt Wolzen, our eldest grandson.

MO (black and tan, still with us today) and GRACIE (red)

The amazing Gracie Allen Von Tirebiter

and her best friend

Mo Freedom Von Tirebiter!

May 8, 1996 - January 2007

Our little Gracie is deeply missed and forever loved!

The Robison Family.

Left to right: Samson, Sugar, Brindle.

.

.

RAINBOW BRIDGE

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. Her bright eyes are intent. Her eager body quivers. Suddenly she begins to run from the group, flying over the grass, her legs carrying her faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. Her happy kisses rain upon your face, your hands again caress her beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life, but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together . . .                                                                                   

~ Author Unknown

Flicks Fritzie B Blonde MW

June 12, 2007 to June 17, 2009

(Snatched from our yard by a coyote.)

Mighty hunter, vain little princess,

beloved sweetheart to the end.

Jim & Becky Sewell

KIRBY

This is Kirby, the son of your Crimson Tiger and So Long Ruby Tuesday. His buddy in the second photo is Roofus, a black & tan dapple wirehair son of your Tobi.

Everyone who met Kirby thought he was gorgeous - he had the most beautiful coat!

He was born on May 10, 2004 and died in
our vet's office on August 26, 2009 (from a blood infection).

Our Beautiful Boy -- Gone Too Soon.

Tree climber-- bird catcher - giver of the world's best doxie kisses; he will remain in our hearts forever.

Carol and Andy Corey

SPENCER

Our beloved Spencer

July 2001 - August 2010

He loved us unconditionally.

Will forever be in our hearts and is dearly missed!

Paul & Charlene

JORDIE

Jordie was a year old when we lost her after she gave birth to 3 pups.

The Torrez family still misses her each and every day.

REST IN PEACE, BABY GIRL

FEB 22, 2009

The Torrez Family

ROSIE

2-15-05 to 9-19-09

A life not nearly long enough.

See you at Rainbow Bridge, Rosie!

Sleeping in and waking up - Princess Rosie!

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.

'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.' The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.' The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

POOPY

10-31-1998 to 05-11-2012

Our beloved "Little Buddy"! I feel like a piece of me is missing!  :(   We Love and Will Miss You Forever!!

RIP Poopy

Photo taken by our daughter 3 weeks before Poopy had heart failure and left us.

Carol and Jim B..

PEANUT

Peanut, our dear black & tan smooth-haired mini, passed away quietly in our vet's office almost two weeks ago. [Early Dec. 2015 - editor]  I had to have her put to sleep, which broke our hearts (my 10 year old and I were with her through to the end) - she was with us for 14 years and was the first dog ever for my hubby & daughter (who only knew her for the past ten years).  We had saved her life 2-3 times in the past, when she was younger and had similar health issues that came up again just over a couple weeks ago (pancreas and liver. . . I hope to not buy from a pet store again in the future) - but we just couldn't pay the price again to save her this time. Now she waits for us in Heaven, God willing. 

She was the first puppy I ever picked out on my own, back in December 2001. I'd had other dachshunds before, while I was growing up with my family (a smooth-haired red who was my mom's, and a longhaired black & tan . . . and now my parents have an English Creme long-haired and my sister has a dapple long-haired and a black long-haired), but Peanut was mine from the start and she was truly the best dog I ever had.  We all loved her.

RIP Peanut -

born October 9, 2001 (John Lennon's birthday),

died December 4, 2015.

Rebecca McC.

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.' 

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump,' said the man.

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'