Hi All! I wanted to share my story about how I became owned by a Dachshund!
In 1989 my husband brought me to Starnberg, Germany, this is just south of Munich, to meet his dear friends Lucie and Otto. I was a new bride and nervous about meeting his longtime friends. As I sat in their living room, in bounded a small vivacious pup named Shubi, who was a wire-haired Dachshund. Shubi spoke no English, and I spoke no German, but it did not matter. It was love at first sight! Shubi climbed into my lap and we kissed and that was it.
Me and the original Shubi.
For the next week wherever I went, I was followed by this love-struck little man. When we parted I cried and all I would say to my husband was, “I want a little Shubi dog!” We made four more trips to Munich over the next four years and it was always the same. Shubi became my love while I was there.
Sadly, in 1994 Shubi escaped his fenced-in yard and was hit by a car. I grieved for so long. And so did Lucie.
At Christmas this year we learned that Otto was ill and in February 1995 we went back to Germany to see Otto and Lucie. The house was oddly still with no little man running around the house. It just was not the same cheery home. I said to Lucie at lunch that we should go and find little puppies and have them together. Otto heard us and while we were out shopping he found an ad for Rauhhaar Dackels, or in English, Wire Haired Dachshunds.
It was 35 kilometers east of Munich to go to the home of the puppies, but we all piled into the car and off we went to Landshut. An hour later we walked into the kitchen of the Lanzingers. There, in a small basket on the floor were three baby dachshunds. I went over and a little face looked up and tried to jump up to me. I picked her up and that was it. She looked me over, decided that I would do, and after kissing my face clean, she settled into my arms and snuggled. Lucie picked up a little boy pup and we were off.
I kept trying to think up a good name for my baby when my husband, who had been oddly silent said,” All I have heard for years is ‘I want a Shubi dog’, the dog’s name is Shubi. And thus our Shubi adopted us as her parents, and her responsibility in life. Lucie named Shubi’s brother, Toni.
At the Munich Airport.
I feared bringing a pup back to the states would be difficult, but it wasn’t. She was three months old, had her shots, and once we purchased a doggie passport and bought her a ticket we were all set. Shubi road Business Class with us from Munich to New York. She was wonderful on the plane and my husband rushed her out as soon as we cleared customs, to the parking area next to the terminal. Bravo Shubi! She did just what she was supposed to.
Shubi was warm, and funny, and stubborn and sweet, and good, and made me feel like I was the most important person in her life. My husband, who believed that White German Shepherds were the only dogs in the world, changed his mind and now adores dackels too.
Shubi learned English, was housebroken quickly and ruled the whole house, and I was happier than I ever thought it was possible to be!
And right now I know that I will never be without a “Shubi Dog” ever again!
