The long and the short of it :Dachshunds and their owners gather for a love fest

National Post ^ | October 09, 2002 | Rebecca Eckler

[kaylar]

NEW YORK - On Saturday afternoon at Washington Square Park, I saw the strangest sight ever. Hundreds of dachshunds had gathered, with their owners, for the biannual Dachshund Fest, the largest "convention" of hot-dog-shaped dogs in the world. As I approached the park, dozens of dachshunds were getting out of cabs, dressed in their Sunday best.

"Jesus, what the hell was that?" I said, jumping back. It wouldn't be the last time I'd feel a surprise lick on my ankle. Who knew there were so many sausage-shaped canines?

"This is not a dog show," said Adrian Milton, who organized this, the 11th such gathering. "It's a love fest. We're not here to say, 'My dog is better than yours.' We're not out to attract people like that. We're just out to attract people who love dachshunds."

Milton, who has bleached blond hair and wears Armani sunglasses, says he came up with the idea for the fest when he saw that his first dachshund (now deceased) would get excited seeing other dachshunds on the street.

The dachshund he has now, Waldo, is spoiled rotten, he admits. "One of my friends saw us and said, 'Oh, that dog can walk? I had no idea.' I always carry him."

It's true the Dachshund Fest is a love fest. When the Post's photographer was asked if she was a "dog person" and happened to respond, "Uh, not particularly," she was shunned for the rest of the afternoon.

"Of course you were," I told her. "Never tell dog people you don't like dogs. It's like going into a children's bookstore and saying you hate babies."

Walking around, listening in on conversations, you realize some dachshund owners bring new meaning to New York neurotic.

"I hope he's not going to be overstimulated here," said one man, holding his dog under his arm, as he made his way through the tangle of leashes.

"His name is Magnolia," said someone else, "but we can't call him Maggie because one of our friends has a daughter named Maggie, so we call him Mags."

As if a gathering of dachshunds wasn't strange enough, it gets stranger.

"Can I have a copy of the Dachs Song?" I asked the accordion player, who was handing out copies of the sheet music. His name is Paul de Vries, I learn, and he wrote this anthem for the dogs in 1993.

"Why don't you hand some out?" he said, handing me a stack of about 50 sheets.

These things always happen to me, I swear.

"We're going to all sing together in about an hour. Everyone lifts their dachshunds into the air at the same time," he explained.

Interesting. Now that I had a job to do, I walked up to Gooster and Lulu, both dachshunds. Gooster was dressed in a Jets sports T-shirt, and Lulu was dressed as a fairy, with pink wings and everything.

I really wanted to ask, "Why? Why do this to your dog?" but the question, "Why didn't you dress up your dog?" would have been more appropriate, as more than half the dachshunds there were sporting some kind of costume.

"I also have a cheerleader outfit for her," said Lulu's owner, Susan Andriola. "Dachshunds love to dress up. I guess it's because I don't have a girl of my own to dress."

A dog named Scooter was wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat, another was wearing a bumblebee outfit, another a devil outfit. Two were even dressed as if they were going to Hawaii, with printed shirts and leis around their necks.

"I wanted her to go in style," said the owner of Bibi, who was wearing a hat with flowers.

Just after 1 p.m., Milton got up to the microphone. "It's time for the song. So everyone gather around."

Suddenly everyone was singing: "There's no o-ther dog like a dachs-hund, walk-ing so close to the ground, they're stub-born and sly as a fox, and the hap-pi-est pet to be found ... Most kinds of dogs seem to ei-ther have shapes or pro-por-tions all wrong ... but dachs-hunds are both short and long ... call you wei-ner, or sau-sage, or hot dog, we know that you're number one."

Apparently, most people had been to previous Dachshund Fests, as everybody seemed to know the words by heart.

And it's true: At the last verse, they all lifted their dogs to the sky. Of course, like most passersby, I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing.

"You're not going to believe where I am," said the woman next to me into her cellphone. She was visiting from L.A.

"I'm at a park in New York and there are hundreds of dachshunds here," she continued. "Yep ... Yep ... Don't worry, I'm taking pictures. You are going to flip."

reckler@nationalpost.com

[SuziQ]

My son has a long haired weiner dog

My cousins used to have a long haired doxie named "Geisler". We had 2 doxies when I was in high school The mama was Suzie, yes named after me, but by some friends from who we inherited her. Later we had one of Suzie's puppies we named Pumpkin because her litter was born just before Halloween and she was black and orange!

[gcruse]

I'm on my third minidox in that last three decades.
Couldn't imagine having any other breed.

[BunnySlippers]

Isn't there a thread for my Chihuahua Fidel?

[seeker41]

That looks exactly like my weenie dog, without the bun of course.

[kaylar]

A chihuahua thread! There should be. My dachshunds go in fear and trembling of my chi Cocoa, even though he's a much smaller dog.

[kaylar]

There are other breeds out there????

[kaylar]

Looks like my late lamented Rambo, too...Note the expression on the poor dog's face. He is not happy to be encased in a giant hot dog bun replica.

[BunnySlippers]

Looks like my late lamented Rambo, too...Note the expression on the poor dog's face. He is not happy to be encased in a giant hot dog bun replica.

Of course all animals think that we are nuts ... and it is true. Animals are such lovely beings.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

[gcruse]

 
There are other breeds out there????

Heh.  Compared to doxies, I'd say 'up' there.

[RosieCotton]

Just out of curiosity, does your dachshund have a "grouchy time"?

LOL! That's a good description of it...

My mini (pictures in my profile) is in a perpetually good mood (especially when destroying my home...) but her brother (who lives with my Dad) does EXACTLY what you describe - every evening before bed time, he gets very cranky for awhile...if you sit on "his" chair, he'll grumble to himself, and trying to move him off of it or take any of his toys gets him all upset. The rest of the time, he's a cupcake. I dunno!

[RosieCotton]

Their weasel shape makes them expert burrowers...As anyonewho's ever tried to make a fence dachshund-proof knows.

Mine primarily uses her burrowing skills to bury herself deep under the blankets, or the coat I left on the sofa, or any other cozy object she finds laying around the house. I never know where she's going to pop up!

[kaylar]

Mine likes to make'blanket-burrows', too....They've taught the chihuahua to do that.

I don't mind them teaching him how to burrow, but when the longhair took to climbing trees after squirrels and her chi brother copied her-that I minded.

[Welsh Rabbit]

Mine primarily uses her burrowing skills to bury herself deep under the blankets, or the coat I left on the sofa, or any other cozy object she finds laying around the house. I never know where she's going to pop up!

Two or three years ago, mine just vanished from my apartment. I called and called for him, with no response. I couldn't find him anywhere. There was one door (which had not been open since I last saw him), and all the windows were sealed. I woke up my ex, and we both frantically searched and called people, with no results. Finally, I heard a tiny wimper from my open closet, that I had already searched several times. I had had a huge pile of dirty laundry on the floor of the closet(I was only about 20 or 21 at time, therefore not much of a housekeeper), and the little booger had crawled into a long john shirt and got trapped in the sleave. The shirt had been so far buried in the pile, it blocked almost all sound and made his small weight insigficant.
In my experience, in talking with other dachshund owners, the main thing I find in common with most weiner dogs is that they all share some similar traits: extreme stubborness, mercurical natures, the tendency to horde toys, won't play fetch. But also that they are so induvidualistic, that they each have very peculiar quirks, unique only to them. For instance, mine won't eat anyting unless it's in very tiny pieces. He will actually let a piece of steak sit on floor if he considers too big. He'll hardly ever eat chicken. He is a very finicky eater. All other dachshunds I've encountered have been total gluttons for anything offered to them.

[RosieCotton]

All other dachshunds I've encountered have been total gluttons for anything offered to them.

Or NOT offered to them, as the case may be...mine will eat anything she considers halfway edible...sigh! Not to mention she can usually figure out ways of climbing up onto the table or anywhere else I might leave something. Can't leave, for example, a bowl of fruit on the table, if I want it to remain intact. She is so naughty! And even if I catch her in the act and scold her...well, that may work to prevent other breeds from doing bad stuff the second your back is turned, but for dachshunds, it just seems to start them plotting ways of getting away with it...

Great story about your dog getting stuck in the laundry! I can see mine doing something like that...

[flying Elvis]

extreme stubborness, mercurical natures, the tendency to horde toys, won't play fetch. My Clyde was stubborn, and definitely horded toys. He was never in a bad mood, even when he was sick. He lived to play fetch. Whenever company came over, he would go get his tennis ball and drop it at their feet and go out for a pass. That dog lived to play fetch.

He was sneaky though. I never realized he could climb up on the table until a submarine sandwich disappeared one day. You should seen the look on his face after discovering how it feels when a 9 pound dog eats an entire submarine sandwich. He had a tummy ache for hours afterwards. I just looked at him and said, "serves you right you black devil."

He was a babe magnet too, but that is another story. lol

[kaylar]

I used to have this "marble" kitchen table that was always cool to the touch. Whenever the weather got hot, my standard dachshund would jump up onto a chair, and from there onto the table. I'd find him lying stretched out on his side, sleeping, like a little furry sunbather. It was cute.

[DugwayDuke]

Someone asked me once what kind of dog was my Great Dane. I told that person that Duke was a Dachshund who'd taken steroids.

[RosieCotton]

You should seen the look on his face after discovering how it feels when a 9 pound dog eats an entire submarine sandwich

This is the sort of thing my dog does...and she doesn't learn from the experience, either. She once ate about half a loaf of bread at once (this was when I first discovered she could get up onto the table). She paced around groaning for hours afterwards, but would do it again in a second if I didn't constantly make sure things were out of her reach. Pig dog!

[kaylar]

That reminds me of a true story : The molestation of a sleeping Great Dane at the paws of a standard dachshund. She was in heat, and was sleeping peacefully in her own yard, when a dachshie wandered by, cast his eyes upon her, and proceeded to ravish her. Whether the victim ever woke up is debatable, but in any case, the rapist did succeed in fathering a litter of "great dachshunds". The dachshund/dane mixes wound up at adulthood about 3" shorter in the legs than a true dane, and with somewhat droopier ears, but basically the dane genes swamped the weiner genes.

I would really be interested in one thing : Did those puppies have the activity level and aggressiveness of their gentle, laidback dam...or their hyperactive , strongwilled, stubborn sire? Imagine a dog the size of a dane, but with the personality and activity level of a healthy young dachshund. The horror, the horror.