A one-eyed spunky canine, Dexter endeared himself to everyone he met, and his story of resilience was one that Jennifer Welshons and her daughter Shelby wanted to share with the world in their new book “Dexter the Dachshund.”
Born in Coronado in 1971, Jennifer has fond memories of attending Sacred Heart Parish School, riding in the Fourth of July parade, and swimming in The Del pool. She now lives in Atlanta, but often visits her mom Celeste, who graduated from CHS in 1967, and stepfather A.J. Benn, and notes that Coronado always feels like home.
Growing up, Jennifer spent a lot of time at the Coronado library, where she was inspired by the books she read, and vividly remembers rising to the reading challenge to get a plant for every 10 books she read. She even penned her first book “Arnold Pigmock” when she was seven years old.
Twenty-five years of her 30-year marketing career were spent as chief marketing officer for Scientific Games, which develops lottery ticket games. She now has started a consulting business, which allows her to focus on passion projects, one of which was writing a book based on the true story of their family dog. Dexter was adopted after ten-year-old Shelby wrote a report on how she wanted a dachshund. Jennifer took Shelby on a surprise trip to Miami to pick up Dexter and the two bonded immediately. Dexter was a unique piebald, and while small in stature he had a huge personality.
In 2024, at the age of 14, Dexter lost an eye in a tussle with another dog, but he kept living like nothing had happened.
“The most amazing thing about the experience was how resilient he was,” Jennifer explains.
There are multiple nods to Coronado in the book, as Dexter visited many times and enjoyed both dog beach and riding around the village in a bicycle basket.
Jennifer notes that her career was based on storytelling and visualizing data and she has now translated that into children’s literature.
“Children’s books are a lot harder to create than you might think. They rely heavily on visuals to convey the concepts,” she said. She found creating the arc of the story and then paring 15 words down to four to convey a message was challenging.
The process started when she wrote the first version in a day, and then she and her book-loving daughter Shelby brainstormed and came up with a second version. Sixteen drafts later, the book, “Dexter the Dachshund” was published on Dec. 9, and they held their soft launch in Coronado at her parents’ home on the corner of Candy Cane Lane.
It was the perfect venue, considering that her grandparents, Jack and Jerry McCormick, were part of the original crew who started Candy Cane Lane in 1966. For the occasion, they added a wooden cut out of Dexter and of a quintessential Coronado VW van, which doubles as Santa’s sleigh, where kids and adults can pose for photos on the front lawn.
Now an aspiring veterinarian, Shelby was instrumental in shaping the story and mapping out the visuals. They collaborated with illustrator Olivia von der Lippe to complete the adventure. As a first-time author, Jennifer selected a hybrid publishing approach — rather than self-publishing — because the rules are much more stringent for children’s books in that arena.
Jennifer adores seeing kids’ genuine reaction to the book. “Children are so in the moment and share insights from their unique perspective,” she comments. She shared a dilemma they had on how to show that Dexter knew what it meant to aspire to be a show dog. The answer was highlighting show dog magazines for him to peruse when he was in the vet’s office.
In this captivating story, which highlights imperfections and unconditional love, even if he can’t be a show dog, he keeps showing up. Sadly, Dexter passed away in September 2025 while the book was in production, but he definitely lived life to the fullest.
Currently, they are working with an international humanitarian source to create an organic plushy of Dexter to accompany the book. A sequel is in the works, with Dexter continuing his journey with one eye and seeing the world differently. Additionally, Jennifer is considering creating a children’s series that highlights the charm of growing up in Coronado. For more details on this endearing tale, visit dexterthedachshundbook.com, and the book can also be found on Amazon.
