“Gamechangers” by Dan Harrison
Download this page in PDF formatWhat are the qualities that turn a great producing dog into more that that, what makes a dachshund a true ‘Gamechanger’? These ‘once in a lifetime’ dogs are very few and far between and so maybe there is a need to elaborate exactly what criteria differentiate the outstanding producer from these dogs that truly change the playing field. Some dogs with better producing records don’t really raise up their Variety and some, in fact, take the overall quality down, so this is certainly more than just numbers and more than winning in the show ring.
First, the dog has to alter how we fundamentally look at a Variety and he also changes the things we can accept as OK ‘for a long’ or ‘for a wire’ or ‘for a mini’. He raises the bar for the variety and makes features we would have accepted before him no longer acceptable.
Second, this producer has to produce a correct , consistent ‘look’ so striking that we can almost instantly tell if the dog we are looking at is descended from the Game Changer and this strong, correct type has to carry down and be recognizable for a few generations.
Third, the get/produce are, for the most part, more than finishable with several of them being specials who win at the major shows, such as DCA and its host shows, Westminster KC and its attendant weekend shows, and other major shows and specialties across the country. For a true game changer, their offspring and descendants dominate these shows for years.
Fourth, not only should the dog’s offspring be an improvement over himself, but the next generation has to be an improvement over the preceding generations leading up to the great producer. In other words, the get/produce have to make a marked leap in quality over the dog’s parents and keep that progress going. The true Gamechanger’s offspring should be almost as prepotent producers as the parent and their progeny list should be rife with Top Producers and ROMs.
Finally, the producer must be very strong in the qualities that make a Dachshund a Dachshund and they also must be able especially to pass on these hallmarks. He must be very correct type-wise, with the dachshund’s unique forechest and angulation, as well as being long and low with that distinctive outline, standing or moving. More importantly, he has to have the ability to pass these all important features on to the next generation without losing any, but instead, amplifying and defining them.
In summary, the feature that matters the most is that the dog improves the Breed/Variety nationally without losing any of the hallmarks of the Dachshund. It is rare when dogs like these come along and they can only accomplish this when they capture the general imagination of the Fancy as a whole.
Some examples of dogs that can certainly be considered game changers are:
CH Leutnant v Marienlust
CH Favorite v Marienlust
CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel
CH Dunkeldorf Falcon’s Favorite
CH Bayard le Tartare
CH Han-Jo’s Flaming Flare L
CH Boondox Panama Jack
CH Flachshund’s Exquisite ML
CH Brentwald Joshua W
CH Pondwicks Hobgoblin
CH Saytar’s Little Bohannon
Although there have been many great producers in the Breed, these are some that fulfill all the components of the Game Changer. While all these dogs are, each and every one, outstanding examples of dachshund type and structure, they are not necessarily the best individuals as that is a different category altogether.
Purposely, dogs whose offspring are or could be currently in competition were not considered.
Dan Harrison,
Summer, 2012