Welcome to the Pack, Jupiter!

Jupiter the black & tan dachshund

I’m excited to announce the arrival of Jupiter to Doxie Planet!

Jupiter is a black and tan (my first), two years old, and already making himself at home. Three months younger than Hercules, the pair are cousins (their moms are sisters), though you really wouldn’t know it by looking at them. Where Hercules is full-size (22 lbs), with big ears and paws, Jupiter is a tweenie (16 lbs) with average sized ears, smaller paws, and a shorter, squarer snout.

Unlike Hercules, Jupiter let us know he can bark on the very first day. Also unlike Hercules, Jupiter has spent his young life as an indoor dog, so having access to a big yard with lots of places to explore was a little overwhelming at first.

Fortunately, Jupiter seems to be settling in and making himself comfortable. He now joins Herc in the daily barking frenzy with the neighbor dogs down at the fence, and has no problem using the dog doors to let himself outside.

If there’s one problem, it’s that he doesn’t yet understand that our chickens and ducks are not for chasing. As a result, we have the lower yard where the poultry lives fenced off for the time-being. The situation makes Hercules sad because he loves venturing into the valley and digging for squirrels. Hopefully though, Jupiter will soon acclimate to the presence of large feathery animals, and learn not to pursue them. Then Hercules can show him where the squirrels are and the two can have a good time digging together like Franzi and Montgomery used to.