We didn’t last long as a dog-free house. We missed our 14 year old golden retriever too darn much to come home to an empty house. This is Spenser. Spenser is a 7 month old long-haired Dachshund from South Carolina. He was rescue from a high-kill shelter. We have a family friend who is a dog lover and doxie foster in Clemson, SC for Furever Dachshund Rescue. She posted his picture (he was named Bo) and the “we need to get this dog” campaign began.

We drove the 13 hours from Buffalo to Clemson on a Saturday and returned on Sunday. We decided to rename him when I read that it’s a bad idea to name dogs Mo or Snow or Beau, because it’s too close to No and confuses them. I came up with Spenser after the Robert B Parker detective. One of my favorite character from one of my favorite authors. I had some selling to do on the name, but my entire potential name list was pronounced nerdy by my daughter and my husband was convinced that every name that I came up with after Spenser was an attempt to come up with something even worse so that he would agree to Spenser. He looks like a Spenser though, doesn’t he?

Spenser fit right into our home, quickly learning his name and some basic commands. He staked out the chair in the front window as his favorite spot, sunning himself and watching the world go by. Spenser loves walks, challenging toys and belly rubs. He has never met a dog he doesn't like and loves to play with furry friends of any size, especially some local doxie buddies and his cousin Lexi who lives at the lake.

Spenser is quite a character and makes us laugh every day. He even has his own twitter account and you can follow him @spenserthedog.