Part 2
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Pictures from the Teckel-Quadrille
| Part 2 Click on picture to see enlargement Pictures from the Teckel-Quadrille
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8 August - continued By 7 that night I was pretty done up after all those hours in the sun and all the new impressions that had come my way, and I could see that Milloup felt the same way. Besides, we needed to spend a little time on the grooming preparations for the show next day, so Reiner Schwartz took us back to Frau Wenzel's and left us there with the promise to call for us the next morning at 9. The party had gone on for several more hours, I was told the next day. In Frau Wenzels beautiful garden the shadows had grown long, so it was quite easy to find a shady corner where we could set to work with combs and brushes and other grooming equipment. It didn't take long to do up Milloup and make him look his best as, fortunately, dachsies are an easy breed to prepare for a show. So we withdrew to the sofa and let German television take care of the rest of the day's entertainment. |
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9 August When on Sunday morning we again stepped onto the DTK ground in Bötzow together with Herr Schwartz, we could immediately detect another mood. Today serious matters were scheduled, and those present weren't just the locals either. Milloup found it hard to understand that he couldn't roam freely as he'd done the day before, but that couldn't be helped. He had to put up with being on a lead or sitting in his box. |
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 | Despite this he still managed to meet quite a few of his friends from Saturday, and he also made some new friends. Even the odd "indecent offer" was made to him in the course of the day. This offer was made by a lady, whose longhaired bitch Milloup found very alluring. The bitch for her part could also well see the charms of Milloup. The owner started asking me questions about Milloup's ancestry, or - to put it more correctly - she started by asking me from which kennel he originated. Well, as it is Milloup does not come from "a kennel" as such, as his breeder had never before bred a litter of puppies and therefore does not possess a "kennel name", so I told the lady that he didn't have a kennel name. |
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Well, in Denmark this is strictly legal, but not in Germany. In Germany you need to have a kennel prefix or affix before you start your breeding program, and therefore the lady's reaction to my information was immediate: Such a pity that this lovely dog should be "a bastard".., she said. So I had to throw all my German skills into trying to explain the differences between the Danish and the German systems, and gradually it occurred to her that if there was something Milloup was definitely not, it was a bastard. And then her interest was rekindled. But whether she realized that should she actually want her bitch mated to Milloup, she would have to travel all the way to Denmark, I don't really know. In our ring they started out with the smooth dachshunds, then came the longhaired minis, and only then would it be our turn. Consequently, we had plenty of time to wander around and renew acquaintances from Saturday and also make a few new ones. In one end of the club area there is a small enclosure separated from the rest of the area. Here, an elderly couple and their wirehaired dachshund had found sancturay away from the hustle and bustle of the show. Milloup was allowed to run loose here, they told me, but as the wirehair turned out to be a dog, too, they soon started showing off in front of each other, and we had to leave again before a fight broke out. That was a pity because we, the humans, got along just fine. The weather was just as fine as on Saturday - bright sun from a cloudless sky. No problems with wet dogs, but instead there was the problem of dogs getting sleepy after a long time in the heat and not showing up to standard. In order to keep Milloup happy we took a couple of walks down the dirt track leading to the club area, and some of the time he was left in his box, which I then with almost religious fervour moved around according to where the shadow had moved to. The grill had been reassembled, and for lunch i had a generous helping of pork chop and potato salad. The pork chop was enormous, and I couldn't eat it all, but as always in those situations Milloup was a diligent helper. Had he been allowed to, he would have brought the plate into the box with him in order to enjoy the spoils without interruption, but no such luck. I didn't want the judge getting his fingers greasy from touching him later that day. |
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At long last it was almost our turn. Milloup had been made groomed one last time, and we were standing in readiness outside the ring. Then we heard some weird noises coming from the place where the show secretary was sitting with her typewriter. A funny mixture of crunching and slurping sounds, it was. That was the electric typewriter swallowing the tape, and a hectic hunt was on for a replacement tape. And then it was our turn, the 3 working dogs of which Milloup was to be judged as the last. |  |
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 | Once in the ring there was no shade whatsoever, so it was a hot trip around the ring and after two rounds Milloup had just about had enough. He slowed his pace considerably and almost had to be taken in tow. But the judge probably calculated the heat along with the rest, as the result was a V, anyway, and we were into the decisive round. In this Milloup was placed second, thereby obtaining the note V2 and his first VDH CAC-res. So this meant we were through for the the day (unless in case the judge selected the winner from our group for the TDK CAC, in which case we were expected to compete again, so I was told). |
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Whether this turned out to be the case I never found out. When the concluding competitions took place we were already on our way to the station in Berlin-Spandau in order to catch the train at 16.45. If we didn't catch this train we wouldn't make it to Copenhagen that day, so already while the first of the concluding groups (wirehairs) was being judged we parted from our new friends and Hr. Schwartz dived into his sunbaked car in order to take us to Spandau. |  |
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Driving back into the city I had the first chance of seeing in daylight the vast areas of woodland that had previously been situated inside the Berlin wall and had formed the North-Westernmost part of Berlin West - a very huge area indeed. This area would be perfect for tracking competitions, I observed. And - as I had also been told earlier - that's exactly what the Berlin DTK did use the area for until the Wall came down, and in fact they still do. At the station we said goodbye to Herr Schwartz who was in a hurry to get back to the show where he had duties to perform. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for all his kindness and helpfulness, the car pulled away from the kerb, and we walked into the station. As it were, the entire station was under renovation and redecoration, and not very many signs were visible to guide our way. Fortunately, we had plenty of time as it did take me a while to make find out which platform our train would be leaving from. The train arrived and we were lucky enough to find a double seat where Milloup's box fitted nicely between the window seat and the seat in front. On top of this I put the backpack, and on the seat itself I spread Milloup's blanket. Then we were ready for take off. Milloup curled up on the seat and immediately fell asleap. He did wake up long enough to have a drink of water, but this apart he snoozed quietly all the way to Hamburg. We reached Hamburg at about 7, and fortunately it was a little cooler by then. Milloup was happy to be allowed the possibility of stretching his legs, and carting the entire load of luggage along we took a short stroll down the pedestrian area in the centre of Hamburg before we had to turn back in order not to miss the train. At the station I bought a slice of pizza and a soda as provisions for the next leg of the journey. In order to carry it all and still keep track of Milloup I put the pizza inside Milloup's box, something he immediately took as an invitation to enter the box and make merry with the pizza. To his heartfelt disappointment I wouldn't let him do that, however, he had to follow me on his own four legs, and he did this with his nose pressed closely against the bars of the box. Fortunately, the train had already pulled up at the platform, so we soon found our seat and divided the pizza between us - the soda I was allowed to keep to myself. This train was nice and cool, and Milloup curled up on his blanket beside me. A little later he rolled onto his back, but there wasn't quite room enough for taking up this position, so I was kicked resoundingly and moved over a little to let him sleep in peace until we reached Puttgarten. When the train rolled aboard the ferry it was already dark. We took a walk around the ferry and I did some taxfree shopping while Milloup waited politely outside the shop. I had also planned a stroll on deck, but Milloup didn't feel like this and dug his heels in - he wanted to go back to the train for a spot of serious sleeping, and so I let him. A little after midnight the train finally stopped in Høje Tåstrup and a tired dachsie with an equally tired owner made tracks for the S-train to Valby. In Valby a short walk brought us to our friends Per and Akemi's place where we were made welcome despite the lateness of the hour and the fact that we were by then not the most spirited of visitors. We were also reunited with the bulky luggage we had left behind after a camp stay in the north of Sjælland immediately prior to our trip to Berlin. On Monday morning Per helped me bring what felt like several tons of luggage to Valby station, and from there the course was set for home. 5 hours later Milloup was able to lie down in "his" own bed for the first time in a week - and with a thoroughly contented expression on his face and all 4 legs up into the air that was exactly what he did! |
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Updated on 12-8-03 |
