Significant Changes, Good and Bad, in the Standard Smooth Line Since WWII, Volume 1
Download this page in PDF formatIn a recent question at the TDHP Facebook website, I was asked to show pictures of the outstanding bitches that were bred to the great old Marienlust, Luitpoldsheim and Werderhavelstrand Dachshunds to see how these significant changes all happened back in the WWII era across the USA. I have to say that the East Coast Dachshunds’ top-winning ones were of that Marienlust type and style and the East Coast breeders liked what they were producing, so no real changes occurred to their winning lines during the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, because that same attractive Marienlust type was what was winning at the DCA National Specialty each year (which ALWAYS was on the East Coast). I am afraid that showing pictures of the dogs would not truly show the differences at all, because they WERE all the same type and size and would, to most of us, look very much alike. That Marienlust breeding still was present into the ’50s on the East Coast and did not truly change the Dachshund type along the way until the early ’60s, because the Eastern breeders’ look of the Marienlust dogs was doing all that winning at the biggest Eastern Shows. That look was distinctive in the East Coast dogs since that was what the breeders, exhibitors and Judges liked, so the East Coast breeders wanted it. It remained quite dominant when those Marienlust Dachshunds were victorious and those East Coast breeders stuck with that look all through the ’50s.
Some changes were being made in California, though, when two great winning and producing Marienlust Dachshunds started winning when they were brought out to California and, when they were bred, a new look was added, thanks to the local California breeders and another East Coast dog who moved West as well, CH Dimas Earthstopper, who was not a big producer himself, but, made these Champions have a completely different look. However, in California, back in the early ’40s, Albert and Miriam Van Court of the White Cable Dachshunds were successful Dachshund breeders who led the charge to improve their dogs. Miriam, Albert’s first wife and mother of their son, was a a great and talented Dachshund breeder and her choices led the way in California during WWII and beyond it a little. She had some great ideas and, before she passed away in the early ’50s, saw the success of her breeding program in the Show Ring and the whelping box. Albert and Miriam Van Court, from the L.A. area, purchased CH Cavalier v Marienlust ROMX from the Marienlust Kennel and he was a full brother to CH Gunther v Marienlust who was three times BV and BB at the National DCA Specialties and Cavalier himself was also a great winner and an even better sire who left his mark on these upcoming litters whelped during WWII in Calfornia. After Miriam’s sudden death, Albert Van Court married Ramona Andrews and they went on a different path in dogs as, by then, Albert and Ramona Van Court were exhibitors rather than breeders.
Later, during the WWII era, Fred and Rose Heying of the Heying-Teckel Dachshunds were able to buy a young dog from the Marienlust Kennel of Joseph and Maria Mehrer, CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO, who they brought to California where several new breeders with many different bloodlines used him on many of their bitches. All of these bitches were a total outcross for him as well as Cavalier. Both Favorite and Cavalier were popular sires out in California because they both sired so many big winners at the Dachshund Specialties and bigger shows on the West Coast. Favorite was such a big winner that he became the #1 Dachshund in the Show Ring for a couple of years and was shown from Coast to Coast. As a sire, he was very dominant and produced greatness wherever he was used and so was bred to a lot and Favorite also had an issue of The American Dachshund named after him with all his offspring in it and that issue had many great articles in it and was most spectacular. This is a dog that was used all over the country because he was a great sire and a fantastic showman. Before Favorite arrived, Fred and Rose Heying were doing great in a small way, but Favorite, in my mind, made them the premier Dachshund breeders in the USA for this period after WWII was over. Favorite was a game-changer for me, anyway.
CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO’s most important litters were when a UK import, CH Dimas Earthstopper, was behind many of these bitches who were bred to Favorite. In my mind, Earthstopper’s minimal number of winners and Dachshunds of breeding range changed how the California breeders made the whole look of Modern Dachshunds different from WWII through the advent of Fred and Rose Heying’s new young sire, CH Falcon of Heying Teckel ROMO, the Gera bitches of the Shultis family, the Red Locket Dachshunds of Woodie Dorward, Ed and Grace Hirschman’s Bergmanor Dachshunds and the great litter that Tommy and Jean Dunk (although from Florida, this litter was sired by CH Falcon of Heying Teckel ROMO and out another California-bred bitch CH Fleming’s Candy Carmela, bred by Polly Fleming, another great new breeder out there as well) bred which consisted of the Top Producer CH Dunkeldorf Falcon’s Favorite ROMO, ’64 DCA BV and BB winner and Top Producer CH Dunkeldorf’s Falcon Forester ROMX, ’65 DCA BV and BB winner CH Dunkeldorf’s Falcon Fantasy, Group Winning CH Dunkeldorf ‘s Falcon Fantasia and CH Dunkeldorf’s Falcon Frappe’. These Dachunds with Favorite AND Earthstopper behind them were bigger and more pronounced in showing that all-important profile to the Judges. Size has always been an issue in Dachshunds and this Favorite/Earthstopper cross made bigger bitches and dogs and it was up to the breeders to hold the line in the size department. Most of them did, but some, who never noticed the size change, did not. I am going to just look at the newer look of Dachshunds and, in my mind, show how they did get better through the years.
Cavalier ROMX was a nice producer and helped get the modern American Dachshund look off the ground in California as he was producing typy Dachshunds that had the style and the conformation. Later on, I will talk about a few of the great dogs that Cavalier produced and how he helped set the look of these early Dachshund breedings and maintained the type and structure that allowed these newer-looking Dachshunds to become inevitable and change the whole look of the Dachshund Breed in so many ways. CH Favorite v Mareinlust ROMO, bred by Joseph and Maria Mehrer of Marienlust Kennel from the NY area, was a dog who could be bred to about anything and show-quality puppies would appear. Favorite was started by Breeder-Judge Ed Hirschman, husband of famed Breeder-Judge Grace Hirschman, who gave him BV and BB at a Specialty from the Puppy Class back in 1946 when he was only 10 months old. Then Mr. Hirschman was the first breeder to breed to Favorite and soon produced a litter of four AKC Champions who all went to Show Homes and were used a lot to change the type by all the successful breeders on the West Coast. From the beginnings of these first litters, the type had changed and these wise Dachshund owners SAW the difference. Seeing differences in type makes you a better breeder. It makes your bloodline stand out in the Show Ring IF you are showing to Judges who know the correct type that fits the Standard and understand the small difference in this new look that these changes made going forward, making these strong points even plainer in watching the dog move and stand. This profile was a bigger and powerful look that catches my eye even today and, when I see that profile in the Show Ring, I can place where it came from and understand how these changes were started way back in the ’50s and ’60s. No matter how long it has been since the newer look of this American Dachshund started appearing in the Show Ring from the late ’40s and early ’50s, my eye still chose that look as what I wanted my eye to find in the Ring as it was what my eye chose to be the best in Smooths, Longhairs and Wirehairs. That look was chosen by the Top Breeders back to WWII, though the look can change a little, it had everything that I still look for in choosing a great Dachshund and set the style in the Show Ring.
Back during WWII, Mr and Mrs. Herbert Bertrand, who were from Connecticut, imported yet another new dog, CH Dimas Earthstopper, an All-Breed BIS Winner from the UK, who was entirely different than the Dachshunds they had already owned and, back then, the Bertrands had already won four straight BVs and BBs at the first four DCA National Specialties held in the NYC area from ’34 to ’37 as the first DCA shows that the National Club ever put on. Still, all those winners had been small European-type Dachshunds and were under twenty pounds, while the new UK BIS winner, Earthstopper, was over thirty pounds himself and yet he soon won a couple of BIS over in the USA. Many people complained about Earthstopper’s size on the East Coast and very few people used him while he was showing out East. Anyway, shortly after Earthstopper won an All-Breed BIS at the Westchester KC Show, back in the early ’40s, Mr. Herbert Bertrand passed away and his dogs were dispersed. This dog, CH Dimas Earthstopper, was sold to Anne Smith Wenden of the Rivenrock Kennel of California where Earthstopper died soon after his purchase and I do not know what claimed his life at a very young six years of age. Even though Earthstopper only sired two AKC Champions, he was behind so many of those great Favorite and Falcon offspring who by the mid-50s were improving the size, scale, and movement on the line of great Dachshunds and were truly changing the look and style of the Dachshund breed and also sending so many of them to the All Breed BIS lineup. When Earthstopper came out to California, he still was not used often at stud and, in the seven months Anne Wenden owned and showed him, Earthstopper sired only a few litters before she lost him very quickly. He was short-lived and only sired two AKC Champions, but, in looking at the pedigrees, Earthstopper showed up as a huge influence that made this new Dachshund, bred in California, a different dog. When the magnificent Dachshund breeder, Fred Heying, judged out in California, he gave the B&T Standard Smooth bitch, CH Rivenrock Dorcas, Earthstopper’s daughter, a Best of Variety at a huge show back in 1946 and he then told his friend Ray Shultis of Gera Dachshunds that Dorcas was the best Smooth bitch he ever saw and was raving about her long after his assignment. When Dorcas was bred, her daughters became a hot commodity and a couple of her daughters were soon with the Shultis and breeding started in earnest with the look that Fred Heying wanted the Dachshund to have. Fred and Rose Heying soon bought a couple of bitches from the Shultis with Earthstopper behind them and I will tell more about what they produced a little later as what they began was the start of the Dachshunds becoming an almost new Breed. When Ed and Grace Hirschman bred the first Favorite litter, the dam was a littermate to that CH Rivenrock Dorcas bitch whose name was Rivenrock Dulcie, and she was sired, of course, by the UK import, CH Dimas Earthstopper, and you can certainly see the influence these Earthstopper offspring had in really changing the Dachshund. These CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO (who was all Marienlust breeding) and Rivenrock Dulcie (by CH Dimas Earthstopper and out of a bitch of well-bred Dachshund breeding) were bigger and typier and truly grabbed you with their beauty. These first Favorite puppies had an unusual look and were a little bigger than the Breed had seen and they soon were taking many of the big awards in the California Dog Shows. The litter consisted of the very nice bitch and Favorite’s first Champion, CH Dulcie v Bergman who was sold to Hawaii, and three great-looking sons which consisted of CH Lucifer v Bergman who was kept by the Hirschmans, CH Black Jack v Bergman who was sold to Ray and Gene Shultis where he sired so many great Gera bitches and dogs and CH Bergmanor Black Bart who was purchased by Loretta (later a multi-group Judge) and Stewart Makley from Oregon. All of the males were excellent producers and spread the Favorite/Earthstopper line around a lot. All of these dog owners were successful breeders who had seen the CH Rivenrock Dorcas bitch when she saw shown or heard Fred Heying talking about the changes she would add to the Smooth line in his opinion and, in looking at the history of Smooths, I truly feel that Favorite ROMO, when bred to the Earsthstopper bitches changed this Variety in so many ways and, when Earthstopper brought the larger size and better conformation to the Smooth Variety in the few breedings he made into the bloodline, he also brought a few bad things in as well and I will tell about these less-than-stellar additions as we look at this new look as it starts spreading across the country.
Fred and Rose Heying, in my mind, got this change started by breeding their dog CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO to so many great bitches from all over the country and, from the first litter that Favorite produced, bred by Ed and Grace Hirschman, from Rivenrock Dorcas, a daughter of CH Dimas Earthstopper, were a couple of dogs who led the way in getting that bigger and more oval shaped front to be the hallmark of what so many of us saw in their offspring’s pictures. Favorite was, to me, the first Dachshund from the USA who was bred to bitches all over the country as Favorite’s offspring had the conformation, the Dachshund style, and the great movement that made the Dachshund a great one. To my eye, all of his produce deserved these honors they won and, from the very beginning, the bitches bred to him in Southern California were many of CH Dimas Earthstopper’s daughters and granddaughters and they always produced a bigger look, more angulation and an alertness and willingness to please that made them look quite different than dogs sired by others., Other less attractive problems were spread just as easily as this look spread across the US from California and bad qualities were passed along and were just as easy to spread when I am sure that with the Heyings, the Hirschmans, the Shultis’ and the very new to California, Woodie Dorward, all looking at them with the picture of CH Rivenrock Dorcas in their brain along with all the great qualities that Favorite provided them with. I am sure the right choices were pictured and many new breeders and exhibitors held back this new look and got it started with the conformation, Dachshund style and movement it was showing the Judges in the Ring. I have to admit that these changes had to show up when they were getting these changes added to this almost whole new style. I have seen the differences these changes made all through the time I have been breeding. The way they turned out also made me glad they could see these changes in their puppies and think about what they wanted to add to make them even greater which is the way these top breeders did think. I certainly admire these changes that were happening in the Smooth Dachshund Variety.
From that first litter, sired by CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO and also down from the great (but little known) producer CH Dimas Earthstopper, came a beautiful bitch who again was bigger and very gorgeous to look at in CH Favorite’s first Champion, CH Dulcie v Bergman who had a gorgeous outline that I still admire today, even though she was sold to Hale Kai Kennels from Hawaii soon after she finished where she won four Group Ones and an All Breed BIS. I also included a picture of her as a puppy shown with the Van Court’s CH White Gables Basil and you can see the way she is bigger with more angulation when she was chosen as BV over that powerful sire Basil. Loretta and Stewart Makley from the Pacific Northwest’s Lorheim Kennel, bought a B&T male, CH Bergmanor Black Bart, who sired some nice ones for their Kennel, but the last two Champions spread this new look far and wide across the USA and they were two B&T CH males, CH Black Jack v Bergman, who was bought by the new breeders, Ray and Gene Shultis of Gera Kennel, and CH Lucifer v Bergman, kept by the breeders, Ed and Grace Hirschman. CH Lucifer sired many winners including CH Bergmanor Boyoboy who became a Top Special for Helen Monroe of the Litte Gate kennel from around the Chicago area. Lucifer also sired enough Champions to be an ROM as well. The last dog was again one of the greats when the Shultis started using their Favorite son from an Earthstopper daughter, CH Black Jack v Bergman, on many of those Gera bitches and their produce wound up all over the USA as well.
Also, in looking back at Gene and Ray Shultis’ dogs and bitches, you see how much their dogs were winning across the country and, in using CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO and breeding him to many of CH Dimas Earthstopper bitches, got the size and shape and that great Dachshund style that put them all in the winners circle at the biggest and most prestigious show across the USA and, eventually at the premier show, the DCA National specialty. They were right in the middle of the change in Dachshunds because they not only bred to CH Favorite v Marienlust regularly but also to that older dog, owned and bred by Albert and Miriam Van Court, the great CH White Gables Basil who was a fantastic son of CH Cavalier Marienlust (CH Leutnant v Marienlust ex Moya v Marienlust) and Basil was used to keep that old Dachshund style in this new look they were breeding. The Shultis also bred to one of the great producers, CH Badger Hill Nobby, who Woodie Dorward imported to California from the Sharpes of Badger Hill Kennel in Wisconsin, whose pedigree was a great one as it is all the old-time Badger Hill greats and being a CH Albion’s Own Penelope grandson twice with N0bby’s dam being the ’51 DCA National Specialty winner, CH Derbydachs Schatze, a CH Favorite v Marienlust daughter and the only DCA BV winner Favorite ever sired. Besides Schatze, Favorite also sired three more big winners out in the Midwest and they were CH Derbydachs Kandi Styck (owned by Ramona Andrews, later Van Court), CH Derbydachs Kandi Kane and CH Derbydachs Kandi Too. Nobby truly showed up as a significant sire for this new look in Dachshunds. One of the most famous Gera bitches was from the early ’50s and her name was CH Rebecca of Gera who the Shultis’ bred and she was sired by one of the very early greats, CH White Gables Basil, owned by Miriam and Albert Van Court, who also owned his father, CH Cavalier v Marienlust who was all Marienlust breeding and his mother, CH White Gables Mehitabel, who was down from the first great bunch of Dachshunds they bought from Mrs Maud Daniels Smith from the East Coast and included two big male winners (CH Cid Junior of the Lakelands and CH Eric v Stahlhaus) and a wonderful big-winning bitch, CH Cornhill Goldie v Dachshaven. Miriam Van Court always bought quality when she added dogs to her Kennel. Basil himself was a great dog and he was the biggest winner in California until the Heying’s CH Favorite v Marienlust came along and beat everyone. Basil was a great sire and the Shultis used him quite a bit as he was so perfect in conformation and movement. In my mind, he was similar to CH Badger Hill Nobby who was used for the same reasons back then. The breeders not only wanted prettier Dachshunds, but they also wanted the style and movement that Basil and Nobby brought along and produced in each litter. Owning either Basil or Nobby would make you a contributor to the bigger, more beautiful Dachshund coming along on the West Coast. Rebecca, though, besides having all those great old bloodlines in her, also had one cross to the great CH Dimas Earthstopper who was a huge influence whenever he appeared in a pedigree. Until you study the Dachshunds and their pedigrees, you can see the dogs that make them bigger, better fronted and see the connection to the scary shyness problem which almost lost them the number they had in the Show Ring during the ’50s and ’60s. I am amazed at how much the Dachshund changed when these Favorite and Earthstopper bloodlines were crossed together so many ways back in the mid-50s. Rebecca herself whelped five American Champions and one Canadian Champion and among there were several who became Top Winners and producers and CH Rebecca’s sister, Roxanne of Gera, wound up as Ch Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO’s granddad. These related bitches were outcrosses so were all bred to the new great producers such as CH Favorite v Marienlust, CH Badger Hill Nobby and CH White Gables Basil and so the whole group of great looking dogs was all on their way to changing the Smooth Variety
These again are the great sires and dams used in starting this bigger and more striking version of the Dachshund and more sires and dams will certainly be added later. They had a LOT going on back then and all were actively showing a lot in California. The next Gera litter is a very famous one and it was a litter of four B&T Standard smooths, bred by Ray and Gene Shultis. The quality in that litter was pretty amazing and this great-looking litter of four certainly produced Champions, although not as many as you might think, and these offspring kept throwing the new look that these breeders wanted to get in the Show Ring. They were all sired by the Dorward’s dog, CH Badger Hill Nobby, and their dam was also owned by the Shultis family, CH Annette of Gera who had the fateful cross to that old-timer CH Dimas Earthstopper. Earthstopper, like Fleet of Gera, only sired a few Champions, but those Champions, like the ones sired by CH Fleet, really changed the look of what their offspring produced. As we all should have noticed, things changed when a dog with dominant genes was used and these breedings with Earthstopper (and now CH Fleet of Gera) prove just that in my opinion as Earthstopper offspring produced that larger size and sharper oval-shaped profile and, as I will write more later, a temperament change that no one wanted. In this litter were some great Specials and some outstanding Dachshunds. They were CH Forest of Gera (pet owner), CH Flair of Gera (Polly Fleming, owner, CH Faris of Gera ( Leon Warren, owner) and CH Fleet of Gera (Woodie Dorward, owner) and three unfinished bitches, Faventia ( Woodie Dorward, later Janet Wayack of Timbar fame), Fleurette (Fred and Rose Heying) and Ginette of Gera ( Fred and Rose Heying). When these were used as sires and dams. Their look got even MORE remarkable to look at. The great bitch, Fleurette (all Smooth behind her), even showed up behind another of my wonder bitches, CH Katella of Lelou, who was the dam of another of my game changers, CH Robert de Bayard ROMO, and how CH Katella’s type and Dachshund style made these Longhairs more visible and in the winners circle most of the time as soon as they were old enough to show.
The last dog, CH Fleet of Gera was again one of the greats when the Shultis started him at stud using all these Favorite offspring from an Earthstopper daughter, CH Black Jack v Bergman, on many of those Gera bitches which produced Janet Wayack’s first Champion, CH Barbara of Gera who produced several top winners with dogs from the Dunk’s Dunkeldorf Kennel which were all Falcon’s Favorite and his littermate and his sons crossed with bitches that also were of the same lineage themselves. At that time, Janet was from the Long Island area so you can see how this look is spreading across the country. Janet herself was one who always liked the look she got from the Gera bitches who all were, in fact, that same new look that was overtaking the Smooth line in California. Looking back, Janet always favored the look of CH Fleet of Gera who, while he only sired a few Champions, did pass that look onto future generations in a HUGE way. Despite what she saw in other kennels, that look which was produced by the old Badger Hill bloodlines after they bred to CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO on the sire’s side and of Gera on the dam’s side was yet again another hit of Favorite and CH Dimas Earhstopper there to see. That is the look she tried for and stuck with it all these years. I note this because that is the same look that my friend Wally Jones and myself liked and we too stayed with it as well. I will be back with Janet Wayack a couple more times in this VERY long odyssey of how the Smooths got so good all of a sudden. This story is very complicated, but seeing these dachshunds come down the line should make these changes even more remarkable.
When I think of it now, these first years that Gene and Ray Shultis raised dogs were what set everyone on the quest to get a “Gera’ bitch and there was always a market for them by Dachshund breeders all over the country. What they wanted was that new look of CH Favorite v Marienlust bred to the great bitches that they had in their kennel. They all were very well-bred and their lines were from all over the West Coast and consisted of CH Cavalier v Marienlust and CH White Gables Basil, both owned by Miriam and Albert Van Court and they were all Marienlust breeding or Marienlust crossed with the great bitches that the Van Courts already owned. The quality put forward by these great dogs along with the Dachshund style they had as well, crossed so well with the CH Favorite v Marienlust line with so much CH Dimas Firecracker behind it. The resulting puppies were outstanding to my eye anyway. Remember, before Favorite and all his get finished, the Van Courts had the great CH White Gables Basil out there and he was the big winner in California. The Shultis must have remembered that very fact because they added the Cavalier and Basil bloodlines to their fantastic line of big-winning Dachshunds and those Van Court dogs brought the smaller size back to the new bloodlines that most people were working on. Their White Gable quality certainly helped the new look keep its type as well as the changes they were making, both good and bad. Even though the Van Courts did not use the new CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO, the quality that was behind those White Gable dogs made that new look even typier. That is why I always included the White Gable dogs in using this new type and appreciating the changes that were occurring. The Shultis were winning with a lot of their new dogs and they started selling them to breeders farther away, such as Marcia Wheeler of the brand-new Willomar Kennel from Virginia.
When Marcia Wheeler wanted to get started, she immediately went to that Gera line and bought CH Saber of Gera who was a top special in California and, after Mrs. Wheeler purchased him, Saber was an All Breed BIS winner for the Willo-Mar Kennel. Saber was red and was sired by a dog that Woodie Dorward brought to California from Wisconsin, CH Badger Hills Nobby, who was bred by the Sharpes and was a littermate to CH Badger Hill New Deal and were both double grandsons of the great bitch of the ’40s, CH Albion’s Own Penelope ROMO who also was another big one in size (over 27 pounds and not coarse at all) and was also a top producer. Her granddaughter, CH Derbydachs Schatze, was Nobby and New Deal’s dam and she was a CH Favorite v Marienlust daughter and was Favorite’s only offspring to ever win BV and BB at the National DCA. Specialty Show which she did in 1951. She was a great one, beloved by her owners Harry and Vivian Sharpe, who had handler Jerry Rigden show Schatze at DCA. Schatze also produced four Champions, including CH Badger Hill Nobby, CH Badger Hill New Deal and CH Badger Hill Nox who all became Top Producers including Nobby who quickly sired enough to qualify for ROMX. Trust me, when the classic outline in California was there from the Favorite, Basil and Earthstopper breedings have been waiting on another great sire to come along and so Woodie bringing Nobby out there gave them another sire to use and keep all those genes working on adding these changes to the Dachshund Breed.
To go back to Marcia Wheeler and her breeding with the new dog, CH Saber of Gera, remember that she was just starting and needed a bitch and, since Marcia Wheeler had no fear at all, she got the best one she could imagine by buying CH Hainheim’s Ohlinda, who was owned by Jeannette Cross who bought her from the Kansan George Spradling when Lorraine Heichel was showing her at the Westminster KC for Mr Spradling. She was given Best Smooth that day by Mrs Cross who then bought her right at that Show she was judging at! Mrs Cross went on to make her a bigger winner on the East Coast and, later that year, she sold her to Marcia Wheeler who was getting ready to produce the famous quality that gave her the ability to be a wonderful Judge and put up in the Show Ring what she wanted to own (and, in Olinda’s case, she just went ahead and bought her). Anyway, when Marcia Wheeler saw Olinda, she had to have her, and Olinda had already won a five-point major winner at the Specialty weekend and also was a Westminster BV winner as well for George Spradling. Olinda was a beautiful bitch and George was a remarkable Judge (who everyone thought he LOVED the Heyings a lot, but he did love the look of their Dachshunds). Olinda came down from the Heying-owned CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO who was twice behind Olinda’s sire, CH Hainheim’s Lance who was a big winner in the Show Ring and he was George Spradlings’ best producer as his gorgeous Heying-Teckel and White Gables pedigree attests. Olinda’s dam was a bitch that Mr Spradling purchased from the Mehrer’s of Marienlust, Adora v Marienlust, and she too was a great producer as well. After Olinda was shown awhile, she was bred to the Wheeler’s CH Saber of Gera and then, seeing what they picked out, you can see the quality they had coming out of their Willo-Mar Kennel. Olinda produced seven AKC Champions including three Group Winners, CH Willo-Mar’s Ace of Spades, CH Willo-Mar’s King of Hearts and CH Willo-Mar’s King of Spades (who was purchased by Earl and Betty Wick of Colorado who showed him and used him at Stud in the late ’50s). As you can see, these newer looking Dachshunds were getting purchased and bred from and that honest true look became what I thought of when looking at the nice ones pictured in “The American Dachshund” This look was gradually becoming what I at least later in the ’70s and ’80s wanted the American Dachshund to look like. The choices that Marcia Wheeler made with breeding CH Saber of Gera to CH Hainheim’s Olinda got that new look into the big Dachshund Shows winners circle and, to me anyway, that was where it belonged. The Wheeler’s produced another whole crop of top-winning Smooths all of correct Gera and Hainheim style and these top-winning Dachshunds did show that the young owner, Marcia, was a great handler and that their dogs were always in immaculate condition.
Marcia Wheeler also became friends with another great breeder, Barbara Lovering of Crosswynds Dachshunds, who also was just starting out and, with her friendship with Mrs Wheeler managed to use CH Saber of Gera and a couple of his sons and got her fine line of well-bred Smooths started and winning. I have to say when Marcia and Barbara took these dogs and bitches in, they were going to look their best. They had several winners and later had the ’62 BV and BB DCA National Specialty winner, CH Crosswynd’s Night and Day, who was one of the best I ever saw pictured. She was a beauty and sired by one of Marcia’s Group winners, CH Willo-Mar’s Ace of Spades who was by CH Saber of Gera and out of the great CH Hainheim’s Olinda. Night and Day’s grandsons, Cracker Jack and Firecracker, will come later in this history and this breeding always starts getting the nod in the Dachshund Show ring and Night and Day, the second one of this newer look of Dachshunds who won at DCA, started the tide of this bloodline winning BV Smooths in every year from then on. The look certainly had changed and it, later on, made me very happy indeed that it had changed to a look that I liked in all three coats.
I have mentioned handler Woodie Dorward, who moved from Illinois to California back in, I believe, the ’40s, and was a very successful agent, but, when I was getting started in Dachshunds, he was then just a handler… a VERY important handler, but just a handler When he moved out here from Illinois though, he became great friends with Fred and Rose Heying as well as Ray and Gene Shultis and they all were wanting to make the best Dachshunds even better with the new sires and dams that were being used. Woodie himself brought the great CH Badger Hill Nobby out to California from Wisconsin and he was used a lot by the breeders in the same way that Basil was used as a type, great moving dog who had the Dachshund style that came down from the great CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO. He blended the style and kept that look that these younger California breeders wanted to see in their Dachshunds. When you look back in the Dachshund magazines, you see Woodie showing so many of his own Red Locket Dachshunds and, as he moves on through the years, his showing ability gets even better as he learns so much more about the Breed as his bloodline gets stronger and stronger with each breeding. Woodie also showed Dachshunds for the Shultis and other breeders back then and learned just as much from their dogs in what was lacking and what they needed more of and he gradually became a big force in the Show Ring. Woodie’s first big winner was a Standard Wirehair, CH Red Locket Nita Louise, (and of course, she had a huge shot of CH Favorite v Marienlust and CH Dimas Firecracker behind her!) when he sold her to Malcolm and Nita Louise Keeble. She became a huge winner back in the ’50s and she was also a Top Producer as well. As I said earlier, when I saw Woodie showing as an older guy, I never thought he had as much information about the new look in Smooths, nor did I know he was one of the small bunch of breeders that worked making Smooths better. He also brought the Top Producer CH Badger Hill Nobby from Wisconsin who was such a force as a producer in making these changes. To be honest, there is so much information out there it is almost impossible to take it all in and that is why I am working on how these breeders and exhibitors changed the Breed and that they ALL get credit for it. Their work was amazing to read about and it is easy to see the way the Dachshund breed was getting better without changing the Breed Standard at all.
Before I leave these breeders, I do want to mention a young couple from Michigan who wanted to breed and show Dachshunds and so they contacted Ray and Gene Shultis to buy one of these (already famous) Gera bitches and bought Janice of Gera who was by Nicolas of Gera and out of Suzette of Gera (although not finished, their pedigrees were impeccable with four crosses to CH Favorite v Marienlust, four crosses to CH White Gables Basil and three crosses to CH Dimas Earthstopper). This was Russ and Thelma Moffett and they soon finished her and she became CH Janice of Gera and the only bitch they ever bought in getting started breeding great Dachshunds. She was bred to CH Fleet of Gera and produced CH Moffett’s Fleeta and then each of their breedings was all Gera bred with many of Marcia Wheeler’s dogs (such as CH Saber of Gera ROMX and CH Willomar’s Lucky Star) and Mr. and Mrs Charles Stalter’s (CH Dunkeldorf”s Falcon Forester ROMO and CH Crosswynd’s Cracker Jack ROM, who were both all Gera breeding in the long run). They were so successful (and so interesting) that they finally won Top Smooth brood bitch with their great CH Moffett’s Rosanne ROMO when she produced so many great Champions all with that new look that I, or one, was ALWAYS looking for. It is so amazing when you put pedigrees together and see where each dog and bitch originate from. After the ’70s, all the great ones, IMO, were down from these lines and that look still holds true if you can pick it out. That is where the choices lie and all these great breeders and exhibitors had that ability and the dogs they came up with showed you the way you should want to go if you like the changes these people did.
Going back to one of the original Kennels, Fred and Rose Heying of the Heying Teckel Kennel, must have known exactly what they wanted the new look in Dachshunds to be and they truly were in a great place to see how well the breed was progressing. It must have been a thrill to see all these other breeders using CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO, and later CH Falcon of Heying Teckel, trying out these new litters and to have them all breeding around you so you could see where each person wanted to go and, if you notice, Rose and Fred Heying were always buying new brood bitches from many compatible lines and most of these were used to see if they maintained the Standard in their puppies. Their CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO was one of the starters when these type changes started happening in the Smooth variety, starting in the late ’40s, and these changes should have been noticeable at some point as puppies because the type changed quickly among these California bloodlines. The newer type seemed to be a little larger in the front and their angulation was a lot more noticeable as well as being full of Dachshund type. As you can see with the Heying-Teckel bloodline, the CH Favorite v Marienlust dog sired great type, wonderful conformation and outstanding movement so those early puppies of his had quite the new look for the breed out in California. They started winning at the big Shows and really just cleaning up over all the competition and that conquest by Favorite and his offspring of winning the big Shows in California took off. Favorite’s first litter was owned by the Hirschmans and was full of great producers that moved the type right along and one of the reasons was that the dam, Rivenrock Dulcie was a littermate to the Earthstopper daughter CH Rivenrock Dorcas both bitches that went back to the great CH Dimas Earthstopper and they both must have passed on what Fred Heying saw in Dorcas when he judged her. While CH Dimas Firecracker only sired two Champions, his daughters and granddaughters did that as well and spread those Firecracker changes all over the country. Many people blame Earthstopper for the size change that came along (and I am sure they are right), because in the ’50s and ’60s, popular stud dogs started to be bred to bitches all over the country and, with many of these Dachshunds going back to Earthstopper, his size and great conformation was there, too, and was spread all across the Nation. That is why my contention is that Earthstopper probably was behind the look because his offspring were used and the size of the offspring did get bigger, but so many great things came down from the Favorite/Earthstopper breeding besides larger size that I am still pleased about itthe changes Earthstopper made. Favorite and his two sons from the Rivenrock bitch, CH Lucifer v Bergman, owned by Ed and Grace Hirschman, and CH Black Jack v Bergman, owned by Ray and Gene Shultis, were the ones who started this trend and many great stud dogs down here were being used by many newer breeders and with the Gera bitches, who also were becoming popular from the West Coast to the East Coast., this new look was spreading from California to Florida to New York and all places in between.
Looking back at the early offspring of CH Favorite of Marienlust, you can see these great changes taking place from that very first litter that the Hirschmans had back in ’48 or so out of a CH Dimas Earthstopper daughter. The changes were there from their first appearance in the Show Ring. The next one the Heyings kept was a B&T male, CH Lance v Heying-Teckel,who was a big and impressive style of dog who sired some nice prospects and big winners for them. He had a beautiful outline, but a little on the large side and he was sired by CH Favorite v Marienlust and out of Lovely v Marienlust. a CH Leutnant v Marienlust daughter purchased from the Marienlust Kennel. He was a nice sire and produced nicely for the Heyings and he was also chosen by one the most outstanding breeder Judges, George Spradling of the Hainheim Kennel from Kansas, and he produced George’s Favorite, CH Hainheim’s Lance who was a multiple All Breed BIS winner and was the sire of the great CH Hainheim’s Olinda who wound up being a top producer for Marcia Wheeler’s Willomar Kennel. CH Lance v Marienlust also sired some nice ones for the Casper’s from Wyoming who made quite a name for themselves back in the ’60s with lots of big Specialty and DCA National wins. He really made his mark even though he was not used often at Heying Kennel. His litter sister, CH Lotus v Heying Teckel was purchased by Breeder-Judge Donia Cline and had a great career as well when she was shown. (Donia Cline also was a big fan of Earthstopper and had several of his offspring in her small kennel. Donia’s kennel was small, but it sure did win a lot back then,)
In those early years, CH Favorite v Marienlust also sired CH Gloria of Heying-Teckel, a B&T bitch who finished easily and went on to whelp the Top Producer, CH Raven of Heying-Teckel II, who was sired by the ultimate, CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO. What a family Gloria and Falcon had together as their son, Raven, was soon producing the top Specials for Frank and Dorothy Hardy who were the top handlers on the East Coast and the very successful handler Howard Nygood. Seeing this look spread across the country made me very happy indeed as I could see that others were seeing the great changes that were happening in the Smooth Variety in California. Raven sired CH Christi Dachs Camille for the Hardys and CH Colleen for Howard and they were big winners up and down the East Coast. CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO was the new great one in my book for producing Raven and so many others and, in looking at his pedigree, Falcon had two crosses back to the often mentioned by me, CH Dimas Firecracker. Great things came down when the Favorite line crossed with that rarely used CH Dimas Firecracker and also a few problems that are starting to get worse in the Standard Smooth Variety. Anyway, I will first look the powerful ways that the Variety is changing type-wise, size-wise and moving when Falcon really is used a lot and soon everyone is seeing the differences and really admiring the new look in Smooths.
Before CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO started really siring great ones, though, a few other CH Favorite v Marienlust ROMO offspring are being produced and doing a lot of winning in shows across the country. The B&T bitch, CH Cindi of Heying-Teckel, by CH Favorite and out of a bitch of older Smooth bloodlines, was a beautiful girl and was bred to a couple of Favorite offspring, but nothing made the grade for the Heyings to keep and go on with. Another beauty they came up with was CH Valencia 0f Heying-Teckel who was sired by Favorite and out of White Gables Brenda who came down from all the great Dachshunds that Miriam and Albert Van Court had in their kennel from before they brought out CH Cavalier v Marienlust such as the big-winning male, CH Cid Junior of Lakelands, and the great bitch, CH Cornhill Goldie von Dachshaven. That look set a tone as Valencia soon produced the quantity needed to become an ROM. Another one I liked from that era was CH Carbon of Heying-Teckel who was a Futurity winner (under Judge George Spradling) back then before being sold to Herman Cox of Texas. CH Trojan of Heying-Teckel also had a great outline and he was sired by Favorite and out of a Marienlust bitch. Next came CH Jeannie of Heying-Teckel who was a great looking little red female, co-owned by Joy and Al Levy of the Jolly Dachs Kennel, and sired by Mercury of Heying-Teckel who had three crosses back to the great CH Favorite v Marienlust and Jeannie was out of Fleurette of Gera with one cross to Favorite through her sire, CH Badger Hill Nobby and two from her dam’s who alse had two crosses from the great producer CH Dimas Eathstopper as well. When Jeannie was bred to CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO, she produced three Champions who were great producers and one bitch had one of the most gorgeous outlines I have seen so far on CH Joy of Heying-Teckel. That was one of the triggers, I would say, that this great-winning CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO produced the style and look that the Heyings wanted to produce for the next round of absolutely changing the Smooth Variety in the USA. Besides Joy, Jeannie also produced, sired by CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO, the nice B&T bitch, CH Jolly Dachs Falcon’s Futura, who also was a nice producer for the Levys as well as the red Smooth bitch, CH Jolly Dachs Falcon’s Flame, owned and finished by the Ardencaple Kennel of New England. These new puppies sired by Falcon really set the way for this new look to get even better as it matures and they are able to breed that quality to others and make it even more like they wanted. Besides the changes going on in the Smooth Variety, Jeannie’s dam, Ginette’s sister, Fleurette of Gera , with three crosses to Favorite and two to Earthstopper, was bred to CH Mabob’s Lindon, a red Smooth of all Gera and Heying-Teckel bloodlines, and they produced Leura of Lelou who produced CH Katella of Lelou who was WB/BW Longhair at the ’63 Longhair at the DCA National. Leura was sired by CH Covara’s Tabasco. a standard longhair, and was from a whole litterful of great Longhair Champions. Katella later produced one of the all time greats, CH Robert de Bayard ROMO, who was a wonderful Producer and was in the Longhair Top Ten Stud Dogs to get these better genes all across the USA when bred to him. Robert’s offspring included the great-producing CH Han-Jo’s Flaming Flare L ROMO, the remarkable CH Han-Jo’s Ulyssis L ROMO, CH Bayard le Cardinal ROMX and so many more who were bred all over the country and got that new Smooth look into the longhair Dachshund at the same time. Breeders were using this new look in Standars Smooths and spreading the good and bad qualities all across the country. These outcrosses do seem to work in this line and the famous litter of four Smooth Champions was reaaly close the the beautifully producing Standard Longhairs.
By this time, CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO was the main sire at the kennel of Fred and Rose Heying as the type he was producing out of these bitches really fit what they were looking of in that new Dachshund look that started right after WWII when CH Favorite came along and was crossed with the few bitches that came down from CH Dimas Earthstopper and that whole new vision appeared. Now, CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO with the Favorite/Earthstopper cross was really passing the look down and some of his offspring really possessed what these young California breeders were trying to produce. Looking at the profiles you can really see the differences that Favorite and Earthstopper were bringing to Standard Smooths and be fully accepted. Next came a B&T male, CH Markham 0f Heying-Teckel who, again, had that beautiful outline that is gracing all the dogs from this newer Falcon/Favorite version of the change to Make-Smooths-Even-Better department. Markham was sired by, of course, CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO who was by Favorite and out of an Earthstopper-bred Gera bitch, Lana of Gera, and Markham’s dam was another Gera bred, Fleurette of Gera, a CH Badger Hill Nobby-sired and out of CH Annette of Gera who went back to CH Favorite of Heying-Teckel and CH Dimas Earthstopper. Nobby and Annette also produced the litter of four Champions males along withFleurette who was a littermate to Flair, Fleet, Faris and Forest of Gera. This outline was perfect to see and shows the change that Ch Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO brought to the Smooth Dachshund profile and, to me, you can fully see the changes that this look has made to the Dachshund body and, since this is from the end of the ’60s, the changes made just seem to get stronger as more and more dogs are added to the selection. Markham was not used often,but his bloodline came on down through Gera, Dunkeldorf, Franessa, Roushland and Laddland. At this point, that quality was being used by all the top breeders across the USA. Another couple of Ch Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO’s offspring were littermates, CH Jager of Heying-Teckel and CH Jill of Heying-Teckel who both were oustanding when I see pictures of them. Jager was owned by Mr and Mrs George Hendricksen from Illinios and he was a BIS winner shown by Larry Downey, from the Chicago area. The Hendricksens later became owners of Hannelore’s first Longhair Special, CH B’s Javelin de Bayard ROMO. CH Jill was an amazing looking little girl and she later was bred back to her sire, CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel ROMO, and produced a masterpiece, CH Brenner’s Miss America, who was shown by Woodie Dorward, owned by Seward and Elaine Webb who purchased her from Donia Cline. While I loved Jill, I thought the daughter, Miss America, was a masterpiece and I still believe that. Jill was also bred to Markham and CH Willomar’s Firebrand as well and produced even more quality to bring back into this new bloodline.
The last one I am going to mention is one of the sharpest looking bitches that I ever laid eyes on and she was famous right from the start of her career in the Show Ring. CH Monica was purchased by a Dog Show Great, Frances X Hollander, Editor of Kennel Review, a magazine based in California, and he finished her in one weekend of shows where she won three Group Ones from the classes and finished. She must have been a marvel to go over. She was purchased by Connie Eisenhower who specialled her for a few years and made her a top-ranked Special and also a multiple BIS winner when the competition was keenest. Every picture of hers looks flawless and she was quite a girl. From her pictures, I said she was a great one and said I would have loved to own her as to me she looked almost faultless to look at and her motion must certainly have been unparallelled to see. There are very few that I love as much as this one, although there have been a few in this lineup, such as CH Willo-mar’s Night and Day and CH Brenner’s Miss America, that have made me feel that way. Appreciating their gifts does not come easy and you really have to work on seeing the differences that these bitches had, but understanding that beauty is one thing we all should have to do in looking at dogs and that is seeing them. recognizing their qualitty and understanding the great conformation, Dachshund style and smooth movement we should all be trying to maintain in our own line of dogs. Recognizing that quality is certainly worth it for any livestock breeder.
This brings this story about the new look that the Heyings, the Shultis, the Van Courts, the Dorwards, the Wheelers and the Moffetts brought to the USA from California to the start of the ’60s and this is its sort-of halfway point. The next part will be looking at Janet Wayack, Peggy Westphal, Dr Bill Nixon and, most of all, the wild and wooly ride of Tom and Jean Dunk from Florida with all the good and bad things that came along with these changes. I am excited thinking about writing it for you and seeing who we all think is on top of each part of the History. This was a lot of work amd I hope people will read about these changes and think about what was accomplished. For me, Fred and Rose Heying were the heroes of this story so far and their dog, CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel was the core of these changes.