April 30 has not been Queen’s Day for ten years, but it was still a holiday for 41 dachshunds from Groningen. With lots of friends!
Pip , Puck and Pirla , to name just a few of the large group of dachshunds, are having a great time in Hoogkerk on Sunday. Thanks to all freestyle dances, treasure hunts, balance beams, hoops, balls and whatever else the occasional instructors bring out to make it a fun day.
Sweets
Two things are even better for it Jinte , Lilly and Pip : all those dog treats that their owners conjure up as a reward when another test is successful. And, of course, the presence of all those other dachshunds.
That’s what the holiday started with. “Because dachshunds are super stubborn and a bit ignorant. They don’t like to play with other dog breeds so this is good for them”, say Nouk and Thomas, the owners of Jack .
Dachshunds are just like people. So be Pip , Puck and Pirla not comparable to Fiska , Bonnie or Eden . There are real hunters among them, who prefer to spend all day chasing moles and are difficult to call back when they find a rabbit hole. But also the faint of heart who never dared to crawl into it in their lives.
Appearance
The difference between Eden , Kobus and Phoenix not only in the character but also in the appearance. They are short-haired, like Takkie from Jip and Janneke and Lottie from Jan, Jans and the Children, but also rough-haired and long-haired. Sundays are all there, and the colors differ too: from the black and brown of the comics to gray and mottled.
,,Mine is of course the most beautiful”, says Tess Jagger : a standard rough hair in wild color, and one of the largest today. She says it with a wink, because all those other dogs are really just as sweet to her. “It’s precisely because of those differences that I like the dachshund so much.”
Some were already staying with her, or she went for a walk with them. Thanks to the ‘dachshund club’, which does not want to be a real association, but does organize the holiday in Hoogkerk. Tess came into contact with it in a special way when she was still living in The Hague. “I had been looking for a house here and on the way back on the train I got into a conversation with someone who also had a dachshund. Founder Gerdi and Ollie live around the corner.”
App group
Gerdi Leunk from Groningen took the initiative for a corona time app group for dachshund owners she encountered along the way under the name Takkies050. ,,When I met other people with a dachshund, I invited them to the group. Dachshunds are a bit special, they only play their way and make little contact with other breeds. That’s why I thought it would be nice if other dachshunds went for a walk.”
That went around and the app group now has nearly 120 members. Anyone who sees a group of dachshunds in De Vork, Westpoort or the Stadspark in Groningen: there is every chance that the owners are members of Takkies050.
For substantive questions about nutrition and other practical matters, they now have a separate app group was created and more and more people from outside the city are joining. Leunk: That is allowed, as long as they come to Groningen for the walk.
Location
Annemiek Welling organized the ‘birthday party’ and found a beautiful location in Hoogkerk for dog school and daycare Active Dog Care. He offered a warm welcome and arranged for instructors to entertain the dogs for 2 hours.
,,Something different again”, says owner José Stienstra. ,, Here are never just dogs of the same breed together. All breeds are always welcome at the shelter and the courses. Then you see dachshunds together with rottweilers or maltese, with all possible crossbreeds and foreign dogs.”
Before the party, the participants of Takkies050 were introduced to all kinds of aspects of dog sport. The instructors are instructed to make it a party especially for the dogs. That works. Some have been there before and continue to walk nicely without a leash. But dachshunds remain stubborn dachshunds. As soon as they prefer to hunt for a conspecific in another group, they simply run away. With or without belt.