Meet Crusoe: The World-Famous Wiener Dog

More and more pets are becoming famous internet personalities, either for their good deeds or their funny antics. Today, we’re going to talk about one of them in particular: Crusoe, the world-famous wiener dog who stars in lots of videos and poses for amazing photos in a bunch of different costumes. 

One of our favorite examples was during the major storms that came through New York last March. Apparently, little Crusoe felt like he needed to help, and he got on a snowplow to help clear the streets!

The virtual life of a world-famous wiener dog

The little guy has become a true celebrity. He has almost 1,750,000 followers on Facebook. That’s not the only place he’s big, either. He’s got tons of followers on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Vine, too. He also has a web page and a blog he writes in the first-person.

He’s a gorgeous black and tan miniature dachshund, and he seems to be perfectly happy with the role his owners (who are obviously behind it all) have given him. But we’re not going to go into that, right now. What we want to talk about are all the homemade costumes they make him, and all the “real-life” situations he gets into. Here are a few examples:

• Playing hockey.
• Helping with a rescue operation as if he were a Red Cross dog.
• Watching TV and dancing along with Ellen DeGeneres. 
• Making fancy food like a celebrity chef.

But he also does average, day to day things like a “normal” dog. For example, he gets up in the morning and gets lots of love and cuddles. It’s hard to argue with that life.

Today, we want to tell you about Crusoe, a social media famous wiener dog who delights his followers with all his adventures. His owners even managed to get him on a small snowplow during the recent snowstorms in New York and nearby areas.

Crusoe is good business for his owners

It looks like this cute little wiener dog has been good business for his owners. They mentioned this in 2010 when he won a TV contest for “best trick,” competing against other dogs of the same breed.

You probably won’t be surprised to hear they’ve published a book about his “adventures,” and it became a bestseller. Of course, there’s also an online store where you can buy things with pictures of him. They sell all kinds of things like:

• Mugs
• Aprons
• Tote bags
• Pillows
• Stuffed animals

Crusoe: a wiener dog with IVDD

Crusoe was born 7 years ago in Montreal, and currently lives in Ottowa. Based on everything we’ve told you, he probably seems like he’s constantly traveling and doing things. But that’s partly just because of the public image that makes everything seem peachy for him.

He actually had to have emergency surgery in 2016 for something called invertebral disc disease (IVDD). The surgeons had to go into his spine to remove fragments of the broken disc. Luckily everything went smoothly and he made a full recovery. But he also had to literally learn to walk all over again.

This is why his web page, which is mostly dedicated to fun things, also has a section with information about this condition, which affects about 25% of all dachshunds. There are other breeds that contract it often, especially ones with long bodies. Some common examples are:

• Beagles
• Basset hounds
• Shih Tzus

He also uses the blog and his videos to show his recovery process. The idea is to try to help other dogs that are going through the same thing. It’s really important work, and we thank him for it.

Learn more about invertebral disc disease

IVDD happens when a dog’s invertebral discs calcify and break from impacts like jumping, playing, etc…This means that a dog runs a higher risk of it during the more active phase of its life.

If that calcification starts to press on its spinal cord, it can cause pain, loss of motor function, and even paralysis in severe cases.

But there are also things you can do to help prevent it. Here are some examples:

• Help them keep their bones healthy.
• Try not to have it make sudden, awkward movements when you play.
• Try not to let them climb upstairs.
• Install some ramps so they can get up on your couch or bed.