“Smooths to Longhairs”
Download this page in PDF formatThere was a little bit of crossing Smooths and Longhairs earlier in the Twentieth Century, but is was not until Mary Howell of Bayard Kennel finally, in the early ’50s, got a decent longhair bitch, CH Split Rock’s Electra ROM, finished her and bred her to a BIS Longhair dog of Grace Hill. Mary Howell easily finished 12 Champions from them, but then realized quickly that the quality she looked for was just not there. So, way back in the mid 1950s when she decided to try crossing coats and attempted to make her Bayard Standard Longs dogs and bitches competitive with the Standard Smooths who were winning most of the big shows because the Smooths were just so much better in conformation and movement than the Wires and Longs.
Since she was from Washington DC, she was a very friendly with Ben Klimkiewicz of the Bencelia Kennel who was an important Smooth breeder from the Washington DC area and, to him (and most other breeders), the front was what you really bred for and until you had that in your line, you were not a successful breeder at all and, at that time, winning at the bigger Shows with Knowledgeable Judges meant you were successful in the Breed. I understand that Mrs. Howell of Bayard and Mr Klimkiewicz spent hours discussing what was needed in getting those kind of fronts on her Dachshunds and what Smooth Dachshunds you should breed to and what you should see after the crosses were made. Mr Klimkiewicz had some fantastic Smooths in his Kennel and later won BV and BB at the DCA Specialty in ’61 with the Smooth CH Bencelia’s Intent under the famed Judge John Cook of Kleetal Kennel who ALWAYS found any good fronts in his Show Ring, but any great fronts from Mr Klimkiewicz were down from the fantastic CH Gunther von Marienlust ROMO (’39 – ’53) as that was who Mr Klimkiewicz based his breeding on. (Also, Gunther was sired by CH Leutnant von Marinlust ROMO who was behind so many Smooth/Wire crosses made in the early ’50s!!) Ben told Mary Howell what to look for when she started getting these new crosses and so a few crosses were made and none were finished until they started crossing these Long/Smooth offspring back into the old Bayard line and, in 1960, CH Bayard le Tartare ROMX was born and the modern Bayard Longhair Dachshund was shown and very soon recognized, because Tartare ROMX had that great DACHSHUND front and also because he had the Dachshund style and conformation that was rarely there to catch your eye . CH Bayard le Tartare ROMX finished at the ’61 DCA National Specialty by winning WD and BW under Handler Judge Frank Hardy.
When I had my first really Top Producer, CH Boondox Panama Jack ROMO, I printed out a very long pedigree and saw that I had 34 crosses to CH Bayard le Tartare ROMX in it and so I started looking and saw that Tartare ROMX had been on PJ’s pedigree so many times in a few generations, because I saw that he was really behind EVERY Bayard dog that I liked and realized that he was the touchstone of the modern Bayard line. CH Bayard le Tartare ROMX soon became the Dachshund I based my longhair breeding program on, even though I had never seen a picture of him at that time. That is when I discovered some Dachshund dogs and bitches have some vital qualities that really change the Variety and I immediately saw that Tartare ROMX was the first Dachshund I found out about that absolutely changed my liking of the Longhair Variety. Then I went back and discovered how and why he made the difference in conformation, movement and pure Dachshund style that I wanted in the Boondox line just as I had with some Smooths in my Smooth Boondox line. I soon discovered the crosses to the Bencelia Smooths that Mary Howell made and saw that, while none finished their AKC Championships, almost all of their dogs and bitches that Mary Howell used produced the big winners and the style she had really caught my eye back then and still does today. Trust me, many breeders do not know about Bayard, but I can look at what is shown and produced and pick out what Bayard dogs and bitches were used and why they win, because all the things I liked all come down from those great Bayard dogs and bitches that Mary Howell made from those Bayard long/Smooth crosses and show these better, well placed fronts which have a lot more body and length. I have to say that Mary Howell of Bayard really changed the entire look of the Standard Longs and, then, when Hannelore Heller of Han-Jo’s Kennel joined in using all Bayard bred dogs and as I myself did a few years later, the modern American Standard Longhair all came down from these crosses that Mary Howell made. She changed the Longhair Variety in so many ways really for the whole USA and did, in my mind, make them equal or better then the best Smooths.
Anyway, CH Bayard le Tartare ROMX was whelped back in 1960 and he was sired by a red longhair CH Bayard Bardot whose father was from some of Mary’s earliest dogs and whose mother, Bayard Kiki, was from a Smooth/long cross sired by CH Bencelia’s Native Dancer who was all 100% Marienlust bred which again gave the depth of body, larger torso and more forechest and angulation to his descendants and out of CH Bayard Amour who was from Mary’s original nice producer, CH Split Rock’s Electra ROMX from before the Smooth cross. Tartare ROMX’s dam was Bayard Gigi who was by CH Bayard le Jaquemart who again was from from one of Mary Howell’s early litters and whose front and style needed improving. Gigi was out of another Bayard Long/Smooth cross again sired by CH Bencelia’s Native Dancer and out of Bayard Kismet (littermate to Bayard Kiki) who again was down from CH Bayard Amour who was sired by CH William De Sangpur and Mary’s first Top Producer, CH Split Rock’s Electra ROMX. With both those crosses behind Tartare ROMX, he had the conformation, Dachshund style and movement and was soon winning all over the place and Tartare ROMX finished by winning WD and BW at the ’61 DCA National Specialty held in Chicago and judged by Frank Hardy who absolutely loved this young Tartare ROMX.
Tartare ROMX had the style and conformation that Mary Howell wanted and so was used on a few bitches and one of his first big winners and producers was the great CH Bayard le Souvenir ROM who finished by winning at several large Specialties and then Breed at some of the bigger shows such as BV longhair at Westminster KC and the ’67 DCA National Specialty. He had a great career and was sired by Tartare ROMX who had two Bayard long/Smooth crosses behind him and was out of Bayard Gabrielle who was sired by CH Bayard le Jaquemart who was from the early Bayard breeding and out of Bayard Kismet who was from the Bayard/Smooth cross of Smooth CH Bencelia’s Native Dancer and CH Bayard Amour who again was from the Bayard line before she made the crosses. This dog produced the fronts and the style that Mary preferred and he is behind many of Mary’s Specials and winners down the years. He produced that style and look that she wanted in her Bayard bloodline.
However, the next year she acquired the fantastic CH Robert de Bayard ROMO who had a great career in the classes by winning WD and BW at DCA and finally winning BB at the largest Dachshund show in the USA which was at DALI on the property of Grace Hill and BV at the ’68 DCA National Specialty. He was outstanding and his pedigree was a dream as he was sired by CH Bayard le Tartare ROMX who had two Bayard/Smooth crosses behind him and Robert ROMO’s dam was CH Katella of Lelou ROMX, owned by Miss Prendergast and Barbara Powers and who was WB at the ’63 DCA National Specialty. Her pedigree again was all full of Smooths as she was sired by CH Covara’s Tabasco ROMO who was out of two longhairs, but who had 4 Smooth grandparents and he was down from the great old Gera stock and all would be pretty famous from anyone who knew pedigrees. Katella‘s dam was Leura of LeLou who a Smooth who again had all Smooth parents behind her, coming down from Heying-Teckel and the great Gera lines. Looking back, you can see the size and scope of these new longhairs are really going to fill the bill. These all were GREAT choices that Mary made to get her Bayard line equal or better than the Standard Smooths that were out at the time and, remember, this was the height of Smooths in the USA. You can read about CH Robert de Bayard ROMO in his own articles on this website, because I really want to talk about the great ones that followed him.
First, Mary bred CH Robert ROMO to a bitch that was purchased from Mary Howell by Hannelore Heller, CH Bayard Rosemonde ROM who again had two different Bayard/Smooth crosses right behind her and her offspring. CH Han-Jo’s Flaming Flare L ROMO soon became the Top Producer of AKC Champions and he sired 71 AKC Champions down through the years and, discovering all these crosses right behind him, made him even more valuable as a producer of a sturdier, but great moving Dachshund as his sons like DCA BV Winner CH Von Dyck’s Mr Bojangles L ROMX and again DCA BV and BB Winner CH Han-Jo’s Candyman L ROMX were. Flare, like CH Robert, produced it and while we were all using the Bayard breeding or dogs who came down from Bayard in other Kennels, the great new ones came down all the way in every generation. Next, Hannelore started specialling CH B’s Javelin de Bayard ROMO, who again was a DCA BV winner and who was sired by CH Bayard le Franchot who had thirteen of the Bayard/Smooth crosses behind him and, when they are all basically the same dogs, the more they are there the more the changes come through. So, when you bred to Java, you got his type and movement along with all those crosses bringing a heavier, but elegant dog into the mix as well. Javelin’s dam was CH Robdach’s Tambourine who had several crosses to the great Gera line as well as CH Covara’s Tabasco ROMO and with Franchot and Gera you got all these crosses back to the old time Smooth greats as well. No wonder he was a Top Producer and it also explains my glee whenever I found a new cross back there to surprise me.
Next from Hannelore came CH Han-Jo’s Ulyssis L ROMO who was a Javelin ROMO son and out of CH Han-Jo’s Lollipop L ROMO who was sired by CH Bayard l’Origan who was down from Souvenir and Robert and several bitches that had the cross that did so much for Bayard. Ully was almost perfect in the Show Ring and one that I really liked every time I saw him as he had the profile and Dachshund style that I loved and Ully moved like a house afire. He had a great Show Career as well as being a great Producer and sired a lot of quality dogs who produced even better quality dogs and so much of that making the better the best came from those Bayard/Smooth crosses who just keep getting doubled up on. Ully also sired two dogs from two Smooth bitches that became Top Producers as well such as CH Timbar’s Hedley Lamar L ROMX, bred by and always owned by Janet Wayock, who produced many longhair and smooth offspring that finished at many of the larger shows and CH Tallavast Odyssey ROMX, who was owned by Dr Thomas of Florida, but bred accidentally at Bobby Fowler’s Kennel and Odyssey went on to be a MAJOR force in Smooths and siring CH Tallavast Apollo ROMX and CH Tallavast Telemachus including one breeding that happened in Canada that was unrecorded but really changed the breed entirely. As I said earlier, Bobby was the only guy who accidentally bred a Smooth bitch (Hubertus Scotch Mist) to a dog that Hannelore owned (CH Han-Jo’s L Ulyssis L ROMO) and, through their offspring, change the Variety’s temperament for the better, but still kept the conformation and Dachshund style going on and Ully’s grandson, the Smooth CH Tallavast Apollo ROMX also produced CH Laddland Camelot ROMO who was BOSV at the ’87 DCA National Specialty and also whelped eight champions including CH Laddland Elvira ROM, CH Laddland Stretch Limo (’98 DCA BV National Specialty winner) and CH Laddland Emma Peel ROMO who produced the inimitable CH Laddland Juliet ROMO who also was BV and BB at the ’01 DCA National and then Juliet produced three DCA BV winners herself. Apollo also sired Gina Leone’s great CH Luvadox Rose Parade SS ( ’92 DCA Smooth BV winner) who was bitch that I could not pass by without admiring her. See what I mean by that accidental breeding changing the world! Personally, I finished Juliet’s mother, Emma Peel, and gave Gina’s bitch, Rose Parade, a Specialty Best of Breed in Florida and also gave another Apollo daughter, CH Hellabrun’s Isabella Best Smooth in Sweeps back in ’87 at the DCA National. All I will say to that is just how lucky we all had to be for Bobby (and Jane!) to have been so extremely fortunate because all that was shared by so many! Trust me, knowing Ulyssis is behind all these great Smooths shows me how much that greatness keeps contributing to the fantastic game we all play in making each generation BETTER than the ones that came before them.
Next at Hannelore’s Kennel came a dog that really changed my life when I started using him as that Dachshund was the spectacularly typy CH Gerolf das Zwerglein L ROMO who started siring great bitches that really changed my look in the LH Variety and that look, when bred on and kept in your line, actually stayed on his offspring forever. Gerolf ROMO had a different pedigree when you looked at it and Hannelore finished all of them for the breeder, Bertha Kiechle of das Zwerglein, and they basically were all Bayard bred and came down from Tartare ROMX , Robert ROMO, Flare ROMO, Javelin ROMO, Ully ROMO all the other greats and, in Gerolf’s pedigree, there were 12 Bayard/Smooth crosses in the first few generations and it was certainly easy to see that those Long/Smooth crosses was where Gerolf’s type and soundnes came from. In fact, of all these Dachshund greats that we are discussing, Gerolf was, IMO, the typiest of the whole bunch and he was so inbred on these crosses that he threw the bitches that surely passed on the way to get dogs as typy and wonderful as Gerolf was himself. This, again, is the joy of working with well bred dogs who have the cross with Smooths and the Smooths were so important because their legacy helps make each following generation better, especially when you have the ability to see the type and conformation that you produced and do, indeed, work with these changes that Mary Howell provided so long ago to make the Long Variety the best in the Dachshund world. Personally, breeding to Gerolf back in the ’80s with all those Smooth crosses behind him, gave me all the changes I could handle back then and, keeping those changes, let me try to get to work on all the little things that I needed help with as long as I kept the style, conformation and movement that Gerolf gave me in the whelping box.
One more Han-Jo Dachshund, before I head back to Mary Howell’s Bayard Kennel, and he was a later dog from the very early ’80s, CH Han-Jo’s ‘Xtra Copy L ROMO who was purchased from Hannelore through Lorene Hogan from CO, and who was sired by CH Von Dyck’s Mr Bojangles L ROMX who again was sired by CH Han-Jo’s Flaming Flare L ROMO who was sired by CH Robert de Bayard ROMO and out of CH Bayard Rosemonde ROM who both had two Bayard/Smooth crosses right behind them and Bojangles was himself out of CH Dachs Ridge Midnight Blues who again went back to CH Covara’s Tabasco ROMO who was down from all four Smooth grandparents! Copy ROMO was out of CH Lady Rosalyn of Sirius L ROMX who again was sired by CH Han-Jo’s Flaming Flare L ROMO with all the coat crosses he had behind him and was out of CH Han-Jo’s Zsa Zsa L ROMO who was a full sister to CH Han-Jo’s Ulyssis L ROMO and both were sired by CH B’s Javelin de Bayard ROMO and were out of CH Han-Jo’s Lollipop L ROMO who was basically all Bayard breeding from after the Bayard/Smooth crosses. If you watch and look at these dogs , you can see them getting typier and better conformed and even better movers. I don’t like to keep posting this, but look at the good that a couple of crossings, when you do them with great dogs with incredible background and producing ability. If you notice from the dogs the Wire breeders and Mary Howell used were not just some dogs that could barely finish, they were the cream of the crop. They were not just some dogs around their Kennel that could barely finish, they were healthy, great producing dogs who made sure their qualities came through to their offspring, no matter what coat is turned out to be.
CH ‘Xtra Copy L ROMO was a great show dog who was BV at the ’86 DCA National Specialty and an even better producer as he soon passed CH Han-Jo’s Flaming Flare L ROMO as the Number One Standard Longhair producer as he sired 76 AKC Champions, but was quickly passed by his son, CH Boondox Panama Jack ROMO who became the first Dachshund to sire over 100 Champions and PJ did, in fact, sire 108 in all. It was a great producing Bayard line of dogs and the way they got there was because Mary Howell made these crosses and crossed them back and forth until she had everything she wanted and these Longs were at the top of the heap. That was an amazing time to be in Dachshunds because the quality was high and the Judges were astute so you always wanted to win at the National Specialty Show. My years of going to the National to see the best from ’78 to ’02 was my favorite part of showing dogs and I wish you all could have gone to see what was shown and why i am still so in awe of what everyone was producing back then. It was amazing, to me anyway.
Sorry to go on so long about the Bayard line down through the Hannelore Heller years and onto my Boondox line, but Han-Jo and Boondox were the bloodlines that these Bayard crosses helped when they started and certainly led the way when I began to breed and exhibit longhairs back in the late ’70s. Mary Howell really changed the whole type, style and movement as she went along and, as you can see, that she kept these changes at the forefront when she planned new breedings and all of her great new Bayard dogs and bitches had these crosses right behind them to make sure that these changes were what she wanted to be passed on. CH Bayard le Souvenir ROM sired CH Bayard l’Origan who was Ully’s grandsire and he was from a daughter of CH Robert de Bayard ROMO bred to CH Jacinthe ROMX who had three Bayard/Smooth crosses right behind her so that dog, L’Origan, had seven crosses of the Bayard/Smooth crosses behind him and all those changes went right into Ully and all his littermates. Watching those crosses pile up and make better conformed and moving dogs made all of us longhair breeders happy. CH Han-Jo’s Ulyssis L ROMO was behind every longhair I ever bred at Boondox and, trust me, his style , movement and conformation were always what I kept in mind as I saw him in the showring and realized THAT was what I wanted my longhairs to look like and, even though he was not a ‘Bayard’ dog, Ully was always what I wanted mine to look like as he presented the modern Bayard Longhair in the Show Ring. Every dog I bred has that look in my mind as I see him stand and move.
Another couple of dogs were CH Bayard le Cardinal ROMX and CH Bayard le Corsaire ROM who were littermates and what they sired had to be exactly what Mary Howell wanted. Both were sired by CH Bayard le Pernod who was by CH Robert ROMO who had three Longhair//Smooth crosses behind him and out of Jacinthe de Bayard ROMX who had three crosses behind her. Cardinal and Corsaire were both out of CH Bayard la Jeannette ROMO who was from a dog and a bitch from those ever-present Bayard/Smooth crosses. Cardinal sired these DCA winners : Tenafly for the Wlodkowskis (WD and BW at the ’78 National DCA Specialty), Teufel that Heck Rice showed(74 DCA National Specialty WD and BW) and, again one of my favorites, CH Delldachs Rolls Royce ROMX who was twice BV and BB at DCA and whose sister , Delldachs Mercedes Benz L, also behind all my Boondox Dachshunds. Looking over these dogs always has to make you concerned that you never leave that conformation and Dachshund style and movement as long as you keep breeding from the best that preceded you. Corsaire was sold to Barbara Reedy who used him in the West Coast and he produced, most famously, CH Robdachs Capstone ROM, and Corsaire was bred to one of the Nikobar Robert offspring and produced CH Paradox Mardi Gras of Nikobar who was BOSV at the ’75 DCA National Specialty. What a great bunch of dogs they were and all made such an impact on being great Dachshunds first and foremost.
Peggy Westphal bought a CH Robert de Bayard ROMO son, CH Bayard le Pernod, who was out of Jacinthe de Bayard ROMX and so Pernod had six Bayard/Smooth crosses in the two previous generations in his parent’s bloodline. Peggy Westphal showed him as a Special all over the Country and he was a big winner no matter the competition. Again, he did not qualify for an ROM, but, when bred to, he did sire CH Bayard le Jourdan who sired one of the most admired Standard longhairs of the early ’80s, CH Kemper Dachs Bad Habits ROMX, bred by Pat Kemper but owned and shown (so well) by John Hart and Charles Baris Bad Habits had a great outline in his pictures and, like all the Barhar Wires, he showed what a great one looked like. Personally, Bad Habits sired a great bitch for me, CH Rose Farms Country Girl ROMX, who became the the granddam to three greats, three times DCA BV winner CH Bermarg Shoney of Boondox L ROMO, two time DCA BV winner CH Boondox Chaps L ROMX and my favorite CH Boondox Bermarg Treasure L ROMX, all of them sired by PJ but out of Country Girl’s daughters. I loved the look of Bad Habits and thought he was beautiful and I was very happy to get Country Girl ROMX from Dee (once she started walking on lead!!). Again, I know we shouldn’t look at greatness through our own dogs, but knowing how to make sure they ARE the best is why we look at the good things and bad things these older Dachshunds bring and you have to know you have the ability to take advantage of keeping the good parts and making the bad parts better. To this day, there are many breeders who are so happy to have Bayard in their pedigree that they brag about that, without even knowing that you have to be able to make the Bayard dog better to get the full effect of the great pedigree. Remember, a Bayard Dachshund is only as good as the individual dogs and some, such as Tartare ROMX, Robert ROMO and Souvenir ROM, are the true value if they were used correctly, but, if not used wisely, they can ruin your line. Know the Bayard strengths and breed to them as if you have those strengths already as they will help you IF you know how to use them and they will bring you down if you don’t.
The last Dachshund that Mary finished was the ’87 DCA National Specialty BV and BB winner, CH Bayard le Maximillien who Bobby and Jane Fowler showed for her and who looked fabulous in his pictures, He had a great Bayard pedigree and it was full of Dachshunds such as CH Bayard le Tartare ROMX, CH Robert de Bayard ROMO, CH Bayard le Souvenir ROM, CH Delldachs Rolls Royce ROMX, CH Bayard le Nicolas, Jacinthe de Bayard ROMX and CH Bayard la Jeannette L ROMO who behind them were around thirty crosses to the great Bayard/Smooth crosses that Mary Howell made leading up to producing Maxim. This certainly shows how to work the crosses and keep making better and better longhair Dachshunds as those pictures of Maximillien under Bobby’s care show how good they can get. It is a wonder to see how Mary Howell, more or less, created the current longhair Standards even now. I have said all along that I can remember how longhair Dachshunds were when I just started getting them and, with Mary Howell, Bobby Fowler and Hannelore Heller working on them, these Longhairs just kept getting better and even more appreciated by all in the Fancy that liked the more elegant looks and easier movement along with a stouter, but still very stylish body that all the Bayard and early Han-Jo Dachshunds had.
Another breeder, Sanford Roberts of Robdachs Dachshunds, also was a man who started in longhairs back in the early ’60s and immediately wanted to get them as good as the great Smooths were in California. He started by taking well bred Longhairs from the West Coast Longhair breeders and breeding their best to the Smooths he liked. He and I actuallly liked the same look, I believe, but just looked at Dachshunds a lot differently and, when I started in the mid-70s, I was not a fan of the Robdachs dogs and did not appreciate the changes he was making in them as, again, the way I was looking at them was completely different as far as what we were both looking for. In my mind, the Robdachs were just a little coarse compared to the elegance of the Bayard family and, looking at the pedigrees, I should have liked the Robdachs bloodline better than the Bayard line, because I did prefer the West Coast longhairs better than the East Coast DeSangpur longhair bloodline which Mary Howell started out with, but, when Mary crossed the coats she used the great looking Bencelia dogs which made hers look a lot typier the more she bred back to them and the other Bencelia /Bayard crosses that she already had. That was the look that I liked when I started it and watching the Bayard Dachshunds get better and better always made me prefer the Mary Howell Bayard look.
Later, Mr Roberts used a Han-Jo (Bayard)/Smooth cross on his dogs on some Bayard bitches ( CH Bayard la Jeannette ROMO),that had Robdachs behind them that Mr Roberts owned and that made a difference for me. The CH Robdachs Traminer (DCA BV Winner) and CH Robdachs Chardonnay look became the fashion back in the ’70s and ’80s on the West Coast and showed that the style had really taken off throughout the country. I am glad it did and that Dachshunds did decide what we wanted our breedings to become and I am certainly glad we chose the right way thanks to Mary Howell’s Bayard Kennel and Hannelore Heller’s show string which, IMO, led the way to make every generation better than it was before.
The Longhair and the Wire breeders were smart enough to use the Smooths to make that coat to coat breeding to get the better conformation and Dachshund style to make three Varieties more equal as the years went on AND they were smart enough to always hang onto these changes so that ground was never lost and they could just keep improving the things in their line that needed fixing. Does that mean that Smooths were not being helped as the years went by? Read Chapter 3 of the cross coat saga and find out what breeders decided to make the breedings that would fix what was wrong with the best Variety and whether the Longs could help with this fear that was threatening the Breed.
Dan Harrison
Feb. 21, 2024