Wiener Wednesday...E.B. White

Most of us know E.B. White as the beloved author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little but did you know he was also a fan of the little long dogs? I only recently made the discovery myself.

Here he is with one of his Dachshunds on the cover of a book of his essays I bought last week...

I laughed out loud when I read the first paragraph of A Report in Spring, an essay he wrote in May of 1957...

"...There had been talk in our family of getting a "sensible" dog this time, and my wife and I had gone over the list of sensible dogs, and had even ventured once or twice into the company of sensible dogs...But after a period of uncertainty and waste motion my wife suddenly exclaimed one evening, "Oh, let's just get a Dachshund!" She had had a glass of wine, and I could see that the truth was coming out. Her tone was one of exasperation laced with affection. So I engaged a black male without further ado." 

Who wants a sensible dog anyway? Pfft.

Katharine and E.B. White with Dachshund, Minnie, in the 1940's. 

My heart smiled when I read about his beloved Fred in Bedfellows, written in February, 1956 because it reminded me so much of my late Dixie Dog and of Brisco Darling, current Chief of the Squirrel Patrol...

"Fred was a window gazer and bird watcher, particularly during his later years...I think of him as he used to look on our bed in Maine- an old four-poster, too high from the floor for him to reach unassisted... Once up, he settled into his pose of bird watching, propped luxuriously against a pillow, as close as he could get to the window, his soft brown eyes alight with expectation and scientific knowledge. He seemed never to tire of his work...and managed to give the impression that he was a secret agent of the Department of Justice...When he sighted a squirrel, Fred would straighten up from his pillow, tense his frame, and then, in a moment or two, begin to tremble." 

And I think I shared part of this quote by him once here before but it's just further proof that Mr. White was quite familiar with the spunky nature of the Dachshund...

"Being the owner of Dachshunds, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor. Every sentence is a riot. Some day, if I ever get a chance, I shall write a book, or warning, on the character and temperament of the Dachshund and why he can't be trained and shouldn't be. I would rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club than induce a Dachshund to heed my slightest command. When I address Fred I never have to raise either my voice or my hopes. He even disobeys me when I instruct him in something he wants to do."   

I find this so hysterical because it is oh so true...oh so true!
 

E.B. White (July 11, 1899 - October 1, 1985)

Thanks for the smiles, Mr. White.