Here’s to Dachshunds

Among other things, my dog, Dave, has taught me that people love Dachshunds.

When I walk Davey it’s like I’m out on the town with America’s Most Beloved Celebrity – everyone smiles, points, gasps, comments. They all just bubble and drool over this shy, awkward-looking little doggy. I can even hear people with their car windows down say to their fellow passengers, “O! Look at the Dachshund!” In the year that I was a professional dog walker, I walked anywhere from six to 12 dogs in a day and I never got such a strong reaction as I do with my Davey.

I’ve noticed that people don’t really go up to other people’s dogs in PetsMart, but at least four groups of customers wanted to meet Davey when I took him there over the weekend, and one guy chased me down as I was leaving. I had checked out and was halfway to the exit, when a very large man (both in height and in width) called after me to wait and ran toward me. At first I thought he was a security guard, and as I fished for my receipt to prove that I had, indeed, paid for the giant bag of cat food under my arm, I noticed an elderly Dachshund being pulled along behind him. He proudly presented his Dachshund to Dave and I, as if he had just made all our dreams come true, and then tried to hide his disappointment when the two dogs didn’t want anything to do with each other. They looked off in opposite directions as he asked me questions about Dave that I didn’t have answers to, and I tried my best to feign interest in his dog. Not that his dog wasn’t neat or anything, but I had just gotten out of work and was trying to get home for food and a nap ASAP.

Dave seems just as confused by all this attention as I am. As a neighbor gushes over him, he looks around nervously like, “Who, me??” He really doesn’t talk to people or other dogs on the street. In fact, he tries to stay as far away from them as possible, which is awkward when people want to meet him. In daycare, however, he’s a little social butterfly. He remembers who his friends are and isn’t short on affection when he sees them.

Come to think of it, the other Dachshunds that come to daycare are similar in that we have to gain their respect before they’ll be friends with us. One Doxie bites and screams at every new employee, until one day he decides they’re okay, then he’s a little hot dog of love.

Davey is cute, yes. I like to think it’s an inner-adorableness that gets all the attention, though. It’s definitely an adventure getting to know this little guy, and it just keeps getting better.

Here’s to Dachshunds.