The Shultises of Gera, the subtle influence
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 Ray Shultis awarding Rose Heying a Best In Match |
 Lisa of Gera ROMX, Annette of Gera ROM, Lillibett of Gera, Gene Shultis, Aria of Gera ROM, CH Show Girl of Gera, CH Octavia of Gera |
Often when a kennel has a great impact on a breed, it is because of a top producing stud dog who steers the breed in a certain way with attendant notoriety, due to large numbers of champions.
I believe the Shultises of Gera Kennel had almost as strong of an influence as any kennel of the 50s and 60s, however, without the benefit of a single “great” sire. Many of their bitches and dogs were a strong, steady influence in changing and improving the look of both the smooth and long varieties. Whether from a BIS dog or an unshown bitch, the Gera stock was a source that produced a consistent, correct look. They are not as celebrated as many and rarely mentioned in the magazines and books of that period, but if you dig through pedigrees and look at the pictures of the dogs descending from Gera lines, it is hard not to see their influence. It is easy to understand why breeders kept coming back to Gera to replenish their lines and get the look and type that became their trademark.
To quote Mr Shultis (from Denlinger’s 1961 edition of The Complete Dachshund),”The Marienlust and Rivenrock likes seemed o be exactly what we wanted. We particularly liked the offspring of CH Dimas Earthstopper. His daughter, CH Rivenrock Dorcas was, in our opinion, the most beautiful bitch it has been our pleasure to see. After trying to buy her from Mrs. Wenden, we succesfully bought a daughter, Rivenroc Doric, which, when bred to CH White Gables Basil, gave us our strong foundation.”
Around the end of WWII, Mr. and Mrs. Shultis purchased Rivenrock Doric from Anne Wenden’s Rivenrock kennel. Doric was a daughter of CH Eric Again vd Daniels and CH Rivenrock Dorcas, a bitch with one of the most amazing forechests I have seen from this era. Dorcas was a daughter of the controversial English import, CH Dimas Earthstopper. Doric seems to have been quite prepotent in reproducing her dam’s prominent front and was the foundation from which all the Gera dogs sprang.
 CH Rivenrock Dorcas, BV Palm Springs KC 1947, judge Fred Heying, handler Bob Troxel |
The Shultises had bred a couple of litters before acquiring Doric, but the breeding of Rivenrock Doric to Mr. and Mrs. Van Court’s CH White Gables Basil was their true beginning in establishing a line of their own. They bred their Basil daughters mainly to Woody Dorward’s CH Badger Hill Nobby, a dog linebred on the great producing dam CH Albion’s Own Penelope. They also owned and used CH Black Jack v Bergman, a Favorite son out of CH Rivenrock Dulcie, littermate to the big-fronted Dorcas, as well as using CH Favorite v Marienlust himself on a few of their outstanding bitches.
CH Allegro of Gera, who was number one hound in the U.S. in 1952 and owned by J.C. Walters, was one of the first Gera dogs to attract attention. Allegro was sired by CH Favorite v Marienlust and was out of CH Rebecca of Gera . Allegro and CH Arlinda of Gera were the foundation for J.C. Walters’ very successful Calyla kennel of outstanding wires and smooths. Mary Howell acquired a smooth Calyla bitch, sired by Allegro, who produced Bayard Elise. When bred to the Wheelers’ CH Saber of Gera, Elise produced the top winner, MBIS CH Willo-Mar’s Lucky Star and a couple of other champion littermates. Shown by Jerry Rigden for owner Pat DeBrun, Lucky Star was one of three all-breed BIS dogs sired by CH Saber of Gera.
 CH Allegro of Gera |
 CH White Gables Basil |
CH Sinbad of Gera, another early BIS winner, and his sister, CH Eve of Gera, are behind the Valhari Smooths, which were prominent in the 1950s. This brother-sister duo were sired by CH Badger Hill Nobby and were out of Lisa of Gera. Owned by Harry Malloy of Ohio, the Valhari smooths were noted for their clean lines and elegance. Mrs. Denton of Ardencaple purchased Eve son CH Valhari’s Spacebird. He sired CH Ardencaple’s Royal Satellite, a DCA WB for her. Janet Wayock and Peggy Westphal also bred to him as well.
 CH Sinbad of Gera |
 CH Eve of Gera |
CH Fleet of Gera was a multiple group winner. Fleet was campaigned by Woody Dorward and later owned by Janet Koltun Wayock. He became the foundation of the Timbar line, along with CH Barbara of Gera and a few other Gera bitches, including Fleet’s litter sister, Faventia of Gera.
 CH Fleet of Gera |
 CH Barbara of Gera, Timbar’s foundation bitch |
Janet Wayock was listed as the breeder of the wonderful CH Sheen v Westphalen, owned by Peggy Westphal. His littermate, CH Shimmer v Westphalen, was the foundation of Barbara Haisch’s Barbadox Dachshunds. They were out of a CH Fleet of Gera daughter, Fleet’n Lovely v Westphalen. Sheen and Shimmer’s sire, CH Dunkeldorf Falcon’s Favorite (and his littermates Forester, Fantasia, Frappe and Fantasy), also was linebred on the Gera with four crosses back to Flair, Fleet, Lana and Calypso (all “of Gera”). Mrs. Wayock’s most famous litter was her “Train” litter, sired by Falcon’s Favorite and out of Timbar’s Major Barbara, a Fleet of Gera daughter out of a Gera-bred bitch. Dorothy Muse’s Museland Dachshunds’ foundation bitch, CH Timbar’s Honeymoon Limited, was from this heavily-linebred Gera “Train” litter.
 CH Sheen v Westphalen |
Marcia Wheeler got her start with the top winner and top producer, CH Saber of Gera. Purchased from Woody Dorward, Saber was a multiple BIS winner. His producing abilities were soon apparent. Bred to Marcia’s own CH Hainheim’s Olinda, he produced a whole pack of specials-quality puppies, all carrying the Willo-Mar prefix. Marcia’s DCA Best of Breed winner was a Saber granddaughter, CH Willo-Mar’s Night and Day. Saber also sired CH Willo-Mar’s Firebrand, another MBIS winner, who was campaigned by Woody Dorward for owner Faye Dorville.
 CH Saber of Gera |
 CH Willo-Mar’s Night and Day |
Marcia’s good friend and sometimes breeding partner, Barbara Lovering, based her own line on Gera as well. Her most famous dog was the incomparable CH Crosswynds Cracker Jack, who had Gera ancestors on both sides of his pedigree.
At under a year of age, Jack won Best of Breed from the classes at the 1966 DCA National Specialty. [To do so, he had to win over many champions not least of which was the notable Wirehaired BOV winner, CH Pondwick’s Hoblin in the inter-variety competition!] Jack went on to repeat that notable feat in 1967 and 1968. Jack was also a two-time Westminster KC Hound Group winner under the auspices of handlers Frank and Dorothy Hardy. Due to his age, he had been prohibited from competing at Westminster in 1966 or he may well have won that year as well!
 CH Crosswynd’s Cracker Jack, judge Ramona Van Court, handler Barbara Lovering |
Thelma and Russ Moffett’s foundation bitch was CH Janice of Gera. Janice bred to CH Fleet of Gera produced CH Moffett’s Fleeta, who was the first of many champions to carry the Moffett prefix. All of the Moffets’ later champions descended from Fleeta.
 CH Janice of Gera |
The most prominent recessive longhaired Dachshund was CH Aztec of Gera, owned by Norm and Mae Wallace. The Wallaces were active breeder-judges from the Pacific Northwest. Aztec was a multiple Specialty winner and the sire of Barabara Nichols’ top producer, Sweethaven Suzi Chenille, whose many longhair champions were sired by CH Robert de Bayard, thus linebred on Gera!
 CH Aztec of Gera |
One of the Shultis’ most famous and influential breedings was the “F” litter (CH Badger Hill Nobby ex CH Annette of Gera) which produced CH Fleet of Gera, CH Faris of Gera, CH Forest of Gera, CH Flair of Gera (owned by Polly Fleming) and Faventia of Gera (owned by Janet Wayock). The litter sisters Fleurette and Floradora, owned by Leon and Louise Warren of Lelou Dachshunds, helped the Gera legacy extend into the long variety since CH Robert de Bayard’s dam, CH Katella of LeLou, was a granddaughter of each of them. The Heyings bought a repeat of this breeding, Ginette of Gera, who produced the handsome CH Markham of Heying-Teckel.
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CH Fleet of Gera |
 CH Markham of Heying-Teckel |
As the above pictures show, Fred and Rose Heying shared the Shultises’ vision of the type and front they preferred in the Dachshund. Over the years, they bought several Gera bitches and used them extensively in their own influential breeding program. In addition to aforementioned Ginette, the Heyings owned CH Octavia of Gera, Samantha of Gera, Cissi of Gera and, most importantly, Lana of Gera, the dam of MBIS/MBISS CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel.
 CH Falcon of Heying-Teckel, judge George Spradling, Rose Heying handling at Westbury in 1957 |
The Gera and Heying-Teckel lines are so intermingled that I think of them as one large, combined influence on what we consider the American smooth Dachshund: beautifully headed with a strong, arched neck; long, low and elegant but substantial; nicely angled on both ends set off by that unique forechest without a hint of loose skin or wrinkle.
Fifty years later, their ideal of a Dachshund is still what we should be striving towards. It is the template I use when evaluating our breed.
Dan Harrison, July 2012
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