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

[kaylar]

Cute (if a touch sarcastic here and there) dog story, for a Friday .

In my house, we call the Dachs Song "Dachshunde Uber Alles", pronounced "OOOOOOOOOOOOber alles".

Feel free to ping any known weiner victims to this thread.

[kaylar]

ping for dachshies.

[kaylar]

Dachshund ping.

[Blood of Tyrants]

My next door neighbor has a weiner dog who regularly comes over to my house to visit my 20 month old daughter who absolutely loves her.

I have read that they were originally bred to chase badgers out of their holes.

[Wright is right!]

"It's The Weiner-Dog Winternationals!"

Michael

[kaylar]

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

We had a dachshie mix when I was a kid and we still have home movies of him climbing out of an "unclimeable" fence, but it was his skill at burrowing underneath the fence that made him an escape expert.

[general_re]

It's true the Dachshund Fest is a love fest.

A class "A" misdemeanor here in New York...

[kaylar]

I loved that commercial.

[Miss Marple]

Ping for you and Sadie!!

[maximus@Nashville]

Dachshunds and their owners gather for a love fest

Which lends new meaning to the phrase "weiner dog"

[kaylar]

It's a story that might be a bit disgusting, but....We have an empty room with a linoleum floor . We leave our 'hunds (and chi) in it when we're going to be gone all day,along with their 'bankies', water, and so forth.One time, we came back and there were seven seperate "dog piles" waiting for me to clean up. And my DH said,"Good grief, dogs ; what did you have in there, a S--T Fest?!?!" And to this day, we can't help but laugh everytime we see the word "-fest", eg an ad for the Oktoberfest (where at one time you'd be admited free if you were escorted by a dachshund).

[Texas Mom]

My son has a long haired weiner dog he got from the city pound about 5 years ago and he is the best dog.. I can't imagine anyone just abandoning him but we are glad they did since he now has a happy home and is one spoiled rotten pooch.

[Welsh Rabbit]

"I also have a cheerleader outfit for her," said Lulu's owner, Susan Andriola. "Dachshunds love to dress up.

Not mine. He gets pretty irate when people treat him like a doll.

[kaylar]

That's how I got my longhair dachshie : The family that had her since she was a baby decided they didn't want her any more, so they gave her to my DH.

She was kept in an outside pen for five years. She was only allowed inside the house when the temperature was well below freezing. They even had an automatic feeder and waterer so they wouldn't have "to be bothered" with her at all.

She is the sweetest, most loving dog I've ever had. Some abused dogs are vicious or too nervous, but others really seem to appreciate someone who loves them, like our two little longhairs.

[kaylar]

Most dachshies I know "allow" their people to dress them up, but they always have a look on their face that says very clearly,"If only I were a Great Dane....".Mine scowls!

[husky ed]

For a second I thought this said "Feast"

[Welsh Rabbit]

Just out of curiosity, does your dachshund have a "grouchy time"? Every evening, from about eight to nine mine gets very protective of his toy horde under the easy chair. Just looking at him will cause him growl and run under the chair, and he'll bark if you come to close to the chair. He's been that way his entire life.

[Texas Mom]

The girl at the pound said someone brought him in and said " He barks too much and chases cars." My son said, "well I have a fenced in back yard and a leash and I can use a watch dog.."

We found out after we got him home and checked out by the vet the little guy had heartworm.. We had him treated and he is fine now. My suspicion is the origional owner knew about the heartworm and didn't want to deal with it.

His loss was our gain.. I can't imagine life without the Tedster and my son named him..

[pabianice]

Note that if you remove the "s," Tom Daschle becomes Tom Dachle, German for Dachshundt. More than coincidence? I think not...

[kaylar]

My mini smooth girl is perpetually grouchy. My longhair is sweet, and so was my late lamented standard smooth boy. I wonder what makes yours act that way????

[kaylar]

People can be creeps. Many people just do not deserve the right to own pets. I'm just sad that the people we got our girl from still have dog(s).

[Wright is right!]

"I loved that commercial."

Did you remember that it was for Miller Lite? Or, as they called it then, "Lite Beer from Miller."

Michael

[NOLA_homebrewer]

Thanks for the story, haven't heard from you in ages - hope all is going well. My two standards are doing fine except they were thoroughly disgusted during Isidore and Lili that the humans couldn't manage the weather better for them.

[oldcomputerguy]

It is my understanding that "dachs" is badger in german.

[kaylar]

I remembered it was for beer, but that's about it. "Muffy versus Dogzilla"...."That's one tough weiner dog!" Great commercial. And some of the other ones in that series, like when they combined a rodeo with a 'lawyer's office' drama, and the lawyer that took Jeff's bass boat in a divorce settlement was substituted for a calf in the roping contest: "Get 'em!"

There really are weiner dog races, mostly for charity. When my DH was still a CO, his inmates were watching a weiner dog race in the day room. This was a mixed breed race of all small breeds, and a chihuahua was in the lead. Suddenly out of nowhere a weiner dog comes streaking up through the pack, plows the chihuahua over, and gets across the finish line first. The chihuahua picks himself up and looks around with a bewildered air, like,"What was that!?! What was that!?!" And one of the inmates turned to another and said of the winner,"That is one mean m-----f----r." To which the second inmate nodded in agreement. I would have liked to have seen that. Not just the weiner race, but a roomful of inmates watching the weiner race, and then getting indignant over the behavior of the winner/weiner.

[kaylar]

Oh, yeah...It's just that there's not many weiner-related stories out there that I can post and ping you to. For some reason, many people don't think dachshunds are all that important in the greater scheme of things-the fools! :-D

[kaylar]

True, dachshund means 'badger dog'. I always thought the Germans should have named them 'weasel dog', but, no...

[oldcomputerguy]

That is an especially terrible thing to do to a Dachshund as they are such "leaners" as a friend once said. They need to be physically connected.

I have a 28 pound longhair, don't even want to think about not having him.

[oldcomputerguy]

I have sworn to friends that my dogs ancestry is part cat,
part dog and part weasel. He has all those qualities.

[JohnLoyRocker]

I got one question: Mustard or Ketchup?

[mel]

Does anyone remember what post the picture of the dacshund puppies holding up the baby? i have been hunting for it, i should have bookmarked it.
I rescued a longhair dachshund also. I love that dog. My husband always say after he's gone what will we talk about, it seems we mainly talk about how cute, sweet and great PeeWee is.

[kaylar]

[kaylar]

Yeah, my little girl really shows the psychological scras of being "attention-starved" for so long. But at least she's happy and has lots of human and canine company now.

To this day, though, if I raise my voice too much (not necessarily at her), or if you make a sudden move towards her, she flattens herself on the ground and just trembles all over.

Maybe it's better the creeps didn't have her around them more....

[kaylar]

Did you post any kind of reply to the thread the picture was on? Do you remember anything about the title or subject? With a little information, an advanced google search might find it.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I have read that they were originally bred to chase badgers out of their holes.

I have a 6 or 7 pound dachshund that has killed three opossums in my yard. The smallest was 10 pounds and he does it by snapping their necks, not leaving a mark on them.

[Welsh Rabbit]

Mine is pretty adept at catching and killing moles.

[JohnLoyRocker]

LOL, that answers my question...

I know it's considered juvenile, and in some circles, downright heretical, but prefer Ketchup myself.

Great weiner dog picture btw. Will forward it to an old girlfriend who had to put her's down after 13 years (I had to drive her to the vets). That was a tough day.

Don't worry, it was a long time ago, and she has a good sense of humor, won't be pissed off.

[oldcomputerguy]

Hopefully she will get over it to some extent as more
time passes though I expect she will always be submissive.

[Dog]

I have a shorthaired brown dachshund her name is Sadie she is so spoiled.........:-)

[HairOfTheDog]

Pinging two Doxie fans...

The doxie my friend had was a protective little cuss...

I house-sat for her when she was out of town, and the little nipper would bite me every time, when I came in the door.

After the first day, I just wore my tall rubber hunt boots when I went over there. Had steel toes and reinforced ankle supports, so the little monster could bite me all he wanted!

[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.