Welcome to the Calgary Lowriders Dachshund Club!
We decided to form the Calgary Lowriders Dachshund Club because after a certain age, we had nowhere to socialize Milo and Gidget. We were formed in the fall of 2006 and as of August 2010 there are more than 160 human families who have over 180 dachshunds between them! Even in such a short time we have been able to witness first-hand the benefits of socializing the pups. Many have become a lot more confident and much less timid than when they started coming to the meetups. Others have made some very good friends, and others can now be trusted to be off-leash…including our dogs! It can take a couple of outings for the dogs to get used to the idea when they first start coming as it’s very overwhelming for them.
During the summer months, we usually take the pups to Southland off-leash park about every 2-4 weeks (depending on the weather) and have a “Wiener Walk”. Then usually starting in October we rent a facility once a month and ask the members who attend for a small fee to help pay for the rental since the club does not have any membership fees. We also don’t have agendas or mandatory attendance.
Since this is a fun group that was formed in the best interest of the pups, it is not a group for people who are interested in breeding or anything along those lines. We encourage people to get their dachshunds from registered breeders or from a rescue and do not encourage inexperienced breeding at any time. Hopefully these practices will put an end to “Backyard Breeders” and puppy mills. The pups don’t necessarily have to be fixed (it’s preferred of course because there are intact puppies in the group from time to time), but we ask that they be up to date on their vaccinations.
We do ask that owners supervise their dogs during the meetups/walks and that they pick up after them if they make a mess. We also them to be aware if their dog has aggression issues with people or other dogs.
Recently our club decided that no other dog breeds will be allowed at our indoor events unless they are from your own household and are well behaved around the dachshunds. If you decide to bring them, they must be on leash at all times or in an exercise pen which you must provide. We hope that this will alleviate some of the anxiety felt by some of the dogs at the indoor events as they can be a bit more chaotic than our outdoor walks.
We also have a “group within the group” called Wiener Watch. This group was formed between members as a baby-sitting club in the event that you are going on vacation, or just need a sitter for a day or two and you either don’t want to kennel them (or can’t), or you don’t have anyone who is able to take them. It has been very successful so far and we hope it just gets bigger and better!
If you are a Facebook user, we have created a Facebook group page called the Calgary Lowriders Dachshund Club, and all events will be posted here as well.
Hopefully this answers any questions you may have, but if not you can always contact us at calgary_lowriders@yahoo.ca.
We hope to meet you all soon!
Dian, Parker, Milo and Gidget