“Wirehairs to Smooths”
Download this page in PDF formatMany people disagree about crossing the coats in breeding better Dachshunds being available to all exhibitors in the USA, but few have done it enough times to really have a true opinion on the subject of this way to help a Variety where the qualities they are looking for is stronger in one Variety than the others. The American Kennel Club allows breeders here to use any Dachshund to cross with either coat or size as they all belong to the same Breed as well as having our Miniature and Standards as also all being from that same Breed and, in this, I feel the same way as I believe that, in Dachshunds, we started with Smooths and then added the Longhairs and finally the Wirehairs and, as we bred, we crossed back to the Smooths to make each Variety better in different methods of conformation, Dachshund style, movement and health and temperament as well.
As you can tell, when I find an incident of crossing one coat with another, it makes me anxious to see the results as well as making me happy that someone is taking a chance on improving one coat through a better version in another coat. This is a great way to fix problems, IF you can see where the changes were made and that you can keep them in your new bloodline. However, many breeders THINK they can do this, but really do not know enough to see the changes that were made. Remember, you have to keep the changes you made BEFORE the cross and then add on the changes to your bloodline without losing what you already had. I want to know what they were trying to improve and whether the results were achieved and you do that by using the best with each breeding. Many people, when crossing coats, used the Top Producers as I did and bred their very best bitch to a dog from another Variety and made sure that the new dog produced the quality that the Breeders expected when these coats were crossed. Again, this not just some toy we have, but is an important means to make the better Dachshunds even more correct and it is not a tool to use on just some dogs that you have in your kennel, but. instead using that coat cross as being vital by also keeping these new offspring sounder, healthier, more stylish and better moving. When doing this, always keep your eye on those next generations as that is WHY we do this and why we do not want to lose the changes that we, as breeders have already made in our line. We soon see why this way of breeding MAKES the dog better and most important to help build that next generation of your line which must always be your goal. These dogs which we choose to use in this doat crossing should be healthy, sound, well-conformed important dogs that produced well and were Dachshunds that we always wanted to produce better than they were and to be as good as their other breedings even if it was from a different coat. One thing you must remember is that these coat crosses are from the dogs you are using and that is the coat they will get. If you are using current dogs, those coats will be there and not older, less coated versions. I will go through a few of these cross coat pedigrees so we know why these breeders did these breedings and what dogs were used and why they were used.
I will start with Wires and begin with a dog that really gave that Wire Variety a big push into the Winners circle and that dog was CH Brentwald Joshua W ROMO, sire of 38 Champions, who was sponsored by Herman Cox and shown by handler Bill Ake and he was a DCA BV winner in ’48 and ’49 before being sold to Neville Stephens of Tubac Kennels from California when he was retired. Joshua ROMO had a beautiful Wire outline and had a great body to go along with it. Although bred by the Brentwald Kennel from St Louis, Joshua was mostly of famed handler Frank Hardy’s very nice Standard Wire breeding and he was sired by a Wire CH Lumpacious Hubertus which he bred to Joshua’s dam, CH Jerry Hubertus, who was a big winner as well and Jerry was sired by CH Leutnant von Marienlust ROMO, and out of another Lumpacious Hubertus daughter. too. The coat crossing here was CH Leutnant who was the Top Producing Smooth dog and leading sire through the ’40s who was the leading sire of the ’40s in Standard Smooths and perhaps he provided those bigger torsos that Joshua produced as well as after Joshua, the Wires just kept getting better and better and I assume that heavier torso came down through the Smooth, CH Leutnant von Marienlust ROMO who sired the DCA BV and BB at DCA in ’42, ’43 and ’45 (CH Gunther von Marienlust ROMO), ’47 DCA BV and BB (CH Cynthia v Jo-Rene) and ’49 DCA BV and BB (CH Cinderella von Marienlust).
When Joshua W ROMO went to the Nevile Stephens Tubac Kennel, he sired CH Tubac’s Abner ROMO who was the Wire DCA BV winner in ’57 as well as being the sire of 23 Champions including two All-Time Show greats, CH Vantebe’s Draht Timothy W ROMO and the sparkling bitch, CH Red Locket Nita Louise ROM. Abner ROMO was sired by Joshua ROMO which put the Smooth CH Leutnant v Marienlust ROMO behind him and he was out of Wanda Wire of Heying-Tekel who also had two crosses to the Heying great Smooth CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO along with two more crosses to Joshua W . Trust me that is a LOT of Smooth breeding behind them and not just any Smooths either, but big winning and great producing Smooths that helped Abner ROMO move that Wire Variety farther along the quality road and make it even better. As you watch what Joshua and Abner produced, you can see that these crosses go back to GREAT Smooths and made these Wires get typier and sounder and better movers and I hope you can understand why these great dogs that made their mark were used.
Next came the great Wire Producer CH Vantebe’s Draht Timothy W ROMO, who also was the ’64 and ’65 Wire DCA National winner and sire of 62 Champions and Timothy ROMO was sired by CH Tubac’s Abner ROMO whose Smooths were listed earlier in this message and, of course, included the great CH Leutnant ROMO and the perhaps the even better CH Favorite ROMO and both were from the great Marienlust Kennel and they did their breeders proud by helping this Wire Variety back in the ’50s and ’60s. Timothy’s dam was Westphal’s Nettle W who also had another cross to CH Brentwald Joshua W ROMO plus another line of Standard Longhairs from Gracie Hill’s DeSangpur Kennel from the Top Producing and winning Group and Alll Breed BIS winner CH Saqui De Sangpur in it as well. As you can see, longhair crosses were made to improve Wires way back into the ’60s and, if they had Wires with fuzzy coats, they just placed them in pet homes, but, when help was needed, you at least try to do something, even if it shows up in a Top Producing dog or bitch
CH Charlamar’s Noah ROMO was next in the line of great Wire producers as he produced 55 AKC Champions and Noah W ROMO was sired by the Wire CH Charlamar’s Tobey W was by a Smooth CH Oriole v Westphalen who was by John Cook’s dog CH Kleetal’s Raven Wing ROM who was later owned by Peggy Westphal. Tobey’s dam was a Wire CH Westphal’s Florin who was by a nice Wire producer CH Badger Hill Reward who was by the Smooth CH Badger Hill New Deal ROMX. Florin was also out of CH Tubac’s Hurricane a wire bitch sired by the ever present CH Brentwald Joshua W ROMO and out of the longhair line from the DeSangpur Kennel as well. Noah ROMO’s dam was Faulkner’s Lori of Englelong W ROMX who had a Wire sire but a Smooth dam. I hope you can see how much coat crossing they did in these old wires trying to get that type right and, IMO, they got that job done as you can see how much the Variety improves in pictures every year.
Next comes the great Wire, CH Westphal’s Shillalah ROMO, owned by Peggy Westphal and shown by Lorraine Heichel Maseley and he was, in fact, the #1 Hound across the USA back in 1970 and he also sired 62 Champions as well. He was sired by the great CH Charlamar’s Noah W ROMO who went back the great Smooth CH Kleetal’s Raven Wing and out of a great Wire bitch who was, indeed, all Wire breeding herself. Shillalah was out of CH Westphal’s Shamrock ROM who was sired by Westphal’s CH Vantebe’s Draht Timothy W who was by Abner which gave him that Joshua cross and then he was out of Nettle which also gave him another cross to Joshua ROMO. Shamrock’s dam was CH Greygate’s Busy Lizzie an Irish Import which was indeed All Wire breeding. When you look at these old dog’s pedigrees you certainly can see how much Smooth blood keeps on being doubled upon and that really helps the quality get better and better. You can definitely see how the Wires got this level so quickly
Then came Patti Nelson and her fabulous kennel of Solo Wires which started with CH Solo’s Harbor Master ROMO who was her foundation sire and produced 49 AKC Champions himself. Harbormaster was sired by one of Bobby Fowler’s finds, CH Midernoch’s Sextus Wire W ROMO who was found being sold in the Washington Post Pet Column by Bobby’s brother back in the late ’70s!! He was named Sextus because there were seven males in the litter and he was number six and, in the classes, Sextus was shown in the classes and in Jr Showmanship by Diane MacPherson and then sold to a family in Washington and Mr Fowler found him, scooped him up and put that last major on him!! Sextus was a great sire, but he also basically founded the Solo Kennel, the Bristleknoll Kennel of Lucy Moden and the Lauterdachs Kennel. Sextus, who was sponsored by Diane Perry of Sundachs Smooths, was a huge winner and an even better producer. Sextus ROMO was terrific and, in that pedigree, I found a few coat crosses that were made as Sextus ROMO was sired by Peggy’s great CH Westpahal’s Shillalah W ROMO and he was sired by Noah W who had the fabulous Smooth CH Kleetal’s Raven Wing ROM behind him and Shilallah ROMO’s dam was another one with Draht Timothy ROMO behind her and so much cross coat breeding along the way. Sextus ROMO’s dam was also sired by the pure wire CH Pondwicks Hobgoblin ROMO (Top Standard Wirehair sire of 90 Champions himself) but with CH Tubac’s Abner ROMO and Joshua ROMO on the dam’s side who also had the same cross coat breedings behind them. Harbomaster’s dam, CH Solo’s Distinctly Dinah-Mite ROM, was sired by Hobgoblin ROMO, but was out of a bitch bred by Bobby Fowler, CH None Such Grand Illusion who was sired by Draht Timothy ROMO who again had Abner ROMO and Joshua ROMO behind her and then she was out of another bitch (all of them bred by Bobby Fowler of None Such kennel) who was Hobgoblin sired and out of a Timothy daughter. Looking back at these pedigrees, you can count on so much coat crossing to make these Wires get better than ever in every set of pictures.
Next from the Solo Kennel came the great CH Solo’s Seafarer W ROMO who was the clear choice of the Wire breeders back then and he was a great winner (’85 and ’86 DCA National Specialty BV winner) and sire of 76 Champions himself. I hate to say it, but he was sired by Harbormaster ROMO who had all those coat crossing breedings behind him and Seafarer ROMO was out of CH Solo’s Night Song W who was sired by Sextus and out of a Sextus daughter herself so that meant she had all those Shillalah ROMO crosses behind her as well, along with another cross to Draht Timothy W ROMO besides in the sire’s dam line. Seafarer’s dam Night Song’s dam was CH Solo’s Huntin Honey who was yet again sired by Sextus ROMO and out of another CH Bitch sired by Hobgoblin and out of a Timothy daughter. As you can see, when you start doubling up on these great producing lines, you get all the great qualities that, hopefully, the breeders were breeding for. Again, that is why, when you do crossbreed, use only powerfully driven Top Producers who will catch interested breeders eyes when they look at these pedigrees years later. You should use dogs that have truly made their mark and would be wanted by anyone reading their pedigrees for the first time.
Next is another Dachshund breeder that always had an eye for having top quality in his kennel and that was Michael Reed of the Saytar Kennel and hander Bobby Fowler took CH Saytar Little Bohannon ROMO ,the dog that Michael bred, and made Little Bohannon a huge winner including the ’87 and ’90 winner of Wire BV at the DCA National Show as well as being the sire of 47 AKC Champions and starting the great Kennels of Starbarrack owned by Liz and her late husband, Jim, Heywood, helping Gina Leone keep spreading good Wires, too, in her kennel that was so infused with the thought and vision of Bobby Fowler and Little Bohannon ROMO also helped in the Brodny Kennel of Fred and Carol Vogel of the Brodny kennel. He made them all shine, in my opinion anyway. But first back to Little Bohannon’s pedigree which, as you can imagine has so much cross coating that displeases so many breeders but it certainly that coat crossing lets me know if the breeders knew what they were doing and, trust me, Michael knew type and what dogs to use to always have it in his line. Bohannon was sired by CH Saytar Markus who was a son of CH Saytar Bohannon ROM who was a son of Dorothy Pickett’s great CH Westphal’s Wandering Wind ROMO who was another DCA Wire BV winner at the DCA National Specialty from ’70 and who also sired 25 American Champions. Wandering Wind ROMO was sired by CH Hobgoblin ROMO and out of CH Westphal’s Christmas Eve who was by CH Vantebe’s Draht Timothy W ROMO who was by Abner ROMO and out of CH Westphal’s Nettle so you can see the many types of coat crossing there were on the sire’s side. Bohannon was out of Michael’s own foundation bitch CH Barhar New Girl in Town who was by CH Westphal’s Shillalah W ROMO and out of John and Charles great foundation bitch CH Midernoch’s Wild Card W ROMO who was from two more Wires that had again a lot of crosses to the Smooth side as well. Markus was out of a Wire bitch named CH Markede X-Rated who was by a Smooth sired by CH Markede American Flyer who was WD and BW at the ’77 DCA National Specialty Show and who was by CH Karlstadt’s Lionel ROMO who was the ’75 DCA BV winning Smooth at the DCA National Specialty and she was out of a Wire called CH None Such Grit’s Girl who was sired by CH None Such True Grit and out of True Grit’s daughter! True Grit was one that was sold to Japan way too early and he was sired by CH Vantebe’s Draht Timothy W ROMO and out of one of Bobby Fowler’s foundation bitches, CH None Such Honey Bun who was by CH Pondwicks Hobgoblin ROMO and out of another None Such great, CH None Such Honey Bee , who again was by Timothy! Timothy was bred to his daughter, Grit’s Girl, so that Timothy ROMO-Hobgoblin-Timothy cross just gets repeated on this fabulous pedigree.
Little Bohannon’s mother was Saytar’s Jarmella who was a chocolate Wire and who was sired by Peggy Westphal’s dog, CH Roebuck’s Fund ROM, who was a son of CH Charlamar’s Noah W ROMO who again had all that cross coating behind him and Fund ROM was out of CH De Sangpur Cornucopia who was BOSV Wire at the ’68 DCA National Specialty Show and who was sired by CH Vantebe’s Draht Timothy ROMO who again had those coat crossing at the start of his pedigree. Jarmella’s dam was another unfinished Saytar bitch but who was sired by the great CH Westphal’s Wandering Wind ROMO who was by Hobgoblin ROMO but out of CH Westphal’s Christmas Eve who was by CH Vantebe’s Draht Timothy ROMO who again had the coat crossing behind him. The bitch’s dam was the nice producing CH Saytar’s New Girl in Town W who was by CH Westphal’s Shillalah W ROMO and out of the Baris/Hart great producer CH Midernoch’s Wild Card W ROMO who was, for a time, the Top Producing Standard Wirehair bitch. New Girl was a littermate to Baris and Hart’s great Duo CH Barhar Minnie’s Boy ROMX who was twice BV at the ’75 and ’76 National DCA and CH Barhar Pickwick who was BV Wire at the ’77 DCA National Specialty. Seeing the progress Michael Reed made in using these great Wire Dachshunds with lots of coat crossing behind his dogs should make us realize that coat crossing does improve the Breed in so many ways and that, when I see those crosses to great dogs, I know the result is going to be a much better dog in the Show Ring and in the whelping box.
The last dog I am going to talk about is a dog that literally took my breath away when I saw him in the Show Ring and when you add all his littermates to this pedigree, it is almost impossible not to look back and see where this dog came from. That dog, CH Starbarrack Malachite SW ROMO, was a two time BV and BB winner at our National DCA Specialty Show and also was a Westminster Group winner and whose full sisters and brothers were CH Starbarrack Star Sapphire ROMX, CH Starbarrack Ruby SW ROMX, CH Starbarrack Emerald, CH Starbarrack Brown Jasper SW ROMX, CH Starbarrack Lapis SW, CH Starbarrack Obsidian SW and Am and Eng CH Starbarrack Diamond. What a line up here and so I will go looking at his pedigree and find the coat crosses that make some people mad, but are great ones when the right dogs are used for that next generation.
Malachite ROMO was sired by the just talked about and admired CH Saytar Little Bohannon ROMO whose pedigree is so full of great coat crosses that you are just amazed that he was so correct in type and those coat crosses made him produce the heavier torsos that everyone liked to see in the Show Ring and just admire the crosses to the great Smooths that made this Variety reach the heights in the Show Ring and by doubling up on those crosses made all the good parts even better to those next few generations coming up. Again, that is why, when crossing coats, always use the best and best producing dogs you can. It DOES make a difference.
Malachite’s dam was CH Fancy That Amalia SW ROMO that the Heywoods bought from Joan Mattie who I personally saw at a lot of big Dachshund shows such as DCA and Westminster KC and always liked what she produced. I saw from the catalogs that Bobby and Jane Fowler were a huge influence on her breeding program and I certainly approved of what she bred with their advice as no one had a better eye than Bobby did at breeding great Wires, IMO. Joan always showed her dogs to perfection and those dogs always were well groomed and I thought back then that, if I were going to buy a Wire, Joan Mattie is where I would buy it from. Anyway, Liz Heywood bought this bitch, Amalia, as a Birthday present for her husband, Jim, and finished her quickly and then bred her to Little Bohannon ROMO and hit the jackpot as the quality there was just what I wanted to see in the Show Ring. Amalia ROMO was sired by CH Solo’s Harbormaster ROMO who was by CH Midernochs Sextus Wire ROMO who was by Shillalah ROMO who had CH Noah W ROMO and CH Timothy W ROMO and her dam had all Wire behind her. Harbormaster ROMO was out of CH Solo’s Distinctly Dinah-Mite ROM who was by CH Pondwick’s Hobgoblin ROMO but out of CH None Such Grand Illusion who was by Timothy ROMO and out of CH None Such Honey Bun who was by CH Hobgoblin ROMO and out of CH None Such Honey Bee who again was by CH Timothy W ROMO so you again can see the crosses between Gobby and Timothy which more or less makes the changes the Wirehair needed. Amalia ROMO was out of another bitch that Mrs Mattie raised and that bitch was Ch Fancy That Bobby Jane who was by Mrs Robson’s dog, CH Bristleknoll Bonus O’Barhar W ROMX who was by CH Barhar Take Me Along ROMX who was by CH Barhar Pickwick who was sired by CH Westphal’s Shillalah W ROMO who was sired by Noah W ROMO and out of CH Midernoch’s Wild Card W ROMO whose background had a lot of Smooth breeding behind it as well as being the dam and granddam of the Take Me Along ROMX dog. Bonus ROMX’s dam was Lucy Moden’s pride and joy, CH Hollydachs Betsy Ross W ROMO who leads the list by producing 25 Champion offspring and she was a daughter of CH Tharp’s Oliver W who was a son of the all Wirehair breeding CH Pondwicks Hobgoblin W ROMO and out of a Noah W ROMO full sister CH Charlamar’s Lori W who takes us back to CH Oriole v Westphalen who does have 6 appearances behind Betsy Ross ROMO. Betsy Ross W ROMO’s dam was Tharp’s Bonnie Boom W who was by CH Tharp’s Boom Boom W who again was the Wire BV at the ’74 DCA National Specialty Show and who was by CH Charlamar’s Noah W ROMO and out of CH Charlamar’s Sundae W. Bonnie Boom’s dam was CH Tharp’s Cee Zee W who was by CH Westphal’s Wandering Wind ROMO and out of CH Charlamar’s Sundae W who brings in Oriole two more times. Bobby Jane’s dam was CH Fancy That Miss Priscilla W who was owned by Mrs. Mattie and was sired by CH Midernochs Sextus Wire ROMO who was by Shillalah again. Priscilla’s dam was Kanawha None Such Annie W who had much Sky-Hi wire behind her. Anyway, what a pedigree these guys had and with that pedigree came the look that we still want to see in Dachshunds to this day. Hats off to Liz Heywood for realizing how much she brought to the Standard Wire Variety!
That is all I am going to explain about coat crossing in Standard Wires, but I will mention a Miniature Wire that did indeed carry all three coats which he did pass on and that was the biggest Wire winner of All Time, CH Spartan’s Sloe Gin Fizz MW ROMX who was owned by Christy An Gordon-Creed and shown by a great Dachshund handler, Jerry Rigden and his wife Elaine. Fizz ROMX was sired by the Miniature Smooth Can CH Tori-Jarice’s Wee Angus ROMX , owned by the Rices of NYC then and he did pass that longhair gene to his son Fizz. Angus was shown in a Stud Dog class at Knickerbocker with a CH Longhair, a CH Smooth and CH Wirehair behind him. Angus ROMX was a son of the Mini Smooth CH Verdon’s Vici who was out of Mini Smooth CH Muriel’s Semper Fidelis who was by Hardy’s Mini Smooth CH Johannis Strauss. Vici was out of CH Hubertus Teddina and Angus ROMX was out of CH Tori-Jarice’s Princess who had a lot of stylae and she was down from the Ardencaple lines on her sire’s side and out of another CH Johannis Strauss daughter. All Mini Smooths on this side but with that longhair gene along hiding there. Fizz ROMX’s dam was an unfinished MW bitch sired by Mini Wire CH Wilhhen’s Jack of Diamonds who came from California and wasdown from more Mini Wire Wilheen greats. Fizz ROMX’s dam was out of an unfinished Mini Smooth who went back to the Muriel lines and the Glamorgan and LoDachs lines who all came down from Frank Hardy’s great producer CH Johannis Strauss.
Anyway, Sloe Ginn Fizz ROMX did carry the Longhair gene and I heard of a breeder back in the ’70s who went over to get a puppy sired by CH Spartan’s Sloe Gin Fizz MW ROMX and they were surprised to see all three Varieties in one litter. I understand that another breeder has had all three Varieties in one litter even today and I say that is a little too much coat crossing for me to handle because most Dachshund breeders say that the longhair gene gives a little longer and softer undercoat which makes the dog more difficult to groom and I am one who always tries to do things more efficiently and so would really only use Wires and Smooths to cross when working with each coat and with Longs, I would only cross Longs and Smooths to keep the changes you are making a little smaller to accommodate your plans.
In looking at the Wires and the coat crossing that went on to make their bodies a little bigger and better conformed to the AKC Dachshund Standard, I have to say that these breeders used these coat crossing to make much better Wires and, when using these Stud dogs, they managed to make these qualities shine through even more by concentrating on these coat crosses whether they know it or not. When I see that way that Timothy with his crossbreeding was mixed with Hobgoblin’s offspring in a consistent fashion by Wire Dachshund Breeders like Peggy Westphal and Bobby Fowler and how they did that for a few generations to get better conformed, typier, great movers in so many ways that you use what you have to cross the Dachshunds with coat crossing with the pure Wires from England. That was a treat to see happen and it was so easy to follow in their pedigrees even now. They knew what they wanted and how to cross them and get exactly what they were breeding for.
Later, other breeders, like John and Charlotte Lee of Charlamar Kennel, Patti Nelson of Solo Kennel, Michael Reed of Saytar Kennel and perhaps most of all, the late Jim and Liz Heywood who made striking achievements in her great Starbarrack Kennel, certainly took advantage of these great dogs with cross coat breeding behind them and doubled up on all these great dogs and by doubling up on these few dogs made the crossing of Smooths to Wires become even closer. Besides these older (in years in dogs, not in age) breeders, new breeders like Debby Krieg of Daybreak Kennel, Shirley Ray with her Raydachs dogs and Fred and Carolyn Vogel and Judy Anderson with their Brodny and Schoolhouse lines certainly loved the same type of Wire Dachshunds and kept their Wire lines getting better and better.
Remember, these crosses with the Best Smooths were made to improve the conformation and type of the next generation of Wires and, from the dogs these wise breeders used, seeing those crosses made me soon realize that they were made to HELP the Wire Variety and I was excited to see how far each cross would take them and then get even more excited when they doubled, tripled or quadrupled them by breeding to dogs who also used the same dogs or close relatives of them so these advantages would be much simpler to see. This crossing was not done just to take a chance on a dog you had in the Kennel, but rather it was breeding the best dogs to your best bitches to see where it would take you. To my mind, the coat crossing idea worked for me.
Dan Harrison
Feb 21, 2024