Tom.

Meet Tom.

Our special, rescue, mini-doxie boy. At 4 years, he is all boy. A 9 lb, four-legged terror, ready to run down and ravage a 40 lb javelina. Not familiar with javelinas? Note photo below, javelinas (collared peccary) are cloven-hoofed mammals, similar to the wild boar with grizzled grayish or blackish bristly hair, pig-like snout (however, they are not wild pigs!), tusks (canines) found in southeastern Arizona, extreme southeastern/southwestern New Mexico, and central and southern Texas.  Traveling in small herds of 6 to 30, grunting softly while feeding, will give an alarm call of a barking cough and/or chattering teeth. They may charge and bite with those canines, which protrude about an inch from their jaws inflicting nasty puncture wounds. Please don't feed them or they will come in to close to your home or garden. With dachshunds being notorious overachievers, trouble will definitely start! Able to leap small buildings in a single bound, so to speak. 

Back to Tom...Look deep into those eyes and you see sweet, loving curiosity. Be one of our 3 other dogs with Tom in an alpha mood, desiring your undivided and you'll experience pain delivered swiftly by flashing pearly-white canines, ready to sever a part of your anatomy. Usually we can intercept these raucous, nerve-jarring happenings with a quick scoop, he's only 9 pounds, remember? My hubbie and I were late once and Beaber, 12 year old, male, standard doxie, new to our household, lost a tiny part of his lower ear. Welcome to the family!

This would not be any great surprise to other doxie owners given their feisty reputation. Tom is special, he was born without esophageal musculature resulting in an enlarged esophagus or megaesophagus.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_megaesophagus.html
Translation: he needs gravity to get his food to his stomach. For you, that means feeding him vertically for every meal of his life and hoping it stays down once it gets there. Regurgitation happens often and with a constant risk of aspiration pneumonia. As a little guy, this can debilitate him quickly and with possible deadly serious consequences. Is it any wonder we think he is amazing having such a dynamic personality and forgive him his infrequent surly episodes? Maybe I would be the same way... "Outta my way, I'm small, but I'm mighty!"


That's my Tom.