Hot Dog! Sunday in the Park With Dachshunds and Their Admirers

Wall Street Journal ^ | Wednesday, April 30, 2003 | PAUL M. BARRETT

[Carpet Kitten]

It's more than the funny elongated shape and the stubby legs that makes people stop on the sidewalk to smile and point -- something deeper.

As the owners of Ginger, a 10-year-old reddish-brown dachsie, my wife Julie and I know this in our hearts. But on Sunday we decided to go with Ginger to the Dachshund Fiesta in Washington Square Park to gather more answers in the company of 200-odd dogs and the humans who love them.

[Phantom Lord]

I'm just picking on people. I love all dogs. I just prefer big ones. I have 2 boxers. A female who is 57 pounds and a male that is 75 pounds. The vet put him on a diet when he hit 94 pounds!

[kaylar]

My chihuahua has reduced many much larger dogs to fear and trembling. Chihuahuas are mean little SOBs. I wish I had a picture of Coco to post...He's a chocolate and tan smooth deer type chi. Not having one, here's another image of :

Dachshund Degradation

[RosieCotton]

I know a family with a boxer. She's a sweetheart...a big girl and super muscular, but a big baby.

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

[Phantom Lord]

I would venture to say that Boxers are pound for pound the strongest dogs on the planet. Their intimidation factor is very high as well. But they are one of the friendliest dogs there is.

[ZGuy]

We have a Golden Retreiver, but we also have a "real dog" :

[SAMWolf]

Give me a hand here, Etta ... I got into a nest of wiener dogs over on Fifth and Maple.

[RosieCotton]

Do you know if Gary Larson has dachshunds? He certainly uses them a lot in his cartoons.

I like that one!

[SAMWolf]

I have no idea, he was big on dachshunds and cows.

I sure miss his cartoons.

[Yardstick]

That looks like me when I walked to school as a kid. The neighbors had two of them and man they were vicious! Mean little dogs. Just real nasty attitudes, and always with that worried look on their face. The neighbors loved them like perfect children of course.

[oyez]

Wienerdog Nationals?

[RosieCotton]

Wonderful pictures, Zguy.

What is his name?

[kaylar]

What's Jesse's other 1/4?

Best dog I ever owned was a dachshund/beagle cross. I'd love to have another one.

[tictoc]

You'd need a heart of stone to resist those deep brown eyes :-)

On a related note, does anyone know where I can find those full-page ads for Pedigree on the Web? The ones where the dog and the owner are shown side by side and the resemblance is... uncanny?

[Charlie OK]

some kind of terrier. I need to get a better picture of his face. He and my two year old daughter are pretty cute together!

Here's a good one for you all.

[kaylar]

That is the most sickeningly cute dachshie image yet!

[Carpet Kitten]

Actually, dachshunds were originally bred in Germany to charge into the burrows of badgers and drag them out. They are small, but they are incredibly strong and fierce for their size.

[Welsh Rabbit]

Whenever anyone dresses my dauchs up, he just pouts and refuses to move until the costume is removed. He loves wearing his collar though. After his bath, he'll stand by his collar and stare at me until I put it back on him.

[ZGuy]

RosieCotton, meet Gromit

ZGuy and Gromit on the beach in Monterey, California