The first dachshund in our family was Hans who came to live with us in 1964. In a very real sense, Hans is responsible for the existence of Distinctively Dachshund. He is the one who taught us the joys and challenges of living with a stubborn, creative, smart-ass dog. We've been dachshund people ever since. The following is the last of a series of stories about Hans. Future dachshund stories will be posted here in the coming weeks. [Click Here for Part V] So now for your enjoyment, here is . . .

Hans was a bright and happy soul who loved learning and doing everything. He must have been a relative of Snoopy, because he too felt that everything in life should be a joyous experience.

Teaching "tricks" to such a student was a joy! "Sit" was hard, but "Sit-Up" was spectacular. Han could and would sit up anywhere, perhaps the view better higher up.

He liked to roll over for any tender morsel and learned to follow hand signals alone. "Play Dead" was fun. He fell over so convincingly, especially when he heard the cue, "Bang! Bang!"

An admiring neighbor said, "Next I suppose you'll teach him to jump through a hoop." Was that a challenge? Hans was up for it. He'd do anything for bites of cold pancakes. So we made a hoop from a wire hangar and the next time the neighbor visited, "Hans, The Magnificent" sailed through the hoop and this became part of his repertoire.

The time came when I was taking a job that required my attending training for a month in another city. Even though I flew home every weekend, Hans was miffed that I abandoned him and his family. He refused to have anything to do with me until I'd been home to stay for several days. He sat with his back to me and wouldn't look at me or come to me until I was punished enough and he was sure I wouldn't leave again.

Hans was so much a part of his family that he was concerned about everything that happened. He realized when someone was sad or unhappy and knew how to make him or her feel better. Anyone who was ill had the attention of Dr. Hans. His sense of everyone's feelings and emotions was remarkable.

We were fortunate to have Hans in our family for 12 years. He developed a cancer and since he was in no pain, he stayed with us until he died in his sleep. He left a huge emptiness in the family, but he also left many happy memories.

Hans left a legacy of devoted Dachshundites and new generations to follow. Our children are grown now and carry on the tradition with their own wiggly, cuddly, long tailed, short legged Dachshunds with wrinkled socks and short noses which grow long on purpose.

Check back soon for our next Dachshund story. As part of the new look of Distinctively Dachshund, we will be posting stories about dachshunds on a more-or-less regular basis. We have many stories about our own dachshunds that we plan on sharing, but we also want to hear from you! We all know dachshunds have a special knack for arranging and interacting with the world around them.

If you have a dachshund story you would like to share with the world, please send it to us and we'll try to post it on our site. Of course pictures are welcome, too.